Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

    Ave!

    The fact is that I spent a rather long time in the hospital, and during treatment I started playing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on a tablet in order to somehow distract myself.

    A little later I came across an article with several ideas by Chris Avellone about the plot of the 3rd part (translation of the full version of the article). I liked the ideas (especially against the background of what we did at SWTOR), and I wanted to learn something else about Obsidian's plans, and why many consider the second part of KotOR to be a failure, and the third one was completely canceled.

    This is a longrid about game design, development difficulties, and my subjective thoughts about Star Wars and games in general, but if that doesn't bother you, then welcome to cat.


    - Darth Malak and Darth Revan

    About Star Wars and Knights of the Old Republic


    Star Wars games began to be released back in the 80s. The first games appeared on the Atari 2600 and Сollecovision consoles (it seems that it was), a little later home computers pulled themselves up: ZX spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC. On YouTube there is video with gameplay of games from 1982 to 2018, though there is far from everything there (but there is Star Wars (1987), a game on NES, released only in Japan, where Darth Vader turns into a scorpion, apparently it’s from some Japanese versions of films).

    In general, LucasArts monitored the quality of games, although sometimes outright garbage appeared, but a lot of great toys came out:

    • a series of Jedi Knight, which no one could surpass in terms of coolness of fights with lightsabers (by the way, the engine of the last parts is open ). There is a multiplayer mod for Jedi Academy - Movie Battles 2 , the servers are supported by fans. Having played a little, I can say that the implementation may be crooked, but killing the Jedi in mass batches by controlling the droid is very fun (no sociopathy, these were bad (evil) Jedi, honestly). There is a fencing system in fashion, and in order to be a successful Jedi, you must literally anticipate the actions of enemies, that is, to be a Jedi Earl (or Sith)
    • X-Wing series (space battles simulator, I personally didn’t get it, but it’s much appreciated by the fans)
    • Mighty strategies of Galactic Battlegrounds and Empire at War (in general, nothing special, but many hours were played in childhood)
    • old Battlefront 1 and 2 (by the way, not so long ago the steam version of Battlefront 2 received working servers, but I still could not play, all the servers on which the players were terribly lagging)
    • Republic Commando - a tactical shooter, it is a pity that the second part, which was supposed to be an assault on the Jedi Academy, did not come out

    For me, these games still had one drawback - a weak plot, in addition limited in time to the clone war on the one hand, and the Jedi Academy of Luke Skywalker on the other.

    Sith or Sith
    So actually Sith or Sith? I like the Sith version more because there are Sikh people. Of course, according to the rules of the English-Russian transcription, it is correct to translate "sieves", because in English they pronounce a more relaxed sif [siθ], but my word "sieve" causes a strong association with a sieve through which flour is passed. Moreover, this, in general, is not an English word, but the so-called. quasi-reality (a specific vocabulary in a fantasy work). Quasi-realities can be translated by tracing paper, transliteration, transcription, analogy or the creation of neologism.

    Which translation to use is a matter of taste.

    In Knights of the Old Republic, created by the already cult studio Bioware, under the leadership of Casey Hudsen and James Ohlen, a lot was familiar, but all the heroes are new, the worlds have not yet been explored, and the story tells about the Mandalore Wars and the Jedi Civil War, occurred thousands of years before the events of the cinema saga. BioWare very successfully recreated the atmosphere of the classic trilogy, essentially a western in space, while the game itself turned out to be bright, and saturated with the spirit of adventure and exploration. But most importantly, for the first time, players were given the opportunity to touch the mysteries of the history of the Star Wars universe.

    - poster of the game Knights of the Old Republic
    Of course, now I see the objective shortcomings of the game: these are simple dialogues and fairly straightforward characters that cannot really surprise (straightforwardness is generally the main problem of KotOR), but how cool it was to get to the Jedi Academy on Dantooine or visit Tatooine where only - only the first colonists appeared. The design of the levels in the game is just wonderful, which is only worth a walk along the bottom of Manaan or the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban.

    - A selection of memorable moments to the music of John Williams *
    Gameplay - classic for DnD games, i.e. closed locations and turn-based battles, but the battle does not feel inhibited as in Neverwinter Nights and some other games.
    Many abilities (feats) and techniques of strength, 6 classes - 3 available when creating a character (soldier, scout, scoundrel) and Jedi classes appearing after training at the academy (guardian, sentinel and consular).
    But the skills turned out to be rather useless, and the whole game is easy to complete with 0 skills, with the exception of repair (since in this case you will not be able to complete the quest HK-47). Nevertheless, you can feel like a real Obi-Wan washing your soft brains weak minds By force, or by persuasion, and this is perhaps the only Star Wars game in which this is possible (except for KotOR 2).

