TSL Textures Remastered

[sELFiNDUCEDcOMA 98]

@ Fallen Guardian:

 

I think the statues can be improved some, especially the base, but considering how the original looks... it is a big improvement, even to me still even though I've seen it enough to be familiar with its presence.

 

The sign is still early work, in that I want to make it a new animated sign. Still, I think as is it looks way better to the low-quality smudge of the original. What really lets it down is that the walls they usually appear on are slightly slanted forward, which means that part of the tops of the signs are usually cut off in some way. If I get around to figuring out the best process, I'll try and make a version of the sign model that slants inwards slightly in order to compensate for it; as much as I can considering that those on a wall at 90 degrees to the floor may then have issues with parts of the bottoms being cut off -- the better option would be to have two versions and then edit the module file so that both are used in different places; but that route has various problems.

 

@ MrPhil:

 

I'd like to, not so much because it doesn't fit the newer textures, but more so because I never really liked it along with the shield effects -- they were too strongly applied and generally I found them to be ugly. However, that depends upon how they were implemented. To explain, it seems that the lightning shader applied to the NPCs that are struck uses the Sith Lightning texture to a degree, but, it also seems like it is using some other code-based elements to make the whole NPC tinged blue -- I as yet have found no other texture that it could be using that explains it, so it must be procedurally generated to a degree. I could test to see how much the Sith Lightning texture affects how blue it is, but, I doubt it will have much impact. My guess is that you would need to find the settings for this effect, which may be in a 2DA file, or, it may be something hardcoded into the game's EXE. Lastly, it could also be in a shader file -- probably a compiled DLL -- that the EXE calls upon to determine how to render the effect.

 

 

 

 

Quick test... FYI: the original texture appears animated and I haven't updated the TXI file, just used one of the Sith Lightning textures I created for the test.

 

 

 

 

EDIT: actually on further investigation I discovered it doesn't use the Sith Lightning texture at all but another FX texture. This is very much changeable. 

 

@ Disturbed205:

 

If you meant invisible, then I could create one, however, this is so easy for anyone to create if they really wanted to -- all you have to do is open up the EBO_scaf.tga texture in your paint program of choice -- as long as it supports image transparency -- and then use the selection tool to select it all and then hit delete. You should then be left with a blank transparent texture which you then save and place in your override directory. That should do it unless it the background to the original texture is black and not transparent. In which case what you should do is add another layer to the texture and fill that one in with black; making sure the layer is above the original, you then flatten the image down into one single layer and save it and place it into you override folder.

 

But, this will only make the texture "invisible," not the mesh that it is painted on. That will remain and will block your ability to move in certain areas, not to mention, various characters will still use markers in place and do stuff like spot wielding -- except now they will be appearing to be spot wielding nothing at all. For this reason in particular along with the first of it being very simple for anyone to do, as long as they know how to use Google to search on tuts on how to do this stuff with their image editor of choice. That I probably won't be doing one .

[MrPhil 58]

Oooooh that looks brilliant! I sure hope my graphic card will be able to handle the TXI, this time, because this is sweet! (It does have trouble with those, making textures transparent at times...)

[Sith Holocron 2,473]

Because whoever at Obsidian did the texture work should have realised less is more. And that's my nice answer .

Don't get me wrong - I like having the floor with one uniform texture. Good job!

 

Love it, absolutely love it. One thing though, are you releasing all of those alternate scaffolding? If so, would you be opposed to making a version with it invisible? I always play through the game with a mod that does this because I like the feeling of a newer hawk, one closer to the K1 version.

I assume you mean randydg's Ebon Hawk Restored v1.0? If you don't have that transparent texture, I can send it to you. Send me a PM if you need it.

[sELFiNDUCEDcOMA 98]

Some alien tex screens along with showing Nar Shaddaa textures so far...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to see in the screens, but if you get up close you'll see that the alien skins have a specular texture to them to make them look leathery.

