KotOR High Resolution Menus 1.5

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About This File

Bubbling up from the font of dark knowledge, ndix UR presents KotOR High Resolution Menus, a UI mod package providing full high resolution menu and UI support for Knights of the Old Republic. The tyrrany of 640x480 menus and 6-item lists is over.

Normally, when you increase the game's resolution using a widescreen patcher like UniWS, the menus stay very small in the middle of the screen and the borders get larger. This package is designed to be used *after* the widescreen patcher has done its work. It scales the menu screens up so that they fill the screen.

This package requires modification of the swkotor.exe file using a supplied patcher, and is only known to work with GoG, 4-CD, and macOS (x86) versions of the game. It should be compatible with any Steam version that uses UniWS.

The main content of the package are sets of GUI files (.gui), scaled for specific resolutions. The package contains GUI files for over 30 common resolutions with the following aspect ratios: 4:3, 16:10, 16:9, 21:9, and 32:9. Here is a list of the currently supported resolutions:

 

4:3
800x600,
960x720,
1024x768,
1280x960,
1400x1050,
1440x1080,
1600x1200,
1856x1392,
1920x1440,
2048x1536,
3200x2400,
4096x3072,

16:10
1024x640,
1152x720,
1280x800,
1440x900,
1680x1050,
1920x1200,
2048x1280,
2304x1440,
2560x1600,
2880x1800,
3840x2400,
5120x3200

16:9
1024x576,
1152x648,
1280x720,
1360x768,
1366x768,
1600x900,
1920x1080,
2048x1152,
2560x1440,
3840x2160,
5120x2880,
6016x3384,
7680x4320,
8192x4608,
15360x8640

21:9
1280x1080,
2560x1080,
3440x1440,
3840x1600,
5120x2160

32:9
1920x540,
3840x1080,
5120x1440,
7680x2160

 

Installation

Find the gui.WxH folder matching your resolution, modify your executable using the supplied patcher, copy the GUI files to your Override/ folder.

The details for this process can be found in the package README.pdf file. Read it. Follow the instructions therein. The documentation includes everything you need to know to manually patch your EXE if the patcher does not work for your version.

 

Uninstallation

Remove the GUI files, restore the original backed up version of your swkotor.exe file.

 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  1. This is not a resolution hack or widescreen patch, such as you get from using UniWS. You should already be successfully running the game at the resolution you are trying to get menus and UI for. Nothing in this package will give you any additional resolutions available. That is not what this does.
  2. If you are trying to get high-res menus for one of the resolutions supported by default (800x600, 1024x768, etc.) there is probably no point to using the GUI files named 'mipc*' provided by this package (mostly the in-game "HUD"), however, this scenario is untested.
  3. There are a few of the GUI files in this package you can use without modifying your executable. Here is that 'safe' list, in case you are unable to modify your executable:
 

confirm.gui
fade.gui
maincg.gui
maininterface.gui
mainmenu.gui
mainmenu10x7.gui
mainmenu12x9.gui
mainmenu16x12.gui
mainmenu8x6.gui
mi8x6.gui
mipc10x7.gui
mipc12x9.gui
mipc16x12.gui
mipc210x7.gui
mipc212x9.gui
mipc216x12.gui
mipc28x6.gui
mipc8x6.gui
tooltip10x8.gui
tooltip12x9.gui
tooltip16x12.gui
tooltip6x4.gui
tooltip8x6.gui

It gets you the main menu, some dialogs, and the in-game HUD elements.

 

Thanks
DarthParametric for testing, contributing a double-clickable thing for Windows users, and prompting me to finally figure out the needed EXE modifications.
tk102 for GFF2XML and XML2GFF source code, which made it a lot easier to get this up and running.

