Help creating a Darth Bandon Robe mod

[Chev 13]

Hey everyone, I decided to try my hand at modding and after a few...incidents I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of the basics such as UTI editing but I can't seem to figure out how to replace armor. What I'm trying to do is replace the Darth Bandon armor that the player receives after killing him with the one that he wears in the cut-scenes and when he fights you. I'm honestly not sure where to start but if anyone has any advice or anything I'd really appreciate the help.

[Kexikus 994]

Here is a basic tutorial on how to make custom armor: http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=143176

Maybe it can help you

 

And in theory, what you want to do is to find the armor you get from Bandon and replace its model with the original Darth Bandon armor. You probably figured that out by yourself, but I sadly can't help you more than that^^

[DarthParametric 3,777]

It's not quite as simple as that with unique body models. There's no way to get Bandon's outfit as a standard armour/robe item unless you replace one of the existing player body models. The most common approach is to replace the Revan/Starforge robes model, PMBJ, seeing as it is only used for those 2 items. Otherwise you have to go the Disguise route, but the problem with that for body models that don't include a helmet/head covering that you either won't have a head, or you'll have someone else's head. Unless you do something like I did with the Jolee robes mode for TSL and create a separate appearance.2da entry and item for every single player head.

[Chev 13]

What I was going to try to do was take the Bandon model, take off the head and make it a wearable item.

[DarthParametric 3,777]

It doesn't have a head. It's just a body model. And as I said, you'd have to replace an existing player body model if you want to use it as a regular item. You can't add new models outside of disguises.

[Chev 13]

It doesn't have a head. It's just a body model. And as I said, you'd have to replace an existing player body model if you want to use it as a regular item. You can't add new models outside of disguises.

...Darn. That seems a little beyond my abilities. I was barely able to figure out how to modify the UTI files. How would I replace an existing body model?

[DarthParametric 3,777]

You'd need to rename the model to the same name as whatever body model you wanted to replace, and/or edit the appropriate entries in appearance.2da. As I mentioned earlier, the Revan/Starforge robes model (PMBJ) is a popular choice as it is the least used body model. You might want to look into some tutorials on how body models are controlled. Here are a couple to get you started:

 

http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=148638

 

http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=204740

[Chev 13]

Alright, after more than a few attempts at working with a different model, it appears I have much to learn yet.

 

EDIT: I'm done. The KOTOR tool i downloaded can't update so I'm done.

[Fair Strides 509]

Alright, after more than a few attempts at working with a different model, it appears I have much to learn yet.

 

EDIT: I'm done. The KOTOR tool i downloaded can't update so I'm done.

The KotOR Tool can't update because the website it checks doesn't exist any more and the KotOR Tool itself is no longer updated. I suggest turning off the option to always check for updates.

 

You're giving up too soon. Some things just aren't possible to mod, and that's a fact with any game. Darth Bandon's armor is possible to wear, just not the way you originally thought it would be. Darth Parametric told you how it could be done and even told you of a mod he made that you could reference to figure out how to do what he did.

[Chev 13]

The KotOR Tool can't update because the website it checks doesn't exist any more and the KotOR Tool itself is no longer updated. I suggest turning off the option to always check for updates.

 

You're giving up too soon. Some things just aren't possible to mod, and that's a fact with any game. Darth Bandon's armor is possible to wear, just not the way you originally thought it would be. Darth Parametric told you how it could be done and even told you of a mod he made that you could reference to figure out how to do what he did.

The big issue for me is that I'm not understanding the majority of what is being said. UTI editing I understand, that I'm able to do. The rest just doesn't make any sense to me.

[Fair Strides 509]

2DA-editing is editing a .2da file, which is much like a spreadsheet. Information is arranged in rows and columns, though we can't add columns ourselves. When you edit a part of a .2da file, you need to click on another area before saving for KotOR Tool to recognize changes.

 

The game uses appearance.2da by having each character/creature reference a row from the appearance.2da. Each row has a variety of model and texture columns, and when an armor is equipped into the chest slot, that armor's item type will reference which model and texture column from the appearance.2da to use. This is why each armor type uses the same model but will use different textures.

 

When Darth Parametric was talking about replacing the models, he was meaning to figure out which model Darth Bandon uses for his body, extracting the .mdl and .mdx files of that name (found in KotOR->BIFs->models.bif most likely, or else items.bif or player.bif; Aurora Model is for .mdl and Aurora Model Extension is for .mdx) to your Override folder and rename both files to whatever model you're replacing.

 

At that point, you'd do the same for the texture for Darth Bandon's armor and then rename it to whatever the texture is for the model you're replacing.

