Jorak Uln

Hi you all, 

 

ive been absent from modding for a very long time now - mainly due to a huge amount of work and a significant lack of time.

Dont know if its possible for me to get it done, but i still have a ton of half finished textures and just want to release that Kotor 2 Overhaul 

not too far in the future.

 

One major obstacle is that d*** Steam version of K2 - they seem to have cut off all CM Cubemaps from the game and thus no shine 

can be added via .txi.

 

To fix this is  very important to ensure the same visual quality on the steam version.

 

I just saw Malkiors post in the transparency issue thread here:

 

http://deadlystream....?hl=transparent

 

and i wonder if thats a .2da issue - 

e.g. i made some parts of the PER_Tr02 texture transparent, assigned a Cubemap via .txi and it looks simply solid - no shine at all ingame:

 

 

Interestingly, it looks transparent without cubemap - it seems, the cubemap was recognised somehow, but without shine effect.

Further, the mining droids do appear shiny, so the effect is disabled for regular textures like floors & walls somehow.

 

Does anyone have an idea what causes that - and probably how to fix it?

For me, the better solution would be not to remove the effect completely but to replace it with a more sophisticated version.

Does anyone know by chance how to modify the speed blur effect?

Is there a texture which can be edited?

I was wondering why this thread even exists...

Roth9, can't you just tell us what Mod exactly you want to upload and which resource you'd like to use, to answer your query more specifically?

 

Note, that you can use free texture resources from the internet though, as long as they are not belonging to a mod/ the author restricted them in any way.

Not sure if it is newworthy or not -- as someone may have already done this -- but I do believe I have fixed the sabers so that they render properly in the Aspyr (Steam) version of the game...

 

 

 

 

So this is an unedited version of the model, note how the handle is rendered dark grey:

 

 

And this is the edited (green) saber model:

 

 

 

 

 

Have tested it out in another location within saber combat, looks fine so far.

Great find!

It seems that the Steam version generally doesn't support cubemap based surfaces; almost all modded textures that are shiny in the original Kotor look transparent in Steam version, which is also one of the reasons why I cant get myself into modding these games again.

 

Do you know by chance how to fix those in Steam?

Dear Jorak Uln,

 

as one of the staunchest supporter of your production, I was wondering whether you may have any news to share with us about your ongoing project with Cache71?

 

It's been quite some time and I hope there has been some progress, at least internally.

 

Thanks for any information you may be willing to share and godspeed!

 

I'm glad theres still interest in my modding activities here - I'm very, very busy right now and don't know if i can/will continue doing those overhauls.

You know, it takes a lot of planning, hex editing, testing to get rid of the patchworked textures of the game and giving it new, appreciable visuals.

 

On the other hand, I feel that my primary Tool for creating textures & animations "Genetica" is getting more and more outdated - and while looking at games like Deus Ex Mankind Divided or Mass Effect Andromeda I feel it is possible to get similar ones in Kotor style into the games  with all those metallic scratches and reflections; but only with proper software like substance Painter or Substance Designer which I have Zero experience with.

 

My K1 overhaul is partially done but I don't see how I can get rid of that huge amount of work still ahead.

I feel a bit sorry for the likes of Quanon, Cache, Fair Strides, Darth Parametric and the others who always helped me without hesitation and not being able to  deliver the finished product - mainly simply due to lacking time...

 

...but if there's anyone who is experienced with Substance Software or PS, etc. and willing to continue - I'll gladly share all my textures - so you can do what you like with them.

If I may paraphrase Private First Class William L. Hudson, raster graphics follow the linear process of an express elevator to hell, going down. If you are starting with KOTOR textures as your basis, you are already in the sub-basement, and there's no real way back up.

Exactly.

If you really want to avoid compromises on quality you need to recreate the textures from scratch.

Some good programs you might wanna check out are  Substance Designer, Substance Painter and Genetica. 

 

And keep in mind that it might be not always  the best solution strictly to recreate  the vanilla  Kotor designs, some texture layouts are just lazy, especially in the second game.

