Help with lightsabre combat in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

heartburnron

heartburnron

heartburnron

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So I've been playing my way through this game for the first time and it's still a lot of fun despite it's age but there is one thing that is bothering that I'm wondering if any of you veteran's could give me some advice on...

When using the lightsabre, it seems to miss sometime even when facing the opponent - does moving the mouse whilst swinging make a difference? Also when fighting an enemy who also has a lightsabre, sometimes there is a clash of sabre against sabre for a few seconds - is there a way instigating these tussles or of ensuring you win one. It feels like there is some pretty smart light sabre combat underneath but I can't quite figure it out. Is there more to it that just clicking the mouse button. It could be that as I'm playing it at 3440x1440 resolution that perhaps the targeting with sabre is a bit off?

Any advice would be great...
 
I was a big JK player back in 2002/3. Moving the mouse can definitely help you get a more precise swing. It's been so long since I played I forget which stance is best. Doesn't really matter in the single player but from what I remember staff beats all in multiplayer if you know how to use it.

You've made me want to play it again!
 
I haven't played this in ages so all this is largly "IIRC", but used to be totally dedicated both in single and multiplayer to the point of ignoring other games. Sure SP was worse than Outcast but MP was on another level of fun.

Yes, fanning the saber was a good tactic in multiplayer duels - especially in yellow stance as moving the mouse side to side did increase coverage of a swing. You can swing the mouse while doing any of the directional slashes - diagonal reverse and forwards as well as side to side and it will increase the damage arc. In fact in base JKA multiplayer a lot of the best duelists would win this way. However I spen more time in JA+ and that modified a few things so my memory might be skewed.

Alternatively the blue style uppercut (crouch+attack+forward) is great after an enemy player used something like red DFA and didn't dodge right out as the animation locked them in place for a moment.

Red diagonal reverse cuts are excellent for applying a lot of damage on enemies while "kiting" them (ie back+left+attack to start animation then run forward to move forward while activating reverse upward diagonal slice).

Saber clashes are stupid as you say - just have to click rapidly, no skill involved. Really hate them.

In base multiplayer you could also do a devastating attack with force speed jump + attack which was a fast ground slide/slash. Useful in the CTF maps which base JA MP servers would usually run, but in JA+ and other MP mods I believe they removed this (for good reason, it was a bit annoying).

However the saber combat overall was still way more advanced than what we got in following SW games or any game today outside of things like the medievel simulators (Chivalry and M&B for example) - thinking rubbish like force unleashed or battlefront... - you could control everything intuitively using mouse swings, WASD, crouch and jump leading to a huge variety of intricate combos which made for a farily deep combat at least in multiplayer. In SP the enemies are too dumb.

Also if you play JKA I highly recommend checking out the MovieBattles II multiplayer mod - had hundreds of hours of fun in this, kind of like CS choose a side, character and build but with thematic SW maps. Damn, I almost want to reinstall it - seems to be quite a lot of recent youtube videos so I imagine the population is still decent. Last I heard the creators were working on a version 3 of the mod in the Unreal engine but no idea on the progress - it may have been scrapped.


Dammit now I really wish for a sequel to the JK series... :(
 
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I used to slay in JK2. Didn't play JA as much. The MP community was so good in 2. Just hanging out on the maps and challenging each other to duels and recruiting for clans.
Loved that game
 
Just wanted to day thanks again guys. After experimenting again the lightsabre combat really is awesome - I didn't even realise there were directional controls also - you don't get those kind of controls these days that's for sure. I'm now going through the levels using only the lightsabre! :D
 
Someone remake this game, just bring the graphics up to date, don't change anything else, would be great.

Think I will play through the game again after reading this thread, it's a classic for definate!
 
heartburnron said:
Just wanted to day thanks again guys. After experimenting again the lightsabre combat really is awesome - I didn't even realise there were directional controls also - you don't get those kind of controls these days that's for sure. I'm now going through the levels using only the lightsabre! :D
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Yep - nowdays it's all about press one button to execute a movement. So boring.

In JKA you could control every swing direction, use jump and crouch in combination with movement keys to perform even more attack combinations, and change styles on the go. It's only downside is lack of blocking - but then mods like MovieBattles II solve this and have great skillfull saber combat.
 
I remember in JK2 multiplayer, some players binded a key which meant the character would spin with a really fast sensitivity. Effectively spinning round about 3 times in a second. So they'd use this by using force pulling you to the ground and then using the sabre in mid swing spin round 3 times in a second, effectively swiping you 3 times and killing you. :p
 
Been playing through this again recently after a break. I've just been presented with the choice after rescuing Kaiden - I have to say I've never felt so excited with any choice I've ever had to make in a game before nor had so much trouble choosing which way to go. I ended up going with the dark side and can't believe how gleefully wicked I felt playing the level immediately afterwards - brilliant!
 
When I'm having light sabre duals in the single player campaign it feels a bit like pot luck whether I strike the enemy or not as it's all so fast and furious - is there a way to block and counter in these light sabre battles?
 
I remember playing this game last year, I was an obvious noob and some guy spent 2 hours with me teaching the ways to combat with lightsaber. Seemed like a really cool community, is it still around? Many players? Fancy installing now!
 
nitram100 said:
I remember playing this game last year, I was an obvious noob and some guy spent 2 hours with me teaching the ways to combat with lightsaber. Seemed like a really cool community, is it still around? Many players? Fancy installing now!
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I wish someone would teach me! Don't get me wrong - it's great fun using the lightsaber and I get by ok but I still feel like I'm mashing the directional controls a bit when fighting an enemy who also has a saber. So so much fun to play though.
 
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