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Sith Holocron

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Blog Entries posted by Sith Holocron

  1. Sith Holocron
    Snigaroo - one of the administrators over at the KOTOR2 Subreddit - dislikes using M4-78 EP. That's his right. However, when I do my next play-through of KOTOR2, I want to use both the KOTOR2 mod build and the M4-78 EP. Might anyone have any suggestions what the install order would be in this particular situation? You should assume that I am using the 4CD version of KotOR2 and that I am playing on a Windows 7 computer.
     
    I'm leaving this blog open as I have no idea when M4-78 EP will return to Deadly Stream.
     
    I'm also not asking for any additional mod suggestions. When I'm satisfied that I have the Mod Build and M4-78 EP working well together, I'll make a new blog asking for suggestions.
  2. Sith Holocron
    I've been converting the Imperial Agent storyline into a audio drama.  From time to time, I need to have folks do the lines for droids and aliens because - as it's an audio drama - I can't rely on subtitles.  I'm looking for a someone to record the lines below  if they're interested.  British, Irish, Welsh, or Scottish accents preferred but I'll listen to all submissions.  Male or female voices welcome.  Mono or stereo.  MP3 or WAV.
    Lines:
    I request your attention.  I have an urgent message for you from Grand Moff Ilyan Regus. [Editor note: use pronunciation for "Moff Iyan Regus" using attached sound file as a guide line]
    Grand Moff Regus is the commander of Special Forces. I am patching you through now. 
    Ilum is accessible by starship.  I am uploading relevant star maps as directed.
    Operation Dark Ice is of critical importance.  You should proceed to Ilum now. T9 M6 ending transmission.
    Darth Malgus represents a critical threat. Grand Moff Regus and the War Council request your immediate presence.
    Access granted. Removing Darth Malgus from the Galaxy is the top priority.
     
    Moff Ilyan Regus.mp3
  4. Sith Holocron
    Hello everybody! I've previously had someone else record a fine version of the line below but as he's also playing a larger role in the chapter, I'd rather not have any viewer confused by one person playing multiple parts. Therefore, I'd like to open the smaller part to the general public.
    If you are interested, record the part below and I'll let you know once I've found what I've needed. This role is not gender specific so anyone can feasibly offer an attempt. It would probably be easiest to record yourself, and then post your entry in the form of a YouTube video here in this blog.
     
    Pronunciations/Direction:
     
    You are reading out an entry on Wookiepedia. In essence, you are the Wookieepedia.
     
    - "M4-78" should be spoken as "M four seven eight."
    - "Vash" rhymes with "Bash" or "Crash"
    - "Kaah" rhymes with the "aaah" you make at the doctor's office.
    - "Ohtok" spoken as"Oh" and "Tock"
    - Try pronouncing "Tourath" as "Too" and "Wrath". As we technically have no known pronunciations of "Tourath" available to us, try to wing it!
     
    Here are the actual lines.
  5. Sith Holocron
    Are you familiar with the M4-78 documentary series that Xuul and I have done? If so, be aware that I'll eventually have to sit down and work on the next chapter. (A new chapter will be on its way to the
    sometime in the near future - have no fear.)

    The next chapter that's coming to the playlist covers Darth Stoney's version of M4-78. That means the one I'll have to start writing after that is the M4-78 Enhancement Project. If you've played the EP and had any head-scratching moments, what better way is there to get those answers than by posing a question or two that I can present to the makers of the mod to have them answer and/or explain?

    There's lots of material to cover here: the initial version, the 1.2 update, the 1.3 update that's exclusive to Steam (and I've never even played), and the 1.4 update still being worked on right now by zbyl2.

    If you have questions about the past or current versions up to 1.3, would you please let me know by listing them below? I'll credit you in the video as long as it's a family friendly name. (You may also be un-credited, if you so desire.)

    I would suggest holding off on questions about the future version, as I plan to split the M4-78 EP content into more than one part. I might even do a walk through video once the 1.4 material has been covered. (Apparently, I'm a masochist and my work is never done.)

