sleheyron Announcing my new expansion mod: “Sleheyron: Story Mode” will be launching this month.

[SAO1138 5]

Hello there!

This is my first-ever post here on DeadlyStream, and I’m coming with some hopefully exciting news.

This month I will be launching a new mod for KOTOR 1: Sleheyron: Story Mode. Built upon the legendary SithSpecter’s 2014 Sleheyron Demo, this new mod will be adding several hours of new gameplay to KOTOR 1.

I was inspired by SithSpecter’s work, and I’m hoping in the future my mod will be compatible with his. It would be a worthy venture for me to undertake to make our Sleheyron stories co-exist. After all, I owe him a HUGE debt of thanks for permitting other modders to build off his Sleheyron demo!

The mod is actually out of development now and is in beta testing. Feedback has been pretty good so far. Bugs to fix, but none gamebreaking. If anyone else is interested in beta testing, please do let me know.

This new mod is my first ever project, and I’m quite excited to share it with you. Sleheyron will feature:

 

1: A several hours long story, voice-acted (no AI voices either).

2: A fully-voice acted new party member, complete with a post-Sleheyron story (including a Leviathan rescue).

3: Approximately 30 new modules of various shapes and sizes (including the four published by SithSpecter, which are amazing and I owe him a huge thanks!)

4: New weapons and armor.

5: Lots of connections to Tales of the Jedi, as I am a big fan of those comics.

If this sounds interesting to you, I would be pleased to share an early version of my first dialog from the mod, via the Reddit link below. I hope it’s an exciting enough plot hook!

https://www.reddit.com/r/kotor/s/EeoYqeLFJ9

And just one small disclaimer: At this time, the mod is not confirmed compatible with other mods. I plan to update its compatibility this summer, however.

I look forward to releasing this mod this month!

[Sith Holocron 2,523]

I have questions.  Here are a few . . . to start.

• What's your modding experience? As you’ve never posted here before, no one here is likely to know of any work you may (or may not) have done before.
• What's the size of your beta team?
• Who is working with you on this?  Is it mostly a solo affair?
• Do you have any screenshots other than the galaxy map which could have come straight from Sithspecter's mod?
• With some minimal research, I see you’ve posted two videos on YouTube. Will all of your characters be aliens? If so, is that why you say there won’t be any AI voices?
• In those two videos, I don’t think I saw any lip sync for the dialogues? Are you planning to fix that, preferably before the next teaser video release? (But especially before a mod release.)
• Why are you starting with a planet mod as your first KotOR mod?
• So, it sounds like there are about 26 new modules in your mod that Sithspecter hasn’t created. Are they actually new or are they reskinned previous modules?
• Speaking of skins, have you made any new ones? Or is it a combination of recycling of materials found in the base game combined with what Sithspecter may have provided in his previous effort?
• This last one may be out of left field but I just have to ask: Are there any areas in the mod which render characters as orange colored?

[SAO1138 5]

• What's your modding experience? As you’ve never posted here before, no one here is likely to know of any work you may (or may not) have done before.

Completely new to it. Only been doing it for six months. It was a fun challenge.

• What's the size of your beta team? 

A small handful, less than 5. But with a good perfectionist in the team. If you want to try it out, contact me on Discord.

• Who is working with you on this?  Is it mostly a solo affair?

Exclusively myself. Anyone else is free to add onto it, however.

• Do you have any screenshots other than the galaxy map which could have come straight from Sithspecter's mod? 

Sure, a few. But I’ve only finished development the other day, so most are of unfinished modules. I could send you the load screens, however.

• With some minimal research, I see you’ve posted two videos on YouTube. Will all of your characters be aliens? If so, is that why you say there won’t be any AI voices?

If you skip to the 10-minute mark (roughly) on the longer video, you’ll find my first Basic/English-speaking role. There will be a few roles with cast actors. There’s been a lot of auditions, and I’ve found actors from Reddit.

• In those two videos, I don’t think I saw any lip sync for the dialogues? Are you planning to fix that, preferably before the next teaser video release? (But especially before a mod release.)

It’s already fixed, but my main beta tester is looking for more areas that the .lips are missing.

• Why are you starting with a planet mod as your first KotOR mod?

Because it sounded fun.

• So, it sounds like there are about 26 new modules in your mod that Sithspecter hasn’t created. Are they actually new or are they reskinned previous modules?

Kinda both. I used Holocron Toolset’s indoor module builder tool for most of those modules, which limits me to pre-existing rooms, albeit in different layouts. From there I then modified them to apply the textures from BioWare’s remaining Sleheyron files. I was pleasantly surprised with the output.

