wip 4x Upscale+ Character Textures & Model Fixes for KotOR & TSL

[redrob41 92]

Hello KotOR modding community. It has certainly been a long time since I've posted here. While life has been busy and can get in the way of modding, I have been working on a big project in secret. For the past few years I have been chipping away at my own version of an A.I. Upscale 4x mod for most of the default character files in both games. Because it has been slow going, I didn't want to get distracted by constantly responding to "when is it going to be ready?" prompts when I could be spending time on the files. I also didn't want to get anyone's hopes up about it, only to then keep delaying because I'm often too much of a perfectionist. But after so much time has elapsed, I keep thinking that I need to put something out, even if it is incomplete in my books.

To give you an idea of how big a project this is, I have completed 329/475 textures that are common to both games, 71/214 textures for K1, and 184/419 textures for TSL. That makes for a grand total of 584/1108 textures or 52.71%. I'm using the textures as the basis for completion, but there are also 459 models for K1 and 648 models for TSL completed so far. I've attached a spreadsheet with a list of all the files involved.

The reason why it is so slow going is that this mod is more than just a simple process of running all the character textures through an A.I. upscaling program. The purpose is to increase the size and fidelity of the character textures while maintaining the painterly style of the original game artists.  I have also been attempting to fix many of the UVW mapping errors, lighting errors, and some XYZ errors that the original model .mdl & .mdx files may have had. One problem of upscaling textures that I've found is that the model seams become glaringly obvious at higher resolution, so I've been painstakingly painting those to look seamless. Anyone who is familiar with my previously released mods will know how much I try to fix those pesky model errors.

The other thing about A.I. upscaling software, is that I haven't found one that gives perfect results. Instead of relying on one result, I usually run texture files through an A.I. upscaling program multiple times using different settings. Some settings result in "crunchy" textures (high contrast, sharp edges). Some result in "soft" textures (smooth gradients, lower contrast, blurry edges). Some result in better straight/parallel lines. Early tests used Vance AI; Deep Image; ImageUpscaler; or Let's Enhance. Eventually Topaz Labs' Gigapixel AI was chosen and used on the majority of textures. Then I combine textures in a multi layered Photoshop file, using layer masks to isolate the best parts of each upscaled image. This allows for some portions to be smooth (like skin, glass, metal or tubing), others to be sharp (like burlap, skin folds, hair, scratches, etc). Then I manually paint away errors, fix seams, and make additional changes.

At any rate, the reason for this WIP post is that I've been out of the loop for so long, that I don't know the best way to package and upload the mod. I usually use 7zip, so that's not the problem. I currently have 378 tga, tpc, & txi files (4.09 GB) that are common to both games; 459 mdl, mdx, tga, tpc, & txi files (1.07 GB) specifically for K1; 648 mdl, mdx, tga, & txi files (2.90 GB) specifically for TSL. I was originally planning on packaging them up all together and letting the user to put them into their respective override folders, making the common files only needing to be downloaded once. The other option is to make two download packages, one for each game, where the common files are included in both packs. This would result in having to download the largest batch of files twice, but it would be easier for installation. 

To complicate it further, I would also make download packages for a tpc only installation (for smaller file sizes and easier to run in-game). 

The other questions I have are:

• which upload method do users prefer: single download for both games (smaller size overall), or two files (one for each game makes installation easier)?
• how many screenshot images can be uploaded to showcase the contents of the mod? I currently have 197 pngs for a total of 561 MB, and would like to make more. I've attached a few to sample a range of the types of changes the mod tackles.
• are there any samples for the Read Me file regarding Permissions and Credits? I want to make the tga version into a modder's resource.
• Where is the best place to put a link to my "Buy me a Coffee" tip jar? I'm hoping to use any funds towards software upgrades for future modding.

I don't know if I'll ever actually finish this mod, but I need to share what I've got before the universe jumps in again and makes something impossible for me.

Anyway, happy New Year. I hope to continue more of this work in 2025.

Screenshot samples:

Spoiler

 

 

 

KotOR upscale completed list v0_52.xlsx

[Salk 376]

I was very happy to read this announcement of yours, redrob41!

Personally, I think it's best to upload the K1 and K2 upgrades separately.