 

Known Issues

  1. The patcher is currently incredibly limited, making no effort to search for values, only looking at specific locations where they are in the executables I have access to.
  2. This package does not contain any higher resolution artwork. At high resolutions, menu backgrounds will be blocky, and the striped list backgrounds are unlikely to line up with list items. For numerous reasons, you will want to get a high resolution menu art package.
  3. The game's initial character selection screen does not lay out the selectable characters properly according to GUI file field values. It is useable, but not perfect. The blue hilight borders had to be removed from around the characters to maintain a clean look.
  4. The map screen is scaled up, but the map itself is not. Furthermore, the position of the map within the frame is somewhat random/poorly understood. The map, however, is completely useable, and the points of interest and player indicator are all positioned accurately relative to the map.
  5. Some of the 3D models in menus, such as on the character stats or character generation screens, display line artifacts over them. This is caused by the very low quality graphics being scaled up to provide the border overlays. Extracting the graphics as TGAs, scaling them up, and placing them into Override/ sometimes solves these problems.
  6. This package omits statussummary.gui and dialog.gui. Scaling them up cause problems. The files don't behave as expected, and it seems to not require a customized version in order for them to work as one would want.
  7. You might notice 1280x1080 in 21:9 even though it is not 21:9. It is for split-screen on 21:9 monitors.
  8. Rescaling the dialog/cut-scene letterbox (which is optional) seems to introduce occasional issues with letterbox placement, particularly when the letterbox animation happens. This may be fixed at some point in the future.
  9. There is no scaling on font size, and as far as I know no one has figured out how to do it, so users on TV/couch setups may not find the help they are looking for with this.

 

Upgrading
1.4 to 1.5:

  • If your resolution was not previously supported, copy new .gui files to your Override/

Upgrading
1.3 to 1.4:

  • If you have Polish version, you can run EXE patching process
  • If you have 32:9 display, copy new .gui files to your Override/

Upgrading
1.2 to 1.3:

  • Copy all the .gui files to your Override/

Upgrading
1.1 to 1.2:

  • Repeat the EXE patching process on a backup EXE if you want letterbox scaling

Upgrading
1.0 to 1.1:

  • Remove dialog.gui from your Override/
  • Copy 1.1 pazaakgame.gui to your Override/

What's New in Version 1.5   See changelog

Released

  • Added 13 new supported resolutions

 

  • Like 13
  • Thanks 3



User Feedback

Recommended Comments



No matter what I do I cannot get it to work. the menus and everything look fine like they are supposed too. However the location of the menu buttons and where I have to click to select certain menu items is completely off. For example I have to click on the complete button right corner of the screen just to be able to click on the top button of the options screen. 

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hires_patcher doesn't work. It just pops up and ends. No fail message or anything. I don't want to go into this hex edit thing...

Edited by deltametal141

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I just dropped what I need for resolution. Than boom, screen goes wrong, some kind of loading screen with nothing on pops out. Can't see anything.

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23 hours ago, DarthParametric said:

Did you read the instructions? Run the batch file, not the exe.

Okay that was my fault. Batch file worked. But still nope, gui files cause problem.

My resolution is 1920x1080

Edited by deltametal141

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10 minutes ago, deltametal141 said:

Okay that was my fault. Batch file worked. But still nope, gui files cause problem.

My resolution is 1920x1080

Did you use UniWS first?  That has to be used before applying the batch file.  Also, a first run of the game without its resolution modded is needed.  Then you can edit the swkotor.ini file to change the height to 1920 and width to 1080 under Graphics Options, or at least, that is my experience.

If you are using steam, be aware that it "autocorrects" any changes to the exe so you need to rename it once you make changes to the exe, possibly making a shortcut so you can run the game without using the steam app as that will not work after renaming it.

That is enough to let it work for me and it does fine.

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7 minutes ago, Savrem_Merlae said:

Did you use UniWS first?  That has to be used before applying the batch file.  Also, a first run of the game without its resolution modded is needed.  Then you can edit the swkotor.ini file to change the height to 1920 and width to 1080 under Graphics Options, or at least, that is my experience.

If you are using steam, be aware that it "autocorrects" any changes to the exe so you need to rename it once you make changes to the exe, possibly making a shortcut so you can run the game without using the steam app as that will not work after renaming it.

That is enough to let it work for me and it does fine.

Only thing I didn't do was renaming exe. And the problem I mentioned is that menu screen is screwd. While I will gonna rename exe,  that will be all?

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4 minutes ago, deltametal141 said:

Only thing I didn't do was renaming exe. And the problem I mentioned is that menu screen is screwd. While I will gonna rename exe,  that will be all?

Hmm... You could try a cracked version of the exe (the steam drm messes with things sometimes), patch it with UniWS then use the batch file and rename it.  There is one on this site at:

 

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1 minute ago, Savrem_Merlae said:

Hmm... You could try a cracked version of the exe (the steam drm messes with things sometimes), patch it with UniWS then use the batch file and rename it.  There is one on this site at:

 

Oh I already used that.

