I encourage everyone to read this FAQ before posting a new question thread. It's very possible that the answers you seek are here.
Cheers!
Iron "ultimate form" Weasel
THE COMPLETELY UNOFFICIAL JADE EMPIRE FAQ
[Final Post-Release Version]
(We = Bioware)
So, what’s the deal on this new game?
With Jade Empire, BioWare is taking a bold new step into the world of role-playing games. It is a land filled with exotic and deadly creatures, spectacular combat, and stories of passion and adventure. We are very proud of the work that has been done by the Jade Empire team on this new world of martial arts and magic. We feel that Jade Empire is the culmination of everything BioWare has learned from creating titles like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, and the Baldur's Gate series.
Jade Empire is another D&D game, right?
No. Jade Empire has nothing to do with Dungeons and Dragons (well, ok, they are both role-playing. But other than that, nothing). DnD is a great system. We've worked very well with it in our Baldur's Gate series and our Neverwinter Nights series, but Jade Empire will be different. Jade Empire is a totally BioWare-created game and system.
Where did you guys get your inspiration for Jade Empire?
We drew inspiration from all over. Movies were watched, books were read, trips to China were taken, pictures were looked at, songs were listened to, food was eaten. Lots of varied and different sources were looked at and used. Everything was studied and then we used these sources as reference to come up with our own ideas of what the people and places for Jade Empire would look like. China has been around for thousands of years, there was a lot to look at.
Which aspects of Asian geography, culture, etc are referenced in Jade Empire?
We are not referencing any real-world religions, locations, or even martial arts by name-this is the Jade Empire, a world that might have been, not real-world ancient China.
Having said that, yes we've drawing on Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms heavily. In general, we are trying to stay very true to our sources, while reserving the right to make creative/narrative decisions that aren't made in the original texts.
So you aren’t trying to recreate a specific period in Chinese history?
Correct. This is a fictional world of our creation, so there is no time setting for it. You will see different elements that are based on Chinese historical periods and settings, but they will mix and mingle as we wish them too.
So, if you are a Chinese History scholar you may play the game and say "Wait. That looks like something from the Ming dynasty, but I saw that other thing that looked like it was from the Han dynasty. That shouldn't be." But keep in mind that Jade Empire is not a game about Chinese Mythology. It is a game that we are developing that uses elements of Chinese fantasy and mythology to help us structure the overall game. There are elements that are taken from traditional Chinese mythology and folklore. There are elements that we completely made up from scratch. It is a fantasy game of our own creation, not an attempt to accurately retell existing Chinese myths or stories. We are not emulating or recreating mythical China but rather making our own world that is reminiscent of some of the books, movies, and comics that we've enjoyed. We have not tried to emulate the materials that have inspired us but rather are striving to keep our created world internally consistent.
How many hours of gameplay are there in Jade Empire?
Jade Empire will take most players 20-40 hours to complete on a first playthrough.
Does Jade Empire use motion capture for the martial arts?
Yes, we brought in martial artists from as far away as mainland China.
The performers had a lot of input into the moves. In many cases the performer would suggest something cooler or more spectacular or just more appropriate than what the designers had in mind. There was definitely a lot of back-and-forth on the set. You don't bring in someone who's a national champion in a style and then not listen to their opinion.
Is [insert martial arts style here] included in Jade Empire?
No real world martial arts styles are wholly transferred into the game with all of their complexities and major movements. Many of our styles are inspired by certain real world martial arts but did not try to emulate them. While we looked into many different styles, we did not try to recreate them in the game. We have a style that is loosely based on/ inspired by baguazhang, for example, but an actual practitioner of the style would see it as merely reminiscent of baguazhang – more like a homage than a copy.
Does Jade Empire have combat controls like in fighting games such as Soul Calibur and Tekken?
Jade Empire is not a game like Tekken or Soul Calibur. It is an Action-RPG which means it mixes both deep role-playing and fighting. Generally speaking, it's a detailed RPG with an action-based combat system. It is an RPG first and an action game second.
The games mentioned are dedicated fighting games with small elements of story grafted on top. BioWare is known for excellent RPGs and we are not in any way departing from that. The fighting system is innovative and exciting but somewhat different from pure fighting games.
