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Look, sir! Zombies!

by: RyanKaufman

date posted: Mar 13, 2006 4:26 PM

What Happened to Kasan Moor?

As a writer and designer on the original Rogue Squadron, I helped to come up with the Imperial defector known as Kasan Moor. She was one of the Empire's best pilots, from the 128th TIE Interceptor Squadron. (Modelled after Baron Fel's 121st.)

Because we invented her for the game, she fell into the abyss of non-use that so many game characters find themselves in. (Picture the La Brea Tar Pits, only instead of being filled with sabertooth tigers and woolly mammoths, you've got little-known video game secondary characters and sidekicks. 'Tis a sad place. "Leebo! What are you doing here??!")

So what ever happened to her?

We know that she survived to the Battle of Calamari, but I don't believe she remained an active member of Rogue Squadron that entire time. Moor's head was filled with valuable Imperial intelligence, and the Alliance and New Republic needed that knowledge. It's my belief that Moor retired from Rogue Squadron before the Battle of Hoth, and became an advisor to Mon Mothma, General Madine and Admiral Ackbar.

Her appearance at the Battle of Mon Calamari was unofficial and done purely as a favor to Wedge Antilles, whom she respected and admired. Thus, no official sources record her participation.

http://blogs.starwars.com/RyanKaufman/23

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	Rive Caedo Rive's Uncharted Settlements
date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 4:36 PM Mind fuzzles for a connection She got mad because Alderaan was her homeworld. Right? And Leebo's disapperance is far less impressive than Dash Rendar himself I bet Moor never got her own micro-machine figure! At least Leebo has that honor. "Moor deluxe edition action figure - With real defecting action! (Try me!)"

RyanKaufman
Look, sir! Zombies!

date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 4:42 PM

Yeah, ostensibly Alderaan was her excuse. But I always felt like Kasan had a chip on her shoulder and was just looking for a reason to fight the Empire. You know, the guys in Rogue Squadron couldn't take her into a cantina because she'd be brawling within seconds of the first juma juice. Needed some anger management classes.

Man.. poor Leebo. I always felt Dash was just draggin him down.

	Elephanto
date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 4:48 PM i loved the original Rogue Squadron, I had it for the N64. I remember using the N64 expansion pack with it, it was great game, I'll have to dust it off and have another play through of it one of these days.

	RyanKaufman Look, sir! Zombies!
date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 4:54 PM Thanks Elephanto. I actually played it recently and was shocked and dismayed to realize... How FREAKING HARD it is!!! Man! We were really mean back then. I think the design philosophy was: "If 5 is the degree of difficulty for Most of Us, and 10 is Super Ninja Grandmaster difficulty, then let's set the game on... 50."

	Rogue_Follower What Ever Happened to Grambo the Worrt?
date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 4:59 PM An excellent game, that Rogue Squadron. IMHO, better than its sequels.

	Elephanto
date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 5:00 PM yeah I spent many a free afternoon seeing if I could get all gold medals, man it was it tough I dont think I ever got them all.

	JediITL The Blog Trooper
date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 5:45 PM I have the game. I guess she flew around and got lost?

	JediITL The Blog Trooper
date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 5:48 PM I beat the game too............With cheats.

Rainbow Droideka
Aren't you a little short for an egg?

date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 8:18 PM

Her appearance at the Battle of Mon Calamari was unofficial and done purely as a favor to Wedge Antilles, whom she respected and admired. Thus, no official sources record her participation.

Do you mean to say that it was in-universe unofficial, like it wasn't documented by the New Republic, or continuity unofficial, like it doesn't really "count" as in-continuity? Or was that intentionally ambiguous?

Rainbow Droideka
Aren't you a little short for an egg?

date Posted: Mar 13, 2006 8:19 PM

Man! We were really mean back then. I think the design philosophy was: "If 5 is the degree of difficulty for Most of Us, and 10 is Super Ninja Grandmaster difficulty, then let's set the game on... 50."

I wonder if that might be the reason behind me never actually finishing a Star Wars game until more recent ones....

But now I want to go back and try to make some progress on Rogue Squadron (I have the PC port)....

	Bubba1227 Ramblings of a Completely Unofficial IA Engineer
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 4:19 AM I have the PC version, and had a ton of fun with it. (Call me old-fashioned - heck, call me old! - but I still don't have the hang of those tiny game console controllers. Give me a joystick anytime!) Although, finding the Nonnah was often more of a pain than anything. BTW - was Fel in the 121st, or the 181st?

	Rogue_Follower What Ever Happened to Grambo the Worrt?
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 6:40 AM 181st, actually. Was the map in the Nonnah level randomized, or is it just me?

