JoeNotCharles

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Posts posted by JoeNotCharles

  1. Posted

    Harbinger Arrival Tweaks

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    Harbinger Arrival Tweaks

    Contains two changes to the Harbinger docking sequence on Peragus. Install either or both, your choice:

    Harbinger Arrival: Free Cam

    Unlocks the camera during the Harbinger arrival animation, so you can have the eerie experience of walking alongside the huge ship as it pulls closer. I think it's more ominous this way (and as a bonus, if you're replaying and don't want to watch again, you can rush through without waiting for the whole animation.)

    Harbinger Arrival: Restore Movie

     

    TSLRCM replaces the single movie when the Harbinger arrives at Paragus with a 3-step sequence: a movie, an in-engine cut scene, then another movie. This puts the original movie back while keeping all the other TSLRCM changes.

    Why do that?

    The main reason to prefer the in-engine cut scene is that the original movie looks awful - space shots of the ship arriving can get away with a fuzzy low resolution, since they're so different from the gameplay, but the middle section really suffers by comparison. But, Naelavok's Remastered (Upscaled) Cutscenes improve the movie quality enough to compete with the rendering.

    PapaZinos' Harbinger Arrival Performance Enhancement mod does a lot of great work to make the cut scene smoother and fixes a lot of glitches, but on my machine (with the upscaled movies) there's still a loading delay when switching from a movie, to an in-engine rendering, back to a movie. The single movie has smooth fades, so it has better pacing for this important scene. I still recommend the Performance Enhancement mod, though, because it fixes a lot of other glitches in the sequence, and it greatly improves another brief cut scene after the Harbinger arrives. To make sure PapaZinos' hard work on the in-engine rendering doesn't go to waste, I used it to add a little improvement to that cutscene as well...

    Compatibility

    • Restore Movie isn't needed with vanilla KOTOR2. Free Cam works with it. 
    • Both work with TSLRCM with or without the Harbinger Arrival Performance Enhancement.
      • Install this after both of those, and anything else that modifies the Harbinger arrival sequence.
    • Tested with the KOTOR2 Spoiler-Free Mod Build (which includes the Performance Enhancement), but it should work with the Full Mod Build too.

    Other Recommended Mods

     

     

  3. Posted

    Streamlined Peragus

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    Streamlined Peragus

    The opening act of The Sith Lords gets a bad rap. It's actually very atmospheric and gives a great introduction to the themes of the game (especially if you install a skin like A Darker Peragus). It only has one real problem: it's too long and repetitive. Especially since TSL rewards replaying to try different paths, it can be a chore to get through at the beginning of a new game.

    This cuts out about a quarter of the length without sacrificing any plot points, by removing a large section that doesn't reveal anything new, and changing some frustrating level design decisions that add delays and backtracking without adding meaningful choices. This should give new players a better opening experience to the game, as well as letting experienced players get through the first segment faster. The full list of changes is below, if you want spoilers:

    Spoiler

    1. Removes the Dormitory level, and updates dialogue and console output to stop implying that it can be reached. The spacewalk section now connects to the Admin level, and the turbolift is fully locked down. The player's goal is now to get back to the Admin level, instead of to get to the Dormitory level.

    • Why? Ultimately the Dormitory is a big shaggy dog story. The motivation to go there is to get a code to unlock the turbolift to get to other levels. But once you reach the Dormitory, you only use the code to get back to the Admin level - which was reachable just fine, until you cut yourself from it by going to the Dormitory. The only thing you find in the Dormitory is confirmation of how the miners died, which was pretty obvious before that. (Also, the additional Light Side motivation - to rescue any miners that are still alive - makes a Light Side PC seem naive, since it's very clear by that point that they're all dead.)

     

    • Locking down all the turbolifts is just simpler. The original has a confusing explanation that the turbolifts are locked down to prevent escape, EXCEPT to the Admin level for complicated reasons. But this also muddies the motivation for going to the Dormitory, which becomes circular: going to the Dormitory will "unlock the turbolifts", but is counter-productive because it cuts off access to the Admin level, which can only be restored by... unlocking the turbolifts. This only makes sense if there are other levels to unlock, but it turns out there aren't. The only actual reason to go to the Dormitory level is to fix a problem caused by going to the Dormitory level. (True, in character the PC doesn't know that until afterwards, but it's still frustrating to be led around by the nose.)

     

    • In both the original and streamlined version, the real benefit of going outside to try to get to the Dormitory (original) or Admin level (streamlined) is to trigger the Harbinger's arrival, which isn't actually related to anything the PC does in-character. From that point of view I find the streamlined storyline more satisfying - the PC goes into the Mining Tunnels HOPING to find a way to escape (they don't, just a dead end in the Fuel Depot), and then they return to the Admin level HOPING to find another way out now that they know more about the situation - and that hope is rewarded, because they witness the Harbinger docking and see that it opens another way forward. In the original, after their first hope in the Mining Tunnels dead-ends, they go to the Dormitory HOPING to find a turbolift to somewhere useful, but witness the Harbinger docking and realize that another way off the Admin level has just opened up BEHIND them, which they can no longer reach until they slog through the Dormitory's fights and puzzles. The streamlined version has a setback and then a success, while the original has several similar failures in a row, which gets tedious.