    To our viewers, thanks for your patience in our slow roll out of the content. Your enjoyment is why I do this.
  6. Sith Holocron
    This original version of this tutorial I found ages ago on the Massassi Temple site. It was written by Tobbi Dala and the original version of the tutorial can be found through this link. What I've done here is to do some minor spelling corrections, add new pictures that show the tutorial using the most current version of Goldwave (the main program used in this tutorial) as of 20APR2017, and to provide new permanent links to 2 audio files needed for the tutorial.
     
    After the large tutorial quote, I'll be showing examples in this tutorial in action. I asked Zhaboka to record some lines that would be used to illustrate the tutorial in action and he was kind enough to assist. (Zhaboka's line replaces the line that the original tutorial grabbed from Mysteries of the Sith.)
     

    Now here's what the sound files sound like - so you can hear it for yourself! The lines will first appear without the filter and then with the filter.
     

    Special Thanks to:
     
    Tobbi Dala (of Massassi Temple), the original creator of the tutorial.
    Zhaboka: For recording new lines.
    HK-47: To extracting the line as it appeared on the original tutorial. Though it wasn't used here - as I used Zhaboka's new lines instead - the effort was and is most appreciated.
  7. Sith Holocron
    RAGEQUIT!
     
    Well, this project at least.
     
    Here's what I wanted to do. The Landing Video would have covered all three areas of the mod preceded by an orbit shot.
     

     

     

     
    The pan would have been quick but the EH green screen would have only shown up after the pan stopped moving.
     
    (I even had a skybox set up for the fountain module - no one ever pointed out that there's a blue Dantooine sky above that room but I sure as hell noticed it.)
     

     
    On to Part 4 though . . .
     

     
    (The takeoff video would have been much shorter - going straight from a take off (part 4) to leaving Coruscant's orbit (part 1).)
     
    The problem was even after acquiring 3DS MAX, Adobe After Effects (for the engine glow) and having NWN MAX, I could NOT get the buildings to load up. The frustration is extreme. It's too much work for a mod that I wasn't ever really crazy about in the first place. Not having something to release at least saving me the pain having the release be either outright ignored or nitpicked.
     
    Hopefully, one of you have loads more talent than I do because I'm tossing in the towel on this one.
  8. Sith Holocron
    I'm not promoting this on my Status Update this morning as I don't want to divert folks from my assistance to my other blog post where I've trying to get folks to assist a movie maker. In this instance, this request is coming straight from me.
     
    Yes, I know I've asked about requesting folks to remake videos elsewhere. This is a narrower field of vision - and doesn't have to do with dealing with either landing or take-off videos.
     
    I'd like the following videos remade by the talented modders here, recorded and exported in (at the minimum) 1080p resolution.
     
     
     
    (The remaining four videos will follow due to video post limits.)
     
    For the soldiers and attackers, please reuse the same armor types. Switch up the heads if you want if you don't want them to all look like clones. Use whatever skybox and environment texture mods you wish or keep them the same if you want. Keep the same music and sound effects. The object is to have clearer videos than what we have currently and not to entirely remake them.
     
    Upload them here and wherever else you want so people can use them.
     
    You may have seen that DarthVarkor has already redone the Kreia's Fall video - probably to me being annoying. JCarter426 redid the TSL Opening Credits in French mostly due to me paying for it - and I don't even speak French! (Thanks to them both for their awesome efforts.)
     
    Tell me what you need to make this happen.
     

    I have no experience in working with models so therefore running admin on subjects I'm not well versed would seem doomed to failure. However, I might be able to pony up a few bucks to make this happen. I'm not a rich man so don't go into this expecting a fortune here, folks.
     
    PS: If you stop by the thread, please leave a comment - even if it's just to say that you can't do it but appreciate the idea. I'd like to know that I'm not just howling out in to the void.
  9. Sith Holocron
    Going through various Star Wars video games, I've found numerous other sound files performed by Kristoffer Tabori. He voices our favorite homicidal droid from the KOTOR series, HK-47 (and his various "family members".)
     
