Suggestion Box/Wishlist: what do we want from Ultrasabers? Rebooted

[Greywolf]

...and a Starkiller replica (and not that stupid one with the open crystal chamber that everybody foolishly believes in because that's how it's shown in the lightsaber menu in Force Unleashed). ...

Care to explain?

According to Wookiepedia he used a saber with exposed crystal chamber (although book and game differ about how long), and the linked images (here and here) don't indicate otherwise...

[Darth Logos]

Care to explain?

According to Wookiepedia he used a saber with exposed crystal chamber (although book and game differ about how long), and the linked images (here and here) don't indicate otherwise...

Starkiller's lightsaber is depicted as having an open crystal chamber in the "Lightsaber" menu in Force Unleashed. It's suppoed to be a cut-away, like all those books they've published, to show what's going on inside. It makes no sense to have an open chamber. Just found an image from that cutscene. Unfortunately the "bunny-ears" are facing away from him, so you can't see if the chamber is open. But I maintain that the saber menu is depicting a cut-away. Think about it, if you had an exposed crystal, all your opponent would have to do is attack that, or pull it out of the hilt, and you'd have no saber. Not that Starrkiller isn't plenty lethal without one, just saying.

[Darth Dyracus]

In reference to the concept of how do you get sound in an Exar Kun sort of design: put some good windows in the body of the saber right over the speaker.

[Darth Logos]

In reference to the concept of how do you get sound in an Exar Kun sort of design: put some good windows in the body of the saber right over the speaker.

Sound, I'm guessing will be the easy part of the design. But getting wires around the speaker and batteries seems like it would be a headache and a half.

[Darth Obi Don]

Sound, I'm guessing will be the easy part of the design. But getting wires around the speaker and batteries seems like it would be a headache and a half.

For sabers with space issues ,some makers are using these new oval speakers. They will fit inside a 1 inch blade.
http://railmasterhobbies.com/Speakers.htm
Don

[Chuntington2013]

Sound, I'm guessing will be the easy part of the design. But getting wires around the speaker and batteries seems like it would be a headache and a half.

Not to mention removing the power supply if you have a dead battery.

[Greywolf]

Starkiller's lightsaber is depicted as having an open crystal chamber in the "Lightsaber" menu in Force Unleashed. It's suppoed to be a cut-away, like all those books they've published, to show what's going on inside. It makes no sense to have an open chamber. Just found an image from that cutscene. Unfortunately the "bunny-ears" are facing away from him, so you can't see if the chamber is open. But I maintain that the saber menu is depicting a cut-away. Think about it, if you had an exposed crystal, all your opponent would have to do is attack that, or pull it out of the hilt, and you'd have no saber. Not that Starrkiller isn't plenty lethal without one, just saying.

Well, to me that exposed crystal makes sense, as this allows a more intense force connection between Starkiller and the crystal.
And the 'attack the hilt / force pull out the crystal' is not as easy as it sounds: The Darth Bane novels mention that the Sith (and therefore probably the Jedi, too) were trained to 'shield' themselves from exactly that kind of thing. Which is probably the reason why there is no 'force pull Obi Wan's belt to make him trip over this pants' in the movies

[Darth Logos]

Not to mention removing the power supply if you have a dead battery.

That would be a big hurtle to overcome.

Well, to me that exposed crystal makes sense, as this allows a more intense force connection between Starkiller and the crystal.
And the 'attack the hilt / force pull out the crystal' is not as easy as it sounds: The Darth Bane novels mention that the Sith (and therefore probably the Jedi, too) were trained to 'shield' themselves from exactly that kind of thing. Which is probably the reason why there is no 'force pull Obi Wan's belt to make him trip over this pants' in the movies

I don't believe a connection to the Force is required to use a saber, merely to construct one. I site Han using Luke's on Hoth; and various sources on saber construction, the Force is used to overcome the subtleties of crystal alignment, and all that other stuff that our modern science can't replicate. I also site Sith saber smithing practices of using the Force to forge synth-crystals. But I've not been exposed to any lit stating a need of Force connection of wielder to crystal.

