Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is a Roleplaying game made originally for the Microsoft Xbox, and later released for the PC. The game was developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts in 2003. A sequel, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords was released a year later in December 2004 by Obsidian Entertainment.

Set around 4,000 years before A New Hope, Knights of the Old Republic covers the era just after that of the Tales of the Jedi comics, the time of the ancient Old Republic.

KotOR is the first computer RPG set in the Star Wars universe. It uses the d20 System, from the 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. The game also allows the player to either be good (light) or evil (dark), using an alignment system that tracks actions, from simple dialogue choices to major plot decisions, aligned to the light or dark side of the Force.

Opening text crawl
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

Four thousand years before

the rise of the Galactic

Empire, the Republic verges

on collapse. DARTH MALAK,

last surviving apprentice of

the Dark Lord Revan, has

unleashed an invincible

Sith armada upon an

unsuspecting galaxy.

Crushing all resistance,

Malak's war of conquest

has left the Jedi Order

scattered and vulnerable

as countless Knights fall in

battle, and many more

swear allegiance to the new

Sith Master.

In the skies above the Outer

Rim world of Taris, a Jedi

battle fleet engages the

forces of Darth Malak in a

desperate effort to halt the

Sith's galactic domination....

Plot summary
After a battle with the Sith, the former Dark Lord Revan, after being captured by the Republic and having his identity replaced with that of a normal Republic citizen, found himself one of the lone survivors on the Republic ship the Endar Spire with decorated war hero Carth Onasi. After finding an escape pod he crash-landed on the Sith occupied world of Taris. Carth was able to carry the injured Revan from the wreckage to an abandoned apartment in the Upper City. Revan was unconcious for a few days.

When Revan awoke, Carth informed him that they would need to find and rescue Bastila Shan, a Jedi Knight whose escape pod had crash landed somewhere on the planet. Bastila was the key to the Republic's war effort against the Sith due to her unique talent of Battle Meditation, a Force power that allowed her to strengthen an entire army with confidence and spirit, while discouraging and confusing the enemy. They set out to find Bastila, proceeding cautiously in the hostile world.

Revan and Carth eventually learned that the escape pod had landed in the UnderCity of Taris, a rough area below the priviledged Upper City and the slums of Lower City where rival swoop gangs, The Hidden Beks and Black Vulkars, were engaged in a fierce gang war. This Gang War plus the search for any survivors of the Endar Spire prompted The Sith to impose a security lockdown forcing Revan to disguise himself as a Sith soldier to gain entry to the area.

In the Lower City, the soldier and Carth went to the Hidden Beks' hideout, where they found out from the leader of the Beks, Gadon Thek, that the leader of the rival Vulkar gang, Brejik, has taken Bastila captive intending to offer her as a prize for the winner of the upcoming swoop race. Gadon agreed to sponsor the soldier as the Bek rider if he could retrieve a prototype swoop-bike accelerator that has been stolen from them by Vulkars. In order to get to the back entrance of the Vulkar Base, Gadon told him to recruit a Twi'lek girl Mission Vao and her Wookiee friend Zaalbar, who were supposed to be in the Undercity of Taris, the lowest level of the city where criminals and refugees were exiled.

Ironically Mission needed their help, as they learned when she ran into Revan and Carth. She and Zaalbar had been attacked while they were exploring the Undercity by Gamorrean slavers and Zaalbar had been captured. Mission agreed to help them infiltrate the Vulkar base if they would help her find Zaalbar. Eventually, they managed to rescue Zaalbar from the Gamorrean slavers, and when Zaalbar was freed, he offered a Wookiee life debt to Revan.

Mission then led Revan into the Vulkar base, where they managed to retrieve the accelerator, which they then returned to Gadon and the Beks. However, it is unknown whether this was his true course of action. Some sources suggest he may have betrayed the Beks, giving the the accelerator to the Vulkars in exchange for a chance to race for Bastila's freedom. At the swoop race the next day, Revan managed to win the race, but Brejik broke the deal at the last moment. A fight ensued, and Revan was only saved when Bastila Shan broke out of her cage and assisted him in killing Brejik and his Vulkar thugs.

