How to make a unique equippable reskinned Mandalorian Armor? (KOTOR 1)

[Revanite 2]

Greetings all. I would kindly like to inquire how custom reskinned Mandalorian Armors are made in KOTOR 1. 

Example: Casus Fett Unique Armor by Kainzorus Prime

 

Desired Outcome

I wanna  make my own custom armor with a different uti name that uses reskinned texture (tga) files in order to avoid changing the appearance of the current Mandalorian NPCs and existing armors in-game.

 

Queries

1. For example, I want another variation of the Mandalorian Assault Armor, so I'm guessing for the base I'll use g_a_class9010.uti and rename it to  g_a_class9014 perhaps?

2. For the texture file, I'm assuming it is linked to these tga files: N_Mandalorian00 to 03. If I were to create a new texture tga file using the image above and name it N_Mandalorian007, how do I make my new uti (g_a_class9014) link with this tga file?

3. Is there anything pertaining to appearance.2da, mdl/mdx, ect that I would have to edit/add in order to make it work?


I would truly appreciate if anyone could correct or fill me in on the steps that I'm missing out. 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Revanite

[DarthParametric 3,767]

The basic approach for a full body appearance like this is to set the UTI up as a disguise. It's the same way the space suit, underwater suit, Sith armour, and Sand People clothing works. In the UTI you add the disguise property, which points to an appearance.2da row ID to use as the appearance. In this particular case, the existing Mando rows are set up to use set "racetex" texture overrides (N_Mandalorian01/02/03), so you'll need to create a new row that duplicates one of the existing ones but points to your own custom racetex variant.

Since you've already got a mod that does exactly what you want, the best starting point is to poke under its hood and see how it works.

[Revanite 2]

30 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

The basic approach for a full body appearance like this is to set the UTI up as a disguise. It's the same way the space suit, underwater suit, Sith armour, and Sand People clothing works. In the UTI you add the disguise property, which points to an appearance.2da row ID to use as the appearance. In this particular case, the existing Mando rows are set up to use set "racetex" texture overrides (N_Mandalorian01/02/03), so you'll need to create a new row that duplicates one of the existing ones but points to your own custom racetex variant.

Since you've already got a mod that does exactly what you want, the best starting point is to poke under its hood and see how it works.

 

UTI File

 

Appearance.2da

 

Alright! I think I see it now. So I have to basically edit the SubtypeID on the UTI file to point to one of the rows on the Appearance.2da. Since it's currently linked to row 351, I'll have to create a new row with a racetex id that connects to my custom mando texture tga.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Revanite

[DarthParametric 3,767]

You're looking at the unpatched UTI by the looks. If you install the mod, or just look at changes.ini you'll see that it adds a custom appearance row with N_CassusFettB01 as the racetex and patches the UTI to point to that. But yes, your summary at the end there is correct.

[Revanite 2]

27 minutes ago, DarthParametric said:

You're looking at the unpatched UTI by the looks. If you install the mod, or just look at changes.ini you'll see that it adds a custom appearance row with N_CassusFettB01 as the racetex and patches the UTI to point to that. But yes, your summary at the end there is correct.

Oh I didn't install the Custom Cassus Fett armor mod, I was just showing it as an example because I wanted to replicate something similar.

And btw, where do you manually edit the Disguise segment for the UTI? Kotor tool is only allowing me to select from a dropdown list. Can't type in anything custom and I don't see anywhere I could edit in K-GFF either.

 

OH NVM! Found it! 

K-GFF:

 

Blind I was! Thanks again DarthParametric!

Edited December 30, 2023 by Revanite

[DarthParametric 3,767]

If using KTool then go to Tools -> Options -> Other and tick the box to have it check the Override folder for 2DAs. It will show your custom added row in the drop-down list then (may need to be closed and restarted).

If using KGFF, look in the PropertiesList and find the property struct with the PropertyName value of 59 (Disguise property's row ID in itemprops.2da). The Subtype value is the appearance.2da row ID (would be 351 in your pictured example).