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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/12/2020 in Posts
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2 pointsReorganized previous modules and started prototyping the 3rd planet. UPDATE: All the prototypes are complete! Ok, don't get too excited: you can play from start to finish, but right now it's mostly a huge text dump without actual gameplay. Still, it's one huge step towards completition! Tomorrow I'll start a second pass, completing actual gameplay.
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1 point😀 Let's make KOTOR 3 as a collab! In this way, we'll have more chances to cover its complexity with our numbers. There's also a twist: we have a concept we can use as a basis. This means that if any of us stops working on this mod, someone else can still take their place, because they just need to read the concept to know what to do next. I wrote this concept over the last week, using everything Avallone said in interviews. It's still rough, but contains the whole main quest and details about the main characters. To make it easier to develop, I tried not to add too many planets and quests for now, we may still add them later. This is a holy quest for all modders and fans, let's work together! Check the concept and let me know what you think. concept.doc
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1 pointI'm currently working on the turret minigame in KotOR I. My goals in order of priority are: Make the game more challenging Scale the challenge of the minigame with your difficulty setting Improve graphics, effects, and audio Diverse enemy types Remove "random" encounters and make it so the battles occur: Once when leaving Taris Once when arriving per planet Once when leaving per planet Once when escaping the Leviathan Once when approaching the Star Forge Optional challenges Unique stages - not always be six interceptors flying the same loops around you, but different numbers and types of ship, different skybox and eyecandy, different movement for the Ebon Hawk, different objectives (escape, survive, destroy x many fighters in a certain amount of time) Persistent health - don't take too much damage, or it will be there next time you fight! You must go to a specific location to receive ship repairs, or leverage your own (or companions) repair skill to "heal" the ship Experience gains for destroying fighters A questline with T3-M4 that allows you to upgrade the ship's health A vendor to install more powerful and unique-looking turrets on your ship While all of these goals are achievable based on what I've observed by going over the data, I know that it's easy to over-promise and under-deliver. Therefore these are mentioned as "possibles". Those in bold above are almost complete. I mention the other goals because I'd like to describe how these could be achieved if my other commitments make it impossible for me. So, I will go over the more ambitious goals in case future modders are interested in how to implement the changes. Remove "random" encounters and make it so unique battles occur This one is pretty easy. At the moment all minigame encounters use exactly the same module: M12ab. Even the battle that occurs over Taris, with it's unique skybox and background Leviathan is still just M12ab. What is actually happening is some scripting that occurs when the encounter is being loaded. When going in to the minigame, KotOR is evaluating your global variables to determine what skybox and audio cues to use (or in the case of the HK-47 practice, whether to apply the holographic visual effect) - in the case of the Taris escape, an animation is actually playing on a loop around you that gives the appearance of the starfield, Taris in the distance, and the Leviathan hovering nearby. This animation can be found in m12ab_01a.mdl/mdx. I've cut out a section of the animation to show you the awesome model that comes in the mdl: In order to create unique encounters, my thoughts are to either create new modules from copies of M12ab, or to use expanded scripting to make the existing module more flexible. I haven't yet tried duplicating the module and seeing how it would effect things, but that's next on my list. If you wanted to go very basic though, you could just use MDLedit to modify m12ab_01a.mdl, and change the LSP_planettari01 texture mentioned in it to some other planet texture. I'm completely new to modelling and haven't animated a thing, so just how far I am able to go with this and how much I can learn is anyone's guess. However if there are any talented animators out there who wanted to create a unique animation for a space battle encounter that takes place prior to boarding the Star Forge, you can find an *awesome* Hammerhead model from KotOR II in 104PERg.mdl: Unique Stages This would come down to scripting. It's possible to decompile all scripts apart from the heatbeat script (thanks to Thor110 for decompiling all the others). Inside the scripts, you can play around a lot with when the encounter ends and under what conditions. Even in the M12ab.are file, it is possible to do a lot with the nature of the encounter. To give you some examples of what is definitely possible: Spawn fewer enemy fighters - this is a simple matter of deleting the enemy structures