Sign in to follow this  
CapitaineSpoque

[WIP] K1 - Kotor Expansion Pack

Recommended Posts

Hello there!

Pretty happy to announce that 2 of the 3 cut modules are now completely restored and are already released as a modder's ressource here on Deadlystream for anyone to use 🥳

The Kashyyk cut module didn't need much work at all! It was all about editing the .vis file, adding a fog effect in the .are and providing a minimap. This is all done! My plan with this module will surely be as i said earlier, making it the specific area where you encounter the ritual beast. I have nothing yet very clear in mind, but I wish to make the ritual beast encounter much more memorable, i've already planned to make this specific terentatek the size of a fully grown rancor to distinguish it from the others :) 

The Czerka Depot cut module needed much more work. There were a lot of models broken, with missing parts such as ceilings/geometry holes, various errors like walls flying few centimeters in the air and so much more. I also partially fixed the most hideous lightmaps. I am not yet skilled enough to correct everyone of them, there are still some rough lighting transition from one room to another. Some walkmeshes have been fixed aswell, and some textures too. Finally i've provided a custom minimap aswell!

Czerka depot screenshots:

Spoiler

1028149816_Sanstitre5.jpg.fa042ab6597162e32339f6fe250fb592.jpg64759799_Sanstitre1.jpg.21df7d6a251a3610b90ebbab81751df7.jpg20773083_Sanstitre6.jpg.cf286d176a9093ec74c0dc758f5909b9.jpg1862156287_Sanstitre2.jpg.24e11afef3cd852c42d894dbb6148eeb.jpg



Very proud of all of this work, especially the Czerka Depot module. Not perfect at all but its already so much better than what was there, and its entirely playable now :)

It leaves us with one last cut module: The tatooine cut rakatan temple. This is the module that requires a TON of work. The walkmeshes are atrocious, some lightmaps aswell and so are the room transitions, there are a lot of missing elements especially in the rakatan ruins... For this one, I cannot "just" repair what's in there, because there is too much stuff missing. I also think that i'll do some few cuts, because some portion of the level are too broken and beyong repair. There is still enough from this module to be used and repurposed into something both unique and playable. 

The biggest theory out there is that this module was supposed to have some kind of sarlacc maw encounter, which would make sense judging the last "pit" room. I still don't know how this area would play out, aside from maybe 1 unique crystal formation and few rakatan lore. If you have any idea, feel free to share!

Anyway, still a lot of work to do! You can check the cut modules i restored in the video I'm providing :) Peace!

 

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Regarding the Tatooine Temple, a neat work around I saw in the edge of darkness mod which reused this module was that the module had a much darker ambient lighting effect around the player, so the area would only get lighter if you walked in that direction. It wasn’t really possible to see the white void beyond because of this. This is in TSL however and idk if this effect would be doable in KOTOR 1 

I feel like if this effect can be replicated you might be able to get away with how the outside part of the map looks. I think they were trying to replicate the Dantooine Ruins which you can see has a very vast and spacious detailed area outside of the bounds. It looks like they didn’t even start that part in the cut module. 

I feel like the biggest problem with the cut temple module is definitely its messed up walk meshes. Some places you need to find just the right spot to go around the hallway. I always thought this could be fixed by just placing junk objects or rakatan ruins objects in the areas that you can’t go on, kind of giving the player a makeshift pathway of sorts. 
 

btw beyond restoring the Korriban module, you did a really cool job with even adding a custom transition room to the original module, working door and all! Great stuff

btw for your Korriban Ludo Kressh mod, how did you plan to add the TSL version of the cave module to the game? Were you able to essentially remake the rogue students quest and port all the dialogue and scripts from the original cave into the new one with the tomb?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
52 minutes ago, Mephiles550 said:

Regarding the Tatooine Temple, a neat work around I saw in the edge of darkness mod which reused this module was that the module had a much darker ambient lighting effect around the player, so the area would only get lighter if you walked in that direction. It wasn’t really possible to see the white void beyond because of this. This is in TSL however and idk if this effect would be doable in KOTOR 1 

I feel like if this effect can be replicated you might be able to get away with how the outside part of the map looks. I think they were trying to replicate the Dantooine Ruins which you can see has a very vast and spacious detailed area outside of the bounds. It looks like they didn’t even start that part in the cut module. 

I feel like the biggest problem with the cut temple module is definitely its messed up walk meshes. Some places you need to find just the right spot to go around the hallway. I always thought this could be fixed by just placing junk objects or rakatan ruins objects in the areas that you can’t go on, kind of giving the player a makeshift pathway of sorts. 

Two things i've definitely thought about: Making the area darker (especially since it does not currently match the lighting from the back of the Krayt dragon's cave) and having some rakatan ruins/additional rocks to hide rough area transitions/texture transitions and so on. For the walkmeshes, i will hopefully entirely fix them and it shouldnt be a problem, I won't use the default ones because they're very broken. I will most likely redo them entirely. I will take a look at Edge of Darkness to see how it was done thanks for poiting this mod out :) 

I will reuse some assets from the base game to fill the gaps in the Tatooine temple. The Dantooine ruins and the shyrack cave have similar geometries so i can surely use some of their part, finally the unknown world temple summit may be used aswell. One thing I do not understand and you might be able to clear it for me, is that some portion (especially the rakatan ruins) are entirely enlighted, just as if these parts were out in the open (their ceiling part at least). I thought about having these parts "burried" (just like Dantooine ruins) but still i'm wondering, do you think it was intended to have portion of the levels both under and above the ground level?

1 hour ago, Mephiles550 said:

btw beyond restoring the Korriban module, you did a really cool job with even adding a custom transition room to the original module, working door and all! Great stuff

Ty :) I've basically reused the room that leads to the sith academy and mirrored the ground from the adjacent room to have accurate lightmaps.

