JK3 news and info

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – April 3, 2003 -- Continuing the epic legacy of the critically and commercially acclaimed Jedi Knight action game series, LucasArts, a Lucasfilm Ltd. company, announces Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy for Windows PC and the Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft. Expected for release fall 2003, this latest chapter in one of interactive entertainment's most celebrated game series extends the partnership between LucasArts and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), through its developer Raven Software.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is the follow up to Star Wars® Jedi Knight® II: Jedi Outcast™, the best selling premium priced PC game in America, United Kingdom, and Germany upon initial release in 2002.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is a dynamic single and multiplayer action experience featuring an all-new epic story. Players are immersed in the role of apprentice at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy where they learn the power – and danger – of the Force. Amidst a multitude of complex and richly detailed Star Wars environments, including twice as many unique locales as those in Star Wars Jedi Outcast, players face a variety of powerful and insidious enemies.

For the first time in a Jedi Knight series game, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy allows players to create and customize their own characters by choosing various characteristics including species, gender, clothing, and physical attributes such as hair and facial features. In addition, players can create a custom lightsaber, selecting from hilt and blade color. As apprentices progress in their training, different lightsabers will become available, such as the double-bladed lightsaber or dual lightsabers.

"With the overwhelming success and critical acclaim of Star Wars Jedi Outcast, continuing an alliance with Activision and Raven Software was a clear and very easy decision," says Simon Jeffery, president of LucasArts. "As they did with its best selling predecessor, Raven will bring to Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy innovative, dynamic, and challenging game play that honors the well-respected legacy of the series."

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy begins shortly after the conclusion of events in Star Wars Jedi Outcast. Players create a Jedi apprentice character and join the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 to learn the ways of the Force under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker and Kyle Katarn. While the young apprentice embarks on various missions to hone their skills and abilities, a mysterious group is discovered creating havoc throughout the galaxy. Until order is restored, the fate of the Jedi Academy – and the future of the Star Wars galaxy itself – hangs precariously in the balance.

While players will be able to accomplish more by using the lightsaber in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, they also will have a variety of weapons - new and old - at their disposal including a blaster, blaster rifle, Wookiee bowcaster, Imperial repeater, and a Destructive Electro-Magnetic Pulse gun.

A unique level selection system allows players to choose their own path through the game as well as the missions they undertake to improve their Jedi skills. The game will add new multiplayer modes and bring back the most popular modes from Star Wars Jedi Outcast.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy will be published and distributed by LucasArts in North America. Activision will publish and distribute the game in all other territories worldwide.

About LucasArts

LucasArts, a Lucasfilm Ltd. company, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems and PC. Based in San Rafael, Calif., as well as on the Internet at http://www.lucasarts.com, LucasArts was created in 1982 by George Lucas to provide an interactive element to his vision of a state-of-the-art, multi-faceted entertainment company.

Lucasfilm Ltd. is one of the world's leading film and entertainment companies. Founded by George Lucas in 1971, it is a privately held, fully integrated entertainment company. In addition to its motion-picture and television production operations, the company's global activities include Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for visual-effects and audio post-production, and Lucas Licensing, which manages the global merchandising activities for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties. Additionally, Lucas Online creates Internet-based content for Lucasfilm's entertainment properties and businesses. Lucasfilm's motion-picture productions include five of the 20 biggest box-office hits of all time and have received 19 Oscars and 53 Academy Award nominations. Lucasfilm's television projects have won 12 Emmy Awards. Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in San Rafael, Calif.

# # #

Title: Star Wars – Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Availability: Fall 2003

Genre: 3-D Action

Platform: PC Windows, X-Box

PC Developer: Raven Software

X-Box Development: Vicarious Visions

Storyline:

Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy has the player assume the role of a Jedi apprentice of his or her own creation. The apprentice joins the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 fourteen years after the events of A New Hope in order to learn the ways of the Force. Since Luke Skywalker believes in training by doing, he sends the young apprentice on missions to hone his or her skills. During this time, a mysterious cult emerges to threaten the galaxy, and the Academy is tasked with finding out who they are and what they are doing…

Technology:

Jedi Academy uses a heavily modified version of id Software™’s Quake III: Team Arena™ engine. New features added since Jedi Outcast are:

• Character customization system - allows players to create their own Jedi in both SP and MP (estimating 2160 combinations currently)

• Ghoul II enhancements including the Ghoul infinite Model modification system - Allows for modular model enhancements, custom colorization, and expanded animation support

• New ICARUS II scripting system for Single player and Multiplayer. Now allows for scripted events in multiplayer matches.

