Hi everyone!
Keeping with tradition, here is another better late than never blog post.
These past couple of months have been crazy for me, very hectic. From uni to moving house, I haven't had a lot of time to work on the film. But, in the past two weeks or so things have began to quieten down for about a month so I've been able to make strong headway on the film, successfully casting another voice actor and nearing a full picture-lock. Taris and Tatooine are completely done (minus colour grading on Taris, and sound mix & grading on Tatooine) and Dantooine is coming along nicely. I'm super proud of this film, you've never seen KOTOR 1 quite like it.
Anyway, I figured it was about time I posted another trailer. So, here it is:
I had a lot of fun making this one based off of one of the many fantastic trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy. Please note: all the comedic moments in the film have been heightened through the edit of the trailer. The film is by no means a comedy like Guardians, I just felt inspired by the trailer and the film does have a fairly light-hearted feel, so I thought I'd roll with it to see if I could top my Logan-inspired trailer for TPK.
That's about it for now, one final trailer will be coming soon(ish!) along with the release date of the film. I will be premiering the full film LIVE on YouTube so it'd be great to hang out with some of you guys there in the livestream. I'll try to post back sooner than I did last time!
~ DV
Hey everyone!
As per usual, I've failed to keep this blog regularly updated. Life has been crazy hectic these past few months, work is ramping up on my Master's course and my shift has been taken away slightly from this project - but it's still going alive and well!
Firstly, I meant to make a blog on this last month, but, THE OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER FOR THE SOLDIER'S DESTINY is now live! Had a lot of fun making this one. I drew a lot of inspiration from the fantastic second teaser for The Force Awakens all the way back in April 2015, and I really wanted to homage it here. In fact, there's a couple of nice nods/homages to TFA in the film...
Secondly, I'm pleased to say that I am PICTURE-LOCKED on Taris, minus a couple of SFX, the first hour of the film is technically good to go. I'm sure I'll find a hundred things to cut/move after I sit down and watch it all together for the first time. I've also made some good progress on Dantooine, and had a surprising amount of time to do a lot of the basic assembly on Tatooine. There's some really nice sequences throughout this film I don't think you'll see coming. Some are definitely a "first" for KOTOR Machinimas, brand new stuff. I wanted this film to be the freshest take on KOTOR yet, and I'm still sticking to that goal.
This month is going to be very hectic for me with deadlines, so progress had been at a near-halt since late March, and will probably stay that way until the end of the month, but I should have a lot more time to devote to the film in May, with looking at a possible late-June/early July release window, but, there's no rush. I'm adopting the CDProjektRed philosophy of: "It's coming when it's ready."
Finally, if you're curious about hearing some of the score for the upcoming film, I've just released a brand new video highlighting some of the themes. This is some of my favourite selections yet, especially for Bastila's NEW theme, Dantooine & the Star Maps.
That's it for now, look for another blog entry come early May!
~ DV
The semi-regular report on my extraneous activities continues. I spent the better part of March breaking and then fixing my computer, but there's some new stuff too. Here’s what’s been going on since last time:
Updates
Odyssey++ - Recent updates to Notepad++ radically altered the file structure, so I’ve updated Odyssey++ to keep up with that.
New Mods
Feat Fixes for K2 - Fixes some feat stuff for K2. Several feats weren’t available to certain classes for reasons unknown, and Finesse: Lightsabers didn’t do anything Finesse: Melee Weapons wasn’t already doing so it had to die.
Security Spikes for K1 - Security spikes never did anything on the PC version of K1. I’ve replicated their intended function as best as I could, so when you use the item you get a temporary bonus to your Security skill. Or, if you prefer, you can choose the other option that removes them from the game altogether.
Mandalorian Armor for K1 - Makes the wearable Mandalorian armor more consistent with other Mandalorian armor in the game so they follow the usual blue/red/gold rank system. Also fixes a few other oddities with Mandalorian-related items.
Backstroke of the Old Republic - Edits all text in the game to provide a... different experience.
Something Completely Different
A while back, @A Future Pilot recruited @DarthParametric and myself to help with the next update to the K1 and K2 Community Patches. We’ve mostly been working on the K1 one first. AFP had a list of issues he’d been collecting since the last release, almost a year ago now, and we’ve checked off just about everything on that list. Between those and the other issues we found while fixing those, plus some more that were reported in the interim, I think we’ve easily doubled the amount content in the Community Patch.
You can follow our endeavors on GitHub.
All of my blogs now have one of those pictures that (usually) indicates the title of the blog. I’ve numbered all of my blogs since I’ve started creating them and I’ve finally reached 100 of these things.
Wow. 100 blogs. Someone, please call a doctor!
Instead of me rambling on yet another niche topic, I’ll now invite you to go through the previous 99 blogs and see if there’s something you may have missed from me. I’d like you to have opportunity to consider if there’s something you might add to the conversations I’ve previously started.
Yes, I do realize that many of the blogs are locked. You’ll be able to tell because it has this picture as the blog’s title picture.