    Interesting fact about lightsabers
    In the game, as in the classic trilogy, 3D models of the lightsaber are not used. Unlike the 1977 film, there was no technical problem to realize full-fledged 3-dimensional swords, however, the developers left just such a small reference. - a frame from Episode IV, which shows a reflective fake sword, and how the sword looks in the game (the picture is clickable) If you look closely, the blade in the game consists of 3 sprites, deployed at an angle of + - 30 degrees, thus achieving the effect bulk. In the films, the rotoscopy method was used and the blades were flat, even the glow from the screenshot was added only in the 2011 reissue, in the original (moment at 1:51) it was not. How this scene was shot.




    Separately, it is worth noting the original soundtrack by Jeremy Sol (Jeremy Soule), which, of course, is not as epic as the works of John Williams from the films, but everyone will remember this melody.

    Role system and engine


    For all calculations, we use the classic DnD system d20 (3rd edition), created by Wizards of the Coasts and open under the Open Game License (you can freely use it in your games).

    General mechanics d20:

    • A 20-sided cube is used in the dashboard, and in computer games the most often used pseudorandom numerical generator (but not all, in the same Fallout 2, you could easily move away from the first ant having missed 10 times in a row, having a chance of hitting 90%, but there and the system is different)
    • 6 attributes (strength, dexterity, endurance, intelligence, wisdom and charisma) that give modifiers to different actions (modifiers can be either positive or negative)
    • Bonuses from armor, weapons, abilities, saving throws, etc. are considered similarly (the system was simplified compared to the 1st and 2nd edition, where for many cases there were specific tables and mechanics)
    • If the numerical result of the action is higher or equal to the value of the complexity class (Difficulty Class or DC), then the action is considered successful

    The game is made on the Odissey engine, modifications of the Aurora engine (Neverwinter Nights, The Witcher, CDPR licensed the use of the engine, and made quite serious modifications). The main feature of Odissey was support for the Xbox platform and, in fact, starting with KotOR, Bioware developed all games under the console, and only then ported it to a PC (with the exception of SWTOR and possibly Dragon Age: Origins). Odissey also added 3D backgrounds, facial animations, a first-person view, and water reflection effects.
    The Aurora engine itself was created by Bioware as a replacement for the Infinity 2D engine (the Baldurs Gate, Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale series of games), was fully three-dimensional, and supported dynamic lighting and shadows. For rendering the image, OpenGL is used, and the engines themselves are written in C ++.

    Port to mobile devices and cut content


    The port on android and iOS was released by Aspyr, which specializes in Windows ports for games on various platforms, ranging from Macs and GNU / Linux to GameBoy Advance, Nindtendo DS and PS4. The Android version was created using the Android NDK , a toolkit that allows you to translate parts of the code into native libraries and load these libraries using Java wrapper and JNI .
    I can’t say that the port is very well optimized, even serious lags periodically appear on current smartphones. The interface was redone in the game, and adaptation for touch control was added, but for mini-games there is no separate control or alteration of these games themselves, and in some cases it is very inconvenient to play or even impossible to complete the mini-game. There is the ability to connect a gamepad. If you have (just like mine ) there are no Google services on the device, then you can buy standalone .apk on Amazon, well, or buy on w3bsit3-dns.com, if you understand what I mean. - a screenshot from the Android version of the game What's really cool: the port supports mods and save from the PC version, that is, you can play on the PC, drop saves on the phone and continue, for example, in a train. To install the mods on the mobile version (it is recommended that you first install the mods on the PC using TSL Patcher) you need to copy / modules, / override and the dialog.tlk file from the game directory in /Android/data/com.aspyr.swkotor/files/. But keep in mind that the android version suffers from problems with memory overflow, so it’s better not to put heavy mods on graphics.




    Unlike the second part, Knights of the old Republic was not much cut off at the release, but, of course, the scissors and this game were not spared. For example, due to censorship restrictions, a scene was cut with Malak and the torture of Bastila, so it is better to install the Restoration Modification v1.2 mod , which restores most of the content and fixes many bugs. The planet Sleyheron was completely cut out of the game, on which the player was to feel like a gladiator, but the restoration work is very slow, and not the fact that they will ever be completed.
    If you are going to play on a smartphone or tablet without a gamepad, I recommend putting mods to facilitate racingon swoops (since besides the race on Taris you are unlikely to be able to do anything with touch control) and to remove random battles in space (again, terrible control).

    About Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords


    This game was released unfinished, buggy, a ton of interesting content was cut out in it, and the beginning was terribly boring, and ... well, let's go in order.

    In the spring of 2003, even before the first part of KotOR appeared on store shelves, LucasArts had already begun preparations for the release of the sequel. Negotiations with BioWare turned out to be a failure: LucasArts did not agree to postpone the release of the game and gave only 1.5 years for development (the game was due out before Christmas, with the first part being developed from the year 2000), the timing is quite small, in addition to severe fines for failure. Guess who agreed to the development? That's right, a 7-person company with global headquarters in the attic is Obsidian Entertainment.

    - screenshot of an earlier version of KotOR 2
    Obsidian was founded shortly before the events described by Black Isle Studio natives - Fergus Urkhart (it was his attic), Chris Avellone, Chris Parker, Darren Monahan and Chris Jones, who worked on projects such as Fallout 2, Planscape: Torment and Icewind Dale.

