Greetings:
JK2Files.com has been granted a Q&A with LucasArts and Raven staff, and is pleased to announce this exclusive Jedi Academy news, revealing new details about the game not seen anywhere else:
http://www.jk3files.com/file.news?ID=5254)
Enjoy!
Astyanax
Thnx a lot . Its good to know that we have guys like you to keep us informed .
I'm a little disapointed that the dual sabers and saber-staff only have 1 stance. But all the other thing the mentioned were good , especially the roll-over the ground thing . I hated to be stabed while i was on the ground.:mad:
****!!! I made a big f*cking post, commenting on several issues, with quotes and everything, then I post, it says I included too many smilies and I LOST MY ENTIRE POST!! NOOOO!!!!
I'm SO PISSED RIGHT NOW :mad: :mad:
*sigh*
Well it was a very nice read... thx for the link...
thanks for the link man!
i was kinda disappointed that all powers could be used with the double and duel sabers.... well life goes on :p
sorry about your post man:(
That's a good read :)
The new sabers are their own saber stance, and there are new moves for each of the single saber stances.
each are their own stance? so they only have 1 for each of the new sabers. This will probably fix balance issues, which is good but might make us a little short on moves :(
Still, the single saber stances have extra moves :D
Too bad about only one stance for the duel/staff. I am glad that force powers (most) will still be available (push/pull) for these saber options though - at least for SP. I can see where maybe grip or mind trick or something would be left out, but not the basics.
I'm also looking forward to driving a swoop bike :). Maybe this game will be different enough to catch some extra attention.
Why hasn't someone asked about using one side of a staff or using one saber out of the two for a single saber option later in the game? I wish someone would ask that. I also wish someone would ask whether the different characters you pick will have different dialogue during the game or whether they will just have a male voice and a female voice.
Another nice *drip* of information ... ahhh ....
- So now we have confirmation of the confirmed confirmation that there are 6 possible species - Human male or female, Rodian male, Twi’lek female, Kel Dor male and Zabrak female. The '2000 combinations' are dress-ups of these.
- I actually kind of like the idea of the dual sabers / staff being a 'stance' of their own. They each are supposed to have quite a few moves, and the dual sabers have longer reach, the staff better for close combat. So we should have decent balance.
- I am glad that they ruled out the 'no force powers with staff' thing ... but I don't think it is definitive - there may be limitations, for instance.
- Riding swoop bike - cool. Sounds much better than the !&**&@%^$%&^# tanks from MoH Spearhead (just finished that in ~3 hours!).
Looks better each time ...
Mike
Thanks alot for the link man! ;)
The thing with "combining force powers" was a bit lame though...
You can actually combine Force Speed with Force Jump and thus make longer jumps!!! OMFG teh c00lness!!
.... duh? :rolleyes:
Originally posted by Luc Solar
The thing with "combining force powers" was a bit lame though...
I like that idea - we'll have to see how it plays out. I just hope it plays out as 'you can go through this dangerous area, or you can make an extended Force jump across the chasm' rather than 'we won't let you finish this level without a rediculously hard combo-jump, so quicksave and prepare to fall to your death 16 times before reloading at the last Academy savepoint so you can choose this as part of the 20% of missions you can skip'
Another obvious combo would be lightning-grip or lightning-push, which would be devastating dark side combos.
Mike
...and how the hell is Drain a new power? That one just sounded like the same old drain, excep that it now draws from health instead of force power.
The sabre stuff sounds potentially good. I'm guardedly optimistic that they'll have learned their lessons from last time. It still sounds like the sabres are going to be too weak, though. And as far as all stances being useful, that certainly wasn't true in the last game, but that was largely due to the damage models and the way special moves operated. I'm hoping that the new acrobatics and flashy moves will be well balanced, though the notion of the "stab the guy on the ground, miss, and be in BIG trouble" move is encouraging. As long as the uber moves have a corresponding downside to them, and as long as using the regular swings will be a viable way to kill someone (IE: you don't have to hit them 5 or 6 times to get a kill) things should work reasonably well.
Let's just hope LucasArts gets a clue and releases modding tools and lets the game be mod friendly.
I"m glad that more force powers can be used at the same time as swinging saber or shooting gun.
I like the drawing from health version of drain better, however that kinda makes lightning useless so I don't t hink it actually does that. I think its the same way as before. that wood Speed up fighting alot. Also, lights can fight drain now much easier than before, making for 1v1 ff sab worthwhile to be light. But I doubt it is like that and that I misread.
It would suck if you couldn't use the Force with dual sabers. I mean, since when were hands a prerequisite? Vader was able to choke a guy without the hand gesture, why can't we? :D
Vader actually did use his hands to choke the admiral guy.
The combining force part was a bit stupid, you could jump and use speed in jk1, i was tihking they meant drain+grip type thing so that it speeds up the kill and you take health at the same time.
:p
Oh and what Jerec done to Rahn sounds very similar to the new force drain. :p
Hmmm...likely no dismemberment as a feature. Unfortunate, but here's to hoping it's at least still featured as a code in SP. As for MP, maybe the mod community can do something about it.