If you encounter one of these locked blogs and you still want to acknowledge it, I believe you can still drop either a “like”, or “light side” icon, or a “thanks” icon on the blog.
If you’re going to comment on M4-78 stuff, I would recommend you limit the comments on the “like/love” blog on M4-78 EP version 1.5, the “disappointed/hate” blog on M4-78 EP version 1.5, or the “M4-78: Set Decoration” blog covering all of Zbyl2 and Hassat Hunters versions of M4-78 EP. Having detailed reviews of version 1.5 – split in the pro and con blogs – will help me work on another chapter on the documentary if at some point I decide to resume working on it.
Note that as of this date: version 1.5 is only available on Deadly Stream. Version 1.3 is only on the Steam Workshop, and MODDB has version 1.2.
As I’m preparing to move across the country relatively soon, I’ll be holding off making any new blogs until I am settled in a new place. I haven’t even figured out where on the east coast that my wife and I are moving to so I can’t offer any estimates. And let’s be honest, time estimates aren’t one of those things that I like doing any way. (Have you ever seen my signature? LOL)
If you do decide to comment on my blogs, I want to read your comments and not look at one of these . . .
This . . .
is less helpful to me than something like this . . .
or this
With the last two pictures, I know what you're trying to say and have more information to use when replying to the comment and/or making new mods. (In the above example, I corrected the mod by putting the missing file.) The likes and thanks icons don't give me any hook to work with.
So my faithful reader: Keep safe, keep modding, leave some comments (on my blogs, my mods, and my videos), and I’ll see you at some point on the other side.
I have had more than a few requests to have
as a sound set. Now, the lines from SWTOR wouldn't enable me to create a full sound set for SWTOR's
but I had come up with a alternate way of creating a
sound set.
Now I haven't received the lines from these folks yet but I have been promised to have them eventually.
Don't bug these people by asking them when they're going to hand in the lines. That will annoy them and you won't get the sound set...
And this Revan voice actor - which admittedly was a long shot - didn't get back to me but at least you get to see what the artwork would've looked like.
Thought I'd pimp out my old "Ord Mandell" video for old time's sake. It was the one of the first videos that I used GLIntercept in.
I wonder if this video and my Lonna Vash video were responsible for Mrmann's series of videos being pushed out on a more regular basis. Is there something to that theory?
Hey there folks! The next soundset I plan to release will be the Imperial Agent from SWTOR. However, I'd like your help choosing the picture for the soundset, if you don't mind. Here are your choices.
1. The Standard Picture: On the Bridge
2. The Agent in Conversation
(This will be cropped to remove HUD elements)
3. Agent walking away from an explosion.
4. Same pose as picture number 1 but I replace the background with another locale from the SWTOR universe (which you'll have to suggest)
In your own words, can you tell me what you are disappointed with or downright hate about the M4-78 Enhancement Project. At the very least, it would be amusing to read some short entries about what you thought was annoying about the mod. If I were to work on the documentary again, it also might prove to be a helpful repository of quotes I could work from.
If you like (or even love) the M4-78 Enhancement Project, I have a whole other blog dedicated for that topic. It’s just easier to make a pros and cons list if I have the two sides separated. I’m just trying to keep these two columns separate. Yes, you can post in both blogs.
Note: This is only regarding the version 1.5 of the M4-78 Enhancement Project. I am completely uninterested in previous versions as some complaints may have been fixed by later versions.
Blog #87 is now locked so traffic can be directed here.
In your own words, can you tell me what you like and/or love about the M4-78 Enhancement Project. At the very least, it would be amusing to read some short entries about what you thought was worthy about the mod. If I were to work on the documentary again, it also might prove to be a helpful repository of quotes I could work.
If you dislike the M4-78 Enhancement Project, I have a whole other blog dedicated for that topic. I’m just trying to keep these areas separate. It’s just easier to make a pros and cons list if I have the two columns separated. Yes, you can hate and like things but use the separate blogs.
Note: This is only regarding the version 1.5 of the M4-78 Enhancement Project. I am completely uninterested in previous versions as some complaints may have been fixed by later versions.
A formerly unreleased remnant of the unfinished chapter of the M4-78 Documentary
M4-78: The Problem with Master Vash
One thing that I don’t think I’ve previously discussed is the problem of voice overs of the character Master Vash – the Jedi we’re seeking in the M4-78 materials. Did you know that there are two voice actresses for the lines that appear in the game?
When we first see and hear Master Vash, it’s an old video that T3-M4 plays of your Exile’s trial on Coruscant. The voice actress for Vash in this scene is Vanessa Marshall.
Vanessa Marshall has played a number of parts over the years, including a few characters in the Extended Universe including: Master Bela Kiwiiks (from SWTOR), Hera Syndulla (from Star Wars: Rebels and Forces of Destiny) and assorted characters in KotOR2. [ed: insert pictures of the various characters] I’ll put an IMDB link to her CV in the video description below.