After the rescue of Bastila, the party began looking for a way to get off of Taris through the Sith blockade, when a messenger came to their appartment, telling them that a Mandalorian mercenary, Canderous Ordo, wanted to speak with them at the Cantina. When they got to the cantina, Canderous proposed that they could steal the Ebon Hawk, a freighter belonging to his employer, Davik Kang, who worked for the Exchange. But first, they would need the security passcodes to get through The Sith blockade, and the only place to get these codes was from the Sith military base. To gain entry into the base, Revan would have to purchase a special astromech droid that Davik had had programmed with the entrance codes to the base. This droid's name was T3-M4. After purchasing T3-M4, The party stole the passcodes and killed a Sith apprentice. After getting the passcodes, Canderous took Revan and one of his companions to Davik's place. When they got there, Canderous told Davik that Revan was a potential candidate for the Exchange to hire. After getting inside, the three opened the hangar doors and proceeded to steal the Ebon Hawk. At the same time, Malak, a Sith lord that was leading the Sith after betraying Revan ordered the admiral of the Sith Fleet to bombard Taris in order to prevent Bastila from escaping. As Revan and his companions were getting to the Ebon Hawk, they were confronted by Davik and the bounty hunter Calo Nord in the hanger; they killed Davik, and left Nord apparantly dead under rubble caused by the Sith bombardment. Gathering all of his companions, the soldier took the Ebon Hawk and escaped the Sith onslaught. After this, Bastila realized Revan still was very strong with the Force and took him back to the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine to see if the Jedi Masters would train as a Jedi. They did accept, and he finished his training after doing battle with Juhani; a young Jedi apprentice who had been perverted to the dark side. Again, it is unclear whether Revan killed Juhani or spared her. After he had built his lightsaber he explored Dantooine and found a temple built by the Infinite Empire - there he learnt that this was what had perverted revan and Malak to the dark side. He found an incomplete Star Map there, which when completed would lead him to the Rakatan Star Forge, where Malak was building his unlimited supply of ships. He and his companions journeyed to Tatooine, and explored the city of Anchorhead, and was given a job by the head of the Czerka mining company there to eliminate the Tusken Raiders that were plaguing the miners and the other hunters in the area. However, a Duros told Revan there may be a peaceful solution to the matter.

With the help of HK-47, an assassin droid bought by the town's droid shop owner Yuka Laka, Revan was able to communicate with a nearby tribe of Sandpeople and negotiate an end to the attacks on Czerka Corporation by giving the chieftain two moisture vaporators. The chieftain then presented Revan with his gaffi stick as a sign of good faith, and a map that helped him locate a Star Map hidden within a krayt dragon cave. Revan then went to the Krayt Dragon cave and assisted Komad Fortuna in killing it. He then entered the cave and acquired the Star Map.

He then traveled to Kashyyyk, and found that the planet was under the control of Czerka Corporation. He then found out about their dealings with Wookie slaves. He went to the village of Rwookrrorro, hoping to find the Star Map, was brought to the chieftain, because of bringing a mad-claw, Zaalbar, into the city. The chieftain, Chuundar, who happened to be Zaalbar's brother, was in charge of the dealing with slavers and took Zaalbar with him. He then told Revan to go to the Lower Shadowlands to kill a mad wookie, who was really Freyyr, Zaalbar and his father. So Revan went down below, hoping to find the Star Map down their as well.

In the Shadowlands, he met an old hermit named Jolee, who told him he would lead him to the Map if he would do a favor for him.

Locations and characters
The game is played over numerous planets in the Star Wars universe:
 * Dantooine
 * Kashyyyk
 * Korriban
 * Manaan
 * Rakata Prime (referred to as "Unknown World")
 * Sleheyron (cut)
 * Taris
 * Tatooine

Players also visit other locations:
 * Ebon Hawk
 * Endar Spire
 * Leviathan
 * Star Forge
 * Yavin Station (PC only/ or downloaded from Xbox Live)

Along the way the player meets a large number of characters that join their party:
 * Bastila Shan
 * Carth Onasi
 * Canderous Ordo
 * HK-47
 * Jolee Bindo
 * Juhani
 * Mission Vao
 * T3-M4
 * Zaalbar

Continuity
Set shortly after the Tales of the Jedi comic books from Dark Horse, BioWare designed the game around this little-documented period in order to have more conceptual and artistic freedom. This means the game has little resemblance in appearance and aesthetics to the classic Star Wars games of the classic Clone Wars or Galactic Civil War eras. However while the Tales of the Jedi series shows the Galactic civilization to have an archaic retro-like aesthetic and technology (semi-organic skeletal ships with wings and membranes, stone buildings etc) the Knights of the Old Republic is more space-like and futuristic, yet the interval between them is only few years.