    Founders of Obsidian

    (note: Urkhart was still from Interplay Entertainment, where he was involved in management)

    Development was problematic from the very beginning: none of Obsidian saw the first part, and because of bureaucratic delays LucasArts could not provide a game disc before signing the contract, however less than Obsidian created their concept of the plot blindly for about 2 months. The concept turned out to be so bad (the player, with the help of the Handmaid, had to free his world from the matriarchs, led by a figure resembling Kreia), compared to the BioWare game, that Chris Avellone, after playing, immediately sent all the achievements to the basket.
    Wow, give me a khan. A serious example to follow! Campaign, I have to go to unknown wilds.
    - Chris Avellone in the Eurogamer podcast [1] , which brought together Obsidian developers and members of the Restored Content Mod team.
    The new plot, in my opinion, turned out to be quite intriguing - you are a former Jedi, a veteran of the Mandalorian Wars, who has lost touch with the Force, and it turns out to hell knows where and why, in addition, everyone is hunting for you: from droid psychopaths and gangster syndicates to falling apart on the part of the Lord of the Sith (by the way, the plot was partially inspired by Roman Polanski's film Chinatown). KotOR 2 in its gloomy atmosphere resembles not even prequels, but the last season of the Clone Wars: conspiracies, betrayals, murders, mysterious and previously unseen aspects of the Force. However, at the very beginning of the game, a serious game design mistake was made: passing Peragus is banal not fun and not interesting.

    Gameplay example


    In the first part, we were immediately thrown into battle, and with a partner (this is important), everything exploded around, the Sith exchanged fire with the soldiers of the republic, and even on difficult difficulty Endar Spyr ran at a fairly comfortable pace and, to say nothing, was cool, we even showed a duel between the two Jedi.

    But in KotOR 2, the first level is very tightened, there are only 4 characters you can talk to throughout Peragus, and they are generally not very disposed to conversations (except for the HK series droid, this one is ready to chat without interruption). Although Kreia’s character is intriguing in that she was dead the first time she met, she wasn’t able to find out anything. A separate problem is fights: fights are just incredibly slow, the character can’t do anything, and there are a lot of enemies. The situation could be corrected by a partner, because the battle was clearly not designed for a long passage in the solo, and even an unmanned character, but they did not give us a couple for quite a long time.
    It is not surprising that many fans of the first part on this and ended their passage.

    Chris Awellon admitsthat the real problem was still in Obsidian’s ambitions [1] :
    There are a number of design solutions that we could apply by reducing the direction of the game. We should remove all the mini-games ** - a huge amount of time was spent on them. And all these cut scenes that we had, including on the game engine - the construction of all this was a huge pain in the ass, and it was impossible to fully rely on them either.
    There is also a reason why so many cut scenes take place on the Black Hawk - this is because Obsidian could definitely make sure that the players would be in the right places when the scene worked. Oh, and another user interface redesign turned out to be “a huge waste of time.”
    ** - mini-games mean shooting from turret from the first person and racing on swoop bikes, but there are no small puzzles like in the first part of the game.

    The UI redesign, in my opinion, turned out to be extremely unsuccessful - it looks much more outdated and heavier than the original. The blame lies with Chris Parker, who could not initially formulate the idea, but at the same time spent months of work for programmers who do not understand what they want from them (judging by Avellone’s words, Parker had such a normal operating mode). - UI comparison, on the left is the 1st part, on the right is the 2nd (clickable)


    Once, while working on KotOR II, Parker fell apart when Chris wanted to find out when the team would release the previously promised designer. He worked exclusively on the UI, but the time was up and it had long been necessary to redirect it to the content department. In response to a question, Parker became furious and stated that, despite the promise, everything will be as it is, and Chris will have to cope on his own.
    - Chris Avellone at the RPGCodex forum [2] ( translation )
    In general, the game accelerates by the time it arrives at Telos (or Tilos, as you like), a world destroyed by the Sith invasion led by Darth Malak. Interesting quests, a lot of characters and the first moral dilemma are already appearing here: two competing organizations are engaged in the restoration of Telos - the evil corporation Zzerka (Czerka) and the community of benevolent Itorians sensitive to the bright side of the Force.

    And here the differences between the first and second parts already become apparent: if in the first part the bright characters are all kind, honest and take care of others (and the evil ones, well, understandably evil), then the kind Ithorian leader on Telos immediately starts feeding you bikes on the subject cures (he doesn’t know how he was going to treat you, but he wants to use it now), in the Zerk corporation they promise to pay and in addition explain that in the conditions of the financial crisis in the Republic, the Itorians will soon run out of money and Telos will remain dead world, not only after such failure and other destruction of the planet do not shine. At the same time, Zerka will develop the natural resources of the planet, and spend part of the profit on the restoration project.

