Más o menos ya se sabía. Pero se confirma.
Games Domain: First up, just how complete is the title now? A lot of fans have been getting quite anxious having seen March as the erroneous release date for a few months now...!
Teresa Cotesta: Right now we are putting the finishing touches on the game. We're continually testing it, making it look as beautiful as possible, and fixing last minute bugs. We are near completion, and still targeting a June release for the Xbox. [Since the time of this reply we've been told that the game will now be released around July in the US, and the start of September for the UK. D'oh! - Ed.]
GD: How was it working on Xbox? Would you consider working on that format again?
TC: Xbox has been an excellent experience to work on. Technically it is an extremely strong machine. We've been able to do everything we set out to do with on Xbox with only moderate effort - it is quite remarkable. Our past console development experience has certainly helped us (we've worked on Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 in the past), but overall we can conclude Xbox is a very approachable development platform.
BioWare signed a deal with Microsoft recently to develop a new role-playing game for Xbox, based on a new intellectual property, being developed here at BioWare . More information on that game is to come.
GD: Back when we interviewed Ray A. Muzyka and Julio Torres they said KOTR wouldn't really be conceivable across other formats. Nearing the end of development now, do you think KOTOR is still a game that couldn't be conceivable converted to Gamecube or PlayStation2?
Casey Hudson: In its current form, it definitely wouldn't be possible on other systems. There's just too much art, voice, and the ability to do pretty much anything you want at any time. But, making changes and deciding on technical compromises is what always happens when games are ported, so it's always possible to translate some version of the game to other systems. We have no plans of doing so however.
GD: What were the main problems throughout the development of the game?
CH: Probably the biggest challenge we faced was the development of the interface. It seems pretty straightforward, but given the size of the game and the player's freedom to do so many different things, it was actually quite a challenge. Even once we had the entire GUI /gameplay interface working, there was still a lot of work required to add all the little details that make it really fun and intuitive to play.
GD: Was there any point where Microsoft or indeed anyone told you "oh, it's a console game, don't make it to complicated as you would a typical PC game" - even though it's effectively a dual developed PC/Xbox title?
TC: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the first role-playing game based in the Star Wars universe. In creating this game, one of our main goals was to ensure we stay true to the Star Wars universe, and create an immersive story with action packed sequences and exciting characters. LucasArts has been great to work with and has provided us with tremendous support to ensure this happens. Our goal here at BioWare is make every game better than the last one, and using our experience from past games such as the Baldur's Gate series and Neverwinter Nights, we aimed to make this the best possible RPG experience on either console or PC.
GD: How far have you decided to run with Xbox Live in terms of additional features and so on? Or have you made a decision not to use it at all now?
TC: Xbox Live content is certainly something that we're interested in exploring further. No announcements on that have yet been made.
GD: What about multiplayer options - was it a consideration at all or maybe something to follow up with?
TC: Our goal was to make Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic the very best single-player role-playing experience on the Xbox. To do that, we made a lot of decisions that will make the game much better as a single-player game which would not be possible if multiplayer support was required. So, there won't be a multiplayer element to the game.
GD: We've noticed a fair amount of enemies on-screen in the latest batch of screenshots - how many characters can the game handle now simultaneously, and how big can the multi-character battles get?
CH: You may find your party of three up against as many as ten enemies at once. That's quite a bit, when you consider that they can each have different weapons and feats for you to deal with. Some of the trickier battles have you facing off against a room full of droids, Sith officers, and dark Jedi!
GD: Are you creating different stances and techniques for Jedi and Sith who use lightsabers?
CH: Characters in the game do a huge variety of animations depending on what weapon they're holding and what action they're doing. Beyond that, some characters have special animation variations that they will perform. The Wookiees for example have special animations for their melee weapon feats, since they're too large for the nimble-looking human animations. The Jedi and Sith use many of the same animations, although some special characters have unique combat animations.
GD: Just how varied are the response dialogue trees that you can take part in? Are we looking at something comparable to say Grim Fandango where there were as many as four to five different answers to a question at one time?
TC: Being a role-playing game, there is a lot of interaction between characters. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has over 14,000 lines of dialogue in the game. So yes, there are a number of different responses when interacting with different characters. Ultimately, your character must choose between the dark and light side, and how you decide to interact with other party members and characters will take you down one of those paths.
GD: Given that some Star Wars games have received bad press in the last few months, was there much apprehension that a backlash could start against KOTOR before the game was even released? There are a lot of vocal "gamers" on the Net who seem to want to bash things before they've even had a chance to play them...
CH: We pay a lot of attention to the gaming community through our web boards, so we're pretty conscious of how the game will be received. We're also doing a lot of testing with people who are new to the game, so we can get honest feedback from fresh eyes. We can't do much about people who will react to the game before it's released, but by really listening to what players want and taking their ideas and suggestions into account, we hope that we've created something that they will really enjoy.
GD: What was the last game outside anything you may have developed, to really excite you?
TC: I'd have to say that Splinter Cell really stands out for me as a game that really blew me away. It was exciting to play, and the graphics are just amazing! Really great game. And Sam Fisher is just such a cool guy! How can you beat that! [But he doesn't have a lightsaber, though... - Ed.]
GD: [Tongue in cheek] Finally, can we expect any Gungans to make an appearance in KOTOR? Maybe? For all those two fans that like them?
CH: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is 100 per cent Gungan free - as far as I know
Thanks to both Casey Hudson and Teresa Cotesta, LucasArts, BioWare and Activision for their time and help.
