Environment Map Restoration 1.0.0

[TSL] Defaultenvmap Restoration

By Darth InSidious

 

Description

Both KotOR games were designed to have environment mapping, i.e., reflections on armours and weapons that

looked like the area the player character was in, rather than generic shinyness.

 

In the default game, this is switched off, perhaps for performance reasons. This mod partially restores this

feature, using the environment maps for the game which Obsidian included in the default game files.

As a result, not every area has environment maps, but I have been able to enable the feature in about 50 areas (out of c. 95),

listed below. This includes numerous Ebon Hawk cutscene areas, parts of Peragus and Telos, a large part of Dxun,

parts of Onderon, large parts of Dantooine, parts of Korriban and M478, and most of Malachor V.

In addition to reflections on armour, this mod also adds back in reflections on most melee and ranged weapon types.

 

This mod is intended as much as a proof-of-concept as a restoration in itself. A full restoration would likely

require cube-mapping all the areas in the game, which I don't have the time or resources to do. If someone

feels like doing that, and knows how, let me know.

 

The full list of areas included in this mod is:

003EBO

004EBO

005EBO

006EBO

007EBO

102PER

104PER

201TEL

202TEL

203TEL

204TEL

205TEL

209TEL

231TEL

261TEL

351NAR

352NAR

401DXN

402DXN

410DXN

411DXN

421DXN

501OND

502OND

504OND

505OND

506OND

510OND

511OND

512OND

601DAN

602DAN

604DAN

605DAN

610DAN

701KOR

702KOR

710KOR

711KOR

801DRO

802DRO

803DRO

804DRO

901MAL

902MAL

903MAL

904MAL

905MAL

906MAL

907MAL

950COR

 

 

Known bugs and compatibility issues

Because each area has only one environment map, sometimes the reflections will be wrong for a given part of an area

which looks different. Also, because of the limited number of environment maps included in the game, I have

reused several of them in different places. Hopefully this isn't too obvious, but it may mean that the environment

mapping isn't always exact.

You may experience performance issues with this mod; I have not tested for this.

 

The mod currently installs as a series of .are files directly into your Override. This is because it's

difficult otherwise to take account of .mod files with the same filename as the game's default .rim area files,

so it was difficult to make the mod work with, e.g., TSLRCM modules.

 

This mod hasn't been tested for compatibility with TSLRCM, but I don't anticipate issues for the most part,

since the .are file isn't used for much that can be modded.

 

*Nevertheless, this mod *may* cause some compatibility issues in some areas with TSLRCM.*

 

Installation

Double click on "Install Defaultenvmap restoration", and hit the "install mod" button.

 

Uninstallation

Delete the .are files from your Override folder, and restore the baseitems.2da file

backup made by TSLPatcher on install, and placed in the "backup" folder.

 

If no such baseitems.2da backup exists (i.e., you haven't used any other mods that modify this file)

simply delete baseitems.2da from your override folder.

 

 

 

Credits and thanks

Thanks to JC, DarthParametric, and Cortisol, for their feedback and help during development of this mod.

 

 

Disclaimer

All materials and copyrights belong to LucasArts, Bioware and Obsidian Entertainment Inc.,

Kotor Tool belongs to Fred Tetra, NWNSSCOMP belongs to Edward T. Smith.

I own none of the materials, and I'm not making any money out of this mod. It is to be distributed

as-is without alteration, unless by permission of the mod author. This mod is not to be distributed for profit, either.

Use it how you like, but if you're going to post it up somewhere, or make a derivate mod, or use it in another mod, you must

ask for my permission first.