in the .are: Make the Ebon Hawk fly around - this can be done by changing the track listed under the player structure. You could "hijack" the track of an enemy structure, or create your own custom one in Blender. I've had an absolute blast give the Hawk the m12ab_mgt06 track, making it progress at 1/4 speed, and playing the turret game in a moving ship, with interceptors flying all around me Make the enemies faster This can be done by editing the enemy tracks in blender - just shrink down the animation to play over a fewer number of frames. At the moment, the interceptors in my modded game are flying around 33% faster, and boy oh boy does it make the game better GIve enemies more hp, more powerful weapons, more rapid-firing weapons, or unique models Again, just a matter of making changes to the .are. At the moment, I have 4 normal fighters and 2 "elite" fighters that are colored the same red as the Sith heavy troopers. The elite fighters absolutely rip you apart - they deal +33% damage, fire twice as fast, and have double the hp, so I'm having to actually think in the game and prioritise targets. Make the enemies chase you while the Ebon Hawk performs evasive manoeuvres This is just a matter of editing those tracks. I'm no animator/modeller but this would appear to be the most achievable change to make to the game even as an amateur (though it does require that unique copies of M12ab can be created and function, something I have not tested). What you could do for example is create a simple track that would float up and down and side to side, then copy that and move the track back and to the side by a certain distance, maybe give it an additional keyframe at the start so that it gives the illusion of following your ship movement rather than mirroring it. Naturally if the interceptors were behind you the whole time they would rip you to pieces - at this point I am playing around with the possibility of scripting to adjust the frequency of their shots. Inaccuracy is a good variable to adjust - it is a percentage chance to miss you, so this would make prolonged fire from interceptors survivable. Rate of fire is another that would work in this type of situation, it is something like number of shots per second - however in a tail pursuit this may make the fighters shooting you seem a bit odd if they are either constantly rapid-firing or firing on a precision perfect shoot-wait x seconds-shoot-wait x seconds pattern. There's a lot more I want to say about modding this minigame but I've just looked at the clock so it will have to wait. Suffice to say that there is a LOT of unused potential in KotOR from this game, that was very likely left on the wayside by BioWare due to time constraints.
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1 pointThanks for your support @JediArchivist! So today I started the second pass. After a few fixes to the project, I went back to program my tool to make modules with Tiled. It still makes very blocky modules, but I found it to be very useful to prototype, since all you have to do is draw a map in Tiled and then run the tool to convert it to .mdl/.mdx. I'm using it to improve a module I only roughly touched before.
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1 pointThis is awesome, I always wished for a KOTOR 3! The work you have put into this project so far is tremendous! Don't get dissapointed that there is no one collaborating yet, as soon as you will have a playable Beta I'm sure it will draw lots of interest and people will want to help! I can't wait to see how it progresses. I really hope you get many people to work with you on this great project! Thanks for sharing your progress with us! Kindest Regards, I wish you all the best and may the Force be with you!
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1 pointWell, I think I've got them all. I've considered removing from the inventory (as suggested by @AmanoJyaku) a few that are left in the inventory upon completing a quest and to do this I use GetItemPossessedBy() to check if the item is actually in the player's inventory. Problem is that, from what I understand, the function uses the item's tag to find it and a few datapads share the same tag (g_i_datapad002). Calo Nord's is one such item so I wonder how it is possible to remove that specific one from the inventory rather than possibly a second datapad with the same tag. I have of course come with new names for over 20 datapads (a couple may be unused items though, I think...) and if @DarthParametric believes this might be K1 CP material I will gladly try and make a TSL Patcher version of this although I am not really very familiar with the patcher and I won't have a real chance to test it. There will be a bunch of new strings to add to the .tlk file and then reassign the new names to the corresponding items in the modules. The removal of the items can be a bit more complicated though as I have mostly been messing with existing scripts in order to do that and created a couple new ones of my own. One step at a time, I guess... I have made a list of datapads I found in the game and what changes I made, if needed. You are very welcome to suggest others for possible inclusion if I happened to miss them or to think of new names if you think they might be more appropriate. Cheers!