Knights of the Old Republic took a rather ambitious approach towards previously established continuity. Not least among these were the filling-in of Galactic history, moving the "ancient" look of comics set in a similar time period slightly towards the more "modern" look of the movies, and greatly expanding the Exar Kun War to a devastating galactic conflict.

Additionally, the game provided a full history of Tatooine and also explained the origins of Kashyyyk’s ecosystem. It may have also explained the unlikely event of parallel evolution (that is, the Star Wars universe being populated largely by humanoids) by having a Sand People historian remark on the player's similarity to the ancients of their people, kidnapped by the Rakata many many years before. It also invented a few Sith Lords of the old Sith Empire and hinted that they may have had access to the Star Forge. In order to emphasize its place in continuity, there are references to known heroes' possible ancestors and future events (like a possible first contact with the Yuuzhan Vong).

As the game is set during a period long before the familiar films, the creators modelled their ‘universe’ on many characters and details from the movies, as well as including mentions of potential ancestors for film characters. This was done in order to keep the ‘Star Wars’ feel, and not create just ‘’another space RPG’’. Examples of this include the modelling of characters, such as Darth Malak, a towering Dark Lord of the Sith who speaks through a vocabulator due to an old injury, very similar to Darth Vader, and the inclusion of wookiee and droid companions as part of the player’s party. Additionally, many scenes have direct analogues in the films, such as the capture of the main character’s freighter smuggling vessel (Ebon Hawk, by tractor beam (just as the Millennium Falcon was captured by the Death Star, followed by a prison break and loss of a character on board a vessel, which is very similar to the Death Star scene in the original film.)

New continuity
As an RPG, ‘’Knights of the Old Republic’’ inevitably produced a huge amount of new continuity, much of which is made up of minor characters that have no great impact upon the plot.

New characters
{|-
 * valign=top|

A

 * Ada
 * Adrenas
 * Ajuur
 * Kel Algwinn
 * Anglu
 * Jolan Aphett
 * Toll Apkar
 * Kandon Ark
 * Lur Arka Sulas
 * Ashana
 * valign=top|

B

 * B'ree
 * Bacca
 * Zoriis Bafka
 * Yuthura Ban
 * Bandon
 * Belaya
 * Billan
 * Jolee Bindo
 * Nayama Bindo
 * Bochaba
 * Bolook
 * Brejik
 * Bwa'lass
 * Nilko Bwaas
 * valign=top|

C

 * C8-42
 * Galduran Calrissian
 * Chorrawl
 * Chuundar
 * Christya
 * Gorton Colu
 * valign=top|

D

 * D-X12a
 * D-X12b
 * D-X12c
 * D-X12d
 * Matton Dasol
 * Dehno
 * Dern
 * Dia
 * Doba
 * Forn Dodonna
 * Dorak
 * Mika Dorin
 * Ivan Dragos
 * Duan
 * Deadeye Duncan
 * Duula
 * valign=top|

E

 * Elinda
 * Elora
 * Ergeron
 * Esala
 * valign=top|

F
{|-
 * Cassus Fett
 * Sharina Fizark
 * Ward Fizark
 * Fodo
 * Komad Fortuna
 * Freyyr
 * Zelka Forn
 * }
 * valign=top|

G

 * Veren Gal
 * Eli Gand
 * Gar
 * Garn (Rakata)
 * Garouk
 * Gelrood
 * Gendar
 * Gerlon Two-Fingers
 * Gjarshi
 * Gluupor
 * Gorwooken
 * Grann
 * Grrrwahrr
 * Handon Guld
 * Gurke
 * Gurney
 * valign=top|

