SKIN:4x Upscale+ Character Textures & Model Fixes

[redrob41 113]

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4x Upscale+ Character Textures & Model Fixes

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IF YOU ARE EVER IN ANY DOUBT ABOUT INSTALLING ANY MODS, PLEASE REMEMBER TO ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR FILES BEFORE INSTALLATION, JUST IN CASE.

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Description: 

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. This mod does not attempt to create photo realistic textures or add extra detail (like zippers, clothing stitches, fabric patterns, skin pores, etc) that are not already part of the existing style. This mod also fixes many of the UVW mapping errors, lighting errors, and some XYZ errors that the original model .mdl & .mdx files may have had.

The process followed is generally:

1. run texture files through 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.
2. combine textures in 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).
3. touch up by manually painting away errors (such as jaggies due to original low resolution jpeg compression).
4. manually recolor areas that the original artists missed (like commoner clothes where the pants seat do not match the pant leg; or player armors where pouches are inconsistent between male & female; etc).
5. strategically add painted detail (such as highlights and shadows along the shoulders and neck of Player Character soldier's underwear; adding glove details to armors F, G, H, I, J; etc).
6. painting personal choices (like changing P_BastilaBA02 to have different pants and remove wrist & neck restraints than P_BastilaBAS01 slave outfit).
7. recreating entire textures (such as Player Character male scoundrel dark side underwear PMBASD01).
8. fix the models' UVW maps to reduce some texture stretching (like collar of TSL robes I); adjust areas that are poorly mapped to the wrong locations or too large/small (such as PFBD collar); fix edge seams from one area to another; close gaps (like Mission's arms).
9. manually fix texture seams by copying small areas of the image from one area to another; stretching and scaling them. This should result in model seams that are hidden or difficult to notice. 
10. sometimes the Alpha 1 channel is upscaled, but usually it is recreated directly from the final HD color texture. 
11. personal choice to add punchthrough transparency to the Alpha 1 channels of some female head models' eyelashes (like P_BastilaH04).
12. recreate the Normal map (for bumpyshiny effects) from the final HD color texture. These work best when saved as .tpc format

For most models, they only needed to be manipulated in 3DS Max, exported, and then run through Taina's replacer. This is usually sufficient to fix any XYZ and/or UVW coordinates. I prefer Taina's replacer method so that the model retains its smoothing groups data. For some models (like C_RancorS or C_Terantanak), Taina's won't work, so for those files, I had to resort to manually hex editing the binary .mdl & .mdx files. This is a much more labourious process, but in the end I got them to work.

A few models required fixing the model weights of individual verticies. This was done to reduce portions of the model clipping through other parts in different animations. Again, this was done by manually hex editing.

For many head models, the UVW coordinates for the tongue and inside of mouth may be moved significantly, especially for the KotOR heads. This is because the originals often map the tongue to a single pixel located in the lips area, which results in almost no detail. By moving the UVW to a free area of the texture, there may be room for painting a detailed tongue.

For the party members that have specific underwear textures and basic clothing textures, there has been an effort to make any skin areas (like hands & arms) match between them. Usually the hand area from the underwear texture is copied to the hand area of the clothes texture. This creates more consistency of the party characters' appearance.

For low resolution versions of models (like C_Gammorean_Low, C_Protocol_Low, N_Swoopgang_low) or placeables (such as PLC_EndPlA, PLC_RakatCrp, Stunt_WarDrd01) the original textures were not simply upscaled. Instead, the new versions were actually taken from similar high resolution versions and scaled down. Sometimes the textures were rebuilt from parts of other higher resolution images, with some touch up painting.

Included is a spreadsheet labelled "KotOR upscale completed list v0_52.xlsx" which has more detailed information as to what files were changed, and in what ways. As of this update, 52.71% of the texture files that I intend to upscale have been completed. As such, this mod should be considered a beta test. The percentage is calculated for both games together, however the mod is released with files separated for K1 & TSL. The spreadsheet was created with Google Sheets and exported as .xlsx, so hopefully the formatting remains correct. I have also attached a copy of the spreadsheet to this mod thread.

There will be three versions of this mod to choose to download:

1. 4x .tga version. Highest resolution, the typical texture is now 2048x2048 pixels which = 16MB. This version is a total 5.2GB, hopefully it isn't too large or cause problems for some PCs. This version is also the best choice to use as a modder's resource.
2. 4x .tpc version. Created by running full size .tgas through tga2tpc program which compresses a 2048x2048 pixel file to 5.5MB. This version is a total of 1.8GB, so it should be easier on PC systems, with no noticeable loss of visual fidelity.
3. 2x .tpc version. Created by reducing full size .tgas by half in Photoshop, then running them through tga2tpc which further compresses them to 1.4MB. This version is a total of 530MB, which should be much easier on PC systems.