@Darth Parametric: 

 

Im grateful for your phenomenal helping effort you show us  every time without any hesitation! Thank you!    I'll  try it out as soon as i can. 

This tweak is really a big step forward making texturing those elements worthwile.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EDIT:

 

i tried out with setting "0" = OFF, but then unfortunately the edited areas appear as "holes":

 

 

since the finsihed texture will be not  black like in vanilla but grey metallic that holes are quite sore on the eye:

 

 

Now, when i return the setting to default 1 in the mdl, the dots obviously animate again - but there is a moment where they completely appear same colored like the background texture:

 

 

is it possible to set the animation to "off" at this point - to have the texture always looking like in the last pic?

The squares are additional meshes with animated self-illum. The two main side panel meshes are hologlow01 and hologril01, with the top panel main mesh being mcholmach02. You then have 5 other meshes spread across the panels: Mesh27, Mesh30, Mesh117, Mesh118, Object181. They all share the same texture, LEH_scre02, they just have their self-illum values keyed to cycle between black and white. For example:

 

node dummy Mesh27
  parent M12aa_01fa
selfillumcolorkey
        0 0 0 0
        0.266667008399963 1 1 1
        0.533333003520966 0 0 0
        0.766667008399963 1 1 1
        1.03332996368408 0 0 0
        1.29999995231628 1 1 1
        1.56666994094849 0 0 0
        1.79999995231628 1 1 1
        2.09999990463257 0 0 0
        2.40000009536743 1 1 1
        2.70000004768372 0 0 0
        2.96667003631592 1 1 1
        3.2666699886322 0 0 0
endlist
endnode

Your problem isn't a texture issue, it's a mesh issue. You'll need to hex edit all the relevant level models and set the render flags for those 5 meshes to 0.

 

wow - i havent expected a solution that soon!

Thank you!

 

How can i set those render flags to 0? Havent done hex editing besides renaming files yet..

Hi there, 

 

im searching for the small dot texture(which i marked with a red arrow) which is switching on/off on the larger texture of the Ebon Hawk Panel  LEH_scre02:

 

 

Its really annoying for texturing and i want to make it invisible.

Im grateful for any help - does someone know the texture name?

 

Thank you in advance!

 

You'll have to explain the benefits to me sometime in a PM.

Sure.

Nice work, SH!

 

Btw, you may try Genetica 4 if you want, it really helps with the animation process, since it makes the x2 animated texture process for you automatically.

You also  can simply insert each frame as imported image and render it as animation as well - makes life easier

hey friends, it has been way too long and I just wanted you to know that I'm still there at the modding front -

I've been very busy lately but have started modding again over the last couple of weeks:

 

As I see, there are quite a few new retexturers here which is great!

 

I've worked further on the prequel texture overhaul - so here some new animations I made - 

I struggled a bit with the first one though, since it's not clear if its "fireballs" which are seen in the screen:

 

Movie:

 

Tried my best to do those fireballs:

 

Finished texture:

 

Some more, also the one from the first movie:

 

Mod:

 

Hope your health getting better soon!

 

Hi, yeah, I had to put my efforts to a minimum due to another of my projects, but I´m on it..

 

I think these Doors need some detailing work, but they now look close to what I had in mind, what do you think?

I especially like the copper shine on the floor ...

about the doors - the frame look solid, but the areas inside are not what you would expect on a massive door - probably due to the noise - have you tried another  noise (e.g. scratched metal) for those whitish spots inside?

 

Beside that its great to have another texturer on board and I'm excited what comes next...

Jorak, are you planning to do a K1 version of this?

Not at the moment.

I simply don't have enough time to do that one too.

A lot of projects are halfway done but remain unfinished due to lack of time.

 

It's better to get those done first - but if you guys want, you can use my K2 Pazaak textures to make a K1 version.

You're welcome! It's not often to get a word of thanks for something that should be obvious like correct manners - and that's also a reason which makes this community so sympathetic and great.