 

 

 

 

It's easy to see the leathery scale-like texture with the Gamorreans though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sELFiNDUCEDcOMA 98]

The following set are of the Zeltron Luxa at Telos Citadel station...

 

 

 

 

As you can see, Luxa found the cantina to be a bit nippy that night...

 

 

 

In my defense, my original intent was simply to show the impression of the nipple underneath. Since the UV mapping is the same for the Twi'lek dancers as they appear to share the same body mesh, I wanted to basically make an overlay that I could use with them as well. Add things like definition to the side of the breast rather than a weird looking flatness. When I did the nipples, they were a real pain to do and I had to actually do the outline of the entire nipple to figure out how they were mapped. After putting so much work into it, I figured I might as well finish them off and use them. Though not quite George Lucas' PG Star Wars, I do think it is in keeping within the character of Luxa being a Zeltron who will use any means to get the upper-hand within a very male dominated industry of the criminal underworld -- The Exchange.

 

 

 

 

[MrPhil 58]

LOL with nippy feeling

 

Looks quite better. Nightqueen would hate your work sir I love-it!

 

I do not know if this has been asked to you yet, but are you planning on doing a big downloadable pack or a few small ones?

Edited August 28, 2013 by MrPhil

[Fair Strides 509]

You are offificially me new favorite skinner, my friend. After you finish doing the entire game, do you still plan on skinning for this game? If so, how do you feel about custom module skinning?

 

P.S: Thank you so much for putting so much work into a game most won't touch because of its age. As a buddy said the other day, "Rpgs will live on mods."

[sELFiNDUCEDcOMA 98]

It's not so much the age, it's more the lack of good tools that is the problem. The people that had skill would have gotten feed up and bored with the lack of progress and simply moved off to modding other games where modding is less like hacking. Those that remain, tend be those that got into and only have interest in modding KOTOR and TSL and seemingly, nothing else.

 

I'm sure I appear to be just good at "skinning," but the truth of it is that I find it at times rather boring, as I am more interested in modding playable content for games, like altering existing and adding new quests and game mechanics, not just making games look better -- I'm actually a qualified programmer, not an artist, and I started out as a level designer .

 

I'm also finding my current play through of the game boring, as there is nothing I haven't seen or done before. The main reason I started the play through again was for the M4-78 mod release -- which I haven't gotten to yet on account of the texturing. Once I've finished it I'll probably carry on through to the end of the game, and finish off my texturing as I go as I'm finding it is pushing my texturing skills further.

 

However, I'm not sure I'll continue on after that as the tools are piss-poor.

 

I know there is KOTOR tool, and it makes a lot of things possible and easier, but level and quest design (module editing) it ain't that great at. Anyway you cut it and well minus all the bugs and lack of functionality in other departments, making a top-down 2D map editor for a 3D game, just ain't going to work very.

 

The only way I'll stay on is if I decide to make my own major quest mod, which I have ideas for -- and had then for quite some time -- but, I think the lack of tools is going mean that I'm gonna get fed up with it, and decide that the time invested in it is time better spent elsewhere where at least there are good tools already for me to make use of. Even if I decide to go with the scaled back mod based on the original idea I had.

 

Plus, I already have one large mod to complete for Fallout 3 which I'm in the middle of a major update of that is finally adding new playable quests. And once that is done, I probably will be putting my skills to use making a game for a commercial end instead of increasing the longevity for someone else's game, and putting more money in their pockets instead of mine  .

[MrPhil 58]

You should check Quannon's maps, selfInducedComa, they are great and with the kind of skill you say you possess, it would be just great to add new content in them (better than adding content in re-used areas, at any rate...), plus you would not have to start from scratch. There's also a great Jedi Temple map that would be great to get content on...

http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=208042&highlight=Jedi+Temple

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

Not too hot on the Luxa skin - the nipples do seem a little weird just out in the open like that, but my main gripe is more with the pink/red skin Zeltrons are supposed to have.

