Development Cycle Archive
Thread: In-Concept Open Discussion (7-5-04)
Mironus wrote:
Some info about jedi... and stuff
1. Lightsaber:
The lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi, an elegant armament of a more civilized time. In comparison, blasters are crude, inaccurate and loud affairs. To carry a lightsaber is an example of incredible skill and confidence, dexterity and attunement to the Force.
When deactivated, a lightsaber appears as a polished metallic handle, about 30 centimeters long, lined with control studs. At the press of a button the energy contained within is liberated and forms as a shaft of pure energy about a meter long. The saber hums and scintillates with a distinct sound. Its shimmering blade is capable of cutting through almost anything, save for the blade of another lightsaber.
In the hands of a Jedi, a lightsaber is almost unstoppable. It can be used to cut through blast doors or enemies alike. Using the Force, a Jedi can predict and deflect incoming blaster bolts, and reflect them back at the firer.
After the extermination of the Jedi ranks, lightsabers became rare relics. The knowledge of their construction disappeared with their masters. Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi, built his own lightsaber as the culmination of his training.
Although use of the lightsaber is strictly reserved to the Jedi -- the only ones capable of handling the difficult weapon -- it is also used by their sworn enemies, the Sith.
2. Jedi:
A noble order of protectors unified by their belief and observance of the Force, the Jedi hearken back to a more civilized, classical time in galactic history. Their order is ancient, spanning over a thousand generations. As the Galactic Republic throve and grew over the centuries, the Jedi came to serve it as guardians of peace and justice. Headquartered on Coruscant, the Jedi trained, studied, and planned from the impressive Jedi Temple, a towering edifice rising high above the surrounding structures on the city-planet. They are governed by a High Council of 12 Jedi -- most of them Jedi Masters -- who contemplate the very nature of the Force.
To become a Jedi requires the deepest commitment and most serious mind. It is not a venture to be undertaken lightly. As such, Jedi instruction is rigidly structured and codified to enforce discipline and hinder transgression. Only 20 Jedi have ever voluntarily renounced their commissions. It is with great regret that the Jedi order recognize the so-called "Lost Twenty." A Jedi who fails in his training can be a very serious threat.
The dark side of the Force beckons to the impatient, and students in the past have been lured to its call with devastating consequences.
Jedi candidates are detected, identified and taken into the order as infants. One method of detection is through blood sampling -- those with great Force potential often have high midi-chlorian counts in their bloodstream.
A prospective Jedi begins training in infancy. All connection to previous family life is lost. In this early stage of training, a single master instructs groups, or clans, of Jedi hopefuls. As the Jedi mature, the apprentice is paired with a master to continue the next phase of the training.
According to the Jedi Code, a Jedi Master may only have one Padawan at a time. Near the end of the Padawan's training, she must undergo trials before ascending to the rank of Knight. The next level of rank in the Jedi order is the Jedi Master, reserved for those who have shown exceptional devotion and skill in the Force. It is from the ranks of the Jedi Masters that the High Council is chosen, which is the main interface between the Jedi and the government of the Republic.
The Jedi dress in simple robes and carry specialized field gear for their missions. Their signature weapon, the lightsaber, is both elegant and deadly when in the hands of a trained master.
The sworn enemies of the Jedi are the Sith -- a cult-like order bent on domination through subservience to the Force's dark side. Founded by former Jedi, the Sith abandoned the precepts of knowledge and defense, and instead seek abandon and strength through the Force's hateful energies.
Centuries ago, the Jedi destroyed the Sith order. A dangerous complacency set it, wherein the Jedi believed the Sith extinct. Little did they know the order would arise anew, to destroy their ranks. At first, the signs were few. The sudden appearance of a Sith attacker during the Battle of Naboo was startling to the Council, but that threat was dispatched. Still, according to Sith lore, the dark villains always traveled in pairs -- a master, and apprentice. For a decade, there was no physical signs of the remaining Dark Lord, but evidence of his power began to appear.