All versions include the same .mdl & .mdx files.

I have tested the .tga version exclusively, but have not tested the .tpc versions in-game. Please let me know if there are any issues. Most of the screenshots have been taken in TSL, because I find that it renders the characters better and has higher resolution screen grabs. My computer doesn't seem to render some of the CM shader effects properly (especially the bumpyshinytexture CM_SpecMap always seems too strong on my computer). I would appreciate any in-game screen shots that you take of characters like Hutts, Rakghouls, Rakata, or Selkath so that I can compare how other computers render their shader. 

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Compatiblity: 

For best results, the model and texture files included with this mod should be used together. In most cases, the models can be mixed and matched with textures from other mods, but results will vary. For instance, the other textures won't be as perfect along the seams. Some other photo realistic HD texture mods may have been created using the original model's UVW layout, which will not perfectly line up with this mod's corrected UVW maps.

Conflicts may also occur if there is another mod uses a .tpc file with the same name as one of this mod's .tga files (or vice versa if you install one of the .tpc versions).

I would suggest installing other large mods (such as "KotOR 1 Restoration" or "KOTOR 1 Community Patch") first, then this one. 

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Installation: 

Copy and paste the desired model and texture files into KotOR's Override folder. You may need to over write any existing files, so always have a backup. An effort was made that these textures and models require no 2da editing. 

The folder marked "Reference Normal Map" is not required to be copied to the Override forlder. These .tga files are simply a modders' resource. The normal maps seem to work best if they are saved in .tpc format. The "Copy contents to Override" folder should already have .tpc files in it for the normal maps.

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Uninstall: 

Delete unwanted files from the game's Override folder.

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Thanks for modding tools:

KOTOR Tool – Fred Tetra
mdlops (used version 7a2) - cchargin, JdNoa
NWMax – Joco
Replacer - Taina
tga2tpc - ndix UR
KotOR/KotOR2 Savegame Editor v3.3.2 - tk102, Fair Strides 
Hex-editor XVI32 2.55 - Christian Maas

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Permission:

Consider this as a modder's resource. I give permission to any modder to use these files as a base for their own creations; as long as their creation remains free to use (not for profit); and credit is given to me as the source of any modded files. Please include a statement that specifies this mod's title and version.

The original credit of course goes to the talented artists who worked on the original games for BioWare and Obsidian. Without their work, none of this would have been possible. I have tried my best to maintain the artistic style that they created long ago.

This mod may NOT be uploaded or redistributed, in whole or in part, to any mod hosting site without my explicit permission.

As always, this mod is free for your non-commercial/personal use. There should never be a requirement to pay for it. If you like the work I do, and would like to encourage me to create more, you can always donate to my tip jar at https://buymeacoffee.com/redrob416 where the funds collected will be used towards additional graphics tools and software.

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THIS MODIFICATION IS PROVIDED AS-IS AND IS NOT SUPPORTED BY BIOWARE CORP/OBSIDIAN ENTERTAINMENT OR LUCASARTS OR ANY LICENSERS/SPONSORS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED COMPANIES. USE OF THIS FILE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND THE AFOREMENTIONED COMPANIES OR THE AUTHORS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED TO YOUR COMPUTER FOR THE USAGE OF THIS FILE.

KotOR upscale completed list v0_52.xlsx

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• Submitter
  redrob41
• Submitted
  02/06/2025
• Category
  Skins
• K1R Compatible
  No

 

For anyone wondering why I listed it as not compatible with K1 Restoration Project, I found that there were four texture files that conflict:

PMBE06.tga
PMBBS01.tga
PFBE06.tga
PFBBS01.tga

It will be up to you, the user, to decide if you want to use the lower resolution (but painted black) textures that come with K1R; or if you want to use my higher resolution textures. It will simply be a matter of overwriting the files when you drop them into the Override folder. Beyond that I didn't see any conflicts with .mdl, .mdx, .tpc, or .txi files. But if anyone comes across any issues, please let me know.

[Salk 381]

Thanks for this highly anticipated release!

Could I ask what will you be working on next for the next version? And could I suggest a cumulative approach for the new material so that it won't be necessary to redownload the base modification?

Cheers!

[redrob41 113]

7 hours ago, Salk said:

Thanks for this highly anticipated release!

Could I ask what will you be working on next for the next version? And could I suggest a cumulative approach for the new material so that it won't be necessary to redownload the base modification?

Cheers!

You're welcome. I hope that you can find some use of it for the Community Patch.

