therfiles

Sure thing. I'll get those to you asap. Be warned...things may be a bit messy!

Random predictions for Episode VIII (mostly original, some taken from some great people at the Cantina forums):

-The Republic builds a new super weapon (mostly defensive) to defend themselves from the First Order, lead by Benicio del Toro (new actor)
-Leia and Poe watch the republic slowly become the empire
-Finn is vocally opposed (he has friends in the FO still…in fact, a new character will be an old friend of Finn)
-Luke went in self exile to protect himself from the dark side, since Kylo Ren and his knights killed Mara Jade and his students and his rage could consume him otherwise
-Luke is bitter and in pain, his new “un-dogmatic” Jedi view failed with Ben Solo. He doesn’t want to train Rey, as he is afraid of what could happen
-Luke and Mara lived happily but had no children, due to Mara/Luke being sterile
-Leia has another son who is NOT force sensitive
-Snoke trains Kylo
-Lando is confirmed dead
-Kylo and Leia have a showdown
-Rey is the daughter of ???

Really nice analysis from one of my favorite movie reviewers.

Yeah unfortunately without predetermined nodes, this won't be possible. You might see this happen on official JKA SP maps because those nodes are indeed there, but as for custom maps you are kinda out of luck!

The movie itself needed more variety in the amount of ships shown.Lets hope that 8 and 9 expand on the faction arsenals and bring back a few favorites.

I agree. I really liked Kylo's shuttle and those troop transports but it really needed some new starfighters.

I'm fairly certain an ICARUS script has a weapon "Drop" function.

Lets refrain from making purely negative comments that don't really help anything (constructive criticism is always welcome here).

@@Ping I guess for me Chewie has always been a great side-kick, but he had much more of a presence in this film. I loved watching him make fun of Han behind his back, the bowcaster bits, Chewie complaining of being cold, flirting with the nurse, mourning/freaking out about Han's death, and then flying the Falcon solo. He just had much more to do in this film, about as much as he had to do (if not more) in ROTJ, imo.

Glad you liked it! And yeah, Chewie really was a great character in the film. I always liked him, but this film gave me a chance to really see him shine.

Sounds awesome. Cool speculation!

I really hope we get to see Luke's wife (either alive or dead). That would be a very interesting point to explore. As for Rey, someone online suggested that she may be the daughter of some of the Knights of Ren and Luke hid her on Jakku to keep her safe. I think it would be cool if Luke reveals that he did know her parents, but he was forced to kill them. I REALLY REALLY hope that she isn't Luke's daughter. Again, not everything needs to be connected. I think both Finn and Rey need to be new, unique characters with their own backstories. I think having Luke be her father would be the easy way out, and there are many times that it should have been revealed by the Solos in TFA if that was the case.

@@BruceJohnJenner: Thanks for going into detail with some of your points. I feel like understand your criticism better now!

Hands down the worst movie I have ever seen. The sad part is, the new characters were great, and the first third of the movie was terrific. Apparently originality is not a concept that J.J. Abrams is familiar with, so he literally went out of his way to rip off scenes from A New Hope. Kylo Ren was the most comical villain I have ever seen, and all of the characters from the original trilogy save for Han were as wooden as cardboard cutouts.

 

And all of the aggravating Abrams tendencies dialed up to 11. The sets constructed from nothing but shiny chrome and red lights (unless theres a computer screen, in which case its always blue for some reason). The sound of a lightsaber now apparently needs to destroy my eardrums every time it gets activated, even though it sounds nothing like what it sounded like in the other six films. The nods to the original trilogy done with all of the subtlety of a hammer. Fight scenes that drag on forever with no change in the mood or pace of the scene (or, I don't know, the occasional line of dialogue?). A movie that drags on forever somehow cant spend more than 15 seconds dealing with why we should care about some random planets being destroyed. Characters are introduced, given 5 minutes of character development, expected to somehow play a big role in important scenes, then completely disappear for the rest of the movie. Characters participate in an emotional, complicated moment that changes the outlook of the story, which is instantly reversed for no reason at all other than shock factor, and keeping the story moving in its original (predictable) direction. CGI heavy battle scenes that last for 5 minutes but don't advance the plot at all. Musical themes from previous movies blared as loud as possible during important scenes in an attempt to make them seem meaningful.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH

 

Im out

I'm sorry you didn't like the movie bro. But I honestly don't understand a lot of your complaints.

The film had incredible, tactile sets. Sets like the Star Destroyer and Starkiller base were shiny and glowy, but that is just the new First Order aesthetic (a very awesome aesthetic, imo). Look anywhere else (Jakku, the Falcon, Maz's Castle, or the Q'dar - the Resistance's base) and you'll see that the film is dominated by very physical and fleshed-out sets. I also don't see the point about that action scenes. If anything, they seemed a bit too short (except for the Rathtars...not so sure how I feel about them yet...I just don't buy them as monsters). The action sequences were dominated by interesting action moments and accompanied by great humor (when needed). As for the CGI, there were only a few moments where it was bothersome. Mainly the Rathtars and Snoke (but I'm getting over Snoke upon repeat viewings).