H

 * Hasek
 * Forii Haxa
 * Hendar
 * Hester
 * Hijata
 * HK-47
 * Jamoh Hogra
 * Greeta Holda
 * Holdan
 * Tulak Hord
 * Hortath
 * Ben Hu'al
 * Hudrow
 * Hulas
 * Elassa Huros
 * valign=top|

I

 * Ice
 * Igear
 * Ignus
 * Ilsa
 * Ixgil
 * Yortal Ixlis
 * Iziz
 * valign=top|

J

 * Ja'Gatcha
 * Jaarak
 * Jagi
 * Jarg
 * Javyar
 * Hukta Jax
 * Jergan
 * Jhosa
 * Jon
 * Caal Jordan
 * Juhani
 * valign=top|

K

 * Karal Kaar
 * Kadir
 * Jurgan Kalta
 * Davik Kang
 * Saul Karath
 * Davin Kotras
 * Lurze Kesh
 * J'ane Khan
 * Kni
 * Kota
 * Kraat
 * Kudos
 * valign=top|

L
{|-
 * Yuka Laka
 * Vrook Lamar
 * Largo
 * Adum Larp
 * Larrim
 * Lashowe
 * Gana Lavin
 * Zhar Lestin
 * Ll'awa
 * Loopa
 * Galon Lor
 * Tyvark Lowan
 * Luo
 * Rickard Lusoff
 * Luugro
 * Deesra Luur Jada
 * }
 * valign=top|

M

 * Malak
 * Malya
 * Marl
 * Ahlan Matale
 * Shen Matale
 * Casandra Mateil
 * Matrik
 * Elam Mattic
 * Louie Mattic
 * Thalia May
 * Firith Me
 * Mekel
 * Fodo Medoo
 * Mic'tunan'jus Orgu
 * Queedle Molto
 * Elise Montagne
 * Motta
 * valign=top|

N

 * Naleshekan
 * Janice Nall
 * Junix Nard
 * Narkal
 * Calder Nattic
 * Nemo
 * Niklos
 * Furko Nellis
 * Kono Nolan
 * Calo Nord
 * Nubassa
 * Raxsus Nuli
 * Shaela Nuur
 * valign=top|

O

 * Omeesh
 * Carth Onasi
 * Dustil Onasi
 * the One
 * Canderous Ordo
 * Orsaa
 * Ahita Othar
 * valign=top|

P

 * Ajunta Pall
 * Phirk
 * valign=top|

Q

 * Duron Qel-Droma
 * Quatra
 * Dorak Quinn
 * valign=top|

R
{|-
 * Redros
 * Reeza
 * Revan
 * Rilka
 * Yuka Rill
 * Rorworr (Kashyyyk)
 * Rothrrrawr
 * Rukil
 * Rundil
 * }
 * valign=top|

S

 * Sami
 * Samnt
 * Sanasiki
 * Casus Sandral
 * Nurik Sandral
 * Rahasia Sandral
 * Guun Han Saresh
 * Sasha
 * Lyn Sekla
 * Selven
 * Nico Senvi
 * Shaardan
 * Shaelas
 * Shaleena
 * Bastila Shan
 * Helena Shan
 * Shasa
 * Shelkar
 * Sherruk
 * Sol'aa
 * Sslamoth
 * Bendak Starkiller
 * Sunry
 * Bib Surool
 * valign=top|

T

 * T'sllth
 * T3-H8
 * T3-M4
 * Tamlen
 * Suvam Tan
 * Tariga
 * Tela
 * Gadon Thek
 * Vandar Tokare
 * Tooka
 * Garm Totryl
 * Trewin
 * Twitch
 * valign=top|

U

 * Ujaa
 * Ujii
 * Gilthos Uksaris
 * Trask Ulgo
 * Jorak Uln
 * Uriah
 * Fazza Utral
 * Uzgak
 * valign=top|

V

 * Griff Vao
 * Mission Vao
 * Vek
 * Senni Vek
 * Marlena Venn
 * Tanis Venn
 * Dak Vesser
 * Andor Vex
 * Viglo
 * valign=top|

W

 * Roland Wann
 * Janos Werka
 * Woorwill
 * Worrroznor
 * Uthar Wynn
 * valign=top|