• New map creation tools allowing for models to be used as in world objects instead of just textures. Creates richer 3-D environments.

• New non-linear mission progression system.

• Raven’s ARIOCHE terrain system.

• Portal skies

• Rag doll skeletal system

• Enhanced vehicle system. Allows for new ride-able vehicles in addition to previous drive-able ones.

Player Character:

• Players can create their own characters by defining various characteristics, such as species, gender, clothing and physical attributes allowing for a more personal experience before entering the academy to learn the powers - and dangers - of the Force.

Familiar faces:

• Several recognizable faces from the Star Wars films make appearances in Jedi Academy. There will be levels where some of these characters join the player on their missions. For example, Kyle Katarn and Luke Skywalker will guide you through your Jedi training at various points and you’ll run into Chewbacca somewhere along the way. Other characters are being kept under wraps right now.

Lightsaber Combat:

• Construct your own lightsaber from fifteen different handles and six different blade colors. Utilize two sabers if you prefer or try the ultimate dual-bladed lightsaber made famous by Darth Maul.

• Unleash nearly double the combat and acrobatic moves available in Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.

• Each saber style (single/dual/double bladed) has its own unique set of standard attacks, special moves, and acrobatic moves which will allow the players to choose the style that best suits their individual combat style.

Multiplayer:

• Create a character by customizing your appearance, your lightsaber and your saber style, then choose your force powers from a host of neutral, dark side and light side abilities.

• Engage in online multiplayer battles in Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Duel, along with new Siege and Power Duel game types.

• .

Siege Multiplayer:

• Choose between several player classes with different advantages, disadvantages and abilities. Each class has something to contribute in a given game, and some classes are required to get past certain areas on the various maps.

• Special attributes include the ability to hack open locked doors and re-supply and heal teammates.

• Each class represents an aspect helpful in attacking or defending an objective.

Power Duel:

• Power Duel is allowallows two players to square off against one player just as Obi-Wan and Qui Gon fought against Darth Maul and Anakin and Obi-Wan fought against Count Dooku. The player has the option of choosing to be part of the two-player team or to stand by himself.

Summited by Darth Wood known as Godsjedi4eva

Godsjedi4eva · August 7, 2003

got to see the character creation screen in action. LucasArts has promised that there will be at least 2,000 possible combinations available when creating your character, and, as numerous beautifully realized species and items of clothing flashed past our eyes, that number became increasingly easy to believe. Equally impressive was the option to create your own lightsaber--in addition to being able to choose from a single saber, twin sabers, and a Darth Maul-style staff, there appeared to be a huge number of different handle and color options available.

LucasArts is including so much depth in the game's character creation system because of the game's Counter-Strike-style siege mode, which will complement the single-player adventure. Details on this multiplayer mode of play are scarce at present, but it's at least good to know that when you decide to take your Jedi online you're unlikely to encounter too many look-alikes.

The single-player adventure will feature numerous locations from all over the Star Wars universe and will see you visiting familiar planets, such as Tattooine and Hoth, and encountering more than a few familiar faces, such as Chewbacca. Although we didn't get to see any of them in action, certain levels in the game will allow you to assume control of vehicles or ride animals--the examples given were AT-ST walkers and tauntauns. The level we did see, though, was surely as impressive as any of the vehicle-based missions will be and had our character attempting to rescue prisoners that were scheduled to become playthings for a Rancor. The Rancor itself was a large and impressive-looking enemy, and since it successfully managed to kill the LucasArts representative that was showing us the game, we're still not entirely sure how we'd have tackled it. It's conceivable though, that our Jedi character wasn't particularly well equipped for the job in hand, since the game's structure is such that you'll have the option to choose your own path through the game--only being required to complete 80 percent of the missions to reach the end--and, in most cases, return to missions that you've previously failed once you have a few extra Jedi tricks in your arsenal.

