TSL Default Replacement Hilt Megapack 8.1

First of all let me acknowledge that this is the best mod of its kind bar none in existance as far as I can tell, the quality is very intricately done and that deserves huge props because the vanilla handles were pretty derpy in comparison, and a single model for them all was also in bad taste on the devs part.

Beyond the quality of the work itself though, there's a glaring flaw that I see that is really hard to ignore. the hilt positioning in the hand. if you look at where the jedi is holding it, he's holding it like a classical sword right up near the top where the hand guard would be. this isn't how jedi hold light sabers and in fact especially with the purple lightsaber, you'll notice he's holding it so far to the edge his actual index finger is going into the indentation, there's no way to wield that without fucking your own hand up in combat if you hold it that way its going to slip out and cut your hand off, it's not a sword. also if you look at your own design and that of lightsabers in general, it's pretty clear that it's meant to be held right in the middle if not a bit towards the bottom, that's literally where the hilt portion is. I'm not sure if this is a simple fix or not but it's just such a simple issue that should in theory have a simple solution(not a graphic designer for the game so I wouldn't know but I'm willing to bet it's simpler than the work that went into making such high quality designs).

On a more minor note but still pretty significant imo is some of your model designs weren't made in mind for left vs right hand. the game doesn't seem to take into account which hand the weapon is in so for example the short saber model is very clearly it belongs in the right hand, the blue saber belongs in the right hand, the silver saber belongs in the left hand. the flap on the hilt I'm assuming points outward rather than inward towards your body, but regardless of which way is the right way it's better to design the saber so that it looks the same in both hands otherwise you get some weirdness, that basically means unless there's a way to get the game to recognize that you're equipping a weapon in the left hand and to make a mirror model, any asymmetrical weapons are going to look a little weird in the opposite hand. for me personally it's just kinda goofy that the short saber clearly is from a game perspective made for the left hand, but your design it looks like it was made for the right hand, it's grinds me from an aesthetic perspective. I think the simplest fix for that would be to take those lightsabers and rotate them 90 degrees so that the flaps point up like with the red lightsaber which would have had the same issue if you didn't specifically make the flap point up, maybe to differentiate itself form the blue one which points right. so the shortsaber and blue saber you rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise and the silver saber you rotate that 90 degrees clockwise, and they all end up symmetrical and looking like they belong in either hand with the flap pointing out from the top.

is this something you haven't personally noticed in game yourself or you just didn't see it as an issue, maybe you don't play that much and mostly just make models so it missed your eye on the release? regardless I'd hope that it's something you'd choose to fix I'd do it myself it I knew how, but seeing it makes my ocd go off like crazy like that saber just isn't being held correctly to the point of it being a point of danger to the wielder, he needs to be holding it a full hand length lower ideally. I noticed the same issue with blasters in the base game of the blasters are shaped in a way where it obviously doesn't fit in the characters hand. it must be a core game issue and it's pretty ridiculous for them to make such a basic level oversight. 

criticism aside thanks a lot for making this mod it truly enriches the kotor experience, I hope it wasn't too much I know people don't like to hear that their painstaking work might have had some flaws in it, but I think yours aren't a personal issue so much as an issue with the game itself that you forgot to take into consideration with your designs. I'm nearing the end of a kotor 2 playthrough which also inspired me to make another go through k1 after I'm finished. it's funny how playing k2 made me appreciate k1 more and playing k1 made me appreciate k2 more, both good games in their own right. it's crazy how these 15 year old games can still suck me in so hard while newer games feels like they completely fall through.