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2 minutes ago, Savrem_Merlae said:

Maybe this: 

or this: 

will help?  I use the Revan Edition.

Oh wait. I could use them to fix this problem? I thought I should use them AFTER I got over this...

Will try.

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20 minutes ago, deltametal141 said:

Oh wait. I could use them to fix this problem? I thought I should use them AFTER I got over this...

Will try.

*shrug* I installed them at the same time so, I dunno, maybe?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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47 minutes ago, Savrem_Merlae said:

*shrug* I installed them at the same time so, I dunno, maybe?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Aah, nope. They don't fix it, and new problem popped up:I don't know how and why, but mouse is useless. Can't use it to clikc menu.

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3 minutes ago, deltametal141 said:

Aah, nope. They don't fix it, and new problem popped up:I don't know how and why, but mouse is useless. Can't use it to clikc menu.

Don't know.  You did replace the exe and rename it as well as patch it right?  Beyond that I have nothing, assuming all the files in override are the ones that should be there and they are not put in sub folders, all files in override need to be outside of any folders or the like.

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2 minutes ago, Savrem_Merlae said:

Don't know.  You did replace the exe and rename it as well as patch it right?  Beyond that I have nothing, assuming all the files in override are the ones that should be there and they are not put in sub folders, all files in override need to be outside of any folders or the like.

All done. Seems like stuck. Thanks for the help, but I'm dropping this one...

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I am having an issue similar to the one Westhoff123 was having. When I run the patch it doesn't scale anything visually in the game menus but does seem to place the click targets for everything other than the main menu in the top left at 800x600 while the visual rendering still happens center frame. I can revert back using the backed up swkotor.bak.exe and everything works fine, but it's quite weird.

I am using the Steam version if that matters...

Edited by Tre916

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Oh, wow. I just missed the step to copy the files from the proper resolution folder to the override.

I feel like such a Rube.

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I have alignment issues with the UI for the character creation as soon as I start; along with misaligned load screens,  misaligned mouse cursor, misaligned category tabs in the menu (map, inventory, stats, feedback, etc.). I've followed every step laid out in the install guide and have used all the recommended patches and UI mods to go with this. I've also done all the suggested fixes I could find for each issue (dpi scaling, Windows compatibility, etc), and I know the uniws batch-patch worked because everything loaded beautifully when I loaded a save file. What is the problem, and is there anyway to remedy it? I know there's going to be mouse issues already from the logs on the mods, so I don't expect much can be done with that, but it'd be a great shame not to experience the work put into this gold-oldie by people all over to breathe it some new life.

My monitor resolution is 1920x1080, I've put all the correct 16:9 files in my Override folder....done it all!

Example:

Not-So-Great.jpg

Uh-Problem.png

2.png

 

Edited by PoopaPapaPalpatine

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Found my solution to the problem I listed previously. To anyone else with this issue, @MasterKriebel found the fix: you need to patch your .exe again for the mod to fully take place. It works like a charm for me now! Thanks to him and all involved to make K1 fresh and new again.

I've posted his solution here for anyone to better find.

On 11/29/2020 at 11:51 PM, MasterKriebel said:

Greetings, ElMarfacho and Thercio (and anyone else reading this post)!

I'm not going to call myself an expert by any means, but I just got this mod working on my 1600x900 display after running into the same problems you're talking about.  I think I know what you need to do to get this mod to work.

I'd already had UniWS's GOG file working correctly, but that's not the only patch you need for the mod to work correctly.  The ReadMe file assumes you know you need to patch the swkotor.exe file twice, and I'm just going to chalk it up to my own ignorance.

Here's what I did:

First Patch Job -  Widescreen fix with UniWS (if you patched this using 1024x768 interface to your new display size, you can skim past this part):

  • Copy your game's original swkotor.exe file and save it somewhere as a backup.
  • Additionally, if you're a Steam user, go find a usable "cracked" swkotor.exe file that you can adjust, since Steam's file won't work.  Just Google/Bing/DuckDuckGo/etc. "Kotor no-CD" and that's how I found mine.  Once you have a usable swkotor.exe file, save it somewhere else as a backup.
  • In UniWS, patch your swkotor.exe file using the 1024x768 interface instead of the 800x600 interface.  I know the file was patched because I got feedback from UniWS saying the patch was successful.
  • In case you haven't, go ahead and run this swkotor.exe and make sure the game is running at the new resolution.  Other posters in this forum have indicated you need the new resolution implemented in the game before installing this mod.

