60 replies to this topic

[Icendoan]

Well, then it is alright that I started with 15 isn't it

I can't seem to roleplay stupid people well.

Icen

[Cal Jones]

A bit late, mind, as I'd already started the game by that point.

Out of interest, is there a love interest for male characters?

[SConrad]

Yes. Kinda. The romances aren't amazingly awesome by a BG II standard, but they definitely measure up to some other games--and are even better than others (NWN II OC, for example).

[Yovaneth]

I'd add one point though; do NOT start Kotor 2 until The Sith Lords Restoration Project (TSLRP) is complete. The game - especially the ending - was badly castrated to the point that it puts you on rails but like the IE games, much of the cut content was left in the files. TSLRP are working to restore most of it and it appears to be finally reasonably close to release.

-Y-

[GeN1e]

Weren't they at the very same stage a year ago?

Speaking of castrated ending, it did seem to me that the released stuff was barely stitched together anyway so who cares about the end. Like it would help the problem. Imho.

Edited by GeN1e, 23 September 2008 - 10:58 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Weren't they at the very same stage a year ago?

Well, let's check out the archive, ah, well about half year ago...

...they have more reported bug than for a loong while now(30), but this is mostly cause they try to get rid of as many of the unseen problems as possible.
Just to archive these,
Current Build: 1.0b2 This was at 17. 3. 2008
Current Build: 1.0b3, errors count at 17 at currently(Tracking 949 known issues). This at 28. 3. 2008

And

Tracking 1006 known issues
Severity Open: Resolved
Block 0: 6
Crash 0: 9
Major 1: 81
Minor 2: 255
Tweak 1: 167
Text 0: 166
Trivial 1: 203
Feature 10: 104
Total 5: 887

They don't count the feature's as always they won't need to solve them....

[Anaximander]

I could get into some detailed character build advice, but I have one particular character build that I really love and use every time I play so any advice from me in that regard is inheirantly biased.

Some general tips:

Personally, I wouldn't advance my character any more than 4 or 5 characters before landing on Dantooine. I typically set the difficulty to easy until then and save up the experience for Jedi levels later on.

Persuade is definitely one of the better skills in the game, allowing the most optimal solution to a number of quests. Force Persuade and Force Dominate can often achieve similar results, but I found that the "best" option is almost always your persuasion skill.

Computer use is another handy skill. With good computer use, you can wipe out entire bases of enemies with no risk to yourself. Don't put points into it with your PC, though. Instead, use HK-47 for this. I recommend him because he can get his computer use more than high enough to hack any system with bonuses from various droid only equipment and, unlike your little astro droid, can actually hold his own pretty well in combat.

For a little bit of extra chaos and fun, set all of your companions to use the Jedi AI. It works for all companions and makes them use their special abilities in combat as much as they can. This is especially effective at low levels with Carth's Power Blast. He starts a few levels higher than you, so his Power Blast will be taking down enemies in one or two shots. It's also handy when you get your Jedi companions, enabling them to use Stasis, Heal, Push, etc without waiting for a command from you to do so. The AI can be over ridden at any time by pausing the game and manually queueing up commands for your companions so they don't waste their abilities when you don't want them to.

Play Pazaak, but cheat. Do this by quick saving before a match, and reloading if you lose. You can make some good money this way and you usually get a special reward from your opponent after ten wins. The wins don't have to be consequtive, but trying to get 10 wins without doing the quick save/reload exploit could potentially cost you a lot of credits.

Oh, and I strongly suggest taking the Implant feats. Most of the implants you get early on are crap, but there are some available near the end of the game that have some very nice bonuses. You'll need Implants 3 to equip them.

That's all I can think of right now that may not be readily apparent to new players. If I think of more later, I'll post it here.

Edited by Anaximander, 23 September 2008 - 12:25 PM.

[Cal Jones]

Is KOTOR II worth playing? I get the impression the characters aren't as well-drawn, so to speak.

