Hello all...I've just now begun checking out this forum and checking out this game. It looks awesome. I have only played the demo of Jedi Knight 2, my fiance and I both loved it!! However, being as broke, we never bought it. Now I am thinking of getting this game. But,

For someone like me who has never played a Jedi Knight game - all the way through. Is this game going to be difficult? Is it going to be playable on the net like the other. If so - are the Jedi Knight Oldbies going to kick my ass?

Thanks for the info. I really appreciate!

And welcome all to LF!

It’s one of those things that are easy to "pick up" but tough to "master".

The cool thing about it is it is really several games in one.

You have the sp game.

Then w/ multi player you have servers where it's anything goes, guns powers etc.

Then you have "duel" servers where people just fight one on one with sabers.


A lot of games like quake, counter-strike are pretty much the same from server to server, sans any mod of course.

But with the JK games it’s like 3-4 separate games so even if you don’t like certain things with MP, there will always be a large community of servers for the specific game type you dig.

Hey I got into the series when I was 11 years old. It was JK: Dark Forces 2 and it was also my first online game ever. Of course I was getting owned left and right but I was having fun doing it! Towards the end of JK's lifetime I became a pretty good player. I wasn't in any ladders but I was a head member of a small clan and kicking people's butts on the zone...many of those butts were a lot older than mine. JK2:Outcast was tottally diffrent from JK: DF2. Players new and old started from scratch and while the difference won't be as drastic this time(I could be wrong) much(and perhaps all) will have to be relearned. As far as getting your ass kicked...there is always someone better than you...someone who dedicates their life to a single game...and then there is always somebody better than even them. So no matter who you are you are going to get your fair share of ass kickings. As far as being a noob it depends. Some people such as myself pick up the basics of a game very quickly this often because of innate ablilty to pick things up easily and/or lots of experience with games. My perfered way to play a new game is plop down in my chair and get into it without knowing what and of the buttons, items etc do. If you are familer with the WASD configeration and have a knack for setting up your own key config then I'd say you will learn pretty quickly. If not let this be the game that teachs you as JK: DF2 taught me. Remember wining isn't everything and although wining is fun, striving to win(and increasing your skills) is often equally if not more enjoyable. Persenally I enjoy a good challenge and enjoy the frustration of losing(as silly as it may sound) because when you have failed so many times it is that much more fun to succeed. You can even play against other noobs while getting used to the game. Heck get a LAN game going with your bride to be! I'd love to have girlfriend that enjoyed video games as much as I do.

PS Sorry about any spelling errors. That area isn't exactly my speciality.

Well, I don't think JA single player should be any harder than JKII's single player...

As for MP, I think that JKII SP players are going to have an advantage over JKII MP players since JA MP has been designed to feel like SP rather than JKII MP.

Originally posted by STTCT
Hello all...I've just now begun checking out this forum and checking out this game. It looks awesome. I have only played the demo of Jedi Knight 2, my fiance and I both loved it!! However, being as broke, we never bought it. Now I am thinking of getting this game. But,

For someone like me who has never played a Jedi Knight game - all the way through. Is this game going to be difficult? Is it going to be playable on the net like the other. If so - are the Jedi Knight Oldbies going to kick my ass?

Thanks for the info. I really appreciate!

And welcome all to LF!
The game is going to be difficult in some parts, and easy in others - aren't all games? There must be a challenge after all. :)

It'll certainly be playable on the internet. You might get smacked around a bit of course, but that happens even to the best of players. Pick it up when it comes out, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

"are the Jedi Knight Oldbies going to kick my ass?"

Yes . . .

Hi STTCT. :)

For SP...there is less focus on large complex puzzles in Jedi Academy. I know a few people had some problems with a few of the puzzles in Jedi Outcast, so in those terms, getting through the physical levels should be slightly easier. You also start out with a lightsaber and some Force powers from the very beginning in JA, and I'm sure many people would agree that Jedi Outcast got easier when you picked up your saber and Force powers in the 5th level. There's a greater focus on lightsaber combat in SP, and considering SP and MP saber-play will be as similar in possible this time around, by playing through SP (which will no doubt get progressively harder), you should be picking up the skills needed to take people on in MP. In that respect, I think SP will be a more valuable asset for new players contemplating MP, to get up to speed.

Then, of course, you always have the option of practicing against bots in the MP maps. I tried this first myself in Jedi Outcast, because it helps you to familiarise yourself with all of the maps, and you can start off with just a couple of 'easy' bots, and then ramp up their difficulty as you gain confidence, and add more bots to the maps too. When you're confident at tackling bots at the highest level of difficulty, then try playing online.

It didn't take me very long to get into MP play online with Jedi Outcast, and I didn't do too badly in the very beginning. So I don't think the learning curve is that high. As unnamed said, it's fairly easy to pick up, but it may take you a while to learn the little nuances of combat familiar to more experienced players. Then again...the lightsaber combat has changed again in this game, so even combat veterans will have to learn the new moves.

Well, STTCT, playing the JO demo was my introduction to the JK/DF series. the first time I played it, I got my head handed to me by the first two stormtroopers I ran across. (a bit embarrassing :D ) Fast forward to today. I can kill stormies with ease, massacre Reborn, and have a better than average chance of winning duels in MP. Since I spent the first few months playing the SP game through and familiarizing myself with the saber moves and different weapons, my transition into MP was fairly easy. Here's what I suggest: get JA, but don't jump into the MP game until you finish the SP game. At least, that strategy worked for JO.