 

I will warn you of three things:

 

1. You will need to do everything twice to account for male and female.

2. Male textures and models "pmb" at the start of their names, and females have "pfb" at the start of their names. This is for bodies. Heads are "pmh" and "pfh".

3. You will need to copy and rename the texture (both male and female) of Darth Bandon's armor for all of the texture variations used by the game (you should be able to count them once you find the texture the replaced models use in the ERFs->Textures Packs->swpc_tex_pack_a.erf->P section.

[Chev 13]

 

When Darth Parametric was talking about replacing the models, he was meaning to figure out which model Darth Bandon uses for his body, extracting the .mdl and .mdx files of that name (found in KotOR->BIFs->models.bif most likely, or else items.bif or player.bif; Aurora Model is for .mdl and Aurora Model Extension is for .mdx) to your Override folder and rename both files to whatever model you're replacing.

 

At that point, you'd do the same for the texture for Darth Bandon's armor and then rename it to whatever the texture is for the model you're replacing.

 

 

1. You will need to do everything twice to account for male and female.

2. Male textures and models "pmb" at the start of their names, and females have "pfb" at the start of their names. This is for bodies. Heads are "pmh" and "pfh".

3. You will need to copy and rename the texture (both male and female) of Darth Bandon's armor for all of the texture variations used by the game (you should be able to count them once you find the texture the replaced models use in the ERFs->Textures Packs->swpc_tex_pack_a.erf->P section.

Okay, I extracted the MDL and MDX file and I'm working on replacing the Star Forge armor with the new Bandon model. Just curious, how do I find out what model the Starforge robe is so I can replace it?

[Chev 13]

Sorry to bring this up again, but I'm still having trouble with this. I renamed the model files to darthband_h.PMBJM and darthband_h.PMBJM but I'm still not seeing a change at all.

 

EDIT: Figured out what I did wrong, but I'm still having problems. I don't know what columns to edit in the appearance 2da. I did try and my character turned into a creature.

[Kexikus 994]

Sorry to bring this up again, but I'm still having trouble with this. I renamed the model files to darthband_h.PMBJM and darthband_h.PMBJM but I'm still not seeing a change at all.

 

EDIT: Figured out what I did wrong, but I'm still having problems. I don't know what columns to edit in the appearance 2da. I did try and my character turned into a creature.

 

You said you figured it out, but just for the record: You changed the file ending while you had to change the file name, i.e. darthband_h.mdl to PMBJM.mdl.

If you did that, you should actually be able to see them ingame already without 2da editing by simply giving your character the Starforge robe (not sure if the dark or light side one though).

 

One thing that seems a little odd is the model name however. Are you sure that's the body model for Darth Bandon and not the head? I'm asking because of the _h at the end.

[Chev 13]

You said you figured it out, but just for the record: You changed the file ending while you had to change the file name, i.e. darthband_h.mdl to PMBJM.mdl.

If you did that, you should actually be able to see them ingame already without 2da editing by simply giving your character the Starforge robe (not sure if the dark or light side one though).

 

One thing that seems a little odd is the model name however. Are you sure that's the body model for Darth Bandon and not the head? I'm asking because of the _h at the end.

I'm attempting to replace the Light side robe. And I'm not seeing any change in the model of the robe yet. I thought it was the body model but I could be wrong. I can post a screen shot of what I have so far.

[DarthParametric 3,777]

If you are editing appearance.2da the model and texture entries should both be N_DarthBand. The columns are modelj and texj. You'll need to do it for every row of P_MAL_X_XXX_XX, unless you know which specific body you are using.

[Chev 13]

Excellent news on the modding front! I managed to get the armor to show up on a male character and I'm starting on the female characters now. I just have one more question if I may ask.

 

1. How do I turn this into it's own separate armor? I'd like to put it in as Darth Bandon's Armor as the code to get it rather than g_a_mstrrobe06

 

I'm thinking of doing a mod that gives the armor the sith governor wears during the encounter on Taris. Would I have to follow the same steps that I did for the Bandon armor?

 

I really want to thank DarthParametric, Fair Strides and Kexikus for all the help they gave me and for putting up with my modding Illiteracy

[DarthParametric 3,777]

You need to edit the UTI for the item and change the appearance.

 

Remember that as I said previously, body models are shared. So if you replaced body type J then the Revan and Starforge robes will also use the Bandon model. You do not want to try and replace the standard robes model, as there is only one in K1. Unless you want every single Jedi running around in Bandon's outfit.

 

Additionally, Bandon's model is male, so I'm not sure I'd be using it for female PCs.