Jedi Academy is currently scheduled for release in November. For more information, check out our previous coverage of the game.

By Justin Calvert, GameSpot"

Unofficial Jedi Academy preview

Sunday, May 25, 2003 by Tito

"Some enterprising photographer shot some footage of JK3 at the E3 convention in May 2003. What you'll find here is a Windows Media (AVI) version of that footage.

What you'll see is the Twi'Lek female default with the double-saber, going after a bunch on NPCs on an outdoor map. She's fast, furious, and even uses a few force powers.

The video is grainy, has no gameplay sounds, and is a little choppy at times. But I have learned more about the game from this clip than from the official trailer. Matrix-style death sequences, like in JK2? Cool! The NPCs will now jump to meet you? Wow!

So enjoy this unofficial preview. It's worth the download!

Astyanax"

I'm sorry this wasn't posted earlier, but i was spending the weekend at my dads house!

Also, watch for the moment when the Twi'Lek combines her two sabers (i couldnt see cleary, but i believe they were yellow and purple) and turns it into a green dual-blade in less than a second!

You can download it from JK II Files!

Jedi Academy model screens

Wednesday, May 21, 2003 by Tito

LucasArt is now letting us see three more pictures under their models section: a Tauntaun, a Tusken Raider and another man that you can put together yourself!

You can see the models at LucasArt's site.

For more news, see the News Archives.

For news on other games, check out RavenGames Daily.

Godsjedi4eva · August 7, 2003

July 25, 2003 - It'd be hard for some of us to say goodbye to Kyle Katarn. The good guy gone bad guy gone good guy (sort of) has been close to our hearts for some time now. Though he's fought valiantly against a range of difficult enemies, now he must step aside and let the next generation's Jedi get some playtime. Such is progress, I suppose.

Luckily, the sequel to Jedi Outcast doesn't ask you to play as Kyle. Hiking your pants up to your armpits and arguing with the representatives from the Republic AARP office doesn't necessarily make for great gameplay. Instead, you'll be playing through Jedi Academy as an entirely new jedi student under the tutelage of Kyle Katarn.

In contrast to the pre-set look of Kyle, your character in this game is chosen from a range of different races and a range of appearances within each race. Kel Dor, Rhodian, Twi'lek, Zabrak and Human Jedis of either gender allow you to be a bit more personal when designing your character (and it really helps avoid confusion in multiplayer).

The story picks up a few years after the events of Jedi Outcast. Luke Skywalker's trying to reestablish the Jedi and strengthen his training Academy. Since he's woefully short of teachers, he's asked Kyle Katarn to act as your instructor. Starting with a training lightsaber, you'll need to acquaint yourself with your special abilities as you and Kyle sort out trouble across the galaxy. Eventually the training wheels are taken off your lightsaber and Luke begins to send you out to fix some real problems.

There's much more choice available among the missions now. Instead of being directed through the episodes in a purely linear fashion, you're free to pick from among five different mission paths. Each progresses fairly directly but you're free to stop progress along one branch and investigate another. This is helpful if you ever really get stuck but don't want to stop playing. And if you get really stuck, you can even skip the mission altogether and pick up the story at the start of the next mission.

Of course, everyone will think you're a big idiot for not being able to find your own way out of the trash compactor level, so I suppose use of this feature depends on how bad you want to finish the game.

You'll be able to choose a new Force powers at the end of each mission. While the previous game did a good job of offering up specific powers to you at key points in the story, Jedi Academy allows you to shape your own advancement. Light and Dark Side affinity also factors in to power selection and use, with some powers, like choking some dude or lightninging him to death, clearly being on the Dark Side.

Five new Force powers are on tap for the sequel. Both Light and Dark Jedis can use Force Sight. Force Sight allows players to see other characters through walls and other obstructions. This really helps you to know whether or not you need to go in swinging or take a more cautious approach when entering new rooms. On the Light side players will be able to take advantage of Force Absorb and Force Protect. (I wonder what they do.) The Dark Side gets its new power with Force Rage. When Force Rage is active, your character goes berserk and starts laying waste to enemies left and right. Dark Jedis will also be able to use Force Drain to clear up those nasty hair clogs Kyle's starting to find in his shower.

