ShaolinGhost Posted March 5 Posted March 5 (edited) Hey everyone! I'm ShaolinGhost, a second-year Game Design student at AAU finishing my bachelor's degree and moving onto my Masters this year. I'm working on both of these tools as part of my thesis project, and I'm super excited to share what I've been building. Why I'm Making This KotOR isn't just my favorite game. It literally shaped how I see video games and the world. I played it when I was a kid, and it's stuck with me ever since. That's the whole reason I want to do this: give modders and game devs a toolkit that actually feels like real game development software. Right now, modding KotOR is awesome, but the tools are spread all over the place. You bounce between different programs, learn different interfaces, and it's honestly kind of a pain. I want to fix that. My goal is to bring KotOR modding and the game itself to Unity with a professional-grade modding kit. Two tools that work together perfectly: GhostRigger-K1-K2 — Your all-in-one 3D model editor (import/export, rigging, texturing, the whole pipeline) GhostScripter-K1-K2 — Your IDE for writing quests, dialogues, scripts, and managing everything else Both tools are built to feel like actual game development software based purely off of my experience using things like RizomUV, Zbrush, Maya, Topogun, Acurig, UnrealEngine etc. clean dark theme, intuitive layouts, everything in one place. What GhostRigger Can Do Browse and load any KotOR model directly from your game files Real-time 3D viewport with orbit, pan, zoom, and wireframe view Import your own models from OBJ or FBX (sculpt in ZBrush/Maya, bring it in) Auto-rigging to KotOR skeleton templates Manual Rigging in the tool supported Export back to KotOR format, compile, and test in seconds Handle all your textures (TGA → TPC conversion, UV viewing, the works) Basically: Sculpt your stuff outside, import it clean, and let GhostRigger handle the KotOR technical stuff. What GhostScripter Can Do Script Editor — Write NWScript with full syntax highlighting, auto-complete, and a built-in function reference Dialogue Editor — Build dialogue trees visually with a node-based graph (way easier than text editors) Quest Builder — Templates that scaffold out quests automatically with the right variable names and structure 2DA Manager — Edit spreadsheets like globalcat.2da without pain One-Click Export — Push your mod straight to the override folder or package it as an ERF It all connects together. You can even rig models in GhostRigger, and GhostScripter will automatically pull them in. What I'm Looking For I want to make sure these tools actually solve real problems for modders. So I'm opening this up for feedback: For GhostRigger: What features would make rigging faster for you? Are there things you wish you could do that other tools make hard? What about the workflow? Does the architecture I stated so far feel natural? For GhostScripter: Should I add a visual quest state editor, or is the current form good? Would a script dependency checker (find broken references) be useful? What about integrating a decompiler so you can edit existing mods? Any other QoL features you'd want in an IDE? Drop your thoughts in the replies! I'm building this for the community, and I want to make sure it's something you'll actually use. Timeline & Release Right now, both tools are functional and I'm actively testing them. Once I've verified that all the core features work smoothly and reliably, I'll release them for public use and testing. I want to make sure they're stable and solid before I put them in your hands. I'll keep you posted on progress, and when they're ready, you'll be the first to know! Edited March 5 by ShaolinGhost 3 2 2 Quote
ShaolinGhost Posted 1 hour ago Author Posted 1 hour ago https://github.com/CrispyW0nton/Kotor-3D-Model-Converter/tree/qt-ghostrigger Development Update: GhostRigger Has Taken a Big Step Forward Hey everyone, I wanted to post an update on GhostRigger because the project has been moving fast lately. The short version: GhostRigger is still very much a WIP, but it has grown from a basic model viewer / importer concept into a much more serious KotOR development toolkit. A lot of recent work has focused on making the tool feel less like a loose utility and more like professional game-dev software for working with Odyssey/Aurora assets. Major Recent Progress GhostRigger now has much stronger support for: Loading and browsing KotOR 1 and KotOR 2 game assets directly from the game directory Rendering MDL/MDX models in a modern Qt viewport Texture handling improvements, including fixes for wrapping/clamping issues on module and character textures Better module/area model categorization and labeling Improved viewport controls, including transform/gizmo work Measurement tools for inspecting models and scene scale A new lighting system inspired by the Aurora/Odyssey render pipeline Experimental lightmap baking tools Better module rendering, including ongoing work around baked lightmaps MCP tooling for automated inspection, validation, and asset transfer workflows Continued work on the Character Builder pipeline One big area of research recently has been KotOR’s “mesh objects as bones” system. KotOR does not use a modern armature system like Blender, Unity, or Unreal. Instead, the named MDL node hierarchy itself is the skeleton, and many _g meshes are both visible geometry and animation bones. That changes how the Character Builder needs to work. The “Build Skeleton” step is being reworked around this native KotOR logic instead of trying to force modern FBX armature assumptions onto the game. Character Builder Direction The Character Builder is being reshaped around a clearer workflow: Choose a base KotOR model/skeleton Load the custom mesh Align the mesh to the KotOR skeleton Assign/build the KotOR node hierarchy correctly Assign or preview animations through the supermodel chain Preview heads, weapons, equipment, and attachments Export a game-ready MDL/MDX There is still work to do here. I do not want to pretend this is launch-ready yet. The goal is not just “can it import a model,” but “can a KotOR modder actually use this smoothly to get a model in-game without fighting the tool.” That means the rigging, preview, animation assignment, texture handling, and export flow all need to feel reliable. Huge Thanks to LordVader I also want to give a major shoutout to LordVaderCW, who has been contributing a lot of important work through his fork. Recent collaboration from LordVader has brought in substantial improvements, including: A new Aurora-style lighting system A new transform gizmo system Measurement tooling Experimental lightmap baker work Lightmap/rendering patches Fixes around rendering artifacts, including Windows-specific GPU issues General cleanup and modernization across the Qt branch This collaboration has been extremely helpful. A lot of the recent progress is coming from comparing approaches, merging work, testing real KotOR assets, and trying to make sure GhostRigger behaves like a proper KotOR tool rather than just a generic model viewer. Current Focus Right now the main priorities are: Making module rendering more accurate Improving lightmap and texture correctness Continuing the Character Builder rework around native KotOR skeleton logic Making the viewport/gizmo workflow smoother Building a real animation and equipment preview system Making sure exported assets are structurally valid for K1 and K2 The big question I keep coming back to is: would this actually help a KotOR modder get a custom model into the game faster and with fewer headaches? That is the standard I am aiming for. Thanks again to everyone who has been following the project, and especially to LordVader for the recent collaboration. There is still a lot to do, but GhostRigger is becoming much closer to the kind of full game-dev toolkit I originally wanted to build for KotOR. Quote
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