[Fair Strides 509]

Not too hot on the Luxa skin - the nipples do seem a little weird just out in the open like that, but my main gripe is more with the pink/red skin Zeltrons are supposed to have.

I share your opinion on both matters, VP.

[Fair Strides 509]

It's not so much the age, it's more the lack of good tools that is the problem. The people that had skill would have gotten feed up and bored with the lack of progress and simply moved off to modding other games where modding is less like hacking. Those that remain, tend be those that got into and only have interest in modding KOTOR and TSL and seemingly, nothing else.

 

I'm sure I appear to be just good at "skinning," but the truth of it is that I find it at times rather boring, as I am more interested in modding playable content for games, like altering existing and adding new quests and game mechanics, not just making games look better -- I'm actually a qualified programmer, not an artist, and I started out as a level designer .

 

I'm also finding my current play through of the game boring, as there is nothing I haven't seen or done before. The main reason I started the play through again was for the M4-78 mod release -- which I haven't gotten to yet on account of the texturing. Once I've finished it I'll probably carry on through to the end of the game, and finish off my texturing as I go as I'm finding it is pushing my texturing skills further.

 

However, I'm not sure I'll continue on after that as the tools are piss-poor.

 

I know there is KOTOR tool, and it makes a lot of things possible and easier, but level and quest design (module editing) it ain't that great at. Anyway you cut it and well minus all the bugs and lack of functionality in other departments, making a top-down 2D map editor for a 3D game, just ain't going to work very.

 

The only way I'll stay on is if I decide to make my own major quest mod, which I have ideas for -- and had then for quite some time -- but, I think the lack of tools is going mean that I'm gonna get fed up with it, and decide that the time invested in it is time better spent elsewhere where at least there are good tools already for me to make use of. Even if I decide to go with the scaled back mod based on the original idea I had.

 

Plus, I already have one large mod to complete for Fallout 3 which I'm in the middle of a major update of that is finally adding new playable quests. And once that is done, I probably will be putting my skills to use making a game for a commercial end instead of increasing the longevity for someone else's game, and putting more money in their pockets instead of mine  .

Hmm. I understand where you're coming from a lot, SIC. I have run into that modding wall more than a few times, but it keeps giving me bumps of wisdom and sending me back to KotOR/TSL. I actually don't find these games hard to mod at all. The parts about it that scare me are custom modules and weird scripting errors that make me want to hide the modding tools somewhere. I understand the scripting very well, just the game tends to have other interpretations at times.

 

I actually got into programming from these games. You know the KotOR Save Game Editor? The author, Tk102, released the source code with the tool, so I searched google for a symbol from the source code, found Perl, and started reading.

 

I haven't touched the Fallout games, but I know a few fanatics.

 

Out of curiosity, what would you look for in the way of module-editing tools?

 

Hope you don't get burnt out on these games.

 

Also, there's a popular skinner named Vurt, who also made the leap to game design. He's the main texturer on Kenshi. Google it, will ya?

[MrPhil 58]

Not too hot on the Luxa skin - the nipples do seem a little weird just out in the open like that, but my main gripe is more with the pink/red skin Zeltrons are supposed to have.

 

True on the skin colour, though it is likely that with the Zeltron propension to mate with *anything*, Zeltron offspring might loose a bit of their tint. Also, aren't the Zeltron on top of their colour when using their pheromones, like the Falleen? At any rate, I guess players might prefer this particular colour as a personal preference and would like to suggest that this skin be alas included as an alternative skin should the author choose to "pinkify" their skin.

[Sith Holocron 2,473]

Two points:

 

a) I've never been a fan of the ultra-pink skin on Luxa - it makes her look like just she's been out in the sun too long and then spent some time inside a nuclear reactor. However, some folks are going to want the traditional pink skin though. I think the skin color is fine as is. I say: let them recolor it on their own.

 

However, I do foresee an issue with the new Luxa skin. I think there should be more modest approach to the top of her outfit - as an alternate option. We do have female members here - why make a skin that almost guarantees won't be used?

