awesome. that'll save me a lot of time. the loading part was killing me


thanks

I didn't know you could save anytime you wanted. Mine just auto saved after you get to the villiage and right before you fight the two bandits and then go to the weapon shop.

Yeah you can. It's a good thing you found out, too. If someone else had played the game, their autosaves would have overwritten yours and you'd have to start over. So save often manually, and keep a second save just in case.

I agree with you. I was just explaining how some people have been able to get through this game so fast. Yeah, they may have skipped some side quests but when you also skip out on most of the dialogue it cuts down the amount of time you play dramatically.

One of the cool things about playing an RPG is to immerse yourself into the story. Its one of the big reasons I enjoy playing them.

Turn-based is more about combat resolving in rounds than it is menus, etc. KOTOR is heavily based on the d20 system and therefore combat occurs in rounds, with each character taking a turn. It justmoves fast enough for that to become somewhat invisible. Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights were the same. It is also why pausing and selecting upcoming actions is possible, as you are simply adding future actions. You could still die despite what you do, since it may be your "turn" in combat though.

As far as I can tell, Bioware left no trace of a round system in Jade Empire, which is really a big step away from the familiar for them.

Part of the problem is that the dialog is long, drawn out, and is, in a lot of cases, pointless. I never felt that way in KOTOR, but within 2 hours of playing Jade Empire I started skipping the dialog.

Now that I'm 7 hours in, I'm a little disappointed in the depth of Jade Empire. Seems like a huge step backwards--in fact, I don't even consider it to be an rpg. More like an action game with a story. The key things that make rpgs fun are all missing in this game like:

1) being able to buy potions, weapons
2) being able to get your health back with fighting or finding a shrine
3) Adding a removing people from your party
4) Having companions that actually do something rather than just absorb blows for a minute till you can get around to attacking the guys attacking them.

Plus tons of other things. It's like Bioware is de-evolving in their game making--their last 4 games have gotten gradually worse (bgate 2, kotor, kotor2, then jade empire)

Taylor34

I thought Bioware didn't do KOTOR 2...

And I don't get that health comment... can't you get your health back by fighting or finding a shrine?

Bioware didn't do KOTOR 2 as they were busy with Jade Empire. Obsidian developed KOTOR 2.

1) It's not a big deal that you can't buy potions, but you can upgrade your weapons.
2) You can get health back during fights by using Chi heal, and getting health orbs, which appear randomly or from some harmonic combos. The spirit shrines you find will heal you as well.
3) You can add and remove people from your party.
4) Can't help you there. My follower attacks, and does it well.

If you think that their last 4 games have gotten gradually worse, you don't appreciate the value of a good RPG. Baldur's Gate 2 was sensational, KOTOR was awesome, they didn't do KOTOR 2, and Jade Empire is one of the best games I have ever played.

Ok these load times are still pissing me off. I load the game for 40 seconds (I watched the clock) then fight for 30 seconds. Get killed. Load for 40. Play for 20 get killed. Load for 40. Not to mention having to watch the canonball scene each friggen time. Seriously, if I can't skip the load times I'm taking the game to Ebay. I don't have 4 hours straight to play this game.

I honestly am not bothered at all by the loads. I've experienced far worse, and really don't notice the length with JE myself.

On another note, has anyone else with the craptacular Thompson drive been having a hellish time? I've been to the official forums and it seems that JE really stresses this drive. I've had a few problems in the past from time to time with read errors and such, but with JE, I have had times where the game can't go more than a few minutes before hitting an error. It started fairly fine, but has only gotten worse as I've played and I am now at a point where it has become unaplayable. I can't really afford to buy a new Box, or pay MS's fee for fixing their shitty drive, so I am not sure what I'll do.

No offense, man, but it sounds like you suck at the game

Are you button mashing? Dodging at all?

I just started chapter 5, kind of a nice twist in the story line. Chapter 4 was way too short, though. I am hoping the final 3 chapters are longer.

I am 27 hours in.

Wow. Strongly disagree with you there. Bioware is just getting better and better imo. Baldur's Gate II is one of the greatest PC RPG's of all time, KOTOR was the best Star Wars game I've ever played and Jade Empire is simply awesome. Haven't finished KOTOR 2 but Bioware had no involvement in that game.

Exactly. That's really dumb in my opinion. So if there's a ghost in front of me, I can regenate health--if not, I'm screwed. Makes no sense at all.

Nickdawgy

1) Upgrading weapons is NOT the same thing as being able to buy different weapons (i.e. like 'Silver dagger of frost' or something like that). Can't buy better armor, etc.

2) See my explanation above.

3) Changing guys is not adding and removing from the party. Bgate2 had adding and removing from a party--Jade merely has a 'buddy' switching system.

4) On previous Bioware games, your companions were almost as strong as you or stronger, depending on their skills. Bastilla could kick serious ass. Your companions on this game have nowhere near that type of skill.

My other gripe is that you can't do anything with your companions skill or equipment wise. They are just generic fighting companions with a special skill.

I guess I'm just disappointed with the serious lack of depth in this game. It's nothing compared to baldur's gate 2.

Taylor34

I didn't mean that they've gotten bad or anything, I just meant that they peaked at Baldur's Gate 2 and it seems as though KOTOR (while really awesome) and Jade Empire (it's ok) aren't quite as good. Baldur's Gate II is one of my favorite games of all time.

You can buy new weapons. I bought a new sword in the Imperial city. I am glad that the followers are overpowering. I like to do all the killing for the most part.

Where did Neverwinter Nights go?

Good point, I liked that better then BG. In fact, I may just dust it off and play again.

I was just trying to give him an idea in general. As a matter of fact, I didn't even mention KOTOR in my post describing what "turn-based" combat is.

I think their toolset is absolutely brilliant and can not wait to see what improvements Obsidian adds in for NWN2.

But, for JE, I am still stuck with no good way to play. I may have to break down and either get my Box repaired or a new one. At least then I could also play Halo 2 online without worrying that I won't load the map and hold everyone up.

If you've got the first generation Xbox with the stinker Thomson drive (as I once did), you're better off getting one of the newer Xboxes. However, the newer ones are not very mod-friendly from what I've read (in case you're into that sort of thing).

Yeah, I've confirmed I have the Thompson, and JE is the first game to really have major problems, which sucks. I just can't justify spending the money, as I was waiting to see if the 360 was backwards compatiable and wait for that, but with my current problems, I am not sure I can wait it out now. I hate to pay MS for fixing their own shoddy equipment, but it would at least save me some money. Anyone use MS to fix their Xbox before?

For the record, it was only after playing KOTOR on my 1st gen Xbox that I began noticing a "hiccup" in my harddrive. The best way to describe this is...any game that had a loading screen would get the harddrive spinning, then I would hear it click once (sometimes twice), then I would hear it spin-up again as if it stopped momentarily. This was very annoying and with some games the hiccup would eventually result in a crash. The loading screen wouldn't change, it just stayed on that screen until I reset the damn thing. :thumbsdown:

So I just gained the Lion's Breath (or something) in the school area (I just started the game, that was the first puzzle I solved). Is the bonus that this thing gives always on, or do I need to equip something?