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1 pointWow, Kexikus, those look incredible! Some of those Nar Shadaa shots look like something from the Pre-Rendered scenes in Dark Forces 2 (And I mean this in a good way). I've always hated how bland Nar Shadaa looked, so it's so good to see it get the appropriate treatment. I'm also glad to see the Coruscant mod map get the kind of attention it deserves. These look seriously phenomenal. I can't wait to see all of these parts come together when you release the mod. 👍
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1 pointYou did an admirable job in that short time, dont let your shoulders drop People tend to wait to make sure that something rocksolid is in the making, but then, with a clear task, they will help. Btw, about reusing modules, Thor110 has converted the K1 planets as ressources, you might wanna check those out - im sure, if you reskin them, they could be used to mimic very different environments from vanilla. Or even further by piecing together small bits of area models like dungeons, shops, hallways from both games to create a unique huge new district.
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1 pointAdded a couple of new cutscenes set on the Emperor's ship. As you can see I'm reusing the Ravenger, because making a new ship is beyond my current abilities. I'll reuse more modules whenever necessary, if only temporary. I'm disappointed that no one has decided to join me yet. I don't understand why you don't have faith in this project after all the work I've done so far.
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1 pointHi folks! I've had a total modernization rework of KOTOR head models floating on my mind for years and thanks to the fantastic tools released on this site, I've been able to get a fully functioning prototype going with a few test cases. I'm starting this thread to document my progress with it and share with the community. First up, huge thanks to developers of KOTOR Tool, Kotormax and MDLops for making this possible. My goal is to build a universal head base that can be extrapolated to replace all the player and party head models with a much more modern standard - one that looks good, and is also very easy to adapt and modify. Hair will be handled as a separate mesh instead of something modeled as a fixed part of the head model, as is the solution in vanilla meshes, removing the need to do skinning cleanup for new heads. Texture layouts for heads are standardized as a result. Where I'm at right now: -New head geometry completed. -New teeth, tongue and eyes. -Eyelids are no longer separate geometry, instead the eyelid models have been converted to dummies and the eyelids on the head mesh are skinned to them, allowing for far more natural looking blinking. -Much more believable eyelashes have been integrated as a result. -Head is fully skinned for facial animation, though this is still a work in progress and needs a lot of testing and iteration. -Early tests for texturing and stylization are underway. First pass with vanilla eyelashes before I took the plunge to try the dummy skinning route, which ended up being a huge gamechanger. Skinned eyelids and eyelashes. Much more detailed teeth! Testing out eyelid skinning. To see how much I can get out of the new geometry I chose to start with a pretty major quick redesign of Juhani based on Cathar from SWTOR. If I have the stamina to see this project to full completion I'll probably also make a 'classic' version. This is probably going to be a pretty long project, but I'll try to keep updating once in a while. I plan to release a full resource pack of this even in the absence of a fully completed replacer mod. Thanks for stopping by! I'll be happy to answer any questions in the meantime.
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1 pointI updated the first post with build.zip (containing Zlaya's prototype) and src.zip (containing the files I used). While I'm about to start prototyping the 2nd planet, I'd like you to check the current build and mod it as you like to improve it, especially writing k2-esque dialogues. The best mods will be integrated into the game
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1 point😀 Prototype modules for the 1st planet are complete, I'm now working on programming its quest!