    I'd like to listen to these various sound files and have them sound like HK-47. To be specific: I don't want to hear a filter used in HK-50 or HK-51 lines - just HK-47's filter. I just need to figure what the closest filter settings to the ones used by Bioware and Obsidian are.
     
    I have two programs which I use to do sound editing: Goldwave and Audacity. Though I'm more familiar with Goldwave, I'm perfectly willing to use Audacity to achieve my stated goal.
     
    Can anyone provide a tutorial to teach me - and likely others that actually read this blog - how to create such a filter?
     
    Off-topic: I never thought I would've created 30 entries in this blog. Huh!
     
    PS: If you visit this thread, why not post a note of some length explaining what you thought of this entry as well? I always wonder who reads my blathering.
  10. Sith Holocron
    In my recent blog post, I was asking folks for their input on rebuilding my old Windows 7 computer. It's time for an update!
    Here's the part breakdown . . .
    iBuypower ARC 647 CASE ATX Mid Tower Case (unchanged from original) Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (a recent purchase but before this build) PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card (unchanged from original) Update (as of 09JAN2019): Radeon RX 580 LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer (unchanged from original) Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard Western Digital Blue 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply CORSAIR Vengeance LED 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 300 Cooler Master SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan (I had to replace a fan in front, more on that below) NZXT Sleeved LED Kit - red - 1m (12 LEDs) The Pictures!
     




    Here's a "before" picture for you with all of the old equipment, with the side off. You might note that there's a small fan between that huge light brown Noctua fan and the side of the case. That fan - a red LED fan - was moved to the front of the case in the build. It joins another red LED fan that was purchased to replace an old one.
     


    Here's the case emptied out.
     


    The Intel chip is installed in the motherboard.


     
    Power supply installed. Better look at the fan that was later moved to the front.



    The monstrous fan is put back in.
     


    As you can see above, the Corsair RAM almost could not make it in due to the large fan size. That RAM has red LEDs in them.



    Are you seeing a red theme in this build yet? It's interesting to me because the original build had a blue cathode light bar. That red band on the side of the case should have convinced me to go with a red light bar in the first place.
    I wanted some red lights in there besides the RAM so I went with the lighting kit listed above. I wanted it subtle so I placed the LEDs just outside of view of the window so there would be a faint glow rather than something more Vegas styled.



    Here's the back of the case.



    Side panel reinstalled, with room lights on.



    Front of the case, in low light conditions.



    Side of the case, in low light conditions.

    This process has not been without a headache. After installing the Windows 7 back on the computer, I discovered (after the fact) that Windows 7 computers do not recognize drives above 2TB because a partition type called MBR. It has to be a GPT type to do that. However - and here comes a catch 22 - you can't install Windows 7 on a GPT drive.

    But I do still have a Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive from the original build which I'll be installing back into the computer. The Windows 7 will install on there, enabling me to changine the parititon scheme on the 4TB drive from MBR to GPT. I just have to have the time and patience to get back into the computer to install that drive. In the mean time, I can certainly make do with 2TB as it's more than what I had before!

    Finishing touches:

    I'm one of those old folks that like to use Windows event sounds. Mine mostly came from this video.
     
     
    (I also added a few myself from other sources.) I might be able to part with them if you PM me. (This offer may be retracted at any time.)
     
    Special Thanks.
     
    Thanks so much to Th3bigM00se to helping me put this together. (He did most of the work.) You can visit his Youtube channel here! (Be nice, folks!)
  11. Sith Holocron
    "I can still remember all the glittering lights of Coruscant. Very pretty. Can we go back there, Master?"

    - HK-47, Knights of the Old Republic

    Ralph Angus McQuarrie (June 13, 1929 – March 3, 2012) was an American conceptual designer and illustrator. His career included work on the original Star Wars trilogy, the original Battlestar Galactica TV series, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award. These are the concept paintings that he did for Coruscant.