Jade Empire is a full, involving Role Playing Game that also features some very cool combat. So (as a made-up example) you could be walking around a town trying to find a certain NPC monk. When you turn the corner some henchmen of the local bad guy jump you. You then get a cool combat scene where you try to defeat the henchmen. Then you leave the combat and continue your quest to find the monk. Our game will be much more story- and character-driven then "combat" games. Tekken, VF, Street Fighter, etc are all cool games, but they are a different type of game than Jade Empire.
Did you using the Knights of the Old Republic engine to create Jade Empire?
No. Jade Empire’s graphics engine is new from the ground up. Most of the core parts are completely different from KotOR, plus the KotOR engine had to run on the Xbox and PC, whereas Jade Empire is Xbox only.
Is there be lots of voice work, like in Knights of the Old Republic?
Yes, all the people you talk to in the game will have full voice over.
In fact, there are 90 different voice actors in Jade Empire speaking about 13,891 lines of dialog, requiring some 900MB of storage space on the disk.
Are there any puzzles in Jade Empire?
Yes, there are.
Does this mean that there are more really confusing puzzles like the Energy Pillars in Knights of the Old Republic?
The puzzle you mention is based on a classic puzzle called the Towers of Hanoi. We recognize that it was difficult to get a grasp on the puzzle due to the way we set it up, and have been developing a system to make puzzles more intuitive and visual. We’ve tried to keep the puzzles based on physical actions so that, while it may still be a logic puzzle, the player can physically see the results of his or her choices as opposed to a text description. This should make the puzzles much less confusing.
Since this is a fantasy game, are there any playable races besides humans?
We are not making a Dungeons & Dragons type of game, so there will not be playable races like Dwarves or Elves in Jade Empire. And although we will have a fantasy element in the game that will include monsters and other "make believe" creatures, our monsters/creatures will be more "mature" in nature than fairies, anthropomorphic fire-breathing panda bears, etc.
Death’s Hand doesn’t seem very Chinese – his armour and helmet were clearly inspired by Japanese samurai. How does he fit into Jade Empire?
We certainly understand what you're saying about Death's Hand but he is an exception within our world. Suffice to say he wears the mask for a good reason and is generally hated and feared amongst the citizens of the Jade Empire. He has an intriguing story that isn't like that of any of our previous villains.
I have heard that my decisions will determine whether I am a ‘good’ or ‘evil’ person in Jade Empire. Why will my actions be judged? Didn’t you get enough of that in Knights of the Old Republic?
We discovered that people like choices when they play their games. We like to think of it as something of a maturing of the game industry when, as game developers, we can include an alternate to the Hero-saves-the-world story. That people will not only be willing to accept an anti-hero path but actually enjoy it as much as the traditional path is tremendously cool, and something we want to offer to our players.
I don't want to choose sides - can I be neutral in Jade Empire?
Georg Zoeller says:
Trying to be "neutral" is a fancy description for being unwilling or incapable of choosing one's path.
Being neutral in Jade Empire is not easy - in many situations, you can make decisions to follow the way of the closed fist, or apply the teachings of the way of the open palm - but you can not just simply stand by and try not to get involved (i.e. just doing nothing while some bandits you could easily dispatch beat up an old woman is will further your progress on the path of the closed fist. Through waiting until the bandits are finished and then collecting "tribute" from them might further your quest down that path even faster).
So, in order to stay "neutral" (walk neither the way of the closed fist nor the way of the open palm), you would have to carefully balance out your decisions - a task that's certainly not easy, but it can be done.
This is not D&D, however - there is no truly neutral - decisions have consequences.
Help the weak - follow the way of the open palm -
Stand by and let the weak fall to the strong - you follow the teachings of the closed fist, you might as well join in and beat the weak up yourself - the outcome for them and for you is the same.
No margin for "neutrality" in that one.
Note that there is no "right" and "wrong" for the game - you make your decisions and the game will tell you which path you are walking down (or you decide the path and make your actions accordingly, whatever works best for you). Of course both groups consider their own teachings "right" and the other's teachings "wrong"...
No doubt the do-gooders have many side-quests to undertake, but what about the evil-doers? Are there evil sidequests, as well?
Georg Zoeller says:
There are options that are only available to evil characters and there are options that are only available to non-evil characters, yes.
How does character creation work?
It’s pretty simple, really.
You start by choosing one of six character skin (seven if you have the Limited Edition). Each skin has a “default” setting, with a pre-set name, statistics, and starting styles.
If you prefer, you can customize your character, changing his starting attributes of Body, Spirit and Mind, each of which in turn affects your character’s Health (hit points), Chi (magic) and Focus (for weapon use).