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1 point😀 Many thanks @Kexikus, this is exactly what I was looking for! Hopefully we'll get to this as well, especially with help from the community 🙂
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1 pointSince you're creating area models (although I'm not quite sure which software you're using and I don't think you'll get around actual 3d modeling if you want to continue this project), here's two threads that you should look at that contain pretty much all the information needed to create custom areas which is totally possible even though it's obviously a lot of work: And finally, here's a tutorial on lightmaps:
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1 pointI couldn't get lightmaps to work yet, but I've at least managed to apply sunlight. Here's a new module's prototype: on the right is the cantina, small and reassuring; opposing the exile is the sith palace, watching over the whole walled sector. Making prototypes is easy and you can focus on quick edits. I won't probably work on making them look good until the rest of the project is complete, so time isn't wasted on details. Besides, now that I've figured how to model new modules, I can say it isn't too difficult. I'm probably going to make a tutorial sooner or later, so everyone can learn how to do it. @Logan23 don't worry, I studied this project for a whole week, I put only what is strictly necessary in terms of quests and modules. My goal is to prototype everything to get as fast as possible to a playable beta, then it will be only a matter of polishing.
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1 pointI would suggest you take an existing module and repopulate it and place a demo quest inside it to help you gauge how long it will take you to build content. This means having dlg with scripts that do checks on jrl entries , etc. This will help you see how involved it can be to build a mod this size. This can also help you figure out how long/ large you want this mod to be. Keep things as simple as possible with scripting or you could place yourself in a spot where you wrote something cool for a level or quest but the scripting might not transfer as easily to this idea you have.
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1 pointThanks for your support and suggestion. I like your idea, it's brilliant and well thought, but I can't do that, because my goal is to make an actual new game in the series. I'm sorry to disappoint you. About making new modules, I've figured how to add a skybox and I'm now studying how to implement lightmaps (I think I'll have to make a proper tutorial sooner or later 🤣).
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1 pointAbout walkmeshes etc. you should ask Darth Parametric. Hes the expert regarding all 3d modeling stuff here. Btw. i like your idea creating a K3 very much, in fact ive been waiting for this to happen since a long time. But since im working on a mammoth sized texture recreation project myself i know that time is an important factor and if you can make things easier (without sacrificing quality), why not? Here some suggestions for your project: What do you think about making the whole thing not as standalone, but as addin /DLC for K2 instead? It would make Kotor2 campaign feel fresh again and has further advantages: 1. you are much more flexible regarding the overall size/time you invest into your project. 2. the K3 campaign story assets are accessible already: Remember that Kreia on Malachor said that Revan went to the unknown regions to search for the true sith? What if you move this dialogue to Dantooine, where Kreia killed the 3 Jedi Masters? If you let an enraged exile fight & lose to Kreia afterwards, with Kreia disappearing after the fight, this gives you the opportunity to start your Mod seamlessly in the campaign: Remember the Navicomputer on the Hawk? With Kreia vanished the Exile decides to follow Revan to help eliminating the threat of the true sith, T3 hacks the navicomputer and founds 2 destinations: Lehon & Starforge. Now, the cool thing is - if you like the idea - these 2 planets are already integrated & fully playable in the Kotor 2 campaign (mod ressource by Thor110). So, if you start the mod this way, you have 2 bonus planets intgrated already plus you can add a third planet (btw. Sleheyron is also intgrated to K2 by Thor110)... This way you can basically start your mod from the "halfway" line & dont have to make everything from scratch... What do you think?
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1 pointWith textures for reskinning - its best to take existing ones and edit them,.. cut and paste a few together along with tweak to its color,..etc....