    Speaking of Ithorians


    KotOR 2 shows the Jedi, the Force and events in the galaxy from a different, more controversial point of view:
    Much of this was the result of deeply rooted feelings and opinions about the Star Wars franchise that were both positive and negative. And especially with regard to the feeling of being a Jedi or a Sith in this universe. I always had a problem with the Force because of its aspects of predestination, and I wondered if any of the Jedi or Sith wanted to rebel against it .... and completely abandon their ties with her (and thereby depriving herself and the power that she offers). Nihilus in Kotor II is a creature that has completely surrendered to what is Strength, and the fact that he is completely absorbed in the Sith’s self-destructive technique sums up my questions about Strength.
    - Chris Avellone in the now remote blog on the Obsidian forum ( translation )
    Someone may say that this is not in the style of ZV, but for me it is a departure from the binary representations of the struggle between good and evil in favor of shades of gray (but not those, though ... Vizas is clearly some kind of masochistic inclinations, hmmmm ... sorry) makes the world more alive.

    Cut content


    Despite the fact that Obsidian began to receive financial support from LucasArts, and the staff grew to 30 people, many of the developers did not have experience. The engine had to be mastered on the go, there was no professional equipment for sound recording and video editing, and the testing department was completely absent.
    Even the job search was a test. Our first office was the attic of Fergus, and his wife, Margo, was more than patient with our studies - and when I say “patient”, I rather mean “Samaritan”. That is, she could even bring us something to eat. It was hot in the attic, it smelled of developers (I don’t know how it carried the smell). And with a dozen computers warming up to the peak point, it sometimes turned into a steam room. After staying here for several months, we moved to the office area nearby, inhabited by rats and adjacent to the stinky duck pond (unusually aggressive ducks that could sneak up during lunch). There were also dubious neighbors from a nearby building, raiding our kitchen and shelving with soda.
    - Chris Avellone in an interview with Aggrogamer ( translation )
    Someone could turn on the microwave, leaving all the animators without electricity.
    - from the memoirs of Anthony Davis, who worked on the gameplay. Eurogamer Podcast [1]
    Still, Obsidian continued to work hard, but they couldn’t finish much (and start something).
    In the vanilla version of the game, you constantly come across traces of cut quests, doors that were supposed to lead somewhere, and, moments, a very strange and fragmentary narrative.

    Korriban and the ending as a whole got the most, but the list of cut ones is so big that perhaps it’s worth listing only the most interesting:

    • On Telos, quests related to investigating corruption in the SB station were cut out, GenoHaradan (a top-secret Assassin order, searches begin with the fake Batu Rem) were completely cut out , and Zerk Corporation seized the docks.
    • On Dantooine many dialogues related to mercenaries and quests about the Jedi holocrons are uncovered, revealing some veils over the secrets of the Jedi (instead we get a fake holocron, it’s ironic). The Kunda assault was also cut out due to performance problems on the Xbox (replaced by a dull video insert).
    • Nar Shadda - missions were cut off for the party members, and quests related to GenoHaradan: that’s how they should show us an extended version of the cut scene from Goto, where he mentions why he doesn’t want to work with the most elite order of the Assassins, and a storyline with an explosion in the cantina, which was replaced to a more primitive gas scene.
    • Onderron - everything is not so bad here, only the dialogues of Mandalore about his past were removed from the game (this is Canderus from the 1st part, all of a sudden) and small sketches with General Waklu.
    • Korriban - the planet itself, in general, thought of something like this, but the results of the search for a member of the Jedi council were supposed to lead to a separate planet - m4-78EP, a colony of droids, which, in fact, was the main plot, the scenes in the tomb were also cut off (for example, you should have met your own dark copy). - The core of the planet AI m4-78EP

    • The ending - here you can’t do without swearing at all; the scene of the duel between Darth Nihilus and Zion is cut out, the dialogs on Avenger are cut off (the flagship of Nihilus Ravager), the battle with the maids on Telos, the HK series droid factory is deleted, the mass of plot cut scenes on Malakor are deleted 5 (therefore, in the vanilla version it is generally not clear what is happening). In the original scenario, our companions had to chase the traitor Kreia while we lay unconscious and crash, and depending on whether they were dark or light, the actions of the companions should be different. And the player was supposed to meet with Kart Onasi and Bastila Shan .
    • In the original idea, Darth Trey, with certain player choices, could become Atris (and this content has not been restored, because there is nothing other than the model).

    And this is not even counting the little things: the appearance of the characters, the design of levels, dialogs and everything else that adds atmosphere to the game.

