The purpose was to throw the player for a loop, but allow enough foreshadowing so that the player would stay interested. It was felt that each stage of the game should ask and answer the question "Why should the player care? The following phase involved devising the critical story points and filling in the story to link those points together. For example, this could have been accomplished by revealing critical information, introducing a new companion or acquiring new special abilities. The player motivation involved providing the teasers that would stimulate the player into wanting to continue the game and encourage the player to explore the story and locations fully. In The Sith Lordsthe character was a disgraced veteran of the Mandalorian Wars who was the last known Jedi in the galaxy and the target of dark side assassins who were determined to eradicate all Jedi.Ĭertain circumstances had severed the hero's connection to the Forcebut the character was being given a chance to slowly regain that connection and rediscover what it meant to be a Jedi or Sith. The first phase involved distinguishing the character, or the hero's motivation, from player motivation and how the story would develop to integrate the two. Only then did he feel it was time to look at the overall vision of the project. To him, it was vital to understand what adventures had already been created, the parameters of the EU, and which bad ideas it was prudent to stay away from. He began with determining what was considered fun in the gameplay elements and what kind of story would have to be developed to complement those elements. Development of The Sith Lords began at approximately the same time that the original Knights of the Old Republic was released for the Xbox, on July 15 From the beginning, the production team had decided that the general atmosphere of the universe would be much darker than in Knights of the Old Republic and that the situation for the Jedi would be grim. According to the game's producers, the change of developers was primarily due to BioWare's occupation with other titles, such as Jade Empire and Dragon Age.īioWare is understood to have recommended Obsidian Entertainment as an alternative developer, having worked with many of Obsidian's key members when they were part of the now-defunct Black Isle Studios. The original game, however, was developed by a different company, BioWare.