[sELFiNDUCEDcOMA 98]

According to StarWars.wiki: "Zeltrons were a near-human species, made physically distinctive by their skin and hair, which came in different shades of red ranging from pink to deep red to black." I'm assuming they specifically mean hair color here.

 

The thing with universe lore and canon, is that it changes. Fans may not realise it, but, it does. Changes every time a new movie comes out or book. Things get changed to suit current needs and potentially future needs as well. Sometimes these changes are good, other times, they are a tad moronic. Take the Star Wars films, in the original first film, Obi Wan meets Luke and R2 and C-3PO, yet, he has never seen these droids before apparently. Yet in the prequel movies he sees and interacts with these same two droids ALL THE TIME! He knows what they look like, their quirks, and definitely, their names. Even Luke's uncle (Owen) has seen these droids before, especially as C3 was originally owned by them and helped out on the farm. Yet when C3 and R2 appear one day being peddled by the Jawas, he seems not to recollect them at all. Maybe droids are so common as to be unforgettable and seen as all being the same. However, C3 is such a quirky character -- even with a memory-wipe -- that I find it hard that you would forget ever meeting the droid. Yet Luke's uncle seems to have Alzheimers much like the strange dirty old man living in the hills does too, who likes to lure young boys away from their families with far-fetched tales of the force and enthrall them with amateur magic tricks .

 

Zeltron lore to me seem like something that is rather fluid, not concrete, and can be adapted to suit the purpose at hand. In my opinion, the Luxa color is a pink, but kind of like a strawberry-blonde kind of pink; a rosy-shade that along with pheromones, exudes a sexual "readiness" if you like. The color is perhaps because her mother was a Zeltron but her father was not. Which would explain the conflicting aspects of her personality, as the way she acts (her profession) is not entirely fitting to how Zeltrons are made out to be. She is cold, calculating and cunning. Her Zeltron gifts are tools she uses to get her way as are the henchmen to her side and the weapons she uses in combat. A Zeltron who may like to "have a good time" but is entirely motivated by other reasons in her life and career.

 

My current feeling is that if people don't like the texture, they don't have to use it and can go with someone else's or with the game's standard texture. Personally, I find the nipples rather funny, as I like playing with the conventions of the PG Star Wars universe to make it more mature for a mature audience. Plus, have seen far worse in commercial games along with in other mods -- some of which were authored by female modders .

[sELFiNDUCEDcOMA 98]

The parts about it that scare me are custom modules and weird scripting errors that make me want to hide the modding tools somewhere. I understand the scripting very well, just the game tends to have other interpretations at times.

 

Creating custom modules is where the "fun" is.

 

Weird scripting bugs is what puts me off, in that the scripting language is not very well documented. I don't recollect there is any reference where I can look up various functions where it tells me what it does and how to use them.

 

But, I find that it is not so much knowing how to code or script in a language, that most programming, is understanding the idiosyncrasies of a language and how to oversome them. That is like 90% of where the effort of coding comes from, getting what should work, to actually work based on how the game interprets it -- simplest example, try coding a web page and then seeing if they look the same in Internet Explorer and FireFox .

 

Out of curiosity, what would you look for in the way of module-editing tools?

 

 

I don't think that has a simple answer, but at its heart, is that it needs to show the level / map, all its architecture and obejcts, as 3D objects.

 

The current limitation with the KOTOR tool is that the module editor needs to first have some kind of map layout file generated for it so as to represent it in 2D. This is a useless bottleneck that within the freely available tools of today, should not exist. When KOTOR tool was created, there was not for example, WPF for C#.net. All windows GUI programming was via GDI or some such rubbish, and that was all 2D only. WPF replaced it and it allows for 3D graphics, not the bleeding edge graphics of games, but still, it allows you to represent 3D data easily without having to know your way around Direct X 3D -- which is far more low level. And as far as a module editor is concerned, the rendering requirements aren't high -- you could get away with wire-meshes with polygons rendered a solid color. You can also get libraries that build upon the WPF functionality, and essentially, you can build a tool that anyone can use as long as they have the latest .Net installed -- which is highly likely.

