DESIGN DIARY - 12.05.00

The Return

Jedi Knights is being delayed until January 2001.
Not because there are problems with the game, but rather because the game will look absolutely great.

As you must know if you've been reading my Diary from the beginning (can you believe we're already up to twenty-eight entries, not counting the dramatis personae but including this one?), the entire Star Wars universe is being rebuilt, from scratch, as 3D models. As you can expect, this takes time. And as it turns out, it takes more time than we thought.

So the game is delayed. Which should be a good sign: it means that things are not getting rushed. Of course we would have like to release Jedi Knights in December; not only because that was the projected release date/month/period/window (roll a 4-sided die) we had announced, not only because a major release right before Christmas is always good for a company (and especially a game company), but also because everybody at Decipher is dying to play Jedi Knights.

But we are committed to a standard of quality and we're ready to push the release date of the game back if it means reaching that standard. And this is not propaganda, it's the plain truth.
[Again, those of you who have been reading the Diary for a while know that its pages are not the place for propaganda. If anything, the Diary has sometimes been too candid. But I haven't been fired yet. Unless I have and nobody bothered to tell me. Now there's a thought.]

Because of the delay (and just in case I have been fired), I will start skipping a few pages here and there in the Diary. This way, our horse won't start foaming at the mouth before we reach our destination. But fear not! I'm not about to let you stranded in cyber-Bastille until the digital Revolution comes.
Here's the plan.

Once a week you'll be handed a full Diary entry, just like the ones you've been reading for the past six weeks.
[I can't believe it's been that long. It really feels like I first opened my Diary yesterday.]
For every other day, you'll get a little Jedi Knights gem you can add to the big necklace (earrings are also fine). An interesting (intriguing, perhaps even mysterious) quote, a snippet about gameplay, a fascinating fact that was left out of a previous entry (and believe me, I have quite a scrapbook)... Whatever it is, I'll do my utmost best to make sure it's something that manages to pique your curiosity.

The Jedi Knights Design Diary will return to its original schedule sometime in January.
Think of what is past as Act I, and look at what's to come as Act II. The period between the two is usually called an intermission - but don't go too far, you might miss a fun interlude.

Francis K. Lalumiere
The Juggler