    2. Adds items to the Admin level security locker to let the player to solve the "med bay murders" side quest without going back and forth between the Fuel Depot and the Admin Level.

    • As a side effect, requires 2 computer spikes for T3-M4 to open the Fuel Depot doors. This prevents the player from skipping T3's spike-finding quest by keeping one from the Admin level. (The quest now gives out 2 spikes to match the requirement.)

     

    3. Adds a new commconsole to the Fuel Depot level, in the room with a broken door. This holds a log of a conversation from the Admin level (from the other participant's point-of-view), which lets the player get a voiceprint without backtracking there.

    • The console also has some logs from the Dormitory level that give extra backstory.

    4. A few cosmetic additions:

    • While tweaking dialogue options that formerly gave Light Side and Dark Side reasons to go to the Dormitory (now giving reasons to return to the Admin level), adds a third, neutral option that doesn't give Light Side or Dark Side points.
    • Updates the logs recorded by the Maintenance Officer to show him standing in front of the Maintenance Console instead of in the turbolift. (Since that's the way the new Break Room Console works, I added the same effect to the Maintenance Console, since I think it looks better.)

    I recommend also installing my Harbinger Arrival: Free Cam mod, which speeds up a long unskippable animation sequence. It's separate so that it can be installed on its own for people who don't want the more drastic changes in Streamlined Peragus.

    Compatibility

    • Requires TSLRCM.
    • Tested with the Full Mod Build and the Spoiler-Free Mod Build. Install this after them.
    • Also compatible with my Harbinger Arrival Tweaks. Install them in any order.
    • Modifies the map of 103PER (Fuel Depot), so this will conflict with any other mod that replaces 103per.lyt or 103per.vis.

    Known Bugs (spoilers)

    Spoiler
    • In the cutscene on the waterlogged datapad, the door isn't rendered.
    • HK-50's recorded lines still say that the player can reach the Dormitory. I tried to paper over this by making the player's responses and journal entries skeptical that anyone could be alive there and that the trip would be worth it.

    Links

     

  4. Posted

    Harbinger Arrival: Free Cam

    View File

    Harbinger Arrival: Free Cam

    NOTE: this is now packaged together with my other Harbinger Arrival mod as Harbinger Arrival Tweaks.

    Unlocks the camera during the Harbinger arrival animation, so you can have the eerie experience of walking alongside the huge ship as it pulls closer. I think it's more ominous this way (and as a bonus, if you're replaying and don't want to watch again, you can rush through without waiting for the whole animation.)

    Compatibility

    Tested with Vanilla KOTOR2, TSLRCM and the KOTOR2 Spoiler-Free Mod Build, but it should work with the Full Mod Build too.
    Install this after TSLRCM and anything else that modifies the Harbinger arrival sequence, such as the Harbinger Arrival Performance Enhancement (which is included in the mod build).
    Also compatible with my Harbinger Arrival: Restore Movie mod. Install them in either order.

    Links

     

  5. Posted

    Harbinger Arrival: Restore Movie

    View File

    Harbinger Arrival: Restore Movie

    NOTE: this is now packaged together with my other Harbinger Arrival mod as Harbinger Arrival Tweaks.

    TSLRCM replaces the single movie when the Harbinger arrives at Paragus with a 3-step sequence: a movie, an in-engine cut scene, then another movie. This puts the original movie back while keeping all the other TSLRCM changes.

    Why do that?

    The main reason to prefer the in-engine cut scene is that the original movie looks awful - space shots of the ship arriving can get away with a fuzzy low resolution, since they're so different from the gameplay, but the middle section really suffers by comparison. But, Naelavok's Remastered (Upscaled) Cutscenes improve the movie quality enough to compete with the rendering.

    PapaZinos' Harbinger Arrival Performance Enhancement mod does a lot of great work to make the cut scene smoother and fixes a lot of glitches, but on my machine (with the upscaled movies) there's still a loading delay when switching from a movie, to an in-engine rendering, back to a movie. The single movie has smooth fades, so it has better pacing for this important scene. I still recommend the Performance Enhancement mod, though, because it fixes a lot of other glitches in the sequence, and it greatly improves another brief cut scene after the Harbinger arrives. To make sure PapaZinos' hard work on the in-engine rendering doesn't go to waste, I used it to add a little improvement to that cutscene as well...

    Compatibility

    Not needed with vanilla TSL. Works with TSLRCM with or without the Harbinger Arrival Performance Enhancement. Tested with the KOTOR2 Spoiler-Free Mod Build, but it should work with the Full Mod Build too.

    Install this after TSLRCM and Harbinger Arrival Performance Enhancement.

    Also compatible with my Harbinger Arrival: Free Cam mod. Install them in either order.

    Links

     

  6. Posted

    On 3/25/2024 at 11:25 PM, PapaZinos said:

    No problem, the cutscene's complexity does demand a lot of precision. Best of luck getting your mod working, let me know if I can help you out some other way.

    Thanks! My first mod (of 2 planned for this cutscene) is done: https://deadlystream.com/files/file/2448-harbinger-arrival-restore-movie/

    Well, it's still pending approval, but hopefully it'll show up soon.