Here’s where things take a turn. Vanessa Marshall isn’t who we hear on the planet of M4-78 though. That completely different voice actress is Kath Soucie. In the Star Wars EU alone, she’s played the female Smuggler and minor characters in SWTOR, Mira Bridger and Minister Maketh Tua in Star Wars: Rebels, Mon Mothma from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon, the Nightsister in Star Wars Empire at War: Forces of Corruption, Mara Jade in Star Wars: Empire at War, and the list goes on and on with other non-Star Wars roles. [ed: insert pictures of the various characters] I’ll put an IMDB link to Kath Soucie’s CV in the video description below.
There are two people doing the work of one character. Most folks don’t even notice the actress change up as each section has few lines and they are separated by a decent amount of both in-game and real-world time. Let’s be honest - most people aren’t making off like a shot from T3’s Trial video to go straight to Korriban so they can meet Vash right away.
Why bring this up though?
One of the limitations of any of the versions of M4-78 mods is severe limitation of lines that can be used for what Vash can say in the mod. There’s not a lot. Since they are two different voice actresses, you can’t grab sample from one Vash iteration and hand it off to the other. It won’t sound right as they aren’t trying to actively mimic each other. An enterprising modder could technically grab lines from other games to try to extend Kath Soucie’s lines from one of the games listed below. However that modder would have to limit themselves to lines where Soucie’s lines sounded like her Vash impression that were left on the KotOR2 disc. Then they would run into the same issue of limitations of what the actress can say based on those lines.
The answer to this would seem to be to recast the part of Master Vash entirely. Whenever this has been brought up, there’s been pushback. The most common reasons is a connection to the few lines that appear in the Coruscant files that appear in both modded and unmodded versions of the Coruscant trial scene – which as pointed out earlier – isn’t even the same actress as the one on Korriban.
Heh. One of my favorite moments in the Dark Knight trilogy. Anyways...Like one of my IRL friends, I'm really not one for receiving presents; but...I do enjoy giving them. So, as an inverse birthday present, I'm repackaging some of my mods to upload / update them here with new previews and consistent readme formatting. I started last night with updating "Clothed Beginning", and hope to get more of them uploaded / updated soon.
Unfortunately, I lost most of my original preview images for mods, so I had to make new ones for use in redesigning my website. And I decided, despite recent events, to start uploading my mods on Steam Workshop too. But, because of how they handle installing mods, it'll mostly be the ones that don't involve 2da files to avoid compatibility issues. To start, I uploaded "Clothed Beginning" there last night. Both copies of that now have the same screenshots, readmes, and preview images.
Here is my modding plate right now:
Redesign my website
Upload mods here and Steam (new readmes / previews for consistency)
Work on a few mod projects (nothing ready to announce just yet)
Update a few mods, including Clothed Beginning (to hopefully fix the bug with Atton / Kreia not acknowledging the player being clothed) and Playable Twileks.
I AM REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY
Concerns & Worries
I have been notified no matter what happens, once I release the first version of my mod, it will be the same as releasing the modders resource which means I will just be releasing them as one and the same. V 0_2_5 is ready and I will upload them when ready. Though for the moment in both games the areas can only be warped to.
I am not sure when I will be releasing it as I have thoughts about the future of both KotORs that may be compromised if anyone else goes crazy making content with the resources.
My worries are that loads of different people will make loads of different universes for both games, which though a great thing is conflicting for the overall experience of the game unless they are used in total modifications, therefore I believe my best plan of action is to set up a website for The Expanded Galaxy project which will focus around getting the entire community to contribute to the project enhancing and adding to the overall KotOR experience as well as if possible adding an online feature for both.
In order to prevent too many different universes popping up over the next few years that will rapidly change the KotOR 1 & 2 games for the better or for the worse.
Thank you for reading and I really look forward to releasing after setting up a website, once I have a website I will reach out to the community with all of my ideas for both games as well as for people to help and get involved with every aspect of the mod.
ModDB Page : https://www.moddb.com/mods/kotor-ii-tsl-expanded-galaxy
Videos : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhYlUImv8iE&list=PLcla5UjpqtcwxNVK0DcHEwDry1ya9QWYa
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II : The Sith Lords : Expanded Galaxy Project
Over all both releases contain everything necessary for KotOR and KotOR 2 in order to add every planet / missing module to each game and vice versa as well as an overall questline during the game for each area as well as an expansion to both games, currently every module can only be warped to with the cheats enabled in the swkotor.ini files for both games.
Revans Eternal Empire - K2 Map Source for K1 ( 900mb ) 2.13 uncompressed
This mod will add both a light side and dark side expansion for Revan, addingmore planets throughout the main storyline with short questlines, once finishing the game the player will have the ability to conquer the universe to the extent that prequels SWTOR.
Exiles Expanded Galaxy - K1 Map Source for K2 ( 700mb ) 2.02 uncompressed
This mod will add a continuation of the second game, with all the ability to travel to all the new planets during the focus of the main game with some missions as well as an overall end game addition which will add a new story focused around the Taris Restoration Project and the Exiles influence in founding it or informing the sith as well as a new galaxy crawl where the player will need to go to every planet once more and follow a trail of information to help or devastate Taris.