Y
{|-
 * Gonto Yas
 * Crattis Yurkal
 * Kebla Yurt
 * Yusanis
 * }
 * valign=top|

Z
{|-
 * Zaalbar
 * Zaerdra
 * Zax
 * Zeena
 * Ziagrom
 * }
 * valign=top|

New sentient species

 * Dimean
 * Iridorian
 * Karakan
 * Paaerduag
 * Rakata
 * Selkath
 * valign=top|

New creatures

 * Brith
 * Deluvian fatworm
 * Firaxa
 * Gizka
 * Horn kath hound
 * Iriaz
 * Kath hound
 * Kinrath
 * Mykal
 * Orchana ray
 * Rakghoul
 * rotgrub
 * Shyrack
 * Tach
 * Terentatek
 * Uller
 * Wraid
 * valign=top|

New droid models

 * Assault droid Mark I
 * Assault droid Mark II
 * Assault droid Mark IV
 * Czerka Corporation protocol droid
 * HK protocol droid
 * K-X12 probe droid
 * Patrol droid Mark I
 * security/maintenance droid
 * Sith security hovercam
 * Submersible probe droid
 * T3 astromech
 * utility droid
 * war droid-series
 * valign=top|

New organizations
{|-
 * The Exchange
 * Genoharadan
 * Infinite Empire
 * Sith Empire of the Star Forge
 * }
 * valign=top|

New planets

 * Althir
 * Bondar
 * Daminia
 * Deralia
 * Erai
 * Erai III
 * Fyrth asteroid fields
 * Malachor V
 * Manaan
 * Ordo
 * Phemis
 * Rakata Prime
 * Sigil
 * Sleheyron
 * Sorjus
 * Talravin
 * Taris
 * Transel
 * Ukatis
 * valign=top|

New vehicles and vessels

 * A-wing military fighter
 * Ebon Hawk
 * elevator basket
 * G-wing light shuttle
 * Interdictor-class Star Cruiser
 * Landspeeders (ancient models)
 * Manaan Sub
 * military droid carrier
 * Republic assault fighter
 * Republic capital ship
 * Republic cruiser
 * Republic escape pod
 * sandcrawler (Czerka Corporation model)
 * Sith fighter
 * Sith freighter
 * Star Forge
 * Swoop (original model)
 * Yavin Station
 * }

Voice actors
A large number of voice actors were included in the game. The following voice actors are some of the most prominent:
 * Jennifer Hale - "Bastila Shan"
 * Raphael Sbarge - "Carth Onasi"
 * John Cygan - "Canderous Ordo"
 * Rafael Ferrer - "Darth Malak"
 * Kristoffer Tabori - "HK-47," additional voices
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - "Jolee Bindo"
 * Courtenay Taylor - "Juhani"
 * Cat Taber - "Mission Vao"
 * Ed Asner - "Master Vrook Lamar"
 * Cam Clarke - "Sith Diplomat," "Kono Nolan," "Gate Guard Trewin," "Junior Czerka Scientist," "Sith Student," additional voices
 * Phil LaMarr - "Gadon Thek"
 * Robin Atkin Downes - "Mekel," "Griff Vao," "Vulkar Mechanic"
 * Tom Kane - "Master Vandar Tokare," "Rodian"
 * Frank Welker - "Sunry," "Jorak Uln," "Gar," "Swoop Fan," additional voices

Xbox Cheat Codes
(WARNING: Save before inputting these codes in the event of the game crashing or freezing.)
 * Low/High Pitch Voices - Insert another controller in the 4th socket. During the game, hold white for high-pitch voices (sounds like a mouse) and black for low pitch voices (sounds like Darth Vader). To end the effects of this code, you must reset your Xbox.
 * Free-Roam Camera - Pause the game and select "Messages". Press X, Left, A, X. (Note: You can confirm if the code has been entered correctly by checking "Messages" > "Feedback". If it is correct, you'll see the message "Punch it, Chewie!) Once you exit out of the pause menu, press the Right Thumbstick to enter the Free-Roam Camera View. You can also lock on to a specific character by pressing black. Simply press the right thumbstick again to exit out of this mode.
 * Duplicate Armor, Weapons, etc. - This glitch happens on Manaan when you go underwater and pass through a pressure door. It duplicates your teammate's equipped items:

1. Equip your team with the equipment you want duplicated. (Note: Only things that your team is wearing, not you, will be duplicated) 2. Enter the submersible. 3. Go through the underwater base until you find a pressure door that leads to the ocean floor. 4. Strip your team of everything they have equipped. 5. Go through the door. 6. As soon as you exit, turn around immediately and go back through the door.