[Choo Choo]

Depends on who you ask. If you ask me, I'd say that the most well-written character in the KotOR games as a whole is in KotOR2 (Kreia), as well as the best and loveliest one (Atton), but when it comes to him I am biased. Fangirl, and all that.

But yes, it is definitely worth playing. Let's put it like this - the consistency of good characters isn't as even, but the peaks are higher... and well-drawn characters aren't the only things to a game, after all.

[Daulmakan]

Is KOTOR II worth playing? I get the impression the characters aren't as well-drawn, so to speak.

Despite the cut content/lame endings, I still think it's MUCH better than Kotor I. In fact, other than that, I'd say that everything else (skills/force powers system, character development, roleplaying opportunities, graphics) is vastly improved for the sequel.

[Cal Jones]

Groovy. I'm enjoying this but the rate I'm racing through it, I'll need a new game soon. Off to Amazon I go.

[GeN1e]

Well, it's Kotor2 then, yes? Different players with different tastes will sure say different things, that's for certain.

Aside from lots of cut content K2 lacks - and horribly so - an impression of wholeness. It has no story, it lacks consistency, it's characters are weird to say the least, the power balance is miserable.

One of bosses was likely supposed to be as tough as Bhaal himself yet I was really surprised why should I care about him appearing near the planet. When you're to face an overwhelmingly powerful opponent you should be trembling and praying to whomever you believe in. How is such effect achieved in media entertainment? You're constantly given info (sometimes with examples being demonstrated) how evil and terrible that guy is, so after a certain amount of brainwashing your only thought is to be "No! Not him! I can't march against him!". None of that is present in K2. And speaking about balance the said guy has fallen to my blade within just 3 rounds.
I also failed to understand what the whole plot was about.

Well, I do understand that all this haziness, uncertainity and grayness were probably intentional - to give the game that sort of atmosphere. Dunno, I didn't bother to ask them. But inconsistency? No, that one just can not be good no matter what.

I played K2 two times as darksider and did have good fun picking evil options in dialogs. In fact, K2 is the only game I've played so far which allowed me to play evil and feel comfortable (read it as "not limited by designers' whims") with it.

Maybe I'm just too addicted to drama, dunno, but I played K2 for the sake of fun, not story as I did K1.

PS I forgot graphics - K2 looks very grisly compared to K1.

Edited by GeN1e, 24 September 2008 - 11:07 AM.

[Eleima]

Well, I'm not really one to comment, since I've only played KotOR 1 once, and have just started KotOR 2, but I'm getting the same impression as GeN1e.

Oh, and you forgot to mention that the music was a lot better in KotOR 1, the composer being Jeremy Soule (pure genius that guy, also did Icewind Dale and Elder Scrolls 3 & 4).

That, and also for some reason, my swoop bike is 10 meters above ground and never hits a single boost pad; and if Atton says "pure pazaak" one more time, I'll throttle him!

Edited by Eleima, 25 September 2008 - 06:38 AM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

That, and also for some reason, my swoop bike is 10 meters above ground and never hits a single boost pad; and if Atton says "pure pazaak" one more time, I'll throttle him!

You need to put the pedal to the medal(push Space button or something) to ground the swoop bike, or you can cheat. And about Atton, he'll be dead in a microsecond, I bet. The SW:KotOR2 is a bit larger than the first and it had a good quality endings.

[Eleima]

That, and also for some reason, my swoop bike is 10 meters above ground and never hits a single boost pad; and if Atton says "pure pazaak" one more time, I'll throttle him!

You need to put the pedal to the medal(push Space button or something) to ground the swoop bike, or you can cheat.

Unfortunately, I tried that, (both the cheat, and the space bear), but to no avail. The swoop bike just stays stuck all the way up , and only comes down once the race is finished or in the event of a forfeit. And apparently, the bug that allowed that cheat must've been fixed, because all I get when I try that is "a nasty spill".
And as a goody-two-shoes who squandered all her money on droid technician credentials and reuniting two lovers, I was kinda hoping to make up for it with swoop racing, but... guess I'm going to have to learn to play pazaak now (well, maybe Atton'll be happy about it...).