    According to Avellone , the developers did not have an ultimatum from the publisher regarding the release date, but the later the game came out, the lower the percentage of sales the company received. Apparently, a smaller percentage was due to the fact that the publisher paid for the continued development. Fergus Urkhart decided to release the game by the originally set release date. [2]

    About Confidence in Chris Avellone's Words
    In May 2018, at the RPGCodex forum , Chris Avellone erupted in a series of posts on the subject of Obsidian internals. It was told about rather unpleasant things: about how they kicked him out of the company without paying anything, and tried to blackmail him, knowing that Chris had debts because of his mother’s illness. Much has been said about the frankly fraudulent schemes used by Obsidian (for example, management refused to return the money that employees donated to cover the company's debts), and how inadequate decisions the management made regarding games.
    Of course, you can not trust these stories , and in this matter I can’t be objective, because for me Chris was and is an example to follow, as a very talented and hardworking person.
    But, in my opinion, all his remarks fit in really well with what really happened, and about KickStarter and Pillars of Eternity (Monakhan himself had to work on the portal for donators, and he could not finish it for half a year), and about constant accusations against publishers (the quality of games on the release increased sharply only after the reform of the QA department in 2010), and the prediction of the sale of the company, when Microsoft was sold as a result of Obsidian .
    All this, of course, refers exclusively to the leadership, as Obsidian worked, and many talented people still work.

    What succeeded really well


    A lot of really interesting ideas were implemented in the game, and a significant proportion of the content was done very high quality:

    • New abilities add variety to builds, for example, you can make a dexterous melee, in the first part, the probability of hitting an enemy in close combat depended on strength, in the second there are special feats for dexterity.
    • There are prestige classes for both light characters and dark ones, they differ in name and bonus to characteristics. Prestige class is an advanced version of one of the elementary classes (Guardian, Sentinel, Consular) with its additional abilities, you can create a Jedi Guard and take the prestige class of the Jedi Master, and the character will be strong both in sword fighting and in the possession of the Force. Unlike NVN 2 there are no restrictions on taking the prestige class, except for the side of the Force.
    • 7 forms of lightsaber combat (Shii-Cho, Makashi, Soresu, Ataru, Shien, Niman, Juyo) and 4 forms of Strength studied by different classes. This is probably the only Star Wars game in which this theme has been worked out so much (except for SWTOR and the Movie Battles mod, but only sword forms are presented there, and in SWTOR you have to pump the character to use the style effectively). Forms give certain numerical bonuses and penalties to the characteristics, and you can switch depending on the situation.

      Juyo Form:
      Defense -4
      Defense against Current target +2
      Saving throws against Strength techniques -4
      Attacks per round +1
      Critical strike modifier +4

      You can read more in this guide.
    • The system of skills has been redesigned, now for any action (breaking the door, removing mines, etc.) they give experience, in addition, the ability to craft certain objects (for example, improvements for the lightsaber) depends on the skills.
    • On workbenches you can craft weapons, upgrades and useful consumables (master keys, first-aid kits, repair parts, etc.).
    • The level restrictions were raised to the 50th (in the 1st part there was a restriction at the 20th level, and the cap rests on Malak's flagship, i.e., there are 2 more planets ahead and the final battle is not a very good solution).
    • Antagonists that are remembered much more than a maniac with a metal jaw from the 1st part.
    • Volumetric, well-written dialogues, which later became one of the main "chips" of Obsidian games. The plot and non-linear quests in which the ENT is revealed are, in my opinion, much deeper than in the original KotOR. For example, Revan is shown to be a real strategic genius who worked to create his own Empire, to repel a more serious threat than the neo-Crusaders from Mandalore. In addition, a lot of black humor and sarcasm appeared in the dialogs.

      Dialogue example


    • Companions and a system of influence - well-written characters (except for the probably truncated Mandalore) and interesting dialogs, in addition, there is a variability, and the player receives different companions depending on gender and their path (light / dark).
    • Excellent voice acting and play of actors (Kreia is especially impressive).
    • Companions can be taught the wisdom of Jedi art (this is definitely not anywhere else).
    • Soundtrack by Mark Griskey. Very well reflects the gloomy and painful atmosphere of the game.

    Companions and Antagonists


    I met the opinion that the characters from the second part are cardboard and uninteresting, but in my opinion the opposite is true. Each partner keeps a secret and is in no hurry to share it with you, and this is logical, in the end they all either pursue certain goals, or follow you because of some personal motives. For example, a maid is watching you on behalf of Atris, Bao-Dur is afraid of his own dark manifestations and is trying to find himself after the Mandalorian Wars, and Kreia really wants you to become very powerful. - companions when playing for a bright female character (clickable)



    A new influence system has appeared in the game, and now each companion has an Influence characteristic, which has a value from 0 to 100 (50 initial), which can vary depending on your actions, and in order to get influence you need to know the character of the character and perform certain actions. New dialogs are opened both at high and low Influence, i.e. if you play a dark character and the companion is light (and the companion likes good deeds), you can still go through his / her quest and do, for example, Jedi. But there is inconsistency, the companion in this case will become a light Jedi, although in the dialogs you will talk about the power of the dark side. This is due to the fact that the influence determines the “color” of the companion, that is, if influence == 100 and is dark, the companion will also be dark, and if 0 (that is, you have lost influence), it is accordingly bright and vice versa. This, of course, is a bug, but in my opinion, quite funny. Remember the good uncle Palpatine and how cute he was always in public. Therefore, the player can also play in order to seduce some unstable good man.

