KOTOR 3 was in pre-production at Obsidian
Today in news likely to make you fall to your knees and do the Darth Vader "noooo", the never-greenlit Knights of the Old Republic 3 sounds like it was going to be totally sweet.
KOTOR 3 was in pre-production at Obsidian Entertainment, Chris Avellone told Eurogamer in a podcast - and that's why KOTOR 1's Revan didn't appear much in KOTOR2; the character would have made a return in the third game, closing the trilogy.
"I always liked the idea that Revan, as smart and powerful as your player-character was, was actually even more of a brilliant strategist than became apparent in the first game," Avellone said.
"The entire second game is littered with clues as to 'why didn't Revan destroy the infrastructure here? What was he trying to make sure was still intact? What did he/she see that no one else saw?'
"I thought that was giving a nice nod to 'wait a minute, Revan realises there's an even larger force at work here, and he's focusing his efforts on that and keeping the big picture in mind'. That was one thing - the idea that there was a larger, global conspiracy."
The conspiracy in question concerned a previously unencountered kind of Sith lord.
"The idea was that even before the 'modern day' Sith came into being in The Old Republic there were even more distant Sith Lords that were considered the true Sith, and the idea that they were still lurking out there in the galaxy waiting for a chance to strike, kind of like the Shadows in Babylon 5, I thought would be a cool finale for that Old Republic trilogy.
In the proposed third game, players would have fulfilled the role of a character called the Exile, who would have attempted to track Revan down. It's not certain whether the two characters would ever come face to face.
It sounds like Obsidian had qite fleshed out-ideas; the game would retain familiar features like the Ebon Hawk, the base and the player character's home, and would see the return of companions T3-M4 and HK-47. In one sequence, HK-47's legs would be removed, and the player would carry the robot in a backpack; it would provide cover fire.
Despite its ambitious plans and the success of the first two games, Obsidian was unsuccessful in getting the sequel greenlit.
"It was a matter of getting LucasArts to greenlight the title. To be honest I don't know all the reasons that went into this, whether they wanted to have an internal team do it, whether they logistics didn't work out..." Avellone said.
"Ultimately, it felt like we were pitching and pitching and it just wasn't going anywhere, and at some point people just drew a line and said 'it's just not going to happen', which made us kind of sad, but, OK, if that's the business, that's the business."
The full podcast report goes into detail on why Obsidian released KOTOR 2 unfinished, and includes a heartfelt thanks from Avellone to the modders who helped restore the lost content so players could experience it. It's pretty much a must-read (or listen) for any KOTOR fan.