"As there's a hard limit for new placeables in KotOR1 with very few spaces left, has that affected your porting of TSL modules to KotOR1?" - @Sith Holocron
Great question! Got me thinking ^^
My thought was to just bypass the problem by completely porting the first game to the second game as a total conversion.
Would also make sense as it would require users to port some files from the first game themselves ( exe, dlls, inis, music, sounds and movies ) and allow me to make an ultimate KotOR 2 install and Launcher that can start both games.
My first thoughts were to include the dialog.tlk file in the second games and increase all references / entries to it for the first game but trying to include it separately and having it handled by the launcher might be a better option, it should drastically decrease the install size, remove the need for porting of the second games maps altogether and allow for easy module creation for both game using just one installation made of an original install of both games and a mod, should also allow for easy patching to update for other mods as the dialog.tlks will be kept separate.
This shouldn't go against any issues raised as it would require both games from the user and manually copied files as well as the second game to begin with and would avoid conflict as well as save me the trouble of having to fix the Telos, Dxun and Dantooine Maps from the second game and instead creating copies of the modules as any guide would show you how to do.
Thor110
I got a lot of problems with you people. Now you're gonna hear about it.
I'm trying something new again, though I've been thinking of doing it for a while. I noticed the site update changed the way it manages updates to mods. I think the new way makes more sense than the old way, but it does mean it's easier for updates to go unnoticed to anyone who isn't specifically following the mod page for that. So I figured I'd do a sort of mod roundup every so often to shout into the void about what I've been up to.
Updates
The primary point of this format - new updates to old mods that you might've missed.
Supermodel Fix for K2 - Added some fixes for dual saber animations. And apparently I broke TSLRCM's lean animations at some point, so I fixed those too.
Slave Bastila - I spent a good part of the summer putting out fires for this mod. Then after I thought it was done, there was some more weird stuff that wasn't even my fault. Nobody's reported anything for a couple months so I think it's safe now.
Handmaiden Sisters - This was the first mod I submitted to Deadly Stream, though it wasn't the first mod I made, not by far. So it didn't have much sentimental value and I neglected it. It had been out of date for a while. I ended up redoing it from scratch for the update.
Korriban: Back in Black - By request, there are new options for Uthar and Yuthura. And also a fix for a weird bug with a guy on Manaan.
New Mods
Some fine additions to your collection.
Vision Enhancement - Makes the player stop going to bed wearing armor and teleporting to the Ebon Hawk in their sleep.
Fashion Line I: Cloaked Jedi Robes for K1 - Ports those K2 robes with cloaks to K1. Possibly the #1 request since Deadly Stream started accepting ported mods, if we aren't counting "hey why don't you port the entire game" as one mod.
Force Knock - Adds a Force power to replace the need for the Security Use skill.
Modding Tools & Resources
Stuff of no interest to non-modders but of potential non-zero interest to modders.
Cloaked Jedi Robes & Supermodel Port for K1 - Mod resource version of what makes the Cloaked Robes and Slave Bastila work.
Odyssey++ - User-defined languages for Notepad++. Suggests stuff as you type. Makes scripting for KOTOR easier.
Something Completely Different
In this section I'll post something recent that I didn't make but I think is cool and deserving of attention. This time, without a doubt, it's the CSLU Toolkit revival by @Jenko. The CSLU Toolkit is what KOTOR mods have always used to generate lip files because that's what was available back in 2005 when JdNoa made her LipSynchEditor. It was a convenient, free resource... at the time. Recently, it's been impossible to get a hold of the software. The CSLU server has been offline for over a year, meaning nobody could install the Toolkit. Even if they had the installer, it wouldn't work without the server available to confirm the license.
I remember problem-solving this when the server first went offline. I even sent over my registry files, hoping we could get a new installation to recognize my license - just so we'd have the option of transferring a totally legitimate installation to a new machine when the time came. But nothing worked. It was oddly secure for freeware. Ultimately, it took him single-handedly pestering the staff at Oregon Health & Science University, getting his emails sent down a chain of several people in the hopes that it would finally reach somebody who actually worked on the thing. And it did. It was a Festivus miracle.
Here are some links that I'm either making open to the general public for the first time - or in certain cases - reminding you that I've done so before.
Mod issues are your own responsibility as I won't be providing troubleshooting.
Happy Holidays.
KotOR1 Mods
Shores of Death: Kill Everyone at the Beach Scene by Furio
Manaan Fish Fest by Furio
Evil Temple: An Alternate Temple Scene by Furio
Alternate DS Female Romance Ending by JdNoa
Slaughter the Jedi Council by Furio
KotOR2 Mods
First National Bank of Coruscant mod for KOTOR II by DarthHK3000
KOTOR 2 Music Mod by Torthane
Droid Planet (v. 1.3) by DarthShan
Female Twi'lek Exile by Stoffe
Force Zeal by Stoffe
Peragus Mining Laser by e-varmint
SWTOR Audio Play - Prologue
Imperial Agent - Prologue - Hutta - 3 MP3's
If you liked any of these items, please leave a note below and tell us all about it!