I'm not saying it doesn't look cool. It's just not practical. Nor is it sound engineering. The cross section of the tubular body is compromised at the crystal chamber because it is only semi-cylindrical.  It's also something that has alwsys bugged me about Obi-Wan's and Luke's sabers having those very thin necks, and not having the emitters snap off during a saber lock, or at the very least get bent out of shape.

I had already figured that there would be Force techniques to "shield" oneself from Force influence, like having your saber pulled from your hands. But your hand is part of you, and therefore your grip would not be affected. I would think that extending your focus to shield something that is not part of your being would limit your concentration. By fully encasing the crystal, you make it one less thing to worry about.

[Greywolf]

I don't believe a connection to the Force is required to use a saber, merely to construct one. I site Han using Luke's on Hoth; and various sources on saber construction, the Force is used to overcome the subtleties of crystal alignment, and all that other stuff that our modern science can't replicate. I also site Sith saber smithing practices of using the Force to forge synth-crystals. But I've not been exposed to any lit stating a need of Force connection of wielder to crystal.

That's not what I meant; there are several 'non force users' (including Boba Fett) who used light sabers quite successfully.
I'd compare 'connecting to the crystal' to 'running with tailwind'; you can do without, but the more you have, the easier everything becomes...

I'm not saying it doesn't look cool. It's just not practical. Nor is it sound engineering. The cross section of the tubular body is compromised at the crystal chamber because it is only semi-cylindrical.  It's also something that has always bugged me about Obi-Wan's and Luke's sabers having those very thin necks, and not having the emitters snap off during a saber lock, or at the very least get bent out of shape.

Another example of 'the force will protect it', I guess. After all, Exar Kun's master fought with a wooden staff against opponents armed with light sabers, so what do you expect of (overconfident) force users...?

I had already figured that there would be Force techniques to "shield" oneself from Force influence, like having your saber pulled from your hands. But your hand is part of you, and therefore your grip would not be affected. I would think that extending your focus to shield something that is not part of your being would limit your concentration. By fully encasing the crystal, you make it one less thing to worry about.

Well, I agree with the necessity to concentrate more, but on the other hand it shows a disregard of your opponent and a kind of 'even when I'm using an impractical saber you cannot beat me' attitude

[Darth Logos]

I'm still not sold on the Force connection, but as a counter to the "ease" of it..."[the Force] surrounds us. It penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together" (Obi-wan Kenobi, Ep IV) Open or not should not have any bearing on the wielder's connection. Mere tactile contact should be more than sufficient to boost the connetion.

As for Vodo-Siosk Baas, his staff was imbued with the Force. I always viewed Imbuing as a sort of Jedi alchemy. As to wether or not anyone could use the staff with the same effect I'm not certain. Or whether the imbuing process was only an effect of being wielded in combat. The Felucians used a similar practice in FU as well.

But back to the practical side of things. It seems that the Force has certain limits within the general population of Force users. Rather the users have a limited knowledge of applications of the Force. As powerful as Darth Sideous was, he still opted to construct his saber from phrik, to keep it safe from a saber strike.

As a former practitioner of Kendo, and through general observations in various forms of sword play, I can say with absolute certainty that sword fighting of any type is all about focus, and diminishing your opponent's. The less you have to think about, the better. It gives you more time to strategize on the fly, and to observe what is going on around you, when you only have fractions of a second to think. And never underestimate your opponent. Case in point (SPOILER ALERT TO GAME OF THRONES FANS), when Prince Oberan fought the Mountain, he was good, he even had the Mountain on his back. Down but not out, the Mountain swept out his feet and then crushed his head.

[Darth Dyracus]

Very well said.

[Darth Logos]

Very well said.

Which part?

[Jgiancursio]

If you go to ultrasabers.com they have saber stands that can be engraved, even in Aura-besh or Sith Prophecy fonts. And they're reasonably priced too.

I must be dumb. I have scoured the ultrasabers website and I do not see any saber stands being sold anywhere. I contacted Emory, and he wrote back saying Ultrasabers does not sell stands. Am I missing something?

[Darth Dyracus]

Which part?

All of it.

[Darth Dyracus]

Another thing I'd like to see from US is a version of the lightsaber pike yari extension that comes in LE finish.