Jade Empire Interviews
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Q: How much does the good/evil alignment play into the game?
A: The Good/Evil System in Jade Empire is a little different than we did in the past. The mechanics of the system are very similar to what we did in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic with the player's actions earning them points on either side of the scale and the further the player goes, the more that their alignment affects their appearance, their relationships, etc. However, we have a distinct difference this time around that we think makes the system more compelling and more realistic.
In the Jade Empire, as in real life, Good and Evil are not so black and white as one might expect. There are two competing philosophies in the Jade Empire: the Way of the Closed Fist and the Way of the Open Palm. GameSpy featured these two philosophies in recent articles so I won't go into details about the reasoning behind them but it is the way that these are applied to the game that make the experience more realistic.
What is 'evil' to one person is simply practical to another. What is clearly the right thing to do to one group of people is purely evil to another. The player is presented with these competing views on what is right and what is wrong all of the time and must often choose between the two. The player often gets a chance to explain or give reasons for his choices and it's the way that the player justifies his or her actions that reveal what side of the philosophical fence that they fall on.
And the second interview quizzes BioWare's Matt Goldman:
Q: Were the demons and creatures pulled directly from Chinese mythology, or were they simply made up?
A: Oddly, depictions of celestial creatures are seemingly very rare. There are brief mentions of demon in certain works but they tend to be quite general like "Horse-faced, Ox-headed demon". I found brief descriptions of spirits, demons and gate guardians through out the literature and art texts that helped us create a unique set of creatures with interesting personalities.