    Shuttle approaches Imperial City, Coruscant


    Imperial City Skyline, Coruscant


    Imperial City Hangar Bay, Coruscant (Note the layout of this painting - it's very close to what they used for the shot of the Qui-Gon's and Obi-Wan's Republic Cruiser at the beginning of The Phantom Menace.)


    Imperial City Underground, Coruscant


    Imperial City Shuttle Port, Coruscant


    Imperial City Streetscene, Coruscant


    Imperial City, Coruscant


    Imperial City, Walkways, Coruscant


    Monument Plaza, Coruscant (Does this angle remind anyone a little bit of the Geonosis Arena in Attack of the Clones or is it just me?)
     

    Imperial Palace [interior], Coruscant


    Imperial Palace, Coruscant


    Imperial City, Entertainment District, Coruscant (A version of this was used in Season 2 of Star Wars: Clone Wars)


    Polar Caps Waterworks, Coruscant
  12. Sith Holocron
    I recently made an upscale and minor tweak compilation to the most of the textures in Trex's The Jedi Master mod.  (You can find that compilation here if you're looking.)
    On the bridge of the BEG's ship, there were (are are) many mysterious glyphs seen throughout the bridge itself and the rest of the level.  I though I might go over the changes I made to the textures.  Admittedly, part of this is so I can point out some detail work in this. But mostly, it's so I can explain my reasoning in some of the changes. But first, we have to take a look at the original versions of the artwork.  I'm going to focus mainly on a floor texture here but these symbols do appear in other textures throughout the level.
    Original Floor Texture (Upscaled): 

    Glyph 1: Triple Crescent Moon

    Glyph 2: Sigil of Lucifer

    Glyph 3: Brimstone Cross / Leviathan Cross

    Glyph 4: Valknut

    With the exception of Glyph 3, I have some issues with these symbols.
    For religious purposes, the usage of some of these symbols to represent an evil place may be considered possibly blasphemous. When when I set out to upscale textures for a mod, I don't go for offending anyone's real world religion.  Not that I'm implying that was originally the case but everyone has access to more information now than when The Jedi Masters mod originally released. I thought I could switch out the symbols to something a bit more subtle and without any direct connection to Wicca, Satanism, and to followers of Norse religions (such as Ásatrú).
    My second issue with the symbols is that they don't appear to be made in the same art style as the others.  They vary widely. So I decided to use an old book that had many ancient symbols and runes and try to rework it.  I used Rudolf Koch's 1930 book "Book of Signs" as my model here. As well as it being an old book, many of the symbols were digitized into a font that I would be able to use for the project, Conveniently, the Brimstone Cross symbol was part of the font set, I was able to leave this symbol as part of the four that I'd be using.
    Revamped Floor Texture: 

    Right away, we have a change from the floor texture Trex made by switching from 4 equal-sized strips to a grid of tiles (4 by 4). The original texture looks a bit like the symbols were decals.  I attempted to make it look like the symbols were engraved into tiles. Now on to the changes.
    Glyph 1: Sulphur (version 1)

    Glyph 2: Disorder / Destruction

    Glyph 3 - as previously noted - hasn't been changed.
    Glyph 4: Sulphur (version 2)

    I must note that version 1 of the Sulphur symbol was not included in the font series for the Book of Signs.  However, I cobbled a version together from other font's parts in the same series so it would appear it was part of the same series.
    That pretty much wraps it up for this blog entry.  Thanks for coming along with me as I went down this rabbit hole.
  13. Sith Holocron
    Sometimes in modding, things don't go as planned. Here are two examples of what might had been if circumstances were different.
    1. The Lost BOSSR Skybox
    In a flashback scene that you as the player aren't just a witness but also an active participant, you fight the previous Mandalore on his capital ship.  In the background through the bridge windows, there's a battle raging.  On one side, there's the Republic Fleet.  On the other side, the mighty Mandalorian fleet which as it currently stands in the game looks like this. 

