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Alek Saege had this to say about (_|_):
Um... that sounds to complicated for my pea brain to understand.

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it's a mod that makes JKII saber fights much better.

With the rumormill reporting that Lucasarts is unwilling to fund any more patches to the game to correct things, it is left to the mod community to breathe life back into Jedi Outcast multiplayer. Many mods have attempted to do so, and I salute their efforts, but I think that there are none that have addressed the true, fundamental flaws of saber combat. Most of them concentrate on cosmetic changes such as choosing RGB saber colors or turning your player model into a towering giant. While these may serve as amusing diversions for a while, they aren't fixing things. Repainting a broken-down car won't help it run any better. The attempts that have been made have only changed things like the amount of damage certain saber swings do, or how much force power is used when you turn on absorb. These adjustments can help, but they fall far short of making the game a truly rewarding experience.

So what is it that needs to be fixed?

Two major things: One, the saber combat logic has been fundamentally flawed since the very first version. So much so that you can actually hit someone from behind while standing in front of them. The overly-lenient blocking system has allowed even those completely new to the game to wade into a grand saber melee and come out the other side with barely a scratch. Two, the logic is just foul with calls to random number generators. Any professional gamer will tell you that that is the death of any game that wishes to be played competitvely or professionally. Why bother training yourself to be better at a game whose major component is luck? How would you like to lose a tournament match with thousands of dollars on the line to the roll of virtual dice?

How are these things fixed in ProMod?

Random numbers must be replaced with input from the player at every opportunity. As such, there are only three things that are translateable from a real-life human player into a computer game. One, strategic thinking--any time you go for a shield pack or duck into the shadows hoping to get the drop on your opponent, you're injecting your strategy into the game. Two, your sense of timing-- any time you give the game input, you're making a decision as to your timing. Finally, manual dexterity-- your accuracy with weapons fire or in moving your character are directly related to your ability to control your keyboard and mouse, or other input device.

Based on these three factors, Saber Combat has been completely rewritten in ProMod 1.0. Your ability to hit, be hit, break defenses, parry and knock away your opponent's saber are all now based upon a factor inherent to the player and not a random number generator: your aim. Read this twice: AIM IS LIFE. All aspects of physical combat, including front- and sideflip-kicks and some aspects of Force-powered combat have been linked to how accurately you are aiming at your opponent. Saber Duels in ProMod will always be won by someone with better Strategy, Timing and/or Accuracy. There will be no fluke victories.

Check out the specific changes that ProMod makes to the original game in the version pages in the left nav bar.

ProMod Beta 2
A Jedi Knight 2 Mod
Changes in Beta 2
There's been a huge number of changes to Beta 2, and all for the better I believe. Here's a complete list:
Pushable missle bug is fixed. All projectiles are now affected by Push.
Grips can now by broken by Push and Pull while the Gripper is ducked.
Weapons can now be pulled from gunners who are ducked on the ground and in the air.
Front/Side kick swapping bug is fixed.
Strong Style has increased footspeed while swinging.
Strong Style has been granted the only across-the-board offensive CSC bonus.
All saber damage to a target that has a gun equipped has been increased by 50%. This includes Saber Throw. One Strong swing will do in any gunner.
Minor normal damage tweaks.
New titlescreen art. Lookin' smooth.
NEW COMBAT BONUS SYSTEM - Every movement you make will have an offensive or defensive bonus associated with it, which are reflected in the new Combat Bonus Meters on the lower left and lower right sides of your screen. The blue side of each meter is a plus to your bonus, and the red side is a negative. I'll go into more depth about Bonus Meter strategy in an upcoming article on the official homepage (www.oculis.org/promod).
NEW HUD CVARS - There are several new console variables that you can use to customize your ProMod experience:
promod_cscColor1R - this is the Red color channel value of the CSC when it's large and weak. All color values are floating point numbers betweeen 0.0 and 1.0 (0.0 being no color, and 1.0 being full value for that color)
promod_cscColor1G - color 1 Green channel
promod_cscColor1B - color 1 Blue channel
promod_cscColor1Alpha - color 1 Alpha (transparency) channel
promod_cscColor2R - This is the Red color channel value of the CSC when it's small and strong.
promod_cscColor2G - color 2 Green channel
promod_cscColor2B - color 2 Blue channel
promod_cscColor2Alpha - color 2 Alpha (transparency) channel
promod_drawCSC - an integer, either 0 or 1 (default 1) that tells ProMod to draw the Combat Strength Crosshair
promod_drawBonusMeters - an integer, either 0 or 1 (default 1) that tells ProMod to draw the offensive and defensive Bonus meters.
Kicks against another player are still single tap, but all front wallflips are double tap, and have a greater kickback than before. The wallflips can also be done higher up on a wall than before.
FORCE SIGHT/MIND TRICK RELATIONSHIP - Low levels of Force Sight will now have difficulty seeing higher levels of Mind Trick. A Mind Tricker may not become visible until they are very close to you if you have a low level of Force Sight.
SNIPER/FORCE SIGHT/SABER DEFENSE RELATIONSHIP - It is now much harder to dodge or block sniper fire. You must have at least 1 level of Force Sight to dodge, and even that Level 1 Sight *can* dodge a sniper shot, but you must now be LOOKING AT THE SNIPER TO DODGE. Depending on how many levels of Sight you have, you get more and more leeway in your aim towards the sniper for a successful dodge. Level 3 Sight will provide you with dodging for any sniper within a 90-degree cone in front of you, while Level 1 only provides a 10-degree cone. SABER DEFENSE on the other hand, if you have it at level 3, will allow you to block incoming sniper shots provided that they are within a 90-degree cone in front of you.
Breaking someone's defenses is now easier with all styles. BETTER WATCH YOUR AIM!
Lighting range has been lowered to match Drain.
Dismemberment on by default on the server.
All private FFA duels now end with the winner receiving 100 health AND 25 shields if they fall below either of those values.

ProMod Beta 1.0
by Wes "Artifex" Rast
You can send me comments or questions here: arsartifex@msn.com

**Update**
The official ProMod 1.0 Beta game server is up! Here's the IP:
63.99.213.122:28070
Enjoy!

Quick Start
Simply unzip the promod_1_0_beta.zip file to your jediknight2/GameData directory, then double-click the supplied promod.bat file.

Features
Combat Strength Crosshair (CSC) : There is a second crosshair that will appear outside the diameter of the normal crosshair. This circle represents your Combat Strength relative to your closest saber-wielding enemy. It will grow smaller, less transparent, and turn from yellow to red as you turn your view towards that enemy. It will only appear when your target is in front of you, and within short range. A large, indistinct, yellow crosshair means you are weakly positioned relative to your target, conversely a small, bright red crosshair shows you have a strong aim on your enemy.
Saber Blocking, Deflecting, Knockaways and Defense Breaking are all now linked with the CSC. Depending on your Combat Strength, and that of your opponent, you can have different effects occur. If you are defending, and your aim is strong, but your opponent's is weak, then you will performing a Block (if your advantage is slight), Deflection (if your advantage is moderate), or Knockaway (if your advantage is great). A Defense Breaker only occurs when the attacker has a much greater Combat Strength over his defending opponent.
Flip Kicks : Frontflip Kicks are directly linked to the CSC--the stronger your aim, the more damage and knockback you will inflict. However, frontflip kicks will no longer knock down your opponent, they will only do physical damage. Sideflip kicks are also linked to the CSC, but in a different way. Their Combat Strength is determined by your lateral, or sideways aim. To get the strongest sideflip kick, you need to turn exactly 90-degrees from facing your opponent, push towards them and hit the jump key. You'll know you're in the right position if your CSC is large and yellow. Also, sideflip-kicks do not do any physical damage, rather they only do varying degrees of knockback (more than frontflip kicks) and, in cases with very strong aim, knockdowns.
Combat Strength (CS) Bonus System : Other factors can affect your Combat Strength. For instance, how many levels of Saber Offense you have bought in your player set up can increase your offensive CS, Saber Defense can do the same thing for your defensive CS. One very important addition is that your level of Force Jump directly affects not only your kicking CS, but the amount of damage/knockback you can do.
Lightsaber Style Personalities : The Saber Style that you use can alter the effects of your strikes and blocks. Depending on which one you choose, the bonuses or penalites given to Blocking, Parrying, and Defense Breaking can change. The different bonuses are as follows:
Style Blocking Parrying Defense Breaking
Light Very Good Poor Moderate
Medium Moderate Very Good Poor
Strong Poor Moderate Very Good

Frontflip Kicks now require only single-tap : The extended range that the frontflip kicks of 1.03 and 1.04 offered made the frontflip kick a better weapon than most Light and Medium normal saber swings. This should not have been.
Saber Damages : Saber damages have been more evenly distributed. Light style now does ~30 points, Medium ~60, Strong ~90 (ratio: 1/2/3). This provides a much more linear scale than in 1.03 and 1.04, where Strong could do double the damage of Medium while Medium did nearly the same as Light (ratio: 1/1/2).
Force Power Changes :
Force Push/Pull : You are now invulnerable to Push/Pull while you are ducking, regardless of your Power Level of opposing Push/Pull. The strength of your Push/Pull is now dependent on the Combat Strength Crosshair. Enemies closer to the center of your aim will be pushed farther.
Force Jump : Flip kicks have been enabled for Level 1 Jump. This means you may now kick in No-Force matches with the default settings, though Level 1 Kick is very weak.
Drain : Drain damage has been increased, and Force Usage has been lowered to their 1.02 levels, but the range of level 3 Drain has been cut in half, forcing a Drainer to play more aggressively.
Absorb : Force Power usage has been increased to 1.02 levels, but the Absorb aura remains invisible until exposed by an attacking Force Power.
Force Heal : Heal amount has been upped. Level 1 heals 15, level 2 -- 25, level 3 -- 45, but it maintains its Force Power usage from 1.03/1.04.
Force Lightning : Minor range decrease.
Plans for Next Release
A new neutral Force Power
Aim-sensitivity built into Lvl 3 Lightning damage.
Establishment of relationships between Force Sight and Mind Trick that will prevent a lower level of Sight from counteracting a higher Level of Mind Trick except at close range.
Possibly the ability to knock thrown sabers out of the air with Force Push.
Possible overhaul of the Saber Offense buying system.
New tournament gametype that minimizes wait times.