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1 pointI guess you're right, I'll have to reskin modules... but I'd rather not to: when I played The Jedi Masters, I found every reskinned module to be too distracting. Of course I understand we don't have a complete toolset to work on modules, but I think it's very important to find a way to get this right. I don't want to be too ambitious, so I think I'll give doing a module from scratch another chance and, if I find it to be impossible, I'll take your suggestion and just reskin modules. So far, I've been able to use simple meshes and .3ds objects in a module. I think paths could be added with a bit of work, lightmaps I'm not sure. My current problem is camera collision is missing and I don't know how to set it, I can't find one tutorial on this UPDATE: I've been able to fix the camera issue and the bugs I mentioned before. First of all, i ditched kaurora for mdlops, then I tried merging the walkmesh with a box representing the wall and it worked! 😀
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1 pointDoes remaking the existing modules may didn't work for you? Just my 2c -- I think everyone be better off remaking the existing modules rather creating new ones, at least with resources/SDK that we had for now. I mean, modules not only about models and textures -- there are also lightmaps, paths [in PTH format if I recall correctly] and many other details that's close to impossible not seeing the day-light to create from scratch -- that if the goals actually to make them functioning in real-time, rather than only for display/proof of concept. Take this one for example. That's a reskin of RedHawke's ORD Mandell Mod. From what I see, it looks decent enough for a new planet, without having the feeling like it's a straight copy-paste to Dreshdae. Another outstanding example is this one by @Sithspecter [excuse me for using your post as a reference, SS] -- -- if I haven't told that it was a reskin of Manaan's Sea Floor - I wouldn't have guessed, really. Edit: another great example of reusing modules is @jc2's Lehon Mandalorian Expansion. He's remaking the Rakatan settlement as the Mandalorian stronghold in his mod. Though aesthetically look the same, other than that everything looks different with smart replacement of NPCs and placeables. Though locally I did modded the looks of the module, so it looked like this -- -- and that's only changing the skyboxes and the flag's texture. Not yet involved with lightmaps, AuroraLight and fog. TL;DR -- there are much more important things rather than fiddling and getting burned out with newly created areas/modules; such as gameplay, storyline, characters/NPCs, voice-overs and audio [BGM, SFX] are elements that can make a reused modules feels unique and fun to be play with. I mean, big name developers are also known for reusing their assets far as I'm concerned, hahah. Edit2: what I'm trying to say above was -- it's not entirely impossible, only it's a pain to do so. At this point we may have to reflect at Canderis' post above. Also I seemed to forgot that you were talking about doing a "KotOR III" -- I thought it was about new modules, even more a new planet that already send chills down my spine, hahah. I hope that can be useful -- since you asked for feedbacks. P.S. hope that I can contribute more on this one, but since I haven't finished TSL yet think I'm stuck at technical areas for now, lol.
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1 pointActually, I'm trying to make actual new modules. 🤣 Unfortunately I suck at 3d modelling, but my scripting is better, so I'm developing a tool to convert 2d maps into mdl/mdx. So far I've managed to make a simple floor and a temporary walkmesh. I'll keep working on it. About walkmeshes, I've a serious question: after using KotorMax or my tool, and KAurora to export to mdl/mdx and wok, my module usually crashes on loading in k2. If I remove the walkmesh data from the ascii mdl and compile only the mdl/mdx, it works, though, even with the same wok file. What's going on? test01a.ascii.mdl
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1 pointSo true. Its not a question of whether any of would like to see a KOTOR 3. I believe that it is reasonable to speak for everyone that if you are at all involved on Deadlystream than you by default hope to see it happen. Its just a question how conceivable it is to actually have a bunch of us to grab a beer or two, sit down, and dedicate ourselves to it.
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1 pointWhen deciding on the planets you plan to use... you should decide in part with the idea of which k2/k1 modules would you use. If you don't do that then you will have some cool concepts for planets but no existing modules that would fit the planets you wish to have in your game. Also understand a mod like this will take a long time, the more complex you make it,.. the longer it will be.
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1 pointI'm not going lie, this has my attention. However, as Canderis pointed out, creating a story conversion mod is a massive undertaking that requires true levels of dedication. I can't tell you how many attempts at one there have been, myself being one, and to my knowledge only one managed to reach completion which was The Jedi Masters. Also John Doom, I see that you are very new to the server. I've been off and on since the old Lucasforums days back in the late 2000s. The big question is, do you personally have any modding experience in the KOTOR series?
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