	The Dark Moose Moose Poodoo
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 11:48 AM A good question, Ryan, and I apologize I haven't answered this. I shot her down during the game. she's dead. It was sort of a hunting accident.. I should have come forward earlier but I was in too much shock.

	RyanKaufman Look, sir! Zombies!
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 11:49 AM Thanks guys. 181st, yup. And yes, the Nonnah was randomized, bwa ha ha!

	RyanKaufman Look, sir! Zombies!
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 11:53 AM Yeah, Moose... we've reviewed the tapes and that was clearly no accident. It didn't help that you laughed and twirled your moustache as her starfighter spiralled down in flames.

	The Dark Moose Moose Poodoo
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 1:33 PM And yes, the Nonnah was randomized, bwa ha ha! You mean..it wasn't in the same place every time? It WASN'T me getting lost all these years? ... Sorry I'm having a bit of a dark side moment, talk amongst yourselves... cue Tusken Raider massacre music

	Rogue_Follower What Ever Happened to Grambo the Worrt?
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 3:55 PM *>>>And yes, the Nonnah was randomized, bwa ha ha!<<<* I thought it was a nifty game design aspect. Seemed to make the mission more real, because, like the pilot, you don't know exactly where the Nonnah is. (That is, until you've played the game a ton of times... ) *takes notes for future gamed design reference*

	RyanKaufman Look, sir! Zombies!
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 3:59 PM And since the enemies were all guided by splines, the designer (Jeff Kung) had to essentially lay the level out three times, place it three times, test it three times, and debug it three times. What started as a funny way to surprise the player turned into a wonderful way to aggravate Jeff.

	The Dark Moose Moose Poodoo
date Posted: Mar 14, 2006 9:28 PM It would be kinda cool if folks got together with LucasArts to finish out the stories of the lost LA characters, like this one. Maybe one that ends with the Nonnah being destroyed by an angry space moose. For instance. :0)

	jedimaster203 "I think I bent my wookiee"
date Posted: Mar 15, 2006 7:04 AM In alot of ways, the older console games are harder than the newer games. I loved Rogue Squadron. I remember my uncle and I had a race to see who could get all the gold medals first. We actually did it the same day, I was only a couple hours faster than him. Suck on that, Old man!

	RogueJedi86
date Posted: Mar 17, 2006 1:53 AM Yeah, talk about hard levels. That Fest level was impossible, it made Hoth feel like a piece of cake. Not to mention I wouldn't be able to tell if the Nonnah was randomized because it was always so foggy anyways. I thought I just got lost every time.

	Zak Vorkon The blog of a Balosar
date Posted: Mar 29, 2006 3:20 PM I could never get past the Nonnah level untill my best friend's Dad beat it for me.(He also beat the Fest level and the Mon Calamari ones)

Skarloey
Prepare for Ground Assault!

date Posted: Apr 01, 2006 11:40 AM

As a young one playing Rogue Squadron, I just had to use the cheats - I wanted to progress the story! :P

It will always be my favourite N64 game, as it was so enjoyable to play. The only missions I couldn't do were Rescue on Kessel (I could never actually hit the train with the ion cannon!) Escape from Fest (couldn't down AT-ATs) and Battle of Hoth (again, AT-ATs were a bugger).

Anyway, it's nice to know what happened to Kasan... I wonder who replaced her in the squadron.

	JarenValnor Jaren Valnor's Thirsty Renegade Cantina
date Posted: Jun 27, 2006 6:51 PM I could NEVER beat Fest. Some Star Wars author needs to bring her back. Some British, Mandalorian woman who frequents the blogs. I wonder if Ms. Traviss knows of anyone...

Captain Pellaeon 1138

date Posted: Aug 14, 2006 11:50 AM

Yeah, pretty much all video games are touh for me, so I appreciate cheats. Even with the unlimited lives I could never beat Fest or Hoth, or get all the gold medals.

I've always wondered this, so perhaps a game designer can shed some light on this. How do people figure out cheat codes? Like the insanely complicated one for debug mode in the N64 Shadows of the Empire? I can't imagine someone saying, "Hmm, I'll just hold L, R, Z, the C buttons, and wiggle the control stick around."

I assume the designers release them at somne point, but maybe you can give me a more detailed answer.

RyanKaufman
Look, sir! Zombies!

date Posted: Aug 14, 2006 12:02 PM

Cheat codes definitely get released-- we save them for the official strategy guides, or our website or IGN or whatever.

But they also get "discovered"-- things like "all_weapons=on" is pretty easy to figure out.

In the case of the "Chin Cheat" as we called it (since you had to use your chin to activate it), that was literally the Shadows programmers trying to come up with the most complicated cheat code they could devise.

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