I think for what I work on next, I'm going to concentrate on upgrading some of my older mods. Give 'em the ol' HD treatment. Plus I feel the need to work on some of the Revenge of Revan textures that I contributed; upscale them too. That's one of the reasons why I started this huge upscale project: to make the models better for other character textures. So, I'll just be picking away at the models and textures that I haven't finished for this mod, in whatever order I need them.

[N-DReW25 1,354]

8 hours ago, redrob41 said:

I think for what I work on next, I'm going to concentrate on upgrading some of my older mods. Give 'em the ol' HD treatment.

Your Luxa Hair Fix mod in particular might need some attention, last time I played it were some model issues (don't quote me on this, but I think her death animation was broken in some of the options avaliable).

 

And with your Specialized Combat Suits Modder's Resource, I'm not sure if it's a problem with the Combat Suit model or the new texture but the Czerka Combat Suit has a problem wherein a bit of green was visible in the back of the armpit where it was supposed to be yellow.

 

In this screenshot here, I noticed you most likely fixed the blue finger bug with the Outcast clothing but you didn't label it as such. I almost thought you missed it until I zoomed in closer for a better look at the finished result.

 

And lastly, with the release of this mod will your previous Party Model fixes and HD Bastila mod be made redundant now? With this mod fixing models and adding HD textures, most of that mod seems to be obsolete now with the advent of this mod.

 

Interestingly, there is also an unofficial sequel to your old mod called Party Model Fixes For K1, Part II which fixes even more models and even adds new body models for Mission so that she isn't using the same "adult" model every other NPC uses.

[redrob41 113]

On 2/8/2025 at 5:15 AM, N-DReW25 said:

Your Luxa Hair Fix mod in particular might need some attention, last time I played it were some model issues (don't quote me on this, but I think her death animation was broken in some of the options avaliable).

I hadn't noticed this, but I didn't really test it in-game very thoroughly with all the animations. I'll check it out.

On 2/8/2025 at 5:15 AM, N-DReW25 said:

And with your Specialized Combat Suits Modder's Resource, I'm not sure if it's a problem with the Combat Suit model or the new texture but the Czerka Combat Suit has a problem wherein a bit of green was visible in the back of the armpit where it was supposed to be yellow.

I had started to re-create some of those Combat Suits after I upscaled all the vanilla textures, but I hadn't finished them all yet. I'll try to get back to it someday and provide all new 2048x2048 versions. I can check out the Czerka texture then. I would hope that I had fixed the UVWs already in my new 4x mod, so that the old 512x512 textures should work with the new models. There's always room for improvement.

On 2/8/2025 at 5:15 AM, N-DReW25 said:

In this screenshot here, I noticed you most likely fixed the blue finger bug with the Outcast clothing but you didn't label it as such. I almost thought you missed it until I zoomed in closer for a better look at the finished result.

There are a lot of little changes and fixes, both UVW & texture, that I didn't specifically point out in the screenshots. I spent months trying to clarify all the changes, both in screen shots and in the text in the spreadsheet. I didn't want to spend even more time trying to catalogue everything. I'm glad that you noticed though. I also texture fixed the shoulder seam on the female rags, but didn't document it.

On 2/8/2025 at 5:15 AM, N-DReW25 said:

And lastly, with the release of this mod will your previous Party Model fixes and HD Bastila mod be made redundant now? With this mod fixing models and adding HD textures, most of that mod seems to be obsolete now with the advent of this mod.

For the most part that previous Party model fixes is either duplicated or improved upon by this new 4x mod. The old mod is still required for the Bastila head texture. The 4x mod supplies a 1024x1024 upscale that is faithful to the original art style; just the seams have been fixed; and added the transparency on hair and eyelashes. The old party fix mod supplied a 2048x2048 texture that adds a lot of photo realistic detail. I do plan on combining my Party model fixes with my old K1 underwear mod and upscale everything as well. I'm just adding some photo real details to Mission's head texture right now. I might do the same with the male party members. Once that's done, both of those old mods will be obsolete. Juhani Catlike Head will remain a separate mod, but I'll upscale that as well. 

On 2/8/2025 at 5:15 AM, N-DReW25 said:

Interestingly, there is also an unofficial sequel to your old mod called Party Model Fixes For K1, Part II which fixes even more models and even adds new body models for Mission so that she isn't using the same "adult" model every other NPC uses.

I hadn't seen this mod before, as I've only had time to work on my own stuff. No time to check out the great work by other modders here. I like this mod's Mission armour models being resized for her. I haven't done any adding of backfaces like that mod does. I've only been editing the existing UVW & XYZ coordinates using Taina's Replacer tool (which can't handle adding or subtracting polygons). I hear there have been some nice improvement to tools for compiling models from Blender, but I've never used them. Hopefully someday I will have some free time to give it a try.

You can always try mixing and matching PapaZinos' models with my 4x textures. Maybe they will be compatible enough.