Hey everyone!
As 2018 draws to a close (damn, time flies), I thought I'd share an update on the project.
Unfortunately, there won't be a trailer anytime this year -or, what's left of it- like I was hoping. It simply isn't in a state to be shown off yet, nor is enough done to warrant a trailer of any kind. But, with that said, the film is coming along really, really well. The story arc for all three films has been in place for about a year now, and thanks to some people, particularly @Sith Holocron, I now have a complete visual look for the film nailed, as well as a soundtrack. It's shaping up to be quite the challenge, adapting K1 in a manner that stays faithful to the game whilst still feeling connected to my TSL quadrilogy is no easy feat, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it.
Outside of that, I am a lot more busy now than I ever was during production of my TSL films. Between a very exhausting Master's degree and a job, I don't have a lot of time free. I'm even starting to (hopefully) branch into freelance video editing as a career, but more on that next year. For now, rest assured, the film is coming, and you can expect the title and your first look at it early next year. I have no release date in mind, but, a late spring/early summer 2019 would be ideal. We'll see.
That's all for now, work is slowing down for the year now as we enter the holiday period, think I need a bit of a break from it all, too! I went into pre-production only two weeks after TPK released, so a week or so off to spend time with family (and of course, more uni work) is needed. I plan to start releasing snippets of the soundtrack in January, so you can look forward to that before getting a real look at the film. Attached to this post are a few sneak-peek screen shots of the film...
Hope you all have a great Christmas, everyone, and a happy new year! I love being on this site and a part of this community.
~ DV
EDIT: Apologies if some of the screenshots appear a bit dark...that's Premire's doing, not how they will look in the finished film. Colour grading will be the last thing I do!
Welcome!
I'm not necessarily proud, but excited to share a gameplay trailer I worked on. I hope it gives you a visual understanding of what to expect from LME, of course, about 60% of the mod isn't included in the trailer, simply becuase it would have dramatically increased the trailer's time.
But to reiterate, LME seeks to create an altered main quest, that forms a triangular effect. Side with Mandalorian Faction, defeat both Rakatan Factions. Side with the One, Black Rakata, faction, and defeat Mandalorian, and Elder Rakata factions. Side with Elder Rakata, and defeat Mandalorian, and the One, black Rakata, factions.
What's shown in the video: Main Quest triangle, Mandalorians speaking Mando'a, voice acting, battles, loot, quest logs, and a fan made Mando'a soundtrack by SazMando, which will be included in LME.
What's not shown in the video: 3 sidequests are included if you decide to work with the Mandalorians. Party interactions, from the following list of companions: HK-47, Canderous, Juhani, and Zaalbar.
Wearable Mando'a armor, stats of Mando'a weapons, increased difficulty of enemy foes (footage was taken on easy, impossible difficulty is intense in the added battles), oppotunities for LS and DS points, NPC interactions with Mandalorians, and some other secrets that the PC will be able to experience if particular choices are made.
I plan to release LME relatively soon, but with finals nearly upon me, finishing work (such as typos, slight adjustments to different things ... etc) may make this a mid December release.
Thanks for reading and watching!
-jc2
I've got two missions that I'm having difficulty completing in SWTOR and I'm looking for folks that might willing to join me on these missions so I can finally be done with them. Both of these missions are on a Republic character on the "Star Forge" server. On with the mission descriptions!
1) The Shroud Revealed
"The Shroud Revealed" is the final mission in the Republic line of the Macrobinocular Missions. In it, you finally take on the character called the Shroud personally.
BTW: Yes I know it isn't "the final time" that you deal with the Shroud as I do know all about the HK-55 bonus mission but let's move along to the topic at hand . . .
Due to the way this mission is set up, you have to have 4 people to take part in this mission. That's because the players have to press buttons to access certain areas. It's a puzzle oriented mission with some combat thrown in. Sadly enough, I technically completed this mission yesterday morning but the folks I was playing it with were skipping the conversation cut-scenes. I was recording the mission. As I want those cut-scenes in my recordings, I didn't wind up turning in the mission so I still have it active.
If you're interested in assisting me, you'll need to read the guide listed in the link above. You'll want a well geared character.
Why I want to finish this mission: I don't even care about the what pitiful gear they offer for the mission. It's mostly for the achievement. And this achievement needs to be grabbed so I can grab another one on the Star Fortress.
Speaking of the Star Fortresses...
2) Defeating the Voss Exarch in the Star Fortress
I've beat all of the Exarchs - the final boss on the Heroic Star Fortress - except the Star Fortress above Voss. Quite frankly, this guy is a pain in the ass. This is the Exarch of the Voss Star Fortress: Andur Melor.
He hits like a truck and spams heals . . . a lot. If you want to know more about the whole Star Fortress line of missions, you should probably consult this page on Dulfy's site for a general overview. As I'm a healer, I suppose I'm looking for tanks on this one. If you're interested in assisting me, you'll need to read the guide listed in the link above. You'll want a level 70 character and that character should be well geared.