You should see your teammates wearing the same things you just took off of them. Check your inventory and you will see that their items have been duplicated. Repeat steps 4-6 until satisfied. (Note: All weapon, armor, melee, and lightsaber upgrades are included with duplicated items) If done correctly, you will be taken back to the Ebon Hawk and you will notice a few major differences:
 * Galaxy Droid - When you are in a space battle (going between worlds only), press the right-trigger repeatedly throughout the cutscene and into the first few seconds of the battle. As soon as the fighters scatter, you may track them down as you would normally do until they are all destroyed.

1. T3-M4 has been replaced by Zaalbar. You now have two Wookiees as your party members. 2. All of your party is gathered in the conference room. 3. A 'swoop' droid is in the storage room. The droid is merely a glitch and has no purpose, despite it's claims it will take you to any part of the current planet. 4. The main glitch is the Galaxy Droid, which acts as a cheat menu and can take you to any planet you want, allowing you to bypass the chance of running into enemy fighters and cutscenes during your quest, thus saving you time for your quest (WARNING: Do not choose to go to the Leviathan or the 'Unknown World'. This will cause the game to crash.)

Trivia

 * The game mentions various characters that have ties to the original trilogy and could be interpreted as ancestors, including Galduran Calrissian (Lando Calrissian), Cassus Fett (Jango Fett & Boba Fett), Komad Fortuna (Bib Fortuna), and Admiral Forn Dodonna (General Jan Dodonna). It is also possible that, because of his name and appearance, Jolee Bindo may have been Korun, just like Jedi Master Mace Windu.
 * The name Bendak Starkiller is an homage to the name originally chosen for Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
 * Bastila Shan's character was originally to be Vima Sunrider herself (a Jedi appearing in the Dark Horse Comics' Tales of the Jedi series). The name Bastila was originally meant for the Cathar Jedi character. Eventually, it was decided to create a different character rather than use Sunrider and the Cathar Jedi would be named Juhani.
 * Though trivial, it is important to note that Revan's mask (before his capture) strikingly resembles that of Mandalorian Neo-Crusader helmets.
 * Certain lines through out the game also pay homage to the original films: Mission Vao says, "I have a bad feeling about this" several times, referring to a line spoken many times in the films. Additionally, the line "My name's [your character's name], I'm here to save you," is a homage to the line Luke Skywalker delivers when rescuing Princess Leia. Also, as Bastila is captured, Carth yells "Noo!"
 * The quest "The Trouble with Gizka" is likely a reference to the Star Trek episode entitled "The Trouble with Tribbles". Also, HK-47's line "Dammit, master, I'm an assassination droid, not a dictionary!" is similar to Dr. McCoy's frequent catch-phrase from the series.
 * When the player is being tortured on the Leviathan and pressed to reveal the location of the Jedi base on Dantooine, a possible response is "Alderaan, they're on Alderaan" to avoid Dantooine's destruction. In Episode IV: A New Hope, Princess Leia lies that the Rebel Alliance base is on Dantooine to avoid Alderaan's destruction.
 * At one point in the game Canderous Ordo tells of a ship he once chased until it crossed the boundaries of the galaxy; he says that the ship looked like an asteroid and spat fireballs. This sounds very much like a Yuuzhan Vong vessel from the New Jedi Order that will return to invade the galaxy millennia later.
 * If the character chooses to explore Jolee Bindo's life, on one dialog, both the character and Jolee make a small parody of Limp Bizkit's song "Nookie" ("I did it all for the Wookiees" "The Wookiees?" "The Wookiees!")
 * The random name generator sometimes offers such last names as "Organa", Mothma and such first names as "Padmé", "Luke", "Lando" or "Wedge". Other names to note (not related to Star Wars) are "Homsar", a character from the Homestar Runner Flash cartoon series who mostly appears in Easter eggs and "Kerrek" a monster from the "Peasant's Quest" series.
 * The Upper City, Lower City and Under City on Taris, closely mirror the class seperation struggles in Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi classic Metropolis.
 * When you're on Tatooine and you go into the Czerka office, the Czerka woman will tell you something funny. When you have "Force Persuasion" or a high enough amount of Persuade, she will start talking about Czerka's plans to leave Tatooine and leave the Sandcrawlers behind too. If you ask what will happen to the enormous Crawlers, she sarcasticly says; "Who knows?, Maybe the Jawas will find a way to use 'em? Hehe...Yeah, like that's ever going to happen..." This is of course referring to Episode IV, where Jawa's indeed use the Sandcrawlers and gives an explanation on how the Jawa's purchased the big machinery.
 * During the Sunry murder trial on Manaan, your character can speak to Sunry's wife Elora for information. After you suggest that Sunry has killed Sith before, Elora responds: "That was a long time ago, in a war far, far away."
 * When on Tatooine the player character gives Komad Fortuna the Bantha fodder, he says, "Look, I have your fodder", a wordplay on the famous scene from The Empire Strikes Back.
 * When the player tries to enter a new area with party members, and they are not near the player character, a line appears reading "You must gather your party before venturing forth". This line appeared in the other games that used Bioware's Infinity Engine, such as Baldur's Gate (Planescape: Torment being the only exception), whenever the player tried to leave an area without the rest of the party . In the Baldur's Gate series of games this line was spoken by voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, who also plays Jedi Jolee Bindo in Knights of the Old Republic.
 * If the Player Character decides to follow the path to the Dark Side, their face and skin will gradually become deformed as they progress. Eventually their eyes will turn a pale yellow as well. This predates the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and was in reference to a theory, first expounded in Dark Empire that Palpatine's decrepit appearance was not entirely natural, but was due to his body being worn out by the Dark Side of the Force.
 * The LucasArts game that eventually became Star Wars: Obi-Wan was initially going to be called "Knights of the Republic". The title was rejected as too generic.

