The Ballad of Hannarr and Mira

Kotor 2 is a much darker game than it’s predecessor and nothing demonstrates this better than the relationship between Hannarr and Mira. They’re Kotor 2′s answer to Mission and Zaalbar except that Hannarr is a mad and murderous wookie obsessed with killing the young bounty hunter Mira. Not because she killed his family or stole something of his but because she saved his life.

To make sense of this we need to take a look at the wookie life debt, a piece of Star Wars lore that never existed in the movies but has found it’s way into the cannon via the Extended Universe.

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Junglist Out… For Good

Australian videogame program Good Game has a new host. Her “gamer name” is Hex (for the uniformed all the Good Game hosts use nicknames) and I’d just like to say off the bat I don’t have a problem with her. Her hosting sounded a bit forced and unnatural but she’ll probably get better with time. More importantly she appears passionate.

The problem is the nature of the previous host’s departure. Read here for the full story.

For five seasons Good Game has slowly built itself up from extremely humble beginnings to well something slightly higher than those beginnings. Sure it’s camp, cheesy and looks like it was shot by stoner film students but it’s the best show about videogames we’ve ever had in this country.

Good Game has done an incredible job of representing the scene. Whether it’s talking to local developers big and small or getting the word out about our nation’s pro gamers and chiptune artists Good Game has been fulfilling a valuable service to the community.

I’m sure it will continue to do so but it’s sad to see that they’ll do it without Junglist leading the charge. He’s been there since day one and for him to be forced out this way is disgusting.

Edit: Jesus this is getting nasty.

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I Think Atton Might Be Gay

Or at the very least bi-curious but that doesn’t make for a very punchy a title. What has led me to this thought is a short dialogue between Atton and the player that has been restored to the game thanks to the TSL Restoration Mod.  But before we get to that I guess I better explain who Atton is first.

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Bros. of the Old Republic

Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords got a lot of flak for being unfinished. Sure it’s brilliantly written and packed with interesting moral dilemmas but all of that is for naught if the last three hours of the game turn into a total shambles. Sadly that’s what happened to KOTOR 2, I’m not really interested whose fault it was but the games final act was a total rush job and really failed to deliver the memorable finale that the previous 25 hours of great gameplay deserved.

A team of enterprising chaps have just released a mod hoping to fix the situation. By digging through the game’s files they’ve turned up a lot of content that was originally intended for the game and after much toil they’ve put it back together. Think of it as the director’s cut of a movie except made by the fans using pretty much everything they scavenged off the cutting room floor. Actually on second thoughts don’t think of it that way.

If you’re interested you can find more details here. If you are a fan of KOTOR 2 I highly recommend trying it. I think a lot of the cut dialogue helps flesh out the story but it still doesn’t totally fix the choppy WTF finale.

One of the most impressive things about the mod is how it really draws out the character’s motivations. To the point where it ends up being quite an introspective character driven drama. So over the next few posts I’m going to explore some of those characters in detail. Naturally spoilers will abound but hell can’t we just agree that this spoilerphobic culture we’re building is getting a little childish?

Next: I Think Atton Might Be Gay

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Conversation is Conflict

I finally got around to watching Inglorious Basterds on the weekend. It’s a freakin stunning film, Tarrantino manages to break out of his phoney b-grade rut and deliver perhaps his most restrained and classical film since Reservoir Dogs.  I remember after watching Death Proof I said to a friend that I really wished Tarrantino would drop the shlock action and just write something where a bunch of people talked because dialogue not action is what the man does better than anyone else alive*. For the most part Inglorious Basterds is that and I loved it more than any other film I’ve seen all year.

But this is a blog about videogames so I better get to my point. Inglorious Basterds reminded me of something script writing teachers often say that I think would be invaluable for game designers to think about. Basically, conversation is conflict and dialogue is action.

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Wait I’ve Got A Plan

This is the final in an eleven part series to read the first post click here.

I’m a pacifist about to go toe to toe with a megalomaniac mutant intent on ruling the world. How to do I plan to stop him? I’m going to politely explain the error of his ways and hope he decides to gives up his foolish schemes.

Apparently I’m descended from UN weapons inspectors.

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Boned

This is part of an on going series to read the first post click here.

With the destruction of their base the Super Mutant army lies in tatters. Unfortunately it cost a lot of lives and I’m not sure if I’m to blame. Oh sure I have my reasons and excuses but even to me they sound a little hollow. But for now I’ve got to ignore such moralising because my quest continues.

I’ve heard that the Mutant leader, someone or something known as The Master, has a base to the south. The wasteland and more importantly my Vault won’t be safe till he’s dealt with.

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