Why I want to finish this mission: Though I want to beat this guy partly for the achievement, it's mostly so I can acquire the last of the Star Fortress companions.
This is a piece of cut content that was not restored in TSLRCM. This feature is probably unnecessary thus why it was cut, for anyone who is interested this blog will read out how this section of cut content was going to play out (I may, at times, need to guess what was going to happen to make this make sense as this is content clearly unfinished).
In Vanilla and TSLRCM, Bao Dur found the location of Atris' academy through a computer terminal on the landing pad. Through the terminal, he was able to hack into the Force Field Network. In this cut content, the terminal is not on the Landing Platform but rather it is the terminal in Chodo Habats office. Once you defeat the mercs and go onto the empty landing platform Bao Dur's dialogue would go something along the lines of
Bao Dur: "The freighter's not here. We'll have to enter the underground ruins and look for the military escape shuttle. The entrance is at the south end of the compound."
Player: "How do you know the shuttle will be there?"
Bao Dur: "I don't, but that's not going to stop me. I'm getting back to Citadel Station if I have to build a new ship myself."
If you spoke with Bao Dur after this he'd reply with
Bao Dur: "We can talk later. Right now we've got to find a way back to Citadel Station."
The Military Base would play out normal, the player would take the Shuttle from the Military Base back to the Hangar of wherever you left whether that be the Ithorian or Czerka Hangar (Please note there is no movie for a Telos Shuttle landing on the Citadel, if someone did make this a mod it'd have to reverse the takeoff video to make it appear as if it is landing though then an NPC in the background of the video would walk backwards though this NPC "may" be able to be edited out). As the player would have no idea where the ship is this is why they'd come back and not to the Polar Region. On the Citadel you could, if you wanted to, talk to Grenn where he'd say his vanilla "So you have returned" lines though only this time he'd say them much earlier than in Vanilla as you return earlier. When you arrive at the Ithorian HQ Chodo would have some new lines if Bao is in the party, without him in the party you'd be stuck until he is in the party.
Chodo: "Ah, Bao-Dur. I heard you'd returned. This pleases me."
Bao Dur: "Good to see you again. Have you already heard about Czerka's operations on Telos?"
Chodo: "I had. Moza has been in session with the Telosian Council regarding some Czerka files your new companion helped us acquire."
Chodo: "Dol Grenn interrupted with news of what you'd encountered, and Moza sent word immediately. It seems that Czerka's days here are finally at an end."
Bao Dur: "I would hope so."
Bao Dur: "Come. The Ithorian's computer system is hooked up the Restoration Zone Grid and shield network. Let's find your ship."
Presumably, if you helped Czerka Chodo would deliver some news along the lines of "things are going bad" and "we can't seem to be able to stop Czerka". None of the Czerka dialogue was written as it's all incomplete, whilst Chodo would dislike a Dark Sided Exile Chodo would still tolerate his/her presence in his own HQ, especially if his own friend Bao-Dur is with him so I have little doubt that a Dark Sider would still need to come back to Chodo to gain access to the shield network (The other only alternative is Jana Lorso as one can assume she has access to the Czerka controlled restoration zones herself, however, in vanilla Bao-Dur shows distaste for Czerka and in cut content Jana Lorso betrayed Bao-Dur and almost had him killed, this cut dialogue will be released in one of my upcoming mods). Once you interact with the terminal Bao Dur would have his dialogue with the terminal about finding the power interference in the Polar Region minus the dialogue of having to go into the Military Base as in vanilla on the landing platform. Once you had completed this you were then meant to return to the shuttle either in the Ithorian or Czerka Hangar. It is a possibility, yet unconfirmed, that once you finished up with the terminal you would hear an announcement over the loudspeakers from Jana Lorso.
"Attention, Citadel Station. This is Jana Lorso, your Czerka branch's Executive Officer."
"As you may know, Republic negotiations with Onderon have deteriorated of late. Czerka entered Citadel Station in the hopes of resolving the situation for the good of Telos."
"I regret to inform you that the Telosian government, with the aid of the Ithorians, has entered an anti-Republic treaty with Onderon."
"In order to protect the Republic's investment in Citadel Station and for the betterment of Telos, Czerka has been forced to assume command of the station."
"Until Republic forces arrive to formally depose the Telosian Council and restore order, Citadel Station will remain under Czerka control."
"This should not affect your daily affairs. Please go about your business as usual. Thank you for your cooperation."
This is related to another piece of cut content I will detail in another blog as I have no reason to confirm or deny that this would happen right now during this section of cut content. This could of, for all I know, happened once you finished Telos completely and if you helped Vaklu on Onderon. Once you leave the station the HK-50 droids would arrive in the Bay Control area and presumably kill the Ithorian or Duros inside and have the exact cutscene as they have in the Military Base aka they send a squad out to the Polar Region to kill you. If the Ithorian is killed in the Bay Control you won't be able to talk to him if you want to steal the Prototype shield for Samhan Dobo (Despite this, you will still be able to complete the quest).