Cut content
While KotOR I does not have as much cut content as its sequel, KotOR II, it is still present. It features the planet Sleheyron (briefly mentioned in both games) and an alternate ending for a dark side female PC's romance with Carth, which the player could choose to kill Bastila and die on the Star Forge with Carth.

The existence of a cut planet can be also deduced from Rakatan computer terminals the player encounters on Dantooine. They mention six types of planet environment, and five of them correspond to planets where the Star Maps are located:


 * Arboreal: Kashyyyk
 * Barren: Korriban
 * Desert: Tatooine
 * Grassland: Dantooine
 * Oceanic: Manaan
 * Volcanic: Sleheyron (cut)

Two other cut-content from the game was the second level of the Vulkar Swoop Gang Base, where the player would have to disguise himself as a Vulkar to get through the base.

The other takes place on Manaan if the player beats Bendak Starkiller in the dueling ring on Taris. Deadeye Duncan shows up in the docking area, telling how he escaped the destruction of Taris and asks if he can use the name Mysterious Stranger.

By enabling cheat codes in the game, the player has the option to wear an alternate version of Cassus Fett's armor not available via normal gameplay.

Some of this content, including the Deadeye Duncan encounter on Manaan, and the alternate Dark Side ending, can be restored in the form of a community created addon modifications (or "mods" for short). Unfortunately, these are only availiable for the PC version.

Critical reaction
The general critical response was enthusiastic. KotOR has won numerous awards, including Game Developers Choice Awards' best game of the year, BAFTA Games Awards' best Xbox game, and Interactive Achievement Awards for best console RPG and best computer RPG.

The game also won a Game Developers Choice Award for excellence in writing and for original character (HK-47) and an Interactive Achievement Award for best story/character development. Gamespot deemed the Xbox version of KotOR Best Xbox Game of 2003 and Best Role-Playing Game of 2003

Sequels
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords was developed by a different studio, Obsidian Entertainment, using an improved version of the engine from the first game. It was released for Xbox in December, 2004 and PC in February, 2005.

There are rumors about a third game, but it has not yet been officially announced.