    Separately, it is worth mentioning Kreia. In fact, she has been teaching us the ways of the Force throughout the game. Kreia is neither a Jedi, nor a Sith, and hates both of them. Personally, I never liked to play a completely insane psychopath / psychopath, and indeed, senseless violence, even virtual, but Krei’s neutral-evil teaching, dislikes me. Yes, it is still dark, but if a player performs cruel acts without any real purpose, then Kreia will be very unhappy, because he believes that this has nothing to do with “true power”.

    As for the villains, they are just awesomely cool. The monster, plunged into the depths of the dark side so much that it lost not only its human appearance, but in general the physical body, and at the same time was already unable to experience anything except an all-consuming hunger. Darth Zion (or Zion, Sion), experiencing incredible suffering every moment of his existence and supporting his life exclusively by willpower. A cunning manipulator who prefers to act from the shadows through intrigue and betrayal.

    - Sith Triumvirate ( Hyperion127 Fan Art )
    I must admit that with the appearance of the villains, not everything worked out: Darth Nihilus, according to the idea, should not have anything under the mask at all, only a dark emptiness. And Darth Zion was supposed to create the feeling that he was holding parts of his body with the Force, but in the game he is more like a half-decomposed corpse. It is clear that Odissey just did not support the necessary technologies, such as bump mapping. But, nevertheless, the antagonists turned out to be extremely charismatic and memorable.

    Restoration work


    All the content produced and cut out by Obsidian was nevertheless left on the game disc (apparently there were some dependencies, so the developers did not dare to cut resources), so it is not surprising that this content was soon discovered by curious players. The first who seriously announced plans for recovery was Team Gizka, but the years passed, and no one saw anything but stories and publications of patch notes for the mod, which were not laid out for free access. As well as at least some developments (except for a few promotional videos ). Naturally, no one returned the money collected from the donates.

    But over time, the TSLRCM mod team formed of Stoney (it is known that he tried to work alone for a long time and released the so-called Stoney Patch), Zbyl2 (Sbignev Stanevich), SWfan28, Jinger, Hassat Hunter and VarsityPuppet. And in September 2009, the first release of the beta version of the mod appeared.

    - an example of the restored content, the HK series droid factory The
    current version of the mod (1.8.5) brings hundreds of changes to the game, bug fixes, restores quests and remakes a lot of characters (to more appropriate surroundings). Just look at these colossal lists of changes .
    You could fix what we couldn’t. We were not allowed. We just ... just appreciate it.
    - Ethnoni Davis, Eurogamer podcast [1]
    It is very doubtful that LucasArts was forbidden to release updates and patches for the game legally, it is more likely that the Obsidian management simply did not want to finish the game for “free”, without an additional contract. LucaArts himself was clearly not up to the games, because in the midst of it was hard work on the 3rd episode of Star Wars.
    Currently, some good developers have been supporting their projects for years, releasing either free content or a stripped down free update along with paid DLCs. And there are not so few examples: Terraria, Sins of Solar Empire: Rebellion, Cities Skylines, and the same Pillars of Eternity.
    But in the early 2000s, no one was engaged in this, although the same Obsidian could obviously have received a higher income from a percentage of sales if they had somehow brought KotOR 2 to mind. In any case, some Obsidian developers were very grateful for the completed work:
    Many people who bought a game for the first time, for example, on a Steam sale or elsewhere, will be told by their friends - “Yes, go download The Sith Lords Restored Content Mod, and install it - that’s how it should have been” . And it is right. And anyway, really, thank you guys from the bottom of my heart, I'm serious.
    - Anthony Davis, Eurogamer podcast [1]
    To date, work on the mod has already been completed, but unfortunately, not all content has been restored due to the fact that Obsidian either did not manage to start implementing part of the plan at all, or did some very small fragments. Actually for this reason, the mod team did not come up with Obsidian and left some of the ideas that could not be restored to other modders. So there were some mods making content from scratch:

    • The M4-78 Enhancement Project , which adds the planet of the droids M4-78, is done quite well in my opinion, although there are certain problems with the level design and some droids somehow speak pure English (I'm not sure if this was thought out or the developers forgot to screw voice -morpher, but in version 1.5, it seems, they fixed most of the problems).
    • Extended Enclave adding new dialogs and cut scenes on Dantooine.
    • GenoHaradan Legacy - talks about the secret order of the Assassins, who retrained from the defense of the Republic to hunt personally for you and other Jedi.

    If you play on Linux and you have a native Steam version, then, as I understand it, it is impossible to install mods on it using TSL patcher, so you can either not bother and download TSLRCM + M4-78 from the workshop, or you will have to install the legacypc version (game properties> beta), patch and play through Wine \ Proton (and the game will most likely work better than the native version).
    Windows users should also bear in mind that the mods delivered through the workshop are incompatible with those that must be installed using the TSL patcher.

    Plans for KotOR 3


    According to the outline of Obsidian (development did not go beyond pre-production), the players had to continue to play for the Exile / Exile from KotOR 2 and go to the Empire of the true Sith in search of Revan.