    This is my upscaled version from my mod but you get the idea. 
    When I was putting that mod together, I had a different vision for the Mandalorian Fleet element of the skybox.  One that didn't look so blocky. One that looked more photo realistic. Something like this.

    Some of the creators of those ships I was unable to reach and I didn't feel like I could publish a mod without getting all of the permissions set up.  So the fleet in this form had to go to the cutting floor.
    Here's what it would've looked like in action by the way.
    2. The Lost TJM Skybox
    On the distant planet of Etti IV (a reskinned version of Nar Shaddaa), the player does  . . . something?  I'll be honest - I didn't play through this part of the game except to test textures for my uspcale mod for Trex's The Jedi Masters.
    Now in the game, there is a skybox. It's a strange one though as it's only one side of the box and it shows it on an angle. In the final version of the mod, I had to match the distance and the angle that Trex had taken to get his shot of the skybox to properly replicate it. (I did wind up making some distance adjustments anyway but you can see where I'm going with this.)

    However, this wasn't always the plan.  You see, I had a faulty installation of TJM on my computer.  If the game is correctly installed, there's a large duplication of the surrounding walls where the skybox should be on Nar Shaddaa.  The skybox seen in the above picture is only there to fit in any areas where you can see through that area model duplication.
    But I didn't see that model duplication unfortunately. So I though I had a wide canvas to use.  So I upscaled the vanilla Nar Shaddaa texture and added some brutalist architecture on top of it - and it looked like this.

    This skybox was in the mod so long that it actually made it into some of the WIP trailers I've made.  Here's one of those WIP trailers that feature that discarded skybox - along with a crate with shipping labels that I'm apparently very fond of.
    But as you can't really see any of it with the model duplication in the way, I went with the original design.
     
  14. Sith Holocron
    I've been working on something and talking about it in private channels. I thought I'd ramble about it a bit more publicly now.  As you've guessed from the blog's title, I'll be chatting about the Ebon Hawk light fixture. (Exciting, I know.)
    You most likely know which texture that I'm referring to but for clarity's sake, it's this one:


    BioWare back in day seemed to like to source their designs from real world things and I think I've figured out where they got this design from. I think it was from this:

    It's an un-produced design for a Luxfer Prism designed by Frank Lloyd Wright..  Those that follow this blog probably remember that I made a mod that replaced the BioWare texture with another (produced) glass tile design.  But since I didn't have a real world object to take a snapshot of or Google for an image, I had to start from scratch.
    And this is what I came up with.

    Granted, I took some liberties with the design.  Those hooks on the corners of the central sqaure aren't here.  But I think I came pretty close to the design. Luckily, I have saved the individual parts separately as well, so I can easily change out colors if needed.
    And here's what you get if you tile the texture...

    Thanks for reading my rambling.
  15. Sith Holocron
    As folks tend not to see these things, I decided to document at least for myself Star Wars related Christmas gifts I received this year.  So here we go...
    1. The Star Wars Logo Advent Calendar
    Though we had this at the start of the month (obviously), I thought I'd include it as it did cover most of December and it was a gift . . .
    Avert your eyes if a few New Trilogy characters will irreparably harm your soul

    2. Mandalorian series Tiki Mugs
    I have a number of Star Wars tiki migs but these I received today: IG-11 and two different version of Baby Yoda. (I did receive the Mandalorian himself on my birthday but that's a different day so he ain't included here.)

    3. ESB action figures

    4. Pin: Mandalorian and (original version of) Basilisk Droid
    Is it the droid we know and love from KotOR2? No but it's a Basilisk droid and that counts!

    5. Pin: Revan, Malak, Star Forge, and Leviathan
    The Dark Side of KotOR - in pin form!

    6. Lil' Baby Yoda
    The Mrs got this so we can put it in a manger for the Christmas display next year. You may not be able to tell from the picture but it is in scale with the other figures.

    7. I think you know what this is.
    Even the Mrs knows what this is, which is why she got it for me.  I've been checking for over a year to see if it would come back in stock.  She saw it when I didn't.  Hoo-rah!

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