The Jedi ability to use the Force inexplicably began to diminish. This, coupled with increasing violence in the galaxy sparked by a Separatist movement overburdened the valiant protectors. Their ranks were spread thin trying to maintain the peace, and many Jedi fell during the crisis. When it came to war, and the first shots of the Clone Wars were fired on Geonosis, only a scant 200 Jedi were readily available for the conflict. Most of this taskforce was killed in the battle, but reinforcements, in the form of the Republic's new military, secured a victory against the Separatists.
When the Empire came to power, the Jedi order was exterminated by Emperor Palpatine, and his Sith Lord apprentice Darth Vader. During the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Jedi were all but extinct. A few survivors, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Jedi Master Yoda, were able to train the first new Jedi in a generation. As a sign of the desperate times, Luke Skywalker was taken into the Jedi fold well past the traditional age requirements -- he was already an adult when he first picked up the lightsaber. Nonetheless, his raw talent in the Force -- inherited from his father -- was such that his age didn't matter.
Luke Skywalker scored numerous major victories against the Empire, and was able to lure Darth Vader from the grip of the dark side. Vader, once again Anakin Skywalker, defeated Emperor Palpatine, bringing an end to the Sith reign of terror that had seized the galaxy.
This is the key paragraph.
**After the extermination of the Jedi ranks, lightsabers became rare relics. The knowledge of their construction disappeared with their masters. Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi, built his own lightsaber as the culmination of his training.**
Onto my main point. Fixing Jedi...well, not fixing. Jedi themselves are alright...its just the way they interact with other players that needs to be different. What people are complaining about, mainly, is the obviousness of Jedi. Here's a few suggestions on how to make the Jedi more realistically unobtrusive.
Create a psudo-faction for Jedi. I say psudo-Faction, because it would have to be in excess of the Imp/Rebel system, so that Jedi can still be involved in the GCW. There are many advantages.
Jedi titles are based on Jedi "Faction" points. You have to "face the trials" in order to shift up a level...they'd be quests for faction points, against pretty tough enemies. Maybe they have to go to Dagobah, and kill themselves...as in, the polar oposite of them, in order to make Knight. They could kill Dark Jedi to gain Light Jedi psudo-FPs, and visa versa. That would, admittedly, turn Jedi into a PvP thing, but it does mean that you don't get so many high-level Jedi.
You could then somehow link the Faction into gaining levels or better sabers or something like that. (Jedi Master Robes instead of Stormtrooper Armour, better Lightsabers with different coloured blades, etc).
It allows you to be a Covert Light Jedi, or an Overt one...and the same with Dark Jedi. If you use your powers, and there is a person in the area to report you (CorSec, NSF, Imperial, etc), be they player or NPC, you are made an Overt Jedi. If you were part of the Imperial faction, they would know you were a Jedi working with Imperials. You can't attack Imps, Imps can't attack you. It just makes Jedi need to be a little more careful.
"Perhaps I killed a Jedi, and took it from him." When a Jedi dies, make it possible for the person that killed them to gain their Lightsaber. Most would be unable to use it, but some would. If there were 1-handed, 2-handed and Polearm versions of the saber (ie. Dooku's, Obi Wan's and Maul's), Masters of the Swordsman, Fencer and Pikeman professions would gain "Lightsaber Lunge", or whatever the basic lightsaber move is. They'd be no match for a Jedi with it, true. And they'd get a very low bonus, and the basic move with the saber. And, they'd have to kill a Jedi in the first place to get their Saber. But it would take away the unfairness of the Lightsaber - there are a few non-Jedi who have gotten their hands on lightsabers. You could also make the "Dead man's Lightsaber" a non-transferable item. When the Jedi is cloned, they still have their Lightsaber, as if they were issued a new one. This would also help to encorage people to Master the elite melee professions.
