[KOTOR] Achievements Mod Using Journal

[mrfarenhiet 4]

Hi folks.

 

As we all know, The Sith Lords got an update a while back that implemented several fixes along with achievements. Browsing this forum and others, it's quite apparent that most fans would love to see the same sort of update for the original game. Due to whatever legal hold up, this doesn't appear to be in the immediate future. Which got me thinking...would it be possible to implement achievements in-game using the journal system? Like normal achievements, they would be tied to events and accomplishments in game. Instead of a pop-up, however, you would receive a special journal update. It would be interesting if you could implement some sort of in game bonus upon the completion of certain achievements, similar to the original Mass Effect. Obviously, an additional screen within the journal just for achievements would be ideal. I'm not well versed on the intricacies of modding this fine game yet, so I have no idea if this would be possible.

 

Beyond the obvious level and milestone based, what achievements would you like to see if this idea were implemented?

[Kexikus 995]

It'd definetly be possible to add some kind of achievements by simply using journal entries. Those would just have to be added to global.jrl and then you need to run scripts in the proper situations or edit dialog files to give these journal entries/achievements. In game bonus effects could be implemented with the very same scripts that also give the achievements so that wouldn't be an issue either.

 

The problem is however that all of those achievements would appear right next to the journal entries and AFAIK it's not possible to create new GUI screens. But if that doesn't bother you, you could make that mod happen

[mrfarenhiet 4]

It'd definetly be possible to add some kind of achievements by simply using journal entries. Those would just have to be added to global.jrl and then you need to run scripts in the proper situations or edit dialog files to give these journal entries/achievements. In game bonus effects could be implemented with the very same scripts that also give the achievements so that wouldn't be an issue either.

 

The problem is however that all of those achievements would appear right next to the journal entries and AFAIK it's not possible to create new GUI screens. But if that doesn't bother you, you could make that mod happen

Awesome! Thanks for the reply. It's good to know it's at least possible. Any idea how you could distinguish the achievement entries without a separate screen? Perhaps a different format for the entry text or background? As an alternative, It would be interesting to perhaps create a terminal on the Ebon Hawk where you could view acquired achievements and their respective bonuses...or maybe a hybrid of the two ideas. Maybe use the journal for the popup and general "You have earned an achievement," message, but store most of the info in the terminal.

[Kexikus 995]

The only way to distinguish them in the journal screen would be to call them "Achievement: Title" instead of just "Title". The Ebon Hawk terminal would also be possible with a simple computer dialog, but since you have journal entries anyway you could simply use those to describe the achievement and the bonuses.

[mrfarenhiet 4]

Gotcha. On a related note, do you know if there's a way to implement a new game plus mode? I think this would go along well with that, particularly with the bonuses. It would be a great way to experience the Impossible difficulty added by Kotor Restoration.

[LewsTherinTelescope 18]

I can try and list as many achievements as I can from the mobile versions, if you like. Some won't really work, like the achievements for each ending, but some, like recruiting each character, would work. Let me know if you want the list.

 

Is there a way to add to a journal entry without overwriting previous parts? If so, you could just have one huge achievements entry. Or maybe it could be some sort of item that, when used, checks some sort of database added in that records achievements, and then output the list as entries in the conversation log. This way, you could keep achievements from game to game. If it is possible to use a custom 2da, that could work.

[Kexikus 995]

Gotcha. On a related note, do you know if there's a way to implement a new game plus mode? I think this would go along well with that, particularly with the bonuses. It would be a great way to experience the Impossible difficulty added by Kotor Restoration.

 

It could be possible by writing one giant script that resets all the globals, journal entries, party members, modules etc. and also scales up the enemies before teleporting you back to the Endar Spire. However that would be a tremendous amount of work.

 

I can try and list as many achievements as I can from the mobile versions, if you like. Some won't really work, like the achievements for each ending, but some, like recruiting each character, would work. Let me know if you want the list.

 

Is there a way to add to a journal entry without overwriting previous parts? If so, you could just have one huge achievements entry. Or maybe it could be some sort of item that, when used, checks some sort of database added in that records achievements, and then output the list as entries in the conversation log. This way, you could keep achievements from game to game. If it is possible to use a custom 2da, that could work.

 

No, there's no way to expand a journal entry that way. You'd have to make one possible entry for every combination of unlocked achievements and then use a script to display the correct one depending on the unlocked achievements, which would get very inefficient once you have more than a few achievements.

Displaying the achievements in a conversation log would be entirely possible even without a new database as you'd just have to add a boolean global for every achievement and then display each line of text depending on whether or not that boolean is set to TRUE. Using an external database for that is not possible AFAIK since you can't store information anywhere except for savegames and you can't access these savegames from a new game.

[Fair Strides 509]

@Kexikus: There is a way using Custom Tokens, but you'd be continually removing and re-adding the journal entry to update the custom token.

[Sith Holocron 2,478]

Well . .. I suppose a fun thing one could do is be able to have achievements for other larger scale mods.  For example, Brotherhood of Shadows: Solomon's Revenge and M4-78 Enhancement Project.

[LewsTherinTelescope 18]

No, there's no way to expand a journal entry that way. You'd have to make one possible entry for every combination of unlocked achievements and then use a script to display the correct one depending on the unlocked achievements, which would get very inefficient once you have more than a few achievements.

Displaying the achievements in a conversation log would be entirely possible even without a new database as you'd just have to add a boolean global for every achievement and then display each line of text depending on whether or not that boolean is set to TRUE. Using an external database for that is not possible AFAIK since you can't store information anywhere except for savegames and you can't access these savegames from a new game.

Yeah, that sounds hard ☺. Well, thanks for the answer, I'm not a modder so I don't know what can and can't be done. Would there be a way to keep some achievements from one game to the next? Maybe some booleans that don't get reset? If so, it could be cool to have achievements like 100% light side game or something.