With a Snap-Hiss: Examining Lightsaber Combat

Posted on November 7, 2014by

Jedi_circleThe lightsaber: the iconic weapon of the Jedi Knight. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age, able to deflect blaster bolts and cut through armor plating, and you know you’ve definitely made the “vshhhhh” noise while turning on a flashlight and swinging it around. Lightsabers are showy and surprisingly useful weapons, and reinforce the fantasy element of Star Wars. We see many versions of lightsaber combat, and a look at a duel from a mechanical perspective makes it all the more impressive.

Let’s start with the basics of lightsabers. They operate like many different types of bladed weapons, though European longsword and katana have been the greatest influence. Lightsabers can be one- or two-handed weapons, can be dual-bladed, can be dual-wielded either as two normal-size lightsabers or a normal one and a shoto, and have great room for individual variation in style. Lightsabers can be extendable, can be waterproof, and can be heirlooms as well as originally made. From a combat standpoint, lightsabers are among the most versatile weapons we ever see. Because they are unique to the user, and able to accomodate so many species of Jedi and Sith, there are infinite ways to fight with a lightsaber. We see styles that seem more like modern fencing, styles that emphasize precision and control. There are some who are more flashy in their fighting, embracing Force-enhanced acrobatics. Against droids and blasters, some Jedi manage to use their lightsabers as more defensive weapons. With seven separate forms, the Jedi of the Old Republic refined their lightsaber skills into an impressive and deadly art, until much of that knowledge was lost with Order 66. Read More

TIE Fighter’s Rerelease: A Surprising Disappointment

Posted on November 5, 2014by Imperial Court Circular

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This review pertains to the initial GOG release of TIE Fighter. For a response to more recent updates, head here.

Twenty years after its original release, the legendary TIE Fighter is once again available to play on PC via a release by GOG.com. The game proved itself to be more than an entertaining flight simulation by creating a well-plotted and engaging story arc that allowed players to serve as a pilot in the Imperial Navy without undermining the themes of the Star Wars Trilogy. Players were able to understand how Imperial loyalists viewed the Rebellion, but the game also avoided whitewashing the evils of the Empire; players who read between the lines of their mission briefings realized with mounting horror that not everything was as heroic as it seemed. The combination of glorious heroics and dark undertones made it a surprisingly compelling game, and one that set the bar high for its successors in what is now called the X-Wing series of flight simulators.

October’s release is not the first time the game has become available on the market again. There were three distinct releases – and versions – of TIE Fighter. There was the original 1994 release of TIE Fighter and its expansion on floppy disks, a 1995 Collector’s CD ROM which enhanced the game while including yet another expansion, and then a 1998 3D remaster for Windows. The GOG release bundles together the 1994 floppy version and the 1998 3D remaster, and GOG has also released several other LucasArts games (including X-Wing, Sam & Max Hit the Road, and games currently available on other platforms including Knights of the Old Republic, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Monkey Island: Special Edition). Overall, the release is very welcome and will allow people to experience the wonder that is TIE Fighter for the first time, or perhaps the first time in forever. GOG’s decision not to include the Collector’s CD – what many consider to be the definitive version of the game – is a bit of a disappointment, however.

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Ends and Means: Questionable Actions for the Greater Good

Posted on November 4, 2014by and

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Ben: Noble intentions are traditionally what differentiate the “good guys” from the “bad”. The heroes of a story are altruistic, working for the good of others, while the villains are selfish, working only for themselves. Protagonists look out for their friends, families, comrades in arms. Antagonists carve a swath through whoever stands in the way of their goals.

But this sort of binary story structure is often deconstructed with a simple scenario: a hero is placed in a position where, to do the greatest good for the largest number of people, they must do something they would not normally do. Something morally questionable, or even outright against their morals or beliefs, but something that would protect others, stop conflicts, save lives, the examples go on and on. The drama lies in how the hero deals with this sort of problem, either taking the moral high ground and living with the ultimate outcome, or doing what they deem necessary and having to live with their conscience. Read More

On Tarkin, and the Novel as Reference Material

Posted on November 3, 2014by Scotch Tape and Popsicle Sticks

—–WARNING, MILD SPOILERS AHEAD—–

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Ladies and gentlemen, I have a shocking and terrible confession: I have never read an Essential Guide.

Oh, I own them—every single one. Even at their blandest, they’ve given me hours of amusement from aimlessly flipping around, admiring the artwork, and back in the dark ages, actually using them for reference. At their best, they transcend matters of fiction and continuity and become simply interesting books to leave out on one’s coffee table, as the Essential Atlas is in my home.

But I’ve never actually made it through one from cover to cover. And as I neared the end of Tarkin, right around the time a character stops what he’s doing to give an extemporaneous three-page summary of a piece of the title character’s backstory, it occurred to me that this must be what it feels like. Read More

Hey Star Wars – Hire These Women

Posted on October 31, 2014by , , and

While I’ve long taken up the banner of diversity in Star Wars as one of my pet causes, I have to confess that while I’ve gone to great lengths to quantify its in-universe demographics, I’ve never really spoken up about perhaps an even more important aspect—the demographics of the people making Star Wars.

Part of it is that my sci-fi/fantasy interests have never extended much beyond SW and I’m just not familiar with a lot of female creators, and I think the other part is that—like with the lack of gay characters—the white guys have such an enormous lead that it’s hard to even know where to start.

Luckily, Star Wars’ real-world component has made some decent strides on its own in the last several years; the departures of Karen Traviss and Sue Rostoni from the publishing program were followed by the arrivals of Karen Miller and Christie Golden and Jennifer Heddle, Lucasfilm’s public face is increasingly that of women like Kiri Hart, Amy Beth Christenson, Andi Gutierrez, and Vanessa Marshall, and of course, the whole damned thing was bequeathed by George Lucas in 2012 to Lucasfilm veteran Kathleen Kennedy.

There’s still lots of room for improvement, however—notably, not a single female writer or director has yet been linked to any future SW film—and this awesome piece on women in comics over at that other “ThirtyEight” website inspired me to ask the gang for their recommendations on new female faces to join the Star Wars ranks. Here are their thoughts. Read More