I have a few questions: (1) How's compatibility with the K1 Community Patch? The K1 CP does include fixes to some game models. (2) I reported some time ago how messed up K1's PFHC04 is. Have you perhaps had a chance to fix that? (3) There are some K2 resources that became part of very popular K1 mods, like JC's Fashion Line I. Would it be possible to use your K2 fixed models/textures in K1?

Thanks and happy new year!

[DarthParametric 3,797]

Wow, long time no see. Welcome back.

29 minutes ago, redrob41 said:

which upload method do users prefer: single download for both games (smaller size overall), or two files (one for each game makes installation easier)?

You definitely want to split them for each game.

30 minutes ago, redrob41 said:

how many screenshot images can be uploaded to showcase the contents of the mod? I currently have 197 pngs for a total of 561 MB

Definitely not half a gig's worth. You'll have to create an off-site gallery somewhere. Imgur maybe, or you could create a Github repo and use their Sites functionality (have a look at Kex's skyboxes mods for an example of how it is done).

33 minutes ago, redrob41 said:

are there any samples for the Read Me file regarding Permissions and Credits? I want to make the tga version into a modder's resource.

Not sure off the top of my head, but I have released stuff under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 before - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

35 minutes ago, redrob41 said:

Where is the best place to put a link to my "Buy me a Coffee" tip jar?

You'd need to add it to every release page and readme I guess. You'll want to read the rules regarding it, since I have never looked into it personally - https://deadlystream.com/topic/7454-deadlystream-forum-rules/?do=findComment&comment=73940

 

[redrob41 92]

1 hour ago, Salk said:

I have a few questions: (1) How's compatibility with the K1 Community Patch? The K1 CP does include fixes to some game models. (2) I reported some time ago how messed up K1's PFHC04 is. Have you perhaps had a chance to fix that? (3) There are some K2 resources that became part of very popular K1 mods, like JC's Fashion Line I. Would it be possible to use your K2 fixed models/textures in K1?

I have a few answers: 

1. I haven't looked at other other mods/fixes as I've been focused on getting as much of my mod done as I can. I have just taken a quick look at K1 CP, and I will probably tackle the female armour collar clipping on my model versions (since it looks like a simple XYZ fix to me). I haven't looked at any of the rest yet. If any of my models and textures work for the K1 CP, feel free to incorporate them.
2. I am specifically saving the head models until last, since some of them are really messed up (like the one you mentioned). Some day I hope to get to it.
3. I know that in recent years the community has relaxed its view on "porting" between K1 & TSL, but when I started this mod I deliberately decided to keep them separate. My main reason is that I prefer the Taina's replacer method of fixing UVW & XYZ coordinates, since it preserves the smooth groups. However, if anyone else wants to modify some files to work in either game, I'm not opposed to it.

It is inevitable that there are going to be incompatible files with other mods. My Revan robes models, for example, make significant changes to the UVW map of the hands and boots, so they will be slightly off when used with a flowing cape mod. As far as I know, in order to add the animations it would require compiling the ascii model using mdlops, which would break the smooth groups (unless that's been fixed in recent years and I don't know). I didn't sweat it because there are so many other HD Revan textures out there that users will pick and choose to mix and match the ones they like best. 

[Sith Holocron 2,488]

This is just the sort of thing I was hoping someone would freshly tackle.  Looking forward the end results!

[DarthParametric 3,797]

36 minutes ago, redrob41 said:

I prefer the Taina's replacer method of fixing UVW & XYZ coordinates, since it preserves the smooth groups

With the advent of seedhartha's fork of KBlender and his implementation of binary model I/O, breaking normals shouldn't be an issue. At least if you can stomach using Blender.

[Salk 376]

Thanks for the answer, redrob41.

Is your plan to upload your work in the current state? Even if not complete, it is in an advanced enough state to make a significant impact already and you could get some useful feedback.

Cheers! 

[redrob41 92]

On 1/1/2025 at 11:43 PM, DarthParametric said:

With the advent of seedhartha's fork of KBlender and his implementation of binary model I/O, breaking normals shouldn't be an issue. At least if you can stomach using Blender.

I've been using 3DS Max 2011 for years because I don't want to pay for yearly subscriptions. Besides, it still works great for these old mdl files. I've never tried Blender before.

3 hours ago, Salk said:

Thanks for the answer, redrob41.

Is your plan to upload your work in the current state? Even if not complete, it is in an advanced enough state to make a significant impact already and you could get some useful feedback.

Cheers! 