    - art created in Obsidian.
    These were supposed to be truly dark worlds ruled by the terrible and incredibly powerful lords of the Sith:
    Часть веселья в работе над их дизайном заключалась в том, что, если у вас в руках настолько исключительно могучие адепты Силы, и у них имеется целое потаённое владение в удалённых уголках галактики — как бы тогда на самом деле выглядела Империя Ситхов, в руках этих существ?
    Если бы они могли формировать целые планеты, галактики или туманности, и у них были бы все эти порабощённые расы в услужении, как бы тогда было круто — попасть в самое сердце тьмы? С вами в роли одинокого джедая и/или одного из Новейших Ситхов, выступивших против этих ребят? Каково бы это было? Думаю, получилось бы довольно эпично.
    - Chris Avellone, podcast Eurogamer [1]
    But LucasArts suspended work with Obsidian, deciding to transfer the development to one of the internal divisions, and soon completely closed the project.
    Somehow, the appearance of new consoles - PS3 and Xbox 360 could be implicated here, which would require the development of new engines, and this would already be costly in terms of money and time.
    - from a comment by Dan Spitzley, who worked at Obsidian as a senior programmer. Eurogamer Podcast [1]
    Also, it is likely that this decision was influenced by the release of the unfinished KotOR2.
    Perhaps if Obsidian had initially established itself as a team that makes high-quality projects, and always brings the work to the end, then LucasArts could invest in creating a new engine.

    More Obsidian
    - Anthony Davis, Brian Mense and Dan Spitzley

    Instead of KotOR 3, we got the Stars Wars: The Old Republic mmorpg with a slurred plot and mechanics copied from WoW (and this is the best thing in the game). The game was developed, already started to go downhill, Bioware (the studio was bought by EA in 2007, SWTOR was released in December 2011, by itself before Christmas), or rather, the new Bioware department, opened in California.

    The SWTOR story unfolds 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic and uses Obsidian ideas about the invasion of the Empire of the true Sith. But the game was apparently made according to some “secret documents” of Avellone, because it does not show the horrors of this Empire itself, nor the powerful Siths that inspire fear in entire galaxies, and even instead of HK-47 in the game they give the droid HK-55, which calls bags of meat organics (disgusting).

    What I did not like the most is that the heroes of the original games are simply killed in a stupid way (moreover, Revan twice). After all, this is some kind of Revan, who defeated the Mandolorians and put the Republic on his knees, and the Jedi Exile, who just destroyed the Sith Triumvirate for everything. Therefore, the characters in the story burst into the throne room to the immortal Emperor together with T3, the Exile and poor T3 die, and Revan is captured for 300 years, then later it is incomprehensible to die where it is inglorious to die.

    - Emperor Valkorion Visheyt, in his shell from the Eternal Empire, the main antagonist of SWTOR
    Then, in 2014, the addition of Shadow of Revan appeared, in which it turns out that Revan did not die, but teleported (and what could be done ?!), but in fact, only dark Revan did not die, and the bright Revan still died and we need to kill the dark Revan so that he can merge with the light Revan. If it seems to you that I am talking nonsense, then you are absolutely right, I also think so, but there really is such a plot.

    Starting in 2015, EAware began releasing story solo content for high-level characters.

    A bit of Spanish shame
    Нет, я правда не понимаю, неужели кто-то додумался до идеи, что люди играют в MMO не ради того, чтобы общаться, или ходить в рейды в приятной (и не очень) компании, или в конце концов ради PvP. А для того чтобы играть в одиночку, наблюдая за очередным дурацким сюжетным поворотом из разряда «вот теперь то это истинно Истинная Империя Ситхов или кого-то там, взвейтесь да развейтесь». Серьёзно? Ну и бред. Придумали Bioware, а стыдно мне.

    An update policy that adds uninteresting solo content, and all the donut stuff, instead of the normal end-game content (raids, PvP modes, etc.), fix bugs and balance, has led to the final outflow of players, and at the moment we can say that the project is dead (in the evenings, a PvP match is searched for 20-30 minutes, there are more people in the Movie Battles). Although Bioware is preparing a new update, in which, suddenly, for the first time in 5 years, they will add a new raid and even remake the system of abilities, stats and armor, but I very much doubt that it will suddenly become interesting to play this game. Oh yes, in the plot, the characters will be resurrected again and a war will begin between the Republic and the Sith Empire (well, this time for sure True!).

    Conclusion


    The Knights of the Old Republic games are probably the best games in the Star Wars universe, and certainly the best in the story. Yes, the second part turned out unfinished and terribly unstable, but the main thing was that it had a wonderful foundation: interesting dialogues, elaborate characters, and an exciting story. And thanks to this, a community of fans has developed around the game, who began to finish the game on their own, and as a result completed everything they could.

