Modding KOTOR 2 on MacBook Pro

[Saber14 1]

Hello everyone,

 

This is my first post so I apologize in advance if this question has already been answered. Although it seems like I have searched everywhere without still finding my answer.

 

For starters, I'm running a 2014 MacBook