1 hour ago, Mephiles550 said:

btw for your Korriban Ludo Kressh mod, how did you plan to add the TSL version of the cave module to the game? Were you able to essentially remake the rogue students quest and port all the dialogue and scripts from the original cave into the new one with the tomb?

Atm my very rough idea is to have the key to this tomb lootable in Naga Sadow's tomb. I don't really get what you're talking about with the rogue students? Are you talking about the two twileks and the woman you can meet in the shyrack cave?

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Actually nevermind about my question regarding Ludo's tomb, I rewatched your video for it. What you did with that is beyond impressive. I thought you just ported the TSL version of the Shyrak cave, the one that has the exit to the surface blocked off, into Kotor 1. I thought that meant it was basically an empty module. I think what you actually did was merge the portion of the TSL cave that has the Ludos Tomb (the tomb entrance on the far edge of the cave) with the rest of the Kotor 1 module. That means all the content from the original Kotor 1 cave, like the students and the Terentatek, is still the same. That's amazing. I've seen people merge hallways and doors, I didn't think anyone would be able to merge all that rough geometry in the cave. Well done!

For your question about how the Tatooine cave has some illuminated parts... tbh I really can't tell what they were going for. Keep in mind while the cave seems to be underground, it doesn't look that deeply submerged at all. The Krayt Dragons cave wasn't exactly buried in the first place, it felt more like a raised mound with a wide entrance.  The walkway you can see right next to the star map seems to be just going straight forward instead of descending downward. I always got the impression from the large naturally formed parts of the cave that light was illuminated from the surface because it was probably hardly submerged at all. I think what they were going for is that the entire thing was below the surface, but with plenty of cracks in the ceiling to allow for natural light to enter. Basically, imagine the background for the Dantooine ruins but much brighter. The only slight exception I can think of is the large chamber where the Sarlacc was supposed to be. I always imagined this room had no ceiling and was exposed to the surface. 

Keep in mind though this entire module seems to be a rough draft. They probably didn't really know what they were doing with it and scrapped it for several reasons, not just for story. They might have had the same thought you had right now regarding the inconsistency of the lighting based on how this structure is supposed to have been incorporated into both the cave and the dune sea in general. They probably just gave up when trying to figure out how to make it work and just decided to plop the star map into the cave entrance, leaving the cave's transition right next to it still fully visible. Kotor 1 has a bunch of areas like that. 

A silly thought I had one day while looking at this module was it would've worked great as an underwater area in Manaan. Add the Manaan surface animated background in place of the white void, darken the lighting and have the character slowly explore in an environment suit. The giant Shark could've been in the sarlacc chamber instead. I feel like that would've been much cooler, but that's a pretty radical idea. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That Czerka depot certainly looks a lot better after a bit of TLC from you. Sorting that area out was one of the things on my 'things to do some day' list, but it looks like it can be crossed off now, which I certainly won't be complaining about!

Big ol' area to fill with content though, so I look forward to seeing what you decide to fill it with. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Mephiles550 said:

Actually nevermind about my question regarding Ludo's tomb, I rewatched your video for it. What you did with that is beyond impressive. I thought you just ported the TSL version of the Shyrak cave, the one that has the exit to the surface blocked off, into Kotor 1. I thought that meant it was basically an empty module. I think what you actually did was merge the portion of the TSL cave that has the Ludos Tomb (the tomb entrance on the far edge of the cave) with the rest of the Kotor 1 module. That means all the content from the original Kotor 1 cave, like the students and the Terentatek, is still the same. That's amazing. I've seen people merge hallways and doors, I didn't think anyone would be able to merge all that rough geometry in the cave. Well done!

To be honest, it was not "that hard" to do either. I used K1's shyrack cave as a base, and then partially removed and replace the stuff with K2's shyrack cave ;) A bit of modeling involved but nothing impossible :) So ye basically the cave is exactly the same as K1, i only added the corridor extension + changed the minimap.

1 hour ago, Mephiles550 said:

A silly thought I had one day while looking at this module was it would've worked great as an underwater area in Manaan. Add the Manaan surface animated background in place of the white void, darken the lighting and have the character slowly explore in an environment suit. The giant Shark could've been in the sarlacc chamber instead. I feel like that would've been much cooler, but that's a pretty radical idea. 

Haha funny enough i also thought about a submerged rakatan thing for Manaan, and i was already planning on adding some rakatan statues here and there in the bottom of the ocean. Quite an interesting idea still, I'll think about all of this.

3 minutes ago, SithNadd said:

That Czerka depot certainly looks a lot better after a bit of TLC from you. Sorting that area out was one of the things on my 'things to do some day' list, but it looks like it can be crossed off now, which I certainly won't be complaining about!

Big ol' area to fill with content though, so I look forward to seeing what you decide to fill it with. :)

Indeed! Fixing the models is the "easy" part, filling the area with npcs and exciting stories to be told is something else :p 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, CapitaineSpoque said:

Indeed! Fixing the models is the "easy" part, filling the area with npcs and exciting stories to be told is something else :p 

Absolutely. As I believe a certain Jedi Knight once said: "This is where the fun begins..." :)

Will the fixed area models be released as a modders resource similar to what you did with the Shadowlands module?

I'm itching to start adding some content in myself now that there's a fixed set of models out there. :P

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
35 minutes ago, SithNadd said:

Absolutely. As I believe a certain Jedi Knight once said: "This is where the fun begins..." :)

Will the fixed area models be released as a modders resource similar to what you did with the Shadowlands module?

I'm itching to start adding some content in myself now that there's a fixed set of models out there. :P

Absolutely, the Czerka depot is currently waiting for approval :) Most of the stuff i'll be pulling out along the way will be released as modder's ressource hopefully!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Sign in to follow this