• Speaking of skins, have you made any new ones? Or is it a combination of recycling of materials found in the base game combined with what Sithspecter may have provided in his previous effort?

Yes I have made new textures. There will be new colored Twi’leks, at the very least.

• This last one may be out of left field but I just have to ask: Are there any areas in the mod which render characters as orange colored?

Uhh… No? Maybe a little orange tinted from module lighting changes. Is that what you meant?

[Sith Holocron 2,523]

I think your estimate of being finished within a month is unrealistic.

When I was asking about skins, I was mostly wondering about what you are reskinning the environments with and not your new characters. Have you made new environment skins?

And if you have pictures to post, post them here in your WIP thread. That's what it is for, right?

Edit: And if you're posting pictures, can we see a map of one of your new 26 modules that Sithspecter did not make?

[SAO1138 5]

10 hours ago, Sith Holocron said:

I think your estimate of being finished within a month is unrealistic.

When I was asking about skins, I was mostly wondering about what you are reskinning the environments with and not your new characters. Have you made new environment skins?

And if you have pictures to post, post them here in your WIP thread. That's what it is for, right?

Edit: And if you're posting pictures, can we see a map of one of your new 26 modules that Sithspecter did not make?

I would rather post the screenshots when it’s actually finished.

 

But that being said: if you want to message me on discord (I’m sao1138), I’d gladly send you the beta download link. You could then take and post whatever screenshots you like. There are still bugs I’m fixing in the beta, but it is a full story that can be played from start to finish.

 

Otherwise, I’ll be back in a week or two with more info.

 

[DeathScepter 53]

Sao, Please listen to Sith Holocron for due to his knowledge and experience. I have been busy with life and that is why i have produced any mods myself

[Salk 389]

Hello, SAO1138.

I commend you for the ambitious idea, but I do have a couple of questions that perhaps are crossing the minds of other people reading your announcement:

1) Have you tried to contact Sith Specter about lending help in completing his own Sleheyron project rather than embark on a "solo mission"? Now, I must admit I have my share of doubts about whether Sith Specter will ever finish his Sleheyron modification considering the ludicrous amount of time that has passed since its inception, but perhaps dedicated help would have been a way to kick things in motion again?

2) You wrote that you are hoping to make it compatible with Sith Specter's own Sleheyron modification, but we have to be realistic. It won't. Sith Specter must have been working on his own areas, characters, quests, and so on. How could two massive projects focusing both on restoring a new planet ever be compatible? This question connects directly to the first one where I was suggesting that combining forces would be the way to go.

Said that, I wish you the best luck! 

 

Edited yesterday at 06:23 AM by Salk

[SAO1138 5]

5 hours ago, Salk said:

Hello, SAO1138.

I commend you for the ambitious idea, but I do have a couple of questions that perhaps are crossing the minds of other people reading your announcement:

1) Have you tried to contact Sith Specter about lending help in completing his own Sleheyron project rather than embark on a "solo mission"? Now, I must admit I have my share of doubts about whether Sith Specter will ever finish his Sleheyron modification considering the ludicrous amount of time that has passed since its inception, but perhaps dedicated help would have been a way to kick things in motion again?

2) You wrote that you are hoping to make it compatible with Sith Specter's own Sleheyron modification, but we have to be realistic. It won't. Sith Specter must have been working on his own areas, characters, quests, and so on. How could two massive projects focusing both on restoring a new planet ever be compatible? This question connects directly to the first one where I was suggesting that combining forces would be the way to go.

Said that, I wish you the best luck! 

 

Hey there, Salk. Good questions. Both have been asked before so I probably should have included them in my original post.

 

1: Yes, I’ve tried to contact SithSpecter. I just haven’t had any luck with it. He has a pending friend request from me on Discord. Plan A was to offer to collaborate, or at least talk out what I had in mind. I’d love to meet the guy, but I also found a 2019 post from him where he said his modding work is going fully private. 
 

2: Compatibility: So I have a few different options for compatibility between my work and SithSpecter’s. Right now the most realistic option, I think, is setting his mod and mine in different areas of Sleheyron. I’ve found that SithSpecter named the city on Sleheyron “Sleheyron City,” so I named my area “Malron District.”
 

I’m looking into the possibility of making the galaxy map planet selection GUI extra large with the ability to click two different sides of the world, for two different spaceport destinations. Click the left half of the planet to get info on Sleheyron City, right half for Malron. 

If that doesn’t work, I was going to put a shuttle in the modules that let players travel from Sleheyron City to Malron and vice versa.

If you’ve ever played SWTOR, I was inspired by the system where players can travel to Corellia or the Black Hole area of the planet.

 

Edited yesterday at 12:17 PM by SAO1138