 

And most of all, being C#.net means that it is more future proof in that it can be maintained a bit more easily (code and libraries for it like reading Targa files, are readily available) along with allowing others to take up where your work left off more easily -- especially as I doubt that Microsoft will abandon C#.net any time soon, rather, they will build upon it.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

Alright, I concede the point about the pinkness (good explanation, by the way). I will likely end up using my own Luxa body mod anyways though so again, nipplies are not something I'm worried about.

[Fallen Guardian 27]

Weird scripting bugs is what puts me off, in that the scripting language is not very well documented. I don't recollect there is any reference where I can look up various functions where it tells me what it does and how to use them.

 

For KotOR's scripting NWN Lexicon is one of the best documentations on the language there is. It says it's for Never Winter Nights but KotOR and NWN share pretty much all the same scripting functions and KotOR's engine was just an adapted NWN engine.

 

Plus, there should be a rather basic description of what each function does when you look it up in NWScript (or via KotOR Tool's text editor).

[sELFiNDUCEDcOMA 98]

For KotOR's scripting NWN Lexicon is one of the best documentations on the language there is. It says it's for Never Winter Nights but KotOR and NWN share pretty much all the same scripting functions and KotOR's engine was just an adapted NWN engine.

 

Plus, there should be a rather basic description of what each function does when you look it up in NWScript (or via KotOR Tool's text editor).

 

Scripting is not the only thing that put me off; it was more than a year ago when I gave module editing a shot and found it a pain, so it's a bit hard to recall but scripting wasn't the only thing. Anyway, I'm sure the NWN lexicon is good, but I know from Fallout scripting that with each DLC, and with the follow up New Vegas, that new functions are added. NWN probably doesn't have the new KOTOR functions and other sources for these would be a pain to find -- take TXI files, I know you guys made a wiki page about it, but, you're missing a lot based on the sources I've found. A lot of the tutorials I've found are dated and/or basic; dated in that they are using tools that won't work under windows 7 or don't exist anymore.

 

I might give it another shot, as last time I tried my hand at it it was to add elements to the cut-content area of Nar Shaddaa docks. Having had a look at what the latest TSLRCM adds, I ain't happy with 2 droids and some containers with stuff. But, creating and placing, editing custom containers just never seemed to work for some reason -- probably because I was using KOTOR tools' module editor to do it. I also had some droids of my own that I could make appear but not get various settings to work -- problem with a lot of tuts is that they cover the basics and gloss over quite a lot; they make a lot of assumptions as well, but I guess writing good tutorials is not everyone forte.

 

There's another element as well that I found absolutely bizarre, and that was that in order to test for changes, I had to use a save game where I hadn't visited the area yet; I couldn't just go back to Nar Shaddaa and head to that location as the changes wouldn't be uploaded at all. That to me seems like a major, pain-in-the-arse, time-consuming, hurdle to mod development; especially for large complex mods.

 

I don't recall finding anything about any work around for this. But, I suppose you have an answer for this too..? (I hope, probably something to do with a console cheat / debug codes or save game editing...)

[Fair Strides 509]

Scripting is not the only thing that put me off; it was more than a year ago when I gave module editing a shot and found it a pain, so it's a bit hard to recall but scripting wasn't the only thing. Anyway, I'm sure the NWN lexicon is good, but I know from Fallout scripting that with each DLC, and with the follow up New Vegas, that new functions are added. NWN probably doesn't have the new KOTOR functions and other sources for these would be a pain to find -- take TXI files, I know you guys made a wiki page about it, but, you're missing a lot based on the sources I've found. A lot of the tutorials I've found are dated and/or basic; dated in that they are using tools that won't work under windows 7 or don't exist anymore.

