For those new to Jedi Knight, Swoosh is the webmaster of one of the best and biggest Jedi Knight sites on the net - The Valley Of The Jedi
______________________________________
Question - When you first loaded the Jedi Knight demo, what were your initial impressions?
Well, my first impression was how good the graphics looked, even though everyone said that they were horrible. The next thing that
caught my attention was the size of the levels. I mean, these levels aren't anything like what we've seen before. Large rooms make this
game very interesting and challenging.
Question -The Valley of the Jedi has quickly shot to the top of the crop of JK websites. What do you have planned in the future for the site?
In the future we plan to add more webmasters, start hosting sites, create new sections for all kinds of cool things, and maybe have some contests for prizes. Also with us being part of the Gamesmania Alliance, we are offered a lot, such as free Jedi Knight Multiplayer Servers, if it is ever possible. There are a lot of things that I would like to do, so if you got any ideas, let me know.
Question - Jedi Knight has turned out to be the hit that we all hoped for, but the year isn't over yet. Do you think JK has anything to worry about from the other 'Quake-killers' on the way?
Jedi Knight has a much more interesting story than the other "Quake-Killers", but with games like Quake 2 and Unreal approaching,
the future is really uncertain. What I think will happen is the Quake fans will automatically jump onto the Quake 2 bandwagon and leave Jedi
Knight behind for gore and guts. The people who are still interested in the game will still love it and continue on trying to make it even better. Quake 2's technology is more advanced, but that doesn't make a game. The story is what makes it. Although people still say that Quake 2 has a story, it is still the basic plot. Quake 2 = Doom 5 or 6 (I forget which) in my opinion. There haven't been any new stories in id's games for some time now.
The lack of a new story may be the downfall of this game for many people, but who knows? Quake had no story and it's single player basically was non-existent, but look where it still is. The great thing about games is that there is always something better, which ends up making gaming in general better. So if Jedi Knight is overpowered by the other games, so what? There is always Dark Forces 3 to look forward to.
Question -Which level or scene in Jedi Knight impressed you the most? Why?
My favorite level was probably the 3rd and 4th. I thought that the water was great fun and it looked very good. I don't really have a
favorite cutscene, but they all seemed very well done, except on the actors part.
Question - . It's only been a just over a week since JK's arrival and already we are seeing the first patches for the game. What feature would you most like to see added to the game by hackers? (e.g. speeder bikes, new force powers)
What I would like to see the most is an option for a dedicated server instead of the current hosting system. I think that this is one of the reasons for the lag that comes with Jedi Knight (although very little). It is also sometimes difficult to find someone to play with, or someone who can host a decent game. Other than that, what I would like to see most is new force powers. I was really looking forward to the Lightsaber throw power, but it never showed up in the game. New multiplayer levels would also be cool.
Question - . The Valley of the Jedi recently moved to a new server. What advantages does the new server hold over the old one? What new features does it allow you?
The new server (www.votj.com) allows easier access, more space, full cgi access, and a few more things that I haven't even found out yet. The server should prove to be faster and with my new changes the page should be blazing now.
Question - . What did you think of the Dark Jedi in Jedi Knight? Which was your favourite to battle?
I think that the Dark Jedi bosses and the force powers are what set this game away from any other. The Dark Jedi have different
characteristics in different scenes that make them very unpredictable. So unpredictable, I was actually afraid to face them the first time.
Force powers add another challenge to the game that no other game posesses. To be good in Jedi Knight, you must master the force. My
favorite Dark Jedi to battle must have been the Brothers of Sith. I liked battling them because of the difficultly in battling two Jedi at once. Both characters being differrent makes it challenging. To beat them you must use two different techniques of fighting which is great. But then again, all of the Jedi are fun to fight.
Question - . What would you say to readers who are still mulling over whether it's worth buying Jedi Knight?
Well, I would say that if you like an excellent game with a real story, buy Jedi Knight. If you would like a game with what seems to not
come close to measuring up with JK and no story, go with Quake 2. If you buy Jedi Knight, you will love it. Everyone I know that has played it
loves it. Well worth the $42 that it costs. I may be going out on a limb saying this, but I believe that this is the best game that I have ever
played. I have played the Quake 2 demo, and it is not even close. It's nothing what I expected it to be, just a prettier Quake in my opinion.