Originally posted by JediLurker
Hmmm...likely no dismemberment as a feature. Unfortunate, but here's to hoping it's at least still featured as a code in SP. As for MP, maybe the mod community can do something about it.
There is a distinct difference in 'dismemberment' in the context of taking out stormies with your saber and seeing their hand fall, compared to SoFII, where someone surprises you, you take damage, then turn around and blow their head off (literally) with the shotgun, then proceed to blow off their limbs one at a time in revenge ...
I believe we'll continue to see JKII style dismemberment - at least in SP.
Mike
I agree with you there. Excessive blood and gore is not my cup of tea either. There doesn't need to be any of that, however. JO didn't have it and I was more than fine with it. I don't want dismemberment for the sake of dismemberment, but because that's the way it really should be. Without the code in JO, I felt more like I was hitting enemies upside the head with a giant glow stick rather than cutting them with a blade of energy. However, with the code, you get excessive dismemberment. I'd hit an enemy and he would literally fall apart. I agree that it'll probably be back and be much the same as JO, which I'll settle for, but I was hoping it would be a standardized feature and as such, more refined than the code. The example being your mention of cutting a hand off versus hacking them to pieces unintentionally by simply holding the saber near the falling body.
Originally posted by JediLurker
I agree with you there. Excessive blood and gore is not my cup of tea either.
I didn't say that ;)
I like games like JKII and MoHAA where there is no blood. RtCW with the blood seemed a bit much. But SoFII I liked the heavy gore. It fit well with the game.
Mike
I never played SoFII, so I don't know about that, but basically if it makes sense for it to be there, blood and gore is fine. That's where things tend to go wrong, though, which is why I don't particularly care for it in most games. Usually it's there just to be there.
But like I said, I'll settle for whatever comes. :)
Thanks for the link and heads-up, astyanax. :thumbsup:
As for dismemberment...I'd be disappointed to see any of the cheat codes removed. I hope they keep it like JO, if they're not going to have it as an option in the menus. Having said that, if they say they want dismemberment to be closer to the movies, then they should not forget there was a mid-section slice, arms cut off, and Vader's head chopped off in ESB (well, it wasn't really Vader, I know...but it was still a decapitation shown on screen).
Does this mean we'll see decapitations in the game by default? I'd have to doubt it.
It's good to have confirmation of Force power use with the new sabers.
And I can't wait to get my hands on that Swoop bike, which is now officially confirmed. :)
Thanks for the info man, JA seems to be getting better with each update!
The swoop is good news indeed imo. To me it sounds like there will be at least a huge, wide open spaced level at some point! Surely they wont have us driving a swoops through Coruscant or Yavin, slamming into trees and walls and having barely any room for it. This also screams possible pod racing modifications in the future.
Can't wait to see another trailer.
Awesomes! :)
It's news.... thanks :D
Originally posted by txa1265
I like that idea - we'll have to see how it plays out. I just hope it plays out as 'you can go through this dangerous area, or you can make an extended Force jump across the chasm' rather than 'we won't let you finish this level without a rediculously hard combo-jump, so quicksave and prepare to fall to your death 16 times before reloading at the last Academy savepoint so you can choose this as part of the 20% of missions you can skip'
I think the unfortunate scenario you described is all but in the game as we speak. I would even bet money that something like this will be in the game.
Originally posted by lllKyNeSlll
I like the drawing from health version of drain better, however that kinda makes lightning useless so I don't t hink it actually does that. I think its the same way as before. that wood Speed up fighting alot. Also, lights can fight drain now much easier than before, making for 1v1 ff sab worthwhile to be light. But I doubt it is like that and that I misread.
Remember that in SP not every one is a Force user. What effect would Drain have on stormtroopers? So the health version has its reasons and I hope we haven't misread because it seems a better power this way. Maybe it sucks much lesser health than lightning so this last isn't useless.
Originally posted by Sargasso
I think the unfortunate scenario you described is all but in the game as we speak. I would even bet money that something like this will be in the game.
I agree ... and hope we're both wrong.
The even sadder thing was that when I wrote that I was thinking not of anything from JKII, but rather numerous stupid moments in MoH:Speadhead, and also the 'get out of the asteroid' level in MotS.
Stupid forced moments like this are a classic part of FPS history ... and it is about time they become part of history.
If, on the other hand they put it in, but as one of two ways around, cheers to them! We'll groan 'another stupid jump puzzle' at first, then realize 'no, there is another' ... way. ;)
Mike
i dont actually mid jump puzzles as long as they are intuitive and dont seem to have been just placed in there solely for the purpose of making a jump puzzle. About 60% of the original JK was jumping through air vents and so on, but it was a lot of fun.
What bugged me in JO was the stupid "feature" of using the force to "solve puzzles". This tended to mean that there was ONE CRATE that could be force pushed to solve a puzzle, even if you had tried that on loads of INDENTICAL crates and it hadn't worked anything like that. (especially as the crate would slide from one position to another, even if you were pusshing it at a different angle... grrr..