Oh, and it's "push the pedal to the metal"... (well, that's how I heard it *shrugs*).

Edit: A quick tour of the official forum shows that the PC version of the KotOR 2 can sometimes be, and I quote "seriously flawed". Another gamer had the same problem (the bike being on ground level at the start and finish of the race, but stuck on the ceiling in between), and the only answer was "just don't race". *chuckles*

Edited by Eleima, 25 September 2008 - 07:32 AM.

[Cal Jones]

I must admit I've found the swoop racing and shooting down fighters the least fun bits of KotOR. Probably because I have abyssmal reflexes (I have a Dex of 6 in real life, I swear). But the rest is great.

I've ordered the sequel anyway, along with Jade Empire, to keep me entertained for a bit (and honestly, I am suffering BG fatigue and need to play something different for a while, even though there are some mods I've got my beady eye on). If they're not as good as KotOR, so be it. I'm sure there's fun there to be had.

[Jarno Mikkola]

I must admit I've found the swoop racing and shooting down fighters the least fun bits of KotOR. Probably because I have abyssmal reflexes (I have a Dex of 6 in real life, I swear). But the rest is great.

Then you'll love the first gunturret game in K2, as the less enemies you kill with the tower, the more experience you'll gain. Why? Cause you get to kill all them in melee.

Yes, I just shot the walls on that one...

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 25 September 2008 - 10:19 AM.

[Eleima]

I guess I shouldn't have slaughtered them so mercilessly... I only had one Sith trooper come aboard my Ebon Hawk...

[Choo Choo]

Dang! I've never had a single one Sith Trooper on the Hawk and I felt so awesome when I gunned them all down - and now I find out that isn't a good thing. Bummer. xD

[Cal Jones]

Well I'm playing KotOR 2 now - I've just arrived on Dantooine after finishing Telos.

Impressions so far:
Cut scenes look crappy compared to KotOR 1. How is this possible if the game is two years newer? Hrmm. Still, small thing, I guess.
Space station wasn't the most thrilling, but at least the female underwear is more substantial in this game - good job as you spend more time running around in it. I thought KotOR started better - I know some people don't like Taris due to not being a Jedi there, but I found it really fun, and even feel a little nostalgic for it. Telos, I guess, is more like Taris, but not quite as good.
Encountered first horrible bug, at the Handmaiden base. If you agree to drop your weapons immediately then the whole Kreia and Atton being taken away, and dialogues, don't happen - they just stand behind you, rooted to the spot, and you can't complete the base. After digging on the Obsidian forums I found that you need to question the request to disarm initially, otherwise the game screws up. This is patched, too.
I also had a jedi robe my character was wearing disappear from inventory on leaving the Handmaiden base. I tried reloading and taking it off prior, but it still disappeared. Hrmph.
Dialogues with some characters seem to go on for an eternity. Now I like to read, but even for me, this is a lot. I usually try to get an hour's game playing in before work (just to give me something fun to do so waking up is less painful) and spent all of that talking to characters on the Ebon Hawk. That's a lot of dialogue.
I'm also frustrated at not having a lightsabre yet, but I know I'll get that soon. It seems to have taken ages - longer than in KotOR where you weren't even a Jedi for the entire first planet!
I know the new workbench items is supposed to be one of the plusses but I don't really care about making stuff - I was quite happy with the simpler approach in KotOR. In fact, even there, I was a little overwhelmed with the choice in lightsabre crystals. I guess I will get into the swing of things.

Beyond that, it's still fun and the characters are interesting, and I look forward to loading it up and playing it, which is good. I'm playing a light female this time around - will probably try a dark male next time. It's still a good game but I think I prefer the first game, thus far at any rate. We shall see!