You can make up your own name or use the name generator for inspiration, and you can choose your starting styles.
None of the three main statistics - Health, Chi and Focus - seem to have any bearing on how much damage is dealt with various attacks. Is it possible to improve styles to do more damage?
James Henley says:
Styles can be developed and leveled over the course of play, giving you more control over the damage you deal.
Are there well-crafted romances in Jade Empire? Is there more than one possible romantic interest?
Chris Priestly says:
Nope. Sorry, but that takes FAR too much time, thought and effort. You can pretty much just walk up to a female romance character and say "I like you. Be mine." and they will say "Yes".
But what he was only kidding. His real answer was:
Yes, there are romances in the game for male and female PCs. And you will have choices as to whom you want to romance.
and James Henley says:
This wouldn't be a BioWare RPG without some good romance options, people, so never fear! Personally, I think these are some of the best I've seen thus far. That's just me, though.
How is the death of the main playable character handled in Jade Empire?
Georg Zoeller says:
Unlike in KotOR, where you can take control of another party member if the main PC goes down] Jade's focus is on the main character - you can not play as a follower in normal combat (unless it's a specifically created part of the story where you would play as that follower).
So:
- If your follower dies, he'll be out of the combat until after the fight.
- If you die, it's game over.
Note that you can use your chi to heal yourself during combat to avoid premature death.
Will Jade Empire have multiple difficulty settings?
Chris Priestly says:
Yes. Jade has three difficulty settings: Student (Easy), Master (Normal), Grand Master (your powers are useless).
Are there different armor types and clothing you can wear to change your character's appearance?
James Henley says:
No. This decision allowed us to provide character models with a much greater level of detail and a more realistic appearance.
I love to play dress-up! However, I've heard that there won't be different clothing for my character to wear in Jade Empire. Is it true that I'll be wearing the same thing throughout the entire adventure?
Evil Chris says:
This is, for the most part, correct. You do gain (if you find them) dragon amulet gems that will give you different "armor" effects during combat. And there maaaaayabe some areas, by design, in the game where the PC's appearance differs. But you do not have to worry about changing clothes or that sort of thing.
Will the mini-game be mandatory? That is, will I be forced to play it in order to advance the story, or can I just skip it whenever it comes up?
Bob McCabe and Evil Chris say:
You can get through the game without ALMOST ever firing up the mini-game.
There are some subplots that are activated / completed by successfully navigating the mini-game. (As an aside, there is a separate difficulty option for the mini-game.) But as they are subplots, you need not do them, and once you take on a mini-game mission, you are given the option - upon failure - to continue re-trying or to give up.
It's pretty friendly.
Does Jade Empire feature dynamic weather patterns and changing seasons?
Evil Chris says:
Well, there are areas (such as the Temple of Dirge) that are snowy or stormy or clear. But we do not have changing weather during the game. Different areas, like the Dirge Temple, will have their own weather. But it will not go from clear to rainy within the same area.
Are there be any multiplayer modes?
Jade Empire is a single player game; there is no multiplayer aspect.
Does Jade Empire support Xbox Live?
No.
Is there be a widescreen mode?
Jade Empire does not support widescreen.
Are there Jade Empire forum portraits?
Yes! Register your game for access to cool Jade forum portraits!
Can we look forward to Jade Empire merchandise, like clothing, music, and books?
One of the great things about Jade Empire is that it is entirely our IP (Intellectual Property). This means that sequels, books, toys, movies, or whatever are all a possibility for the future (depending on demand of course). In the past we've had demand for items (a Minsc action figure with hamster action, for example) but, due in part to the legalities behind ownership, these were not feasible. With Jade Empire there is a much better chance of us seeing an Art of the Jade Empire book or Jade Empire movie starring Jet Li, Joan Chen and Charles the Wonder Pigeon.
Be sure to check out the Jade Empire soundtrack, on sale at the BioWare store!
When will Jade Empire be released?
Australia and New Zealand Click Here
Europe Click Here
What’s this I hear about a Limited Edition of the game?
( Click Here )
AAAH! I bought the Limited Edition of Jade Empire but I don’t see Monk Zeng as a playable character how dare you rip me off?!
1) Relax
2) ( Click Here )
Edited By BRVolition on 05/08/06 16:28
Updated: This is Toonyman updating the Jade Empire threads and starting ones that matter anyway. I'll be doing this little by little throughout the week. Enjoy!
This is how I show my love for this game.
Do góry