I do hope they make the force powers useful for much more OPTIONAL environmental usage... a bit like the towers when facing dessan. SO if you thought of it you might be able to pull levers and drop crates on people, or push buttons and close doors on them or throw your saber through a pillar and drop a bridge on them.
These should be optional things to do in combat, rather than required puzzles though.
from the article
For example, if you are knocked over in a game, the player who knocked you over can try to stab you while you are on the groundOMFG!!11!1! Attacking after a knockdown iz lame!1!! This shouldn't be in teh game. You ar gay newb if you attack someone on the ground!1!1!! l33t d00ds don't, because tehy have honor!1. Saber down= peace!1!!
Did I get that right? I can hear the whining already :D
Originally posted by toms
What bugged me in JO was the stupid "feature" of using the force to "solve puzzles".
Kind of like in MotS. :cool: Hey - I can see secret stuff some of the time with these glasses on! :( Now without them, not only can't I see the switch ... I can't use it!
I do hope they make the force powers useful for much more OPTIONAL environmental usage... a bit like the towers when facing dessan. SO if you thought of it you might be able to pull levers and drop crates on people, or push buttons and close doors on them or throw your saber through a pillar and drop a bridge on them.
These should be optional things to do in combat, rather than required puzzles though. I know the Q3 engine can do more environmental stuff, as I kept bumoing into chairs in RtCW ... I'd like to see as much interaction as possible. I liked in JK / MotS how you could 'bump' some things around (but again, not all). Only new engine games seem likely to have more interaction, and I'm betting that will be more limited than currently promised as the realities of system specs come into play ...
Mike
Originally posted by Prime
OMFG!!11!1! Attacking after a knockdown iz lame!1!! This shouldn't be in teh game. You ar gay newb if you attack someone on the ground!1!1!! l33t d00ds don't, because tehy have honor!1. Saber down= peace!1!!
Did I get that right? I can hear the whining already :D
:ball:
Am I crying as I laugh ... or because it is so sadly true ...
Mike
What bugged me in JO was the stupid "feature" of using the force to "solve puzzles". This tended to mean that there was ONE CRATE that could be force pushed to solve a puzzle, even if you had tried that on loads of INDENTICAL crates and it hadn't worked anything like that. (especially as the crate would slide from one position to another, even if you were pusshing it at a different angle... grrr..
I do hope they make the force powers useful for much more OPTIONAL environmental usage... a bit like the towers when facing dessan. SO if you thought of it you might be able to pull levers and drop crates on people, or push buttons and close doors on them or throw your saber through a pillar and drop a bridge on them.
These should be optional things to do in combat, rather than required puzzles though.
I agree 100%.
Unfortunately, you've just described is probably how Half-Life 2 is going to work (without the force of course) instead of Jedi Academy.
:(
I liked the force puzzles and was sorry to see that they gradually faded as the game went on. The force test on yavin was a great level for me the first time I played it. I agree however that they should make a bit more sense. The bizzarely moving crates were silly.
Unfortunately, you've just described is probably how Half-Life 2 is going to work (without the force of course) instead of Jedi Academy.
Now lets not get our hopes down. Even if JKJA didn't have the awsome physics *drools* of Half-Li- *wipes saliva off chin*woops :p . Even if JKJA doesn't have the whole keg of beer, I'm sure it will have its own bottles of vintage wine.
AKA: JKJA might not be the best of the best best bestest best. It will always have something that will make us look back and say, no other game did that the way they did it, or that was so unique and cool.
On the dismemberment topic, I was playing JO the other day and loaded up The Pit level in Single player and as I was battling Tavion, I pressed the strafe button and held down the primary attack button, my lightsaber hit her in the neck and her head flew off and she collapsed to the ground. I don't have any mods and I didn't have any cheats on, other than loading that level, it was pretty cool.
Originally posted by Sargasso
I agree 100%.
Unfortunately, you've just described is probably how Half-Life 2 is going to work (without the force of course) instead of Jedi Academy.
:(
Actually, much of that is how stuff in Deus Ex worked ...
There are useful limits to environmental interaction, too. I played a bit of a demo for some new FPS (was it Destruction or ? I can't recall) ... it was pretty lousy, but the thing was you could interact with just about everything. The result - I was walking through a tool shop and stuff was just raining down aroung me, clanking everywhere ... totally frustrating!
*IF* HL2 comes off as the tech demo seemed to show (and remember, they were using hardware in May superior to what 98% (TMN - totally made-up number) of gamers will have when people get their hands on the game in early October (if)) - then it will be truly a revolution in FPS gaming technology. It (again, assuming not too many compromises before release) will greatly leapfrog all existing standards of interaction and immersion. But will it be a revolution in anything but technology? Who knows. It will certainly not be Star Wars, nor will Gordon Freeman be a Jedi, light or dark, so the game is already at a disadvantage in my book :)
Jedi Academy represents evolutionary technology and evolutionary gameplay. So long as they step forward on all fronts (regardless of the relative size of the steps) I will be more than sattisfied with Raven/LEC and the game. That's just me.
Mike