The Knights Of The Old Republic Return
In the process of creating a video game, much like during the process of creating a movie, a lot of excellent material ends up on the proverbial editing room floor. With movies, the extra content and deleted scenes end up on the special edition DVD version. But what about video and computer games?
Without a doubt, one of the most celebrated Star Wars video game series of all time is Knights of The Old Republic, commonly abbreviated as KOTOR. The critically acclaimed title took Star Wars fans to a place even longer ago in that galaxy far, far away: 4,000 years before the events of "Episode IV: A New Hope," to be exact. The game play and the plot in the first KOTOR - which was developed by Bioware and released in 2003 - earned the title numerous awards, and the adoration of Star Wars fans and gamers alike.
KOTOR 2 and Sith Lords Restoration Project Slide Show (18 images)
KOTOR spawned a sequel, dubbed Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, which was developed by Obsidian and released in 2005 continuing the saga. And ever since that release of KOTOR II, there has been speculation about KOTOR III. With 30th anniversary celebrations for Star Wars in play in 2007, that speculation has only increased. Meanwhile, in a small corner of the Web, a dedicated group of fans is working diligently on a project that will shed new light on the dark never-before-seen crevices of KOTOR and its sequel.
Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords features villains such as Darth Sion (left), Darth Nihilus, and Visas Marr.
Though KOTOR II is an excellent game, many gamers say that it feels rushed and incomplete. Indeed, it was discovered as early as 2005 that a lot of material designed for the end of the title was deleted. Additionally, it was discovered that certain character development scenes were left out, and some characters were even cut altogether. An intrepid band of fans have discovered the missing pieces that were not included in the final production version of KOTOR II, and slowly but surely, they're making those hidden chapters and pieces available.
The effort is officially called The Sith Lords Restoration Project (TSLRP), and its goal is to add back in as much of the cut content as is possible. According to the project's website, among the new items that TSLRP aims to return to the games are the "long-lost HK Droid Factory" (which is not the same as the Droid Planet M4-78); several ways to kill the Sith character Marr Visas; multiple new endings; a "whole new group of people who want to kill you!" and more. Here's a look at the first Sith Lords Restoration Project trailer, as well as the latest Sith Lords Restoration clip released last month.
TSLRP is an active development effort led by a group called Team Gizka. They are joined by a dedicated group of beta testers who have access to the development builds of the project. Though TSLRP is not officially an effort of either LucasArts nor game developer Obsidian (or BioWare), no one is doing anything to stop the effort.
"We did e-mail Obsidian early on, but they didn't respond," Team Gizka member Jdnoa told TwitchGuru. "We assume that they have licensing agreements that would prohibit their helping us in any way. Of course, they also haven't shut down the project, which they could do just by contacting us and telling us to stop, so we're happy enough with how things are."
As it turns out, the TSLRP is getting a lot of interest and activity from fans of the KOTOR series. The Team Gizka discussion forums for the restoration effort are heavily trafficked, with over 31,000 articles posted. "I know I was surprised by both the initial interest from the community and by the ongoing support," Jdnoa said. "The project's been going on for two years now, but people are still coming to our forums."
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