Star Wars KOTOR - PC Version, Sequel Rumors

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Star Wars KOTOR - PC Version, Sequel Rumors

Posted by simoniker on Saturday October 11, 2003 @09:09AM from the coterie-of-kotor-craziness dept.

Thanks to IGN PC for their hands-on preview of the PC version of Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, which is currently due to ship on the 18th November. Apart from increased game resolution (up to 1600x1200) and texture detail, "about thirty new items will be added to the game, including two new lightsaber types", and "the space station around Yavin (from the first film) is a new locale" for this conversion of BioWare's immensely popular Xbox RPG. GameSpot also has a brief preview of the PC version, and elsewhere, IGN Xbox has an interesting, but very unconfirmed rumor that a sequel to KOTOR "...is not being developed internally at BioWare, but in Orange County at Obsidian Entertainment", the Black Isle-rich company who recently announced a co-development deal with the KOTOR creators.

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Wonderful news by aurum42 · 2003-10-11 09:16 · Score: 1

Bioware has always been a purveyor of quality games (unlike Black Isle, which broke its trend with Lionheart), and I can't wait for KOTOR/PC to come out. Most Star wars games I've played have been dreck.This also raises the question: why did the Halo PC port take two years to complete? And it's (from most accounts) poorly optimized for the PC, with a two year old engine dropping frames on today's high end PCs. Hopefully this will play smoothly, given that the xbox sports a 700 Mhz celeron and a mid-range nvidia card (as I recall)..

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"The slave who knows his master's will and does not get ready...will be be beaten with many blows."Luke 12:47-48
1. Re:Wonderful news by Anonymous Coward · 2003-10-11 16:04 · Score: 0
  
  "Bioware has always been a purveyor of quality games..."
  Of course, this depends on what you mean by "quality." Lest we forget MDK, not to mention the original campaign for NWN. Shattered Steel wasn't great either. In other words, you're probably talking about the BG series and NWN's toolset, right?
2. Re:Wonderful news by MMaestro · 2003-10-11 17:31 · Score: 1
  
  Bioware always being a purveyor of quality games? I picked up Neverwinter Nights the week it came out, and I was NOT impressed. True the Fallout series and the toolkit for NwN were great, but "always" is too strong of a word.
  As for Halo PC being poorly optimized for the PC, first Bungie didn't make the PC port. Second, its easier to design ANYTHING when you have only one set of restrictions to work with. In the case of Halo PC... well, the fact that people still use Pentium 1 computers to play Half-Life multiplayer should give you an idea of what type of non-existant standards PC gamers tend to create.
3. Re:Wonderful news by aurum42 · 2003-10-11 20:12 · Score: 1
  
  I'll definitely agree with you about the official NWN campaign..it was rather like a fractal pattern in that most chapters had some quest that required you to find 4 objects or explore 4 areas etc. Very unoriginal and repetitive. But the impression I had was that the single player campaign had been tacked on as an afterthought, and that the true focus was "bringing the pen and paper experience to online gaming", with the toolset and module support. Given the number of popular modules out there, I think they succeeded. My memories of MDK are hazy, but I remember liking it a lot..it was pretty innovative for its time.
  
  --
  "The slave who knows his master's will and does not get ready...will be be beaten with many blows."Luke 12:47-48
4. Re:Wonderful news by aurum42 · 2003-10-11 20:19 · Score: 1
  
  I'm quite aware that Gearbox did the PC port of Halo - did I ever assert otherwise? Sure, the xbox is a static target, whereas PCs are both moving and amorphous targets, but that's why there's this programming concept called "abstraction", and the many application programming interfaces that help isolate hardware specific details. It certainly doesn't explain why a game developed for the xbox fails to run well on systems a year or two newer that should deliver vastly improved performance. Plus MS claimed that Halo for the PC ought to run well at 1600x1200, when a dual xeon 3 Ghz with a 9800 pro doesn't manage to deliver seamless gameplay at that resolution, at least according to a friend of a friend (and comments on gamespot tend to corroborate this).
  