    Obsidian planned to make the best Star Wars game, but the lack of time, the inexperience of the developers, and not-so-adequate leadership led to one of the most famous failures in the modern gaming industry. Obsidian itself has long been entrenched with the status of bagodels of people who make interesting, but very buggy games.
    This is what Obsidian created. That is the reason we are here. How to say it, for me, KotOR 2 simply personifies Obsidian as a whole.
    - Dan Spitzley, Eurogamer podcast [1]
    For many developers from Obsidian KotOR 2 was the first serious project, and for some more an unforgettable experience:
    I was in the same boat. I ended up at Interplay, and when this project started, and they got the opportunity to start bringing to us in Obsidian those of us who were sadly dragging behind ... It was like a fresh start, and this feeling turned into a real feeling of brotherhood, probably - it was so exciting, and I myself felt so happy, being part of it all. To be honest, during my career - more than 20 games, this one is probably in the top three selected moments in my life
    — Брайан Мензе, подкаст Eurogamer[1]
    Это был просто шокирующий, потрясающий опыт. И вот, даже теперь, когда я вышел из игровой индустрии, спустя почти 9 лет в ней, я иногда оглядываюсь на всё это, и вспоминаю множество сладко-горьких моментов. Хотелось бы, чтобы мы сделали больше, но я горжусь и тем, что получилось.
    Я скучаю по народу. Я скучаю по тем нашим приятным временам, и по тяжёлой работе, которую мы делали.
    - Anthony Davis, Eurogamer podcast [1]
    As for the sequel, one gets the feeling that screenwriters and game designers were chained to macbooks somewhere in EA dungeons, and given a little rice for only the next 10 thousand characters, so they sincerely hated that over than they worked.
    But seriously, it’s clear that SWTOR was released solely for monetization. A new studio was created, and the developers generally did not very well understand what they were doing and why.

    Fans also tried to remake Part 1 on Unreal Engine 4, but LucasFilm was banned from using their intellectual property (in fact, LucasFilm no longer exists, only a few copywriters are left there).

    Considering that franchise rights will not change the owner (EA / Disney) for a long time, then there is no reason to count on good RPGs on pollutants (it would be better if nothing came of it than the next division of the Andromeda level). It’s hard to say about other genres, at least in the Fallen Order there is no feeling that instead of a lightsaber the Jedi has a light baton from Futurama, as in the rather mediocre Force Unleashed. But this is still the same console gameplay with double jumps and climbing walls.

    A little bit about new films
    Недавно была анонсированна новость о том, что в Disney начали работать над фильмом по Knights of the Old Republic. Пока что известно, что сценарий пишет Лаэта Калогридис, а руководить проектом будут создатели «Игры престолов» Девид Бениофф и Дэн Уас.

    На мой взгляд, из всей фильмографии Лаэты Калогридис приличным «кином» можно назвать только «Остров проклятых» (сценарист, исполнительный продюсер) и «Видоизмененный углерод» (шоураннер). При том, что она же отметилась написанием сценария к таким провальным фильмам как «Терминатор: Генезис», «Александр» и «Призрак в доспехах».
    У «Игры престолов» тоже серьезные проблемы со сценарием в последних сезонах (пока, в качестве основы были книжки Джорджа Мартина, всё было в порядке).

    Мне кажется, что выйдет полнейший провал. Ну кто всерьёз поверит, что Калогридис станет играть в KotOR, и сможет хоть что-то приличное выдать, если не о Реване, то хотя бы о Старой Республике. Впрочем, буду рада ошибаться по этому поводу.

    Ещё хотелось высказаться об уже отснятых Диснеем фильмах, но не хочу материться. Я просто не понимаю, как можно было настолько ужасно сделать абсолютно всё (кроме Rogue One). И почему создатели Last Jedi так ненавидят Люка, фильм что, снимали родственники штурмовиков со Звезды Смерти?
    Ладно, давайте лучше посмотрим на куда более профессионально выполненные (на мой взгляд) фанатские фильмы.
    Вот небольшой список того, что мне понравилось за последнее время:


    Конечно, есть свои недостатки. И у ребят, снимавших эти короткометражки не было 358 млн. долларов, но и сюжет, и спецэффекты, и костюмы, и постановка боёв, всё выполнено на высоком уровне. И, главное, были соблюдены законы и логика вселенной (изменяющиеся, без каких-либо причин, физические законы — это всегда признак хренового фентези, потому что создателям просто лень найти выход из ситуации не нарушая правила).
    Вообще это замечательно, что, даже вот в таких вот жанрах, независимое кино уже вышло на уровень сравнимый или даже выше, чем массовое кино.
    А дуэль Оби-Вана с Вейдером я пересмотрела уже раз 40, настолько Вейдер там хорош, и все эти фразы «There is no escape», «Then I will show you True nature of the Force». Просто круто.

    And may the Force chlorochlorians be with you .

    * - actually this is my remix made on the basis of another remix, but I don’t remember where I found it and who the author is.

    Used materials:

    1. Eurogamer podcast , 2003 + translation
    2. RPGCodex forum + translation

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