DESIGN DIARY - 10.31.00 Chuck's Playtesters and Joe's Artists This morning, Tom sent several Decipherians an email invitation to come up to the Product Development floor and play a couple of games of Jedi Knights. The PD team is always on the lookout for feedback, even more now that they're going through the last stages of the game's creation. "I really want to play a game," says Chuck. There are cards all over the table Chuck uses as an extension to his desk - and they're in color! The cards are a far cry from what the finished product will look like, but it's nice to see the game take form on every level, i.e. in its physical incarnation as well as on the virtual, computerized plane of existence. Last time I played the game (just a week ago!), the cards were all in black and white, with the same basic 3D models used over and over again. So Vader looked just like a stormtrooper, and so did Tarkin. Talk about dress code. I'll just have to find some time to sit down and play a game later today. And I'm sure that when the rest of the Marketing team gets back from Germany - they're somewhere above the Atlantic as I'm writing this - they won't be able to resist the call of Jedi Knights. Or some very effective arm-twisting from Tom. (At that point I realized that Tim was nowhere in sight. It almost scared me.) "In addition to printing and organizing the playtest cards," continues Chuck, "we're also revisiting key concepts of the game and considering some changes, based on playtest sessions and feedback from various people involved in the development of Jedi Knights." This will certainly be interesting to follow in the coming days. Joe looks a bit tired this morning. "I finished going around the artists and making sure everyone was using current files at about 11 P.M. yesterday night," he says. "And then I stayed up for a few more hours to get some more work done." The good news is that every artist had the latest 3D models - but it never hurts to be absolutely sure. Especially on a project of this scale. "The artists from A.S.Imagined are currently working on Tarkin's head," says Joe. "They're putting the texture on, and it looks really good. You can see every wrinkle." I wonder if we'll be able to recognize his foul stench as well. Francis K. Lalumiere The Juggler