Let's talk about the cut Vulkar Sublevel!
I got some ideas floating about how the Vulkar Sublevel shall be restored in RC-K1CP, and I'd like to share with you all some of my ideas.
The Vulkar Sublevel in K1R was hated for the most part because, in earlier versions, the flow of the Sublevel used to be so convoluted with side quests and custom content. To make things worse, the players HAD to complete this content in order to access the Garage, and since this setup was so confusing players would often get stuck in the Vulkar Sublevel thus preventing them from progressing the game.
This alone caused many players to uninstall K1R and vow never to touch the mod due to the Sublevel changes alone. In K1R 1.2, most of that convoluted content was removed and the current flow is much more streamlined allowing for a quick playthrough of the Sublevel without getting stuck over stupid mod design. But the legacy of the old Sublevel lives on as the Vulkar Sublevel content in K1R is now an optional install separate from the main K1R mod.
As with K1R, my own Sublevel will be an optional installation though my rendition of the Sublevel will be different from K1R's. For example, the Sublevel will be 100% optional.
If you guys have played K1R, you'll know the Twi'lek Vulkar Coward NPC used to be a human with human VO speaking of the cut Sublevel. You would speak to this Coward and he'll give you the pass card to access the Sublevel. However, his dialogue in the dialog.tlk file does not much the spoken VO... here are some examples:
VO: "Yeah, sure. Whatever you want to know. Just don't hurt me, okay? Remember, I can make things very profitable for you by unlocking the central elevator."
TLK: "Yeah, sure. Whatever you want to know. Just don't hurt me, okay?"
VO: "The accelerator? It's down in the garage. You have to take the security elevator in the back to get there, but the elevator is protected by thermal-guided laser cannons."
TLK: "The accelerator? It's down in the garage. You have to take the security elevator in the back to get there, but the elevator is protected by a nest of blaster turrets."
VO: "The garage is off-limits to most of us, maybe one of the mechanics from the second level can help you out. They all got access cards to get past the security cannons."
TLK: "Brejik's lieutenants carry them, and there might be an extra one in the barracks. But there's a small army in that room. Even you might have a tough time taking them all on at once."
VO: "I can unlock the central elevator for you, but it only goes up... not down. An access card is the only way to get past those cannons protecting the security elevator to the basement."
TLK: "You'll need a pass card to get by those cannons protecting the security elevator to the basement."
As you can see, some lines of dialogue are extended in the VO version whilst others have been completely rewritten. I suspect the VO was recorded first, before the Sublevel was cut, and later, after the Sublevel was cut, Bioware went back and edited the human Vulkar Coward dialogue to remove references to the Sublevel. The final version we got in-game, however, was a complete rewrite of the old dialogue with alien Twi'lek VO to prevent the original voice actor from doing more takes.
With the power of modern day AI VO cloning, I plan to bring some of those TLK lines to life and merge the Sublevel dialogue with the unused dialogue.
For players who wish to avoid the Sublevel, the players can go to the Vulkar Barracks and either fight (or override the power conductor) through the Vulkars and obtain the pass card from a Footlocker. This will allow you to enter the Garage without ever going to the Sublevel.
For players who do go to the Sublevel, you'll have 3 ways of getting to the Garage. Either you get the Spice for the junkie mechanic and get his Mechanic ID, you use the Magnetic Power Cell to crank up the heat & blind the turrets or you fight or you can kill the Vulkar Lieutenants who'll drop their own cards (they'll be moved from the main level barracks to the Sublevel with the Barracks instead containing a Footlocker with a pass card instead).
So... what do you guys think of this setup? Is this something you'd like to see in RC-K1CP?