 

Second Patch Job - Mod Prep (if your mouse is off and HUD boxes appear on the menu screens, this is probably what you missed):

  • Copy the patched swkotor.exe file to the Hi-Res-Menu Mod folder
  • Referencing the ReadMe file, we are now at "Step 1:  Modified Executable swkotor.exe"
  • Double-click hires_patcher.bat and enter the information.  (Note:  I did NOT have to Run as Administrator, but keep that in mind if you need to troubleshoot.)  For my 1600x900 display, which is in the 16:9 range that ndix UR recommends adjusting the letterbox for, I entered 1600, 900, yes, swkotor.exe [well, I just hit Enter for this last one since my .exe file sitting in there is called "swkotor.exe"]
  • After the patcher program finished, I verified that a swkotor.bak.exe file was created.  That's the easiest way to see that your second patch job was successful.

 

Installing the Patched .exe and Mod:

  • Copy the new swkotor.exe file from the Second Patch Job (not the backup!) into your game folder
  • Copy all the appropriate .gui files into the game's Override folder (for me, that's the 1600x900 gui files)

 

Testing the Mod:

  • The main menu screen will always work
  • Start a new game and you'll know it's working if your loading screen is properly sized and not running off the screen like it would if you're using a single-patched instead of a double-patched swkotor.exe file.
  • Go to any other menu and see if your mouse lines up with the buttons
  • Until ndix UR or an impatient modder makes a patch for the map, the map will be small.  I imagine you can remove that specific gui file from the Override (map.gui) and get the old map back, though I don't know if your mouse will line up with the map's buttons correctly.
  • You might notice extra border lines at the top and bottom during dialogue.  I imagine this is ndix UR's way of ensuring all the dialogue text stays on-screen.
  • You might notice some bright blue borders that no longer match the image/descriptions.  I definitely caught this on the Items menu, but it's not a deal-breaker for having a widescreen menu with more items-per-page.

 

May the Force be with you!

Since the Steam swkotor.exe file doesn't work, you have to go online and look for a "Kotor non-CD" file.  I was able to find one just fine, but I think it's illegal for me to upload it here since it's not really my file.

Not the expert here, but I imagine a manually hex-edited .exe would be fine.  You'll still need to run it through the other patcher that you download with the mod, or your mouse won't line up with your buttons and you'll see HUD buttons in the submenus (as several in this thread have mentioned).

 

Edited by PoopaPapaPalpatine
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Yo so patcher doesnt work on steam in 2021. what Hex lines can i edit in a hex editor to make this work. i dont understand hex editing fully to find it myself

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I have the GOG version of the game but the patcher just crashes instantly after I try to open it.

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Ok, I use the 1920x1080p with the widescreen Uniws- but I am *completely* lost on how to install this thing.

I download the files, and run the BAT, telling it the resolution, ratio, yes to dialogue scale and it runs. I copy the BAT and exe to the Swkotor folder, copy the 1920x1080 override files to the game override and....nothing- I load the game and all the menus are blank.

I also don't see any sore of backup file or anything of the sort- it doesn't seem to create anything. 

Am I supposed to do something with the patcher? Because it does not do anything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

edit 1-ok- so I'm guessing its a steam drm issue I think

edit 2- it seems others have the same problem- I give up on this for the time being- this is a tech issue well beyond my level.

Edited by SoNofSOnofSPOck

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On 1/17/2021 at 3:40 PM, PoopaPapaPalpatine said:

Found my solution to the problem I listed previously. To anyone else with this issue, @MasterKriebel found the fix: you need to patch your .exe again for the mod to fully take place. It works like a charm for me now! Thanks to him and all involved to make K1 fresh and new again.

I've posted his solution here for anyone to better find.

 

I did exactly this multiple times and still the mouse is off no matter what I do it still persists, I even started fresh and still.

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Is it normal if the zip file takes so long to extract ?

I also get files that are said to be way bigger than the archive itself. Is everything working properly ?

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