[TSL] High Quality Blasters (For real this time)

[Sithspecter 909]

 

I'm finally getting around to the TSL conversion. It's mostly complete now, just have to do some packaging and installer work now, plus a bit of testing.

 

Changes this time around are small, but noteworthy. Several weapon variants have a carbine option (heavy repeaters, light repeaters, sonic rifles, ion rifles, disruptor rifles). These carbine versions feature shorter models with scopes removed. Ion blasters and some sonic pistols now have scopes. I was considering giving every weapon that had the option for a scope upgrade a scope, but this all but eliminated any unscoped weapons. I felt that it was too big a change to make to a lot of the weapons, so the rest remain the same.

 

Also, question for you TSL aficionados, what modules contain weapon models as part of the area? I'll need to make some minor adjustments to them.

[Jango32 23]

I believe Khoonda? I remember there being some weapon models on display in the rodian's shop there. 

[jc2 581]

This is awesome! I'm so glad you got around to doing this. I'm looking forward to this being released ^^

[Sithspecter 909]

I believe Khoonda? I remember there being some weapon models on display in the rodian's shop there. 

 

Thanks, I'll check there.

 

Also, is it just me, or is the hand-to-weapon placement horrendous in TSL? The off hand blasters seem to look especially out of place.

[Revanator 60]

Also, is it just me, or is the hand-to-weapon placement horrendous in TSL? The off hand blasters seem to look especially out of place.

It's not just you. The offhand blaster is notoriously off. It's not bad with a melee weapon though.

[Kexikus 995]

So these are all TSL blasters now? Or just the ones that were taken from K1?

[Malkior 476]

It's not just you. The offhand blaster is notoriously off. It's not bad with a melee weapon though.

I was about to say the same thing. I had assumed that this was due to some sort of modeling issue (Or rigging) that forced Obsidian to leave them as badly as we see.

 

Also, the melee are alright with an exception of the vibroblades. The blade model hilt is slightly wedged inside of the hand if you look closely at it.

[Sithspecter 909]

So these are all TSL blasters now? Or just the ones that were taken from K1?

 

Well, 90% of TSL blasters are just the ones taken from K1. There are a few differences, and I've addressed those.

 

And to clarify, the TSL blasters will all still be named the same as they were. The models were all from K1 though, and I've done mostly a direct port with edits in necessary places.

[Haveayap 127]

It's not just you. The offhand blaster is notoriously off. It's not bad with a melee weapon though.

The issues can be semi fixed... but the way to fix them goes against deadlysteam and lucasarts policies so...

[Sithspecter 909]

The issues can be semi fixed... but the way to fix them goes against deadlysteam and lucasarts policies so...

 

I fail to see how you can fix what seems to be a rigging issue with an .exe change?

[Haveayap 127]

I fail to see how you can fix what seems to be a rigging issue with an .exe change?

Cant discuss on here... Its against deadlysteam policies, and it only semi fixes (its very unstable)... One of my mates showed me

[Sith Holocron 2,480]

Cant discuss on here... Its against deadlysteam policies, and it only semi fixes

Please feel free to discuss it in PMs then.

[Zhaboka 91]

Very excited for this! Playing the K1 version for the first time right now and I'm VERY impressed.

[Kexikus 995]

Well, 90% of TSL blasters are just the ones taken from K1. There are a few differences, and I've addressed those.

 

And to clarify, the TSL blasters will all still be named the same as they were. The models were all from K1 though, and I've done mostly a direct port with edits in necessary places.

 

Awesome

 

I was just asking because I remember you saying that you might make a TSL port that won't include all available TSL blasters. But maybe I just remember that wrong^^

[milestails 264]

Another area of need addressed! Thanks SS.

[SetJudgment 6]

These are gorgeous. Love the KoTOR mod as well. Hoping we will get an armor pack one day also. Same with melee weapons. Keep up the amazing art. This is art not just a simple mod.