And that is the "Bao-Dur's return to Citadel Station" cut content. Feel free to leave opinions on this down bellow (how you feel about the content, was it a good idea to have this cut, should TSLRCM include this, should this be it's own mod) and also let me know whether or not I should write up any more explanations for cut content.
For this blog, I’m not covering other larger mods and their compatibility patches. These will be simple quality of life selections that will – in my humble opinion – enhance your play-through. As this section is essentially an opinion piece, your mileage may vary. This section covers the first part of the game, namely the Peragus Mining Colony and the Harbinger. All mods of the mods listed are compatible with TSLRCM.
Peragus Tweak 1.4 by VarsityPuppet
Adds dead miners to replace the burned and desiccated corpses usually found around the Peragus levels.
Peragus Mining Gear 1.01 by Kainzorus Prime
This mod changes the miner uniform found in the Peragus tunnels into gear that both looks fitting for space mining, as well as slightly boosting its stats. However, it also requires proficiency in light armors to be used now.
Peragus Medical Monitors and Computer Panel by Sith Holocron
This mod both increases base resolution of both the medical monitors (as seen when your character first wakes up on Peragus) and the various computer panels seen around the Peragus levels.
Peragus Large Monitor Adjustment by Sith Holocron
This small mod collection replaces textures for the large monitor seen on Peragus that overlooks the asteroid field. I wasn’t crazy about the low-resolution images in the smaller boxes off to the side so I decided to take a crack at it. I’ve kept to general idea of what were originally shown in those boxes so this difference won’t be too drastic. In addition, that old low-resolution asteroid animation just had to go. It has been replaced as well. Finally, that scrolling text box can now be read. Since the original text box was illegible, I decided to make my own. Whether you use this mod or not, I highly recommend using the next mod in this list to go with it.
Peragus Administration Level Room Model Fixes by DarthParametric
This mod addresses some minor geometry issues in the Peragus Administration level. It plugs two gaps in the ceiling that allow the player to see into space, and it also adjusts one of the animated panels on the large screen in the communications blister so that it aligns better. The panel and one of the ceiling fixes are for the exterior version of the level that you see from the maintenance walkway.
“Replacement Peragus II Artwork by Trench” uploaded by Sith Holocron
If you use my “Peragus Large Monitor Adjustment”, you’re going to want to use this upgrade that increases the quality of the Peragus II model. (That’s the texture of the planetoid with the exposed glowing core which miraculously hasn’t immediately cooled after being exposed to space?) This mod changes the texture of the planet inside the station, outside the station, and on the Large Monitor screen. There’s even two varieties of the planetoid to choose from.
A Darker Peragus REDUX 1.0 by Malkior
Peragus seems like it was supposed have more of a haunted house feeling, doesn’t. It being an area that’s seemingly abandoned with dead folks littering the ground, wouldn’t it help matters if it was a little darker to accent the creepiness of it all? This mod fixes that by editing the lightmaps and darkening all of the placeable items in the Peragus, Peragus Spacewalk, and Harbinger portions to match the darker lightmaps.
Peragus Mining Laser by e-varmint (https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ss4lzd77k4yb0a/e-varmint%20-%20Peragus%20Mining%20Laser.zip?dl=0)
Your first ranged weapon in the game – provided you’re not cheating – is likely to be the Pergaus Mining laser. Wouldn’t it be nice if that laser actually looked like a tool that a miner would actually use? This mod fixes that. Luckily, I still had this in my archive so now you can use it too! Here’s a short video so you can see a closer look at the model before you download.
Harbinger Hull Fixes 1.1 by DarthParametric
The Harbinger is apparently the Swiss cheese of spacecraft. It has more holes in it than a damn sieve. This mod is a combination and extension of my previous separate mods fixing various geometry and model issues with the Harbinger. Geometry has been tweaked or added, UVs adjusted, model hierarchies re-ordered, etc. where appropriate to remove gaps, fix incorrect light-maps, or address other problems.
Improved Peragus Asteroid Fields by Vasilii Zaytsev
It takes the default 2D asteroid field texture used in the Peragus asteroid fields in the tutorial/prologue and outside of the Ebon Hawk hangar bay, and replaces them with much nicer ones.
HD Cockpit Skyboxes 2.0 by tjsase
When you land the Ebon Hawk on a planet, you are able to look out of the cockpit and view the landing platform. This is achieved by a cylindrical texture. Since the vanilla textures were low res, inaccurate, and desaturated, tjsase recreated the platforms in Maya and rendered them to look as they do in-game. The main planets, including M4-78, are all remastered in 4096x1024.
Replacement Loading Screens for KotOR2: Original Pack (with or without TSLRCM) - Part 1 by Sith Holocron
Were you ever dissatisfied with the low-resolution loading screens when the in-game footage looks so much better? What if there was a mod that took care of that for you? Psssst . . . it’s this mod!