 

I might give it another shot, as last time I tried my hand at it it was to add elements to the cut-content area of Nar Shaddaa docks. Having had a look at what the latest TSLRCM adds, I ain't happy with 2 droids and some containers with stuff. But, creating and placing, editing custom containers just never seemed to work for some reason -- probably because I was using KOTOR tools' module editor to do it. I also had some droids of my own that I could make appear but not get various settings to work -- problem with a lot of tuts is that they cover the basics and gloss over quite a lot; they make a lot of assumptions as well, but I guess writing good tutorials is not everyone forte.

 

There's another element as well that I found absolutely bizarre, and that was that in order to test for changes, I had to use a save game where I hadn't visited the area yet; I couldn't just go back to Nar Shaddaa and head to that location as the changes wouldn't be uploaded at all. That to me seems like a major, pain-in-the-arse, time-consuming, hurdle to mod development; especially for large complex mods.

 

I don't recall finding anything about any work around for this. But, I suppose you have an answer for this too..? (I hope, probably something to do with a console cheat / debug codes or save game editing...)

 

Two things to say here:

 

1. Feel free to Skype me anytime for help with modding. As I've said, the only parts that scare me are custom modules and skinning. Apart from those, I can help with pretty much anything you need. Skype is fair_strides, btw.

 

2. As for you last part about having to enter the module from a save before you ever went there, that only applies to editing the .git, .are, and .ifo. Anything else, not really. The exceptions are if you changed/added something that is only in place after an event you've already done. An example is making a script that spawns an item, but having the script activate when you talk to the Serroco Leader in the Refugee Sector on Nar Shaddaa, only you killed him already. You'd need a save from before killing him, not necessarily from before entering the module.

 

As an aside, if you want somethin to happen when you enter the module, you can always rename the OnEnter script, make a script with the original name, edit that, and add the following line:

ExecuteScript(<New name you gave the old OnEnter script>);

This will allow you to edit  what happens when you enter the area without affecting the normal events.

[Hassat Hunter 571]

Hmmm, Lorso looks physically ill in those new versions. Can't say I like that.

Rest looks good though!

[sELFiNDUCEDcOMA 98]

You should check Quannon's maps, selfInducedComa, they are great and with the kind of skill you say you possess, it would be just great to add new content in them (better than adding content in re-used areas, at any rate...), plus you would not have to start from scratch. There's also a great Jedi Temple map that would be great to get content on...

http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=208042&highlight=Jedi+Temple

 

Hmm... I wonder how it would look with the new Coruscant skybox textures I've been working on...

 

 

 

Before screenshot of old skybox:

 

Screens of new skybox textures in the works:

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmm, Lorso looks physically ill in those new versions. Can't say I like that.

Rest looks good though!

 

Jana Lorso is a Mirialan and they have a funny skin color; or at least that is my excuse as that was my first attempt at a human face for TSL .

 

Human faces are very hard to improve due to the game's renderer. Actually, anything that is pale in colour, like flesh, is very hard to improve as it usually ends up looking washed out in-game. If you look at the human face textures via an image viewer / editor, you'll see that they have far more detail than what you'll able to see in-game.

 

Lorso was a test-case, and I may not get around to redoing her as there are a lot more other textures for me to do. Plus, as I said, she is a Mirialan, and they have a yellowish sickly colour to their skin -- plus, she does work for Cerka, after all.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

Have you considered adding "make-up" to accentuate certain features of face textures? Obviously not traditional make-up, I mean sort of in the same sense they use make up in movies so an actors face looks more vibrant.

 

A good example is Atton's face. It looks like he's wearing eyeliner and lipstick is you look hard but it doesn't look that weird in game.

[MrPhil 58]

Well, this new skybox is amazing! I gotta say that I haven't been as much interested in a reskinning effort since I first explored the SpaceAlex WIP. That's something! I am really looking foward to your TSL work, whichever it might be.

[Mandalore 61]

Those Coruscant shots are excellent!