Truthfully, there were several nods to the OT. I can see that. But they weren't ever overly distracting. Again, this is after the prequels, and people need to be reassured that the new filmmakers share their love of the OT. So did they go a bit overboard in some places? Yep. Was it needed? I think so.

Again, I don't see what you are saying about the characters. Rey is incredibly detailed in her characterization. We spend lots of time with her on Jakku and we get to see her arc unfold as the story progresses. She has two main conflicts: one with her past (her parents, etc) and one with these new force abilities. I love Maz's line to her about finding her belonging in what's ahead, not behind. I also really liked Finn. He's a very authentic hero who acts initially very unlike Poe (who is our one-note B.A. hero). He's afraid and he's selfish. But he finds his place with his friends and finds that there IS a fight that can be won against evil. As for Ren, I'm still picking apart his story. Such an interesting narrative...the idea of being pulled to the light side, rather than the dark. That idea of making the pain in his life more present and dominating so that the darkness will never leave him (see him killing his father or him punching his wound during the fight with Rey). In my opinion, those are our three best new characters. Han is also spectacular. He doesn't have MUCH of an arc, but he's got some interesting beats. I love his hug with Leia towards the end. She asks him, all sad-face-like, to bring their son home. Han just stares into the sky, knowing the impossibility of the task, but knowing that he has to try to bring his son back. Good stuff. I won't lie though. Leia didn't do great in this film. She did well post-Han's death, but her performance was a bit off to me (after she met up with Han again). So while you may not enjoy some of the narrative characterizations, I think it would be silly to say that it isn't there.

The score isn't like the other films'. Their are more intimate moments (ones that I've latched onto and enjoyed) rather than sweeping themes. But the music is still quite good in my opinion (minus the altered crawl soundtrack...not a fan there!) Plus, the visuals in this film were simply stunning, so the music didn't need to do as much legwork as it needed to do in the previous films.

And I do see a lot of the similarities to ANH that are present in this film. They are undeniable. But like many others have already said they don't ruin the film for me. And, personally, I don't see a lot of the connections until the plot is laid out in synopsis form. When I'm actually IN the movie and experiencing the action and plot, it all feels very new and fresh (minus a few moments), and it really is. These are new characters acting out familiar beats in new situations and settings. Again, its similarities are something I saw after reflection, rather than being yanked out of the film by them.

Very interested to see what they do with the whole "first Jedi temples" concept they allude to. I really would like to see Luke try to unravel the secrets of the Jedi as he tries to figure out how to reconcile his past. Again, this isn't a perfect film by any means but I love it dearly. I put it at number 2 in my Star Wars ranking atm.

There is a book, I forget which one, that puts Mara in the original trilogy in episode 6 in Jabba's palace as the redhead dancer in disguise waiting on Luke Skywalker to show up so she could attempt to assassinate him.

I think you are talking about Tales from Jabba's Palace. It's also mentioned in Zahn's Heir to the Empire.

@@eezstreet

Just go see the movie bro. It is pretty amazing!

I've only had the chance to play this a handful of times but I've had a blast. Sure, game modes like Hero Hunt and others are just plain broken, but the main "Walker Assault" and the split-screen "Battles" are just really quick and fun. The game really works when playing with a friend. I don't play console a whole bunch, but I picked this game up VERY quickly. I love the graphics, sound design, and quick gameplay. Is it a bit shallow? Yep. Are some of the heroes really borked? Yup. Does it generally lack depth, especially for SP? Heck yes! But I think the game is a very fast-paced game that can be a whole lot of fun.

It wasn't. It was part of a non-canon INFINITIES story where Maul comes back and hunts down Obi-Wan to Tatooine in 16 BBY, three years after Revenge of the Sith. He attacks Owen and holds Luke hostage, forcing Obi-Wan to duel him again.

Good sir! You are mistaken! But that's the gist of it.

I have that comic! It's called Star Wars: Visionaries. It was the concept of a comic artist that had the opportunity to build a story around it. However, I highly doubt it was considered canon even back then!

You almost never need more than one navgoal; it's just a matter of having a proper waypoint network. That's what the ordinary waypoint entity (without navgoal) is for.

Interesting. I've never heard of this before. All the classic tutorials just mention using the navgoal. If this works, it could be quite awesome. But it seems like there are still some problems...I'll poke an SP map sometime.

Hmmm. Here's something I've tried in the past: Preform a couple of simple tests where you vary the distance from the NPC to the waypoint. Start really close and then move it farther and farther back. I haven't found a good solution to this problem, but at the very least you can create a crude trail of navgoals that can do the same job.

I understand your frustration! It can be so so annoying! This has happened to me so many times. Try setting the behavior state to CINEMATIC...

@@Onysfx: I have a lot of my Star Wars fan sites blocked at the moment, I haven't seen the latest trailer, and I plan on just staying off the internet around the 17th. The spoilers will be stopped!

Looks like we've got it all, folks! Thanks for your insane amount of generosity and kindness. You all seriously rock!

Got tickets for 7PM on the 17th...and I get to see it with a lot of my friends I haven't spent much time with since college. This is going to be amazing.

Hi! Out of curiosity, are you building new maps or putting the NPCs on already created maps?