And you'll be doing it with some new lightsabers. Like we said before, you do get a lightsaber right at the start, and though it's weak, you can gain better and better versions throughout the game. The chance to customize the look of the handle and the color of the blade are available right from the start. Beyond that, you'll also have the chance to fight with dual lightsabers or even the dreaded double-headed lightsaber like that red dude used before that other dude iced him.

With the new lightsaber types, there are plenty of new movements and actions. The double-headed lightsaber features a Darth Maul-like style that allows for kicks, for instance. And since there are still three separate stances for each single lightsabers -- a fast one for dueling, a vigorous one for smashing, and one inbetween -- as well as new stances for the dual and staff lightsabers, there are even more moves to be considered.

In multiplayer you can still count on a kind of duel mode and straight deathmatch. Thankfully, there are some alternatives to some of the other game types the last game was saddled with. Instead of playing Capture the Ysimarli (or however the heck you spell it) you can now play Siege. This sounds a lot like the awesome objective-based missions in Wolfenstein. Two teams, Rebel and Imperial, have to compete to achieve different objectives. A Rebel base may be the site of an assault game with victory going to the Imperial team if they can destroy the base. And instead of relying on Jedis and marksmen, Siege will allow for varying character classes, letting you send in a lone demolition expert to blow up the base while the other members of the team protect him from harm. Some multiplayer modes will even allow players to ride mounts like Tauntauns or drive vehicles like AT-STs.

The player limits on the PC version will likely be softly set at sixteen. Since the game is built on the Quake 3 engine, it's conceivable that the game could support more players than that, but the team is too concerned about the quality of the experience to promise that 32 or even 64 players will be supported. The game will support Xbox Live this time around but there have been no definite decisions about player limits there.

The game should be going gold within a matter of weeks and will ship for the PC sometime in mid-September. The Xbox version won't be out quite that quickly. Currently the team predicts a November release. We'll be bringing you more on this game in the coming weeks.

The Truthful Liar · August 7, 2003

This is nice. Welcome to the forums. ; )

Troopr-Undr-Fir · August 8, 2003

I just want to point out that this is not that much new information, but it's nice to be able to go to the same website to view opinions and facts about the game . like the links though , very professional,

Beyond that, you'll also have the chance to fight with dual lightsabers or even the dreaded double-headed lightsaber like that red dude used before that other dude iced him.

besides this lol

Darth Rythe · August 17, 2003

Is it coming on PS2?

Kurgan · August 18, 2003

No word on that. So far only PC and Xbox have been announced.

That doesn't mean it won't be ported to PS2, GameCube or Mac though...

txa1265 · August 19, 2003

Originally posted by Kurgan
No word on that. So far only PC and Xbox have been announced.

That doesn't mean it won't be ported to PS2, GameCube or Mac though...

My thoughts:

- The game will come to the Mac. I'd be very surprised if it didn't. We'll likely wait ~6 months to see it.

- Due to complexity of porting, and the PS/2 & GC's much lower review ratings for JO (I guess it just didn't play nearly as well), it may never make it there. I'd say itt was all a cost/benefit thing.

Mike

Darth Rythe · August 22, 2003

I hope it will cause my comp is crap

master_thomas · August 22, 2003

They'll probably port like they did with JK2. I just hope they don't have the same problems (one of them being that the controls for the console versions were a nightmare).

About the poll, I think I've seen a screenie of a person holding two double edged lightsabers (one double bladed in each hand) , but he may have used a cheat. You must wonder how the animations would work.

Heh heh, I can imagine a jedi with two double edged lightsabers, spinning them both at once, just approaching an enemy slowly. In a flash and a bunch of sparks, the enemy falls into 50 peices.

Darth Rythe · August 23, 2003

I'll get used to them after a while (the controls).

Kurgan · August 30, 2003

Unstickified this one... I figure we've already got the FAQ thread up there and it's getting a little crowded.

JK3 news and info

What is your favorite Stance with a light saber? 51 members have voted

1. What is your favorite Stance with a light saber?

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What is your favorite Stance with a light saber?
51 members have voted