As a modder, it's a pleasure to have supporters like you and all the others around.

Can I suggest for the next one you do something completely different like Dxun or Dantooine? 

the next one(s) will be most likely the unfinished ones from K1.

Well there's one thing I'd change about both this mod and your Manaan mod- it's the Twi'lek advertisement girl. She's too high poly to exist in-game so when I see her on the wall it really breaks Immersion for me personally.

I know what you mean - it’s better to have everything consistently in either HQ or LQ.

About the twi'lek - the interesting thing when I look back at this mod - I really tried my best back then, but there are a lot of things I would do differently today.

Also there’s that big overhaul for KOTOR still somewhat unfinished, and while I find it intriguing to try out that prequel based tex style on the textures/panels I’m more and more curious how that would fit TSL...

Only problem with this is that is makes the rest of the game look like garbage Jorak! lol

Lol, glad you like it!

What does: 

 

   

 

Mean? 

 

Also, you haven't stated why the models can't be replaced- only that they can't for some reason. 

& The reasons for why retexturing is messy. 

as bead-v stated correctly, the   is just a texture error. Thanks for the explanation btw.

 

@LucytheAlien:

 

ive talked to Darth Parametric before about this, and it just doesnt seem to be possible. Live with that.

Further, im into retexturing and not 3D modeling, so if you want more detailed reasons, ask him or someone who is equally firm in this stuff. 

 

As i said, im open for any modeling solution, just status now that seems  unlikely.

 

And for you to understand the texturing issues  - the lightsabercore has to be brighter than the corona, thats why black core sabers will never work.

 

Why can't we use a new saber blade model may I ask?

 

 

 

as far as i understood it, it wont be possible to switch saber blades on-off when replaced by a real 3d model.

as for the reasons stated below, im totally in if someone has a solution to this, but:

 

you see, if you look closely to the vanilla blade, the thickness varies depending on the viewing angle while its messed up on the bottom, biggest downside is when looking directly at the tip when equipping a double-bladed one.

Further, when retexturing them, the core has always to be brighter than the rest, or the planes will be visible.

My point being I don't think the colour attributed to Mantle in this modification suits the colour Cyan. 

Ive modified a lot of saber blades (100+) for a TSL mod covering SLM 2.0 - though big part of them are done by now im not sure if it will be released ever - the limitations due to the engine in kotor/TSL are too great to have that much saber blades all in good quality - for instance its not possible to get those SWTOR black core ones looking well or those with colored cores...

 

To answer your question, i have already done a handful of SWTOR variants for color cyan - but i'd really wish we could use a saber blade model thats well rounded (also when looking at the tip) and not made of 8 planes.  

 

 

Same question.

 

well, im very busy atm, and there are many projects that i want to release, but are still unfinished yet - sorry for keeping you guys waiting...

hope you can be patient for a while.

 

- However about the K1 saber blades mod - i dont have access to my modded Kotor installations  right now, but if i remember correctly, isnt the name of the saber blades in K1 the same as in TSL?

In that case its compatible with TSL anyway.

Why are you reuploading Quanon's work?

It's her own edit. Cache is a true artist and she has always been respectful and eager to help when working with me or using my textures for example. I'm sure that goes for Quanon's as well, even if his name's missing, it's not on purpose.

 

I'm not sure if you use Photoshop or the Gimp, but in Photoshop there is a selective color option. You can adjust different color levels of the image, including toning the blues down. I'd be willing to give it a shot if you like.

I use neither. But you're free to give it a shot - I will send you the file.

 

I love K1 Overhaul and I am very interested in the answer as well!

 

Godspeed, Jorak Uln!

Actually its a co-op project with Cache71, where she did very well on the pipes and other parts already, and I'm trying to give the animations & overall tex a look similar like seen in the (prequel) movies.

So all planets will be covered and additional textures like PLC, Speeders and Faces.

 

It's a lot of work, but I have a strong feeling you wont have any desire to use my old K1 overhauls once it is done....