Yeah, I plan to release what I've got so far, and hopefully not take another 2 years to finish what's left 😆. Over the last two nights I have made some XYZ changes to PFBF & PFBH models for both games, so hopefully it is similar enough to what K1 CP had done for them. If there are any other weird little model glitches that you know of, that I haven't already addressed in my spreadsheet, please let me know. I can add it to my long list for someday.

[DarthParametric 3,797]

2 minutes ago, redrob41 said:

Besides, it still works great for these old mdl files

I assume you're still using NWMax? You may want to consider switching to KOTORMax (with this fix) and MDLEdit / MDLOps v1.02. Although note that these are not compatible with Tainia's Replacer due to changes in the ASCII format.

[redrob41 92]

On 1/1/2025 at 9:18 PM, DarthParametric said:

You definitely want to split them for each game.

I'm going to re-tool and re-organize my files & Read-Me so that there will be separate K1 & TSL downloads. I was planning on doing tga (higher resolution, easier for modders to use as a resource) & tpc (lower file size) versions for each; would they be uploaded independently or somehow joined in the thread? It gets confusing so:

1. KotOR tga version
2. KotOR tpc version
3. TSL tga version
4. TSL tpc version

Also, during upload there will be questions and check boxes about compatibility with other existing mods, but I can't remember which ones they are? I'd like to double check because I'm almost certain that there will be duplicate files, and users will need to know which characters that they'll have to decide when to overwrite files or not.

On 1/3/2025 at 2:13 AM, DarthParametric said:

I assume you're still using NWMax? You may want to consider switching to KOTORMax (with this fix) and MDLEdit / MDLOps v1.02. Although note that these are not compatible with Tainia's Replacer due to changes in the ASCII format.

At this point I'm almost superstitious about my setup 😆. I'm running Windows 10 on an iMac through bootcamp, and it can't run Win11. The last time I tried to use MDLOps V1.0.0 and KotorMax it caused problems that I just didn't want to deal with. I also had to revert back to 3ds Max 2011 because my 2016 version developed problems. Since I prefer the old school Taina's method, for now I'm just not going to mess with what's working for me.

[DarthParametric 3,797]

3 hours ago, redrob41 said:

would they be uploaded independently or somehow joined in the thread?

Upload the TPCs in the enduser mod (one for K1, one for TSL). Create a separate modder's resource with the source assets. Optionally you could have a single modder's resource or split it per game, since the site has per-game modder's resource sections. Its use will likely be pretty minimal, since most downloads will just be the actual mods, so just go with what you think is best. Have a look at how JC split his cloaked robes mods for how it could work.

[Snigaroo 127]

I am incredibly enthusiastic about this project--it's something I know I have been hoping for for quite some time, as others have said, and I'm thrilled that you're personally looking over every output for quality checking. It's more than I'd ever hoped to see, and I'm eagerly awaiting it.

With that said, however, I do want to sound a potential word of caution since this is intended to be a 4x package. I have a great deal of experience troubleshooting setups with an overabundance of texture data, whether that be from upscale mods or just a ton of handmade textures, and I can say definitively that the larger the file load, the quicker both games' native memory leaks are exacerbated, leading to save corruption if the game isn't restarted frequently. Indeed, for some of the existing 4x textures on the Nexus, the problem is so bad that they can cause save corruption just by a user trying to save the game in a particularly heavily-affected module, even if the game was only just restarted. In the worst-case, modules with too much texture data can be impossible to load in; I'm not sure of the precise reason behind this, but I suspect there's some sort of backend texture throughput budget which, if breached, causes the save load to fail.

Now, most of the problems that lead to these behaviors are rooted in using only .tga textures, and lighter-weight .tpc textures can greatly reduce the strain--but still, there are limits to how much reduction can be expected, and any amount of texture load per-module which is in excess of 50mb, I would say, is likely to at least slightly reduce the amount of time it takes to begin experiencing memory overflow.

With that in mind, it might not be a bad idea to make different texture sizes, if at all feasible: 4x for users who are willing to restart their game a little more frequently or who have access to large address aware packages that can allow the executable to use more RAM (and thus ameliorate the memory overflow), and a 2x package for other users (such as those who have the game on Steam, where the encrypted executable leads 4GB patches to fail on the original game's .exe). I think having options for both would be very helpful, as long as it wouldn't require you to redo every texture from scratch.