Hi! My first experience with JK is when I played the demo that came with the Clone Campaigns Expansion for Galactic battlegrounds. Shouldn't be too hard. Good luck!

I also suggest getting through singleplayer first before multiplayer. Thats what I did in JO.

You should gain some of the skills needed through running through singleplayer.

Originally posted by Obi-Wan X
I also suggest getting through singleplayer first before multiplayer. Thats what I did in JO.

You should gain some of the skills needed through running through singleplayer.

Not realy....Multi player and single player are WAY different execpt for guns and a few move with saber

...am i the only one here who has been a fan of this series since Dark Forces, back in '95? :(

sry, ImmolatedYoda, I only got interested in the series when I got the JO demo included with Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns, just like HaruGlory 89. (ironically, I played the JO demo more than Galactic Battlegrounds.) I then bought JK first to find out Kyle's previous exploits. After all, some parts of the JO storyline assume that you've known Kyle since JK. I remember seeing Dark Forces in stores when it first came out, though. I am currently eagerly awaiting the Dark Forces TC for JA. (releasing the mod for JO now seems unlikely) But I digress. To reply to Side's post, yes, the SP and MP games are different, but not so different that you have to relearn everything. I found the transition from SP to MP went smoothly for me.

well if your getting beat you could allways go to the new hermes place server and learn a thing or two.

This game is quite difficult to master because there will always be someone who has played this game for longer who will absolotely own you so you have to watch out for them. :p


[Yeah I'm one of those people who finishes nearly always with 100 health and a few armour taken off]

While they will be striving like never before to make SP and MP in JA similar, I still say there will be no substitute for bot matches and field experience.

I wholeheartedly disagree that SP prepares one for MP in JK2. The entire "feel" of the two is entirely off, and after you play a long time this becomes more and more apparent.

JK and MotS didn't have this issue, because the gameplay and functions were 97% the same (minor differences in the number of force powers you could have at once and what you got when picking up backpacks plus a few more powerups in MP).

The only way I can recommend SP is that it introduces you to basic FPS conventions... ie: how to shoot and move around in the gaming "world." Similarly using force powers and saber for the first time confuses a lot of people (since most FPS games lack those things) so this would be a bit of an introduction.

However, the differing speeds (SP is much slower paced), the fact that most of the Force powers are missing from SP and even the ones that are in both have different functions (take Speed or Pull for example). The AI are much harder to kill than MP characters (by that I don't refer to intelligence, obviously a good MP player can be VERY difficult to overcome)... they take more hits to kill due to higher health/shields and weaker weapons (the lightsaber being the exception... the SP lightsaber seems overpowered, while the other weapons are underpowered). Items work differently, your moves are different (the way acrobatics work for example, and the saber stances).

Since everything is different, I started with bot matches and MP and stayed with it, because the first few times I played SP I got the two confused, and doing well in one I did poorly in the other (especially after investing enough time to master one or the other). They are like two seperate games (even the patches which were intended to make MP saber more like SP did not completely make them the same).

I imagine JA will still have this difficulty, though perhaps to a somewhat lesser degree.

I cannot say with certainty what the learning curve from JK2 to JA will be, but I'm sure it will be there. While the changes that have been announced sound superficial (4 new weapons, one new force power, drivable vehicles, 2 new game modes replacing 3 others), they may infact change the game dynamic in ways we won't know until we play. It probably won't be as radical as the change from JK to JK2, but you never know...

Bot matches were my staple in MP for...eight months...then I got a faster comp, and I could finally play against others.

I can now win a 20 kill bot match (Jedi Master) in 3-5 min, now.

Before playing others, I used to need 10 min. to win a Padawan bot match of 15 kills.

So, while bot matches are helpful, the onlty way to get GOOD is to play other people.

Speaking of SP/MP differences, does anyone know if it's possible to kick in SP?

do you mean kick as in the JO MP kick? if so, then im not sure, but you will be able to kick in SP with the double-bladed saber.

Not realy....Multi player and single player are WAY different execpt for guns and a few move with saber

Am I the only one who completed single player and had no trouble with multiplayer? It was certainly different, but I got the point well enough. If your someone that really hasn't played any FPS, then I would suggest the single player game first.

I don't know :D, maybe im the only one who prefers singleplayer sabers over multiplayer sabers. While it may be slower, I feel that everything is a bit more fluent.

Perhaps a more direct answer to your question...

Do I, a seasoned JK2 player, fully expect to get my *** handed to me time and again until I master the game through patience and practice?

Yes.

But I don't find shame in that, it's the challenge I look forward to, which is half the fun. ; )

(It was the same way when I started playing MotS after JK1.)

Thanks guys for your input. I am looking forward to this game and might start off - since I'm going on vacation in Sept. By buying a copy of JK2 (since I hear it is cheaper)...This should help me with this game coming up. As you all have said, there are minute difference - but the feel of the game will generally be the same.

I want a game that is going to last "awhile" I'm tired of buying a game - to play it for maybe a week (hey I have a life :) and have to work (sometiems)) and then finish it. I am glad to hear that multiplayer will have its challenges - but after practice I will be able to play with the "small-dogs".

Thanks for the help guys!

No Yoda, you are not alone about being a fan of these games since Dark Forces. Think the DF demo was the first game I ever played actually...

You will probably get wasted at first in MP, but just take it with a grin and you will get better and waste all of the other noobs.