Mod Build Request Thread - KOTOR

[Rictus 4]

Make T3 An Actual Character

I was actually thinking of doing something like this after my next K2 playthrough, to make sure it's (his?) character remains consistent.

My full idea would include a potential retcon for T3, to help develop a backstory their character in a KotOR-like manor. In KotOR T3 is supposed to be a brand new droid, and this could easily be used to explain it's non-existent personality, since it hasn't developed a distinct personality yet. The retcon would change that somewhat.

It is explicitly stated in the game that Davik commissioned T3 so this opens up some options. In my idea T3's memory core was a stolen Republic code breaking droids core that was partitioned, rather than memory-wiped, to preserve it's high level code breaking capabilities, while suppressing any undesirable memories or loyalties. Revan could use Computer Use to unlock new memories and abilities in much the same way as using Repair on HK. This would also be a good excuse to give T3 it's quirky personality rather than a fresh-off-the-production-line default.

Like many characters T3's backstory would involve the Mandalorian Wars and tangentially Revan, to help create a connection between the two, rather than just "I own you, do what I say".

Of course that would all be optional dialogue. Just giving T3 some more dialogue and interactions independent of that would also be part of the mod, assuming I can wrap my head around the scripting necessary. Since the level-up unlocking of dialogue is used for the other characters I think I could basically just copy-paste simple scripts like that, and adding T3 interjections to dialogue based on whether they are in the party or not is mostly just finding the right dialogues in the first place. Inter-party dialogue is a different matter, as it would largely necessitate unused or forgettable dialogue from the other party members to avoid repetition. But there isn't a lot of this in the first place, and if I remember correctly I think it only takes place on Taris. Although it was years ago, I have worked on building dialogue trees before, so I am sure I can do that.

If you have any specific requests or concerns let me know, and I'll keep them in mind while working on this.

[Snigaroo 133]

23 minutes ago, Rictus said:

It is explicitly stated in the game that Davik commissioned T3 so this opens up some options. In my idea T3's memory core was a stolen Republic code breaking droids core that was partitioned, rather than memory-wiped, to preserve it's high level code breaking capabilities, while suppressing any undesirable memories or loyalties.

Interesting--I don't have anything against this, except it seems like something that Janice Nall wouldn't do if she knew what was going on. Getting on the whole Republic's bad side seems like a bit too much for a cautious shopkeeper, after all. If her dialogue were edited to indicate that she received the memory core from Davik's people and didn't know where it was from but the rest of the droid was built custom by her, I think that would work fine. I'd also want the player to not be able to discover that there was a partition until after they arrive on Dantooine (and there should probably be some event or interjection made by T3 that causes players who are used to him being useless realize that something new is happening with him and they should speak to him). Finally, it would need to be compatible with Recruit T3-M4 Early. Aside from that I don't have any specific things that I would be on the lookout for, aside from the general: well-written dialogue that has reasonably good player choice in terms of how they react to the revelations, and T3's changing personality.

[Rictus 4]

3 hours ago, Snigaroo said:

Interesting--I don't have anything against this, except it seems like something that Janice Nall wouldn't do if she knew what was going on. Getting on the whole Republic's bad side seems like a bit too much for a cautious shopkeeper, after all. If her dialogue were edited to indicate that she received the memory core from Davik's people and didn't know where it was from but the rest of the droid was built custom by her, I think that would work fine.

That would be the general idea. Her dialogue will reflect that Davik provided some necessary parts which is why she is releuctant to sell T3 to anyone else.

3 hours ago, Snigaroo said:

I'd also want the player to not be able to discover that there was a partition until after they arrive on Dantooine (and there should probably be some event or interjection made by T3 that causes players who are used to him being useless realize that something new is happening with him and they should speak to him).

I was thinking of level-gating it to lvl 12, and initiating a cutscene the first time you return to the Ebon Hawk afterwards. This isn't something I have really looked into yet, and I have a vague recollection that scripting on the Ebon Hawk can be tricky, so we'll see how it goes. Since all of HK's can be unlocked as soon as you reach the necessary skill points I would probably to the same for T3.

3 hours ago, Snigaroo said:

Finally, it would need to be compatible with Recruit T3-M4 Early.

I haven't used the mod but making it compatible should be straightforward.

3 hours ago, Snigaroo said:

Aside from that I don't have any specific things that I would be on the lookout for, aside from the general: well-written dialogue that has reasonably good player choice in terms of how they react to the revelations, and T3's changing personality.

Technically T3 doesn't really have any dialogue, it is all the players reaction to T3, and since there is no VO for the PC adding a variety of responses is basically just a bit of extra typing. T3's personality won't really change over the course of the game. Early dialogue with T3 will remark on the fact that T3 has more personality than the PC expected from a brand new droid, helping to set up the partition later on, rather than coming completely out of the blue. Some of this will be triggered just before entering the Sith base, a sort of mandatory introduction to the mod and T3 as a character, not a plot device.

[Snigaroo 133]

Sure, all that sounds good to me. I look forward to playing the mod!

[N-DReW25 1,345]

On 5/11/2023 at 9:05 AM, Snigaroo said:

Dynamic Player Head Use

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Currently there are many player heads which are situationally used to replace NPC heads to add to the game's variety, but there are also many player heads which aren't used at all, and many, many NPCs which could benefit from more unique appearances. It'd be nice to see a mod make full use of all the alternate player heads on existing NPCs, to make more of the NPCs you interact with over the course of the game visually distinct.

 

Something akin to this was added in an update to my NPC Diversity Pack mod, once you installed the main mod you can install a "Player Head Commoners" option that replaces many of the generic commoner heads with Player heads who use the commoner body model. This makes them compatible with clothing mods, whether it be new clothing or reskins, player head reskins, and they are dynamic in that an NPC's head will be swapped for another one if you were also using that head.

[Snigaroo 133]

1 hour ago, N-DReW25 said:

Something akin to this was added in an update to my NPC Diversity Pack mod...

Oh good, that's very helpful. Just let me know when it reaches rough content-completion as we've talked about previously, since there would be difficulties integrating such a large mod with regular content updates. In the meantime I will put down that the NPC Diversity Pack fulfills the request but is untested with the builds as yet.