[Sithspecter 909]

Unfortunately it's going to take probably another week to polish this. I was hoping for a quicker release, but I'm re-evaluating the weapon/hand placement and it will take some time to go through all the models and get the placement right. But, the end result will hopefully be better than the placement of the originals.

[Sith Holocron 2,480]

Thanks for putting in the extra work. The devil is in the details.

[HK-47 84]

Exclamation: Sweet! I look forward to this when it's done.

 

Recollection: If I remember right, I didn't get the K1 versions because it conflicted in some small way with the Weapon Model Overhaul mod, and I didn't feel like taking the time to make them compatible.

 

Assurance: I will definitely get it for K2.

[Sithspecter 909]

Recollection: If I remember right, I didn't get the K1 versions because it conflicted in some small way with the Weapon Model Overhaul mod, and I didn't feel like taking the time to make them compatible.

 

The K1 version doesn't conflict. It works fine if you install WMO, then HQB over it. I also hope to do the blades eventually, rendering WMO obsolete altogether.

[HK-47 84]

The K1 version doesn't conflict. It works fine if you install WMO, then HQB over it. I also hope to do the blades eventually, rendering WMO obsolete altogether.

Clarification: By "conflict" I meant some textures or models in WMO were overridden by HQB.

 

Query: Is that not the case, or did I misread a note about it somewhere?

[Sithspecter 909]

Clarification: By "conflict" I meant some textures or models in WMO were overridden by HQB.

 

Query: Is that not the case, or did I misread a note about it somewhere?

 

Well, that's the point. All the blaster textures and models in WMO are overridden by HQB. But you still get the improved melee weapons.

[SetJudgment 6]

So I read you'd like to do the melee weapons and I can't wait for that. But would you ever consider redoing the armor? I get a lot of work gets put into this and time can be a factor but I'm just curious.

[Sithspecter 909]

What I'd consider doing and what actually happens haven't always been the same...

 

Admittedly, I'd like to redo the armors, but there are a number of problems that set it in an entirely different league than any sort of weapon. I'll outline those here. The first real question is re-model with new textures, or re-texture the old models? This is a tough question, because each has its particular downsides.

 

Remodel AND Retexture

 

A remodel and a retexture might be the easier way to go, but it would likely require more work. I'd have to model all the armors/clothing/robes from scratch. Body and clothing models are already different and much more fluid than blaster or melee weapon models. The other issue is character rigging. For body models, the model has to be rigged and weighted against "bones" that make up the animation. This is a fairly difficult task that requires significant testing to ensure clean animation of the model. Improper rigging can have very bad and immersion breaking results, especially around the joints of the body. Unfortunately, I don't have any rigging experience, making it a new skill I would have to learn from scratch.

 

The upside is that I could UV map the male and female models to use the same texture. In the default game, each has a separate and very different texture that is applied differently to the male and female. This would present half the texturing work required by a straight retexture. Additionally, the remodel would allow me more flexibility with the UV and texture work and could make things easier on the texturing end.

 

Retexture of Existing Models

 

This would definitely be the straightforward way to go. I wouldn't have to mess with the models much, but it does present some challenges. I'd either have to edit all the UV maps for female models (which I have looked into, and it gets fairly complicated) or have to painstakingly reproduce every texture in two forms (also difficult).

 

Fortunately, this method would leave the rigging intact. There would be less troubleshooting or problems, and it would eliminate having to learn an entirely new skill.

 

 

Ultimately, the best course of action would likely be to bite the bullet and edit all the female models to accept the male textures. There wouldn't be higher quality models, but as I always say, "Good textures save poor models better than good models save poor textures." They would probably still be up to par with the blasters, and would still blend in nicely.

 

But, after that, I'd probably get roped into doing the rest of the NPCs, etc. At some point you're starting to have a brand new game on your hands.

[SetJudgment 6]

Well thanks for the well thought out reply. I learned a lot. I have no skills with making mods. I'm a fashion designer and an artist. I don't think drawing these on paper helps much with the game. lol Also I love your Gizka!!!