Make Shield Generators (if they aren't already) resistant to Lightsabers. The Destroyer Droids in Episode 1 had shields. If Lightsabers could go through those, Obi Wan could have just charged and sliced, taking out the droids. Ergo, Shields resist Sabers. I personally don't use a Shield Generator, but I might have one handy in case I run into a Jedi at any point. This system is not only "realistic", but it means that even an accidentally overt n00b, if he had a Shield Generator, could survive an attack from a Jedi. The n00b might have gone overt to try on the Stormtrooper helmet he got for doing the quests on Naboo at the Emperor's Retreat. I don't think many people use Shield Generators ATM...this would be a good way to revamp them, and get them used more widely.
I suggested this as a Smuggling thing, but I'll suggest it again here. Item storage in droids, right now is pretty lame. What if you could get a "smuggling compartment" in your droid? It would work like item storage, but a little different. There'd be less slots, but the slots would be numbered. When you said the command word ("equip 1" would equip Item 1, "unequip 1" would unequip it, or something like that), it would automatically equip the item in the Smuggling Compartment into your inventory...like when R2 fired Luke's Lightsaber at him. It'd mean that a Jedi could store their saber inside a droid, out of the way. It would be easy to equip, and would hide it from the eyes of Stormtroopers. Non-Jedi could store their weapons in their droids. Right now, I have a macro set up so that when I press a particular key, my Pistol is equipped, and my Pistol specials menu is accessed. If I could "/say Pistol", or something, and automatically get my pistol in my hand, it would free up an extra slot on my menu, hide my sliced weapons from view, and give an actual smuggling aspect to the droid. The only problem would be if you forgot to bring out your Droid, or its battery ran out, or something like that.
The alternative to droid smuggling compartments is hidden holsters. Jedi usually have their saber on their belt. Smugglers usually have a pistol in a holster. Swordsmen have swords in scabbards...polearms can be worn across the back, as can rifles. Stormtroopers have a holster on their thigh for a Blaster Carbine. Grenades can be worn on belts. If it were possible to buy an item of clothing that had item storage, you could store your weapon in that. There'd be all sorts of weapons you could have stored on your body. If you could select the "quick-name" of the item (a one-word name, like "holster1", or whatever), you could then "/equip holster1" to equip that weapon. Macros and hotkeys could add bits of player flair. A little animation that looked like your arm was moving to the relevant place...perhaps dropping to one knee to draw a pistol from your boot, or whatever...that would be enough. It'd just make things a little easier, and a little more realistic for people...and it would mean that, because the item is pretty much hidden, a Stormtrooper wouldn't spot it as sliced, necessarily. Final note - holsters would need to work like belts, and go over the top of clothes, AND armour.
Final thing...once again, not soley Jedi, but it fits with it. At the minute, the chest plate of armour goes over the top of a jumpsuit, but a Jacket does not. A chest plate cannot go over the top of a Jacket. A cloak cannot go over the top of a chest plate. It seems a little stupid to me that you can't wear a "Pilot's Jacket" over the top of a flight suit. Lots of pilots have flight jackets that go over their flight suits. I also feel that a cloak, or at least some sort of item, should go over armour...or at least the chest plate. Removing bracers and bicep pieces is understandable. Removing and Ubese Jacket makes sense. But not being able to wear a chest plate under a big, baggy cloak? Doesn't work for me.
Also, are there actually any capes in existance? I keep looking, but I can't find any. And can you make it so that I can wear hot pants over regular pants? I want a superman costume.
To summerise:
- Jedi "Faction"
- Faction = Jedi Ranks as Faction Titles
- Faction = Faction Items
- Faction = Covert/Overt
- Non-Jedi getting Lightsabers, either as weapons or as "generic items"
- Shield Generators resist Lightsabers
- Smuggling compartments
- Holsters
- Cloaks over armour. Jackets over flight suits. Hot pants over pants. More capes. Shirt with the Superman logo on the front.
I think thats all, for now...sorry for the long-windedness.
speaking of episode 3, i hope to see some related stuff in the game.