Just a question in anticipation of KOTOR2 (might be slight spoiler)

[Nerull]

I do not own any of the consoles, so I am waiting for KOTOR 2 to show up on PC. For those of you who have already played it on XBox, I have a question. Did they stick "minigames" in this one (like swoop racing, Pazaak, gunner station, etc.)? If so, what did they keep the same, and what did they change? Personally, I hated all of the minigames in KOTOR 1 (I flat refused to swoop race after Taris in any game I played), so I am hoping that they removed them.

[Sir Degrader]

If they do, I PRAY that swoop racing will be modifiable. What's the point in racing in the same (pretty much) track 3 times for pitiful cash? They'l keep pazaak i'm sure, as it guarentees cash for LS.

[Sythe]

There are still many of the mini games and have had some slight changes. Swoop racing though is *much* more challenging and you really need quick reflexes if you want to succed.And remove all the mini games would be unthinkable to many fans (including me). How can one hate swoop racing or Pazaak?

[Nerull]

Pazaak is tolerable. I pretty much hate all of the other ones. I especially hate the swoop racing (both did not like it and had problems getting good at it). I just do the one track they make you do on Taris (multiple times reloading until I barely beat the time), then do not so much as open the door to the other two tracks. Having to do it at all is like passing a kidney stone.

The gunner game I've gotten decent at due to the constant, CONSTANT repetition of it through the game. It is pretty much the same fight over and over and over. Now I save before I hit the Galaxy Map and just reload if one of the non-mandatory fighter groups show up.

So, you might find the minigames being removed unthinkable, but personally I would find it to be an improvement. I do not like racing games and only occasionally play an arcade style shoot em up. Pazaak gets tedious as well; I just go kill some extra desert wraids to get cash as LS (it is equally tedious, and I get xp for it as well as cash).

I guess when I buy a RPG, I want an RPG, and not to be forced (especially in the case of swoop racing and the gunner game) to play something I don't like just to keep going in the RPG. If all of them were entirely optional entirely (i.e. do not have to do even once), then I would have no problem with them being in the game.

[J'aran]

I hate pazaak with a passion, just like I hate any card game in which winning depends more on luck than skill and insight. Plus, the earnings are quite minimal for the time and frustration involved, IMHO. If I need cash, I just kill a few Wraid on Tatooine and sell the plates to that Rodian at Yavin IV, who pays more for them than the guy at the hunting lodge.

[Sythe]

Ah well...I can see what you are coming from. Even though I did the swoop racing perfect the first time through I guess I would hate it too if I am forced to do it over and over again. Now if you are *forced* to do any of the minigames. Well yes only one out of my fifteen hours in the game. And that one is pretty early in the game...and its a shooter.

[Paladin2000]

I don't mind pazaak but swoop racing is just too intense for my aging reflex.

[Luvian]

The worse is that in KOTOR 1 the first gunner game is right after a boss fight.

You can bet I ran in the ship to avoid the damage and you can bet I lost the minigame...

[Paladin2000]

You mean the "man the turret" thingy? That was relatively easy compared to swoop racing.

[Nerull]

Originally posted by Luvian: The worse is that in KOTOR 1 the first gunner game is right after a boss fight. You can bet I ran in the ship to avoid the damage and you can bet I lost the minigame...

The first time through the game for me, it took me 3 times killing Davik before I figured out that I could save before leaving (dumb on my part). I had a devil of a time in each fight, just to win and die in the stupid gunner minigame.

Anything involving hand-eye coordination is an absolute no-no for me. The game is relatively forgiving in the gunner game (if it is flying at you and shoot generally near the fighter it lets you score the hit). However, the swoop track I find to be much less forgiving; I have a bear of a time moving around on the track (either moving too far in a direction, or not enough). An imitation of me on the swoop track is *boom* *boom* *boom* (as I hit an obstacle, then swerve either too late or too early in anticipation and hit another one).

I guess it just bothers me that a game that in no other way tests your hand-eye coordination (i.e. the game makes hit rolls rather than having you aim like a FPS) makes you do so in the minigames. For someone like me (that can't hit the broad side of a barn) that means having to reload over and over when in the rest of the game I do not need to worry about that at all.