  --
  "The slave who knows his master's will and does not get ready...will be be beaten with many blows."Luke 12:47-48
Success demands more success by MMaestro · 2003-10-11 09:17 · Score: 1

Any successful game with a strong franchise behind it (in this case Star Wars) will spawn sequels. Its the nature of the gaming/franchise relationship. The LOTR movies were successful, that caused a LOTR game that was successful, and that caused a LOTR sequel game.
1. Re:Success demands more success by WTFmonkey · 2003-10-12 05:55 · Score: 1
  
  Were those LOTR games any good? I'm always wary of games that come out immediately after a movie because they usually suck (recent Spiderman, Hulk, and Matrix, e.g.), but I heard that the console version of FotR was fun. I'm considering picking up the PC version now that's around $20. Any opinions?
Waitwaitwait... by bluemeep · 2003-10-11 09:23 · Score: 2, Funny

You mean to say it'll look better AND have more content?
*scratches KOTOR off his Reasons To Get An Xbox list*
1. Re:Waitwaitwait... by DaveCBio · 2003-10-11 10:06 · Score: 1
  
  Don't forget Xbox has Live updates. Also, a $200 Xbox looks pretty damn good compared to a $1500 PC.
2. Re:Waitwaitwait... by kaellinn18 · 2003-10-11 10:13 · Score: 1
  
  Unless he was posting his message with a laser pointer over an optical internet connection, he obviously already has a PC. :-)
  
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  This isn't the sig you're looking for. Move along.
3. Re:Waitwaitwait... by simoniker · 2003-10-11 14:49 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Something worth mentioning, and hinted at in the articles, is that the extra in-game items (and other new content?) _MIGHT_ be coming to Xbox consumers over Xbox Live. And since it's quite possible that DaveCBio works for BioWare, well.. he might know what he's talking about, I guess. Worth watching out for.
4. Re:Waitwaitwait... by superultra · 2003-10-13 02:42 · Score: 1
  
  You mean to say it'll look better AND have more content?
  
  I used to be a PC guy only. But even given slightly worse graphics (the content will be downloadable through XBL), I'd much rather be sitting on a couch holding a simpler controller with true DTS 5.1 and a 27 inch "monitor" than on a PC. To be honest, I kept hearing about how much better the Splinter Cell graphics were going to be on PC, and I didn't think it was at all better than my Xbox (Athlon XP 1500, 512, GF44200 128MB).
  
  Don't write off consoles that easily. I hate to say it, but I'm now of the firm belief that console gaming is more pure and in many cases more creative than PC gaming. I also have the innate feeling that many PC game devs agree with me. That's not to say I'm not a fan of Freedom Force or No One Lives Forever (can't wait for the Pirates! remake!), but I have yet to see stuff like REZ or ICO or Panzeer Dragoon Orta on a PC.
Wishes for the sequel: by sebi · 2003-10-11 09:40 · Score: 1

I really would want to continue playing my character in an eventual sequel. Naturally this would mean changing the tone quite a bit, since you are rather powerful at the end. I also wonder if all or at least some of the additions to the PC version will make it onto the list of download-able items for XBOX live once they get around offering any.

--
Hank! White!
1. Re:Wishes for the sequel: by NeuroKoan · 2003-10-11 12:03 · Score: 1
  
  Unfortunately, the sequel is rumored to take place farther in the future then would allow for that to happen.
  
  Hopefully it doesn't.
  
  --
  
  "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation."
Fix the bugs? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-10-11 10:27 · Score: 0

The rumour is that there are more bugs in the Xbox version than copies sold because they rushed it to market. Some of which can destroy your save game. Is there any truth in those rumours?

I'd like to see Bioware putting out a bugfixed Xbox version, but I figure that's never going to happen.
1. Re:Fix the bugs? by BigKato · 2003-10-11 12:50 · Score: 1
  
  There was a huge bug that pissed me off. Perhaps some other people ran into it. After facing Malak the first time and returning to the Ebon Hawk, you have to talk to Mission. The only problem is she was invisible from a mission before and your character can't necessarily recognize her. So the game just hangs there on another member, Carth, waiting for Mission to say something. But she never does because your character can't see her! It really pissed me off.
  I had to call the technical support for help! I'm not sure but I think they had some specific bugs listed in their automated system so they were definitely getting a lot of phone calls about them. The guy I talked to sounded like he had encountered thousands of the same problems for other customers. These companies should make the programmers who are the cause of the bugs answer the technical support lines because that ain't right to have that kind of bugs in a console game.
  But anyways KOTOR is a great game and definitely worth purchase. Anyone else encounter the bug I did or any others that pissed them off?
  And when are they gonna have downloads? Anyone have any ideas on what they would be?
  
  --
  So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
2. Re:Fix the bugs? by Gothic_Walrus · 2003-10-11 13:19 · Score: 1
  
  Bugs, my friend, are the reason why patches exist. Any errors the PC version ships with will (hopefully) be taken out soon after launch.
  
  --
  Goo goo g'joob.
3. Re:Fix the bugs? by Babbster · 2003-10-11 13:39 · Score: 1
  
  There were indeed many bugs in KOTOR, some situational (such as the Mission/Carth bug mentioned above) and others just plain bad coding or optimization (like a level is loading, it hangs up and just sits there, turn Xbox on and off, it tries to reload at the same spot, hangs again, etc.).
  That being said, I still played the game all the way through three times and many others enjoyed the game so much that even talking about bugs pisses them off. Overall, the game is good enough that the bugs can be overlooked, but some of them, even in a game as huge as this one, are inexcusable (again, see Mission/Carth bug).
  Oh yeah, and I doubt they'll release a bug-fixed Xbox version until it gets a "Platinum" or "Game of the Year" release - even then, it's probably doubtful.
4. Re:Fix the bugs? by vjmurphy · 2003-10-11 14:45 · Score: 1
  
  I seem to have hit a bug when playing that basically is forcing me into the final showdown with the big bad before my character is really even ready.
  
  As a result, I kinda got annoyed and stopped playing. I suspect I'll just buy the PC version when the need to play again hits.
  
  I did enjoy the game (though the choices that make you "good" or "evil" are way too straightforward).
  
  --
  Vincent J. Murphy
  Spandex Justice
5. Re:Fix the bugs? by shadowcabbit · 2003-10-11 19:02 · Score: 1
  
  The smartest thing to do, of course, is to push the patch via Xbox Live. But then again, smart != easy, and smart != what actually happens.
  
  --
  "Why Subscribe?" Good question...
6. Re:Fix the bugs? by Babbster · 2003-10-12 07:03 · Score: 1
  
  One hopes that they left enough hooks in the game to do that. We know that they set it up to accept "downloadable content," but it's not certain (since Bioware hasn't said) if those updates can affect all the parts of the games needing fixing. It would be nice, even for me, though...I tried to play a fourth time through (the game is REALLY good) and quit because I got so frustrated with the problems.
  Well probably find out in a month or two. Bioware has said that they would work on Xbox downloadable content once the PC version was released.
7. Re:Fix the bugs? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-10-16 07:53 · Score: 0
  
  True, but all the Xbox fanboys always claimed that no Xbox game would come out with any bugs at all, because it was a console.
Bioware's game development strategy is interesting by aurum42 · 2003-10-11 12:43 · Score: 1, Interesting

From what I've noticed, they seem to develop the core game, its mechanics and initial contents, and then often let other studios develop sequels and add-ons. For example, with neverwinter nights, the expansion pack "Shadows of Undrentide" was developed by Floodgate entertainment (and while I haven't really played it, the reviews make it out to be more interesting than the initial single player campaign, which was repetitive and linear), and now it's rumored that Obsidian is doing the KOTOR sequel. I wonder if this strategy lets them focus more on all-new titles, which are presumably more profitable, although I would've thought that the return-on-investment for an expansion would be higher.

--
"The slave who knows his master's will and does not get ready...will be be beaten with many blows."Luke 12:47-48
Who do you believe? by Anthony+Boyd · 2003-10-11 16:51 · Score: 1

According to Assistant Producer Derek French, these articles are BS. You can see in a post he made on the BioWare forums last week (his post is at the bottom), that there are no plans to expand the content. Specifically, he states, "Sorry, but there are no new side quests in the PC version of KotOR." He also claims there is no new dialogue. I don't know how they can add a space station in (with "new story lines") and have no new characters, no new quests, and no new dialogue at all. So, who to believe?

Personally, I think Derek has no idea what he's talking about, as there are now many articles in the press talking about new content and features for KotOR PC. But he could be The One Who Knows Things. If he's right, that sucks.

--
My Greasemonkey scripts for Digg &
Yay, I don't have to buy an X-Box! by Man+In+Black · 2003-10-11 18:36 · Score: 2, Funny

Man, this game looked so good that I was worried I'd have to eventually buy an X-Box, even though nothing else on the system really interests me.

Of course, my computer is so old that there's no way I can play this, but still...

--
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
Re:Come again? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-10-12 06:16 · Score: 0

400,000 copies? That's like...two per Xbox owner. I'd call that damn popular!
Some fixes in PAL-version... by danro · 2003-10-12 21:55 · Score: 1

I'd like to see Bioware putting out a bugfixed Xbox version, but I figure that's never going to happen.

Actually, it seems like they already did just that.
I own the PAL version of the game (released in europe a few months after the NTSC US-version) and a lot of the bugs (but not all) seems to be fixed.

Bugs or no bugs, it is a great RPG, and you should definitly get it, it's one of the few games wort buying an XBOX for.
(The others, IMHO being HALO, Jet Set/Grind Radio and Deathrow)

--

"First lesson," Jon said. "Stick them with the pointy end."