Part 1 of this set covers the loading screens for the following areas: Peragus, Harbinger, Citadel Station, Telos IV, and the Ebon Hawk. This version of the mod covers the areas in the normal “vanilla” game and for some of the areas added/restored by TSLRCM.
Fixed Hologram Models and Admiralty Redux for TSLRCM 1.6 by DarthParametric - This mod attempts to address some of the issues with holograms in TSL. In the vanilla game, the majority of holograms have things like eyeballs and teeth being visible through the head. This is caused by the way the game handles transparency, in conjunction with the order in which it renders the individual meshes that a model is comprised of. By changing the hierarchy of the meshes within these models, certain elements can be occluded, resulting in less cases of “bug-eyed” holograms. This is not a perfect solution however. Because meshes do not self-occlude, visual glitches still remain during certain animations and camera angles, but this is likely the best that can be done without being able to make alterations the game engine itself.
Do you think I may have missed anything? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Update 18FEB2019:
Do you think the Peragus Mining Gear that you wear after finally wearing more than your underwear is a little lackluster? Then try this mod from Kainzorus Prime on for size!
"Awaken..."
*Looks around cautiously*
Well, I seemingly escaped my cyrosleep that I took for reasons I can't recall. I'm so ecstatic to see all the improvements to ease the process of modding, and the new possibilities unlocked.
What, Jolee? You don't think that portrait matches you? A relatively "small" project I may do is porting the K1 player heads into K2. My first step will be seeing which heads Obsidian didn't remove from the game assets, and then go from there.
On another note, I confirmed that I did lose all of my files for Echo of the Force (my previous WIP TC for KOTOR II)...except...I did apparently retain most of my notes. The downside is I have to redo everything from scratch. I'm slowly restarting it, but it may take some time to get back to where I was at before. Here's my first stab at recreating one of the NPC skins I had previously done.
Anyways, until my next entry, may the Force be with you.
These are just some ideas that I wanted to write down after going through the end game sequences again. I was using the Extended Enclave mod as well as TSLRCM, and overall I think it is better than normal TSLRCM, there is still some things that I think could work better.
First thing, I would have the Nihilus/Tobin cutscene trigger during your next space flight after completing Onderon, instead of when entering the enclave. It disrupts the flow of the sequence a bit where it is now. Handmaiden confronting Kriea and finding out she is Sith before the trial is awesome, and makes the whole scene way better. The scene where Visas confronts Kriea seems redundant though. I imagine it would be good if the player was female, but with Handmaiden already there it is sort of odd.
Everything else with the masters is awesome, and I really like having the Genharadan explosion stuff here. It fits pretty well, but it could use some more editing. The Sion/Nihilus fight is perfect, and I love having it here. The conversation with the party on the Ebon Hawk could use some retooling though. Handmaiden's "come with me" line added by Extended Enclave is totally out of place. It can just be removed, she doesn't need to say anything and they can cut straight to the ship. I'm fine with having Handmaiden not immediately trying to take Kreia to Atris. She seems pretty OK with her being a Sith in the first conversation, and doesn't stop her from killing the Jedi masters. The only thing that bothered me was Visas being here after confronting Kreia. If the earlier scene with Visas confronting Kreia was removed this would be fine.
I think the order of events could use some adjustments. There really should be a scene of Kreia knocking out the Handmaiden if she's the one that took her to Atris, so there is a reason why the fight with the sisters occurs after Kreia gets to Atris. Once Atris is dealt with all the attack space battle cutscenes should play out and we can have our conversation with Grenn, where he brings up Bao-Dur and HK-47 being missing. After this line is when the HK factory stuff should start. It doesn't work nearly as well right now, occurring after the factory is already over. You could then have the shuttle flying cutscene, come up with some excuse for Bao-Dur to die (shuttle crash maybe :), and have HK do the factory as normal.
I'm not sure how you could fix the weirdness that goes on with the Ravager. The shuttle boarding on the station is written so that Mandalore, Visas, and the Player are all together, and makes perfect sense. But the second they get on the Ravager, the player clearly shouldn't be there until after all of the proton cores are placed. I'm not sure if there is a satisfactory solution to this. Restoring the Citadel Station destruction ending would be cool, and I don't think it would be that much of a stretch to just show the shuttle leaving the Ravager, and then cut to the Ebon Hawk leaving from the polar cap instead of the station.
Many thanks to:
This instructive topic
Fred Tetra's "KotORTool"
bead-v's "MDLedit"
Chuck Chargin Jr./ndix UR's "MDLOps"
JCarter426's "JC's Cloaked Jedi Robes & Supermodel Port for K1 - Supermodels"
stoffe/Fair Strides' "TSLPatcher"
and DarthParametric's past-present modding knowledge
, My first ever porting attempt went a success!
I remembered back then; the very first thing I wanted to do with modding is on doing this, which ends-up me going nowhere with the attempt lol. So, although I'm not actually "create" one, it is always a pleasing feeling to see an effort comes to fruition. Again, credits to the aforementioned folks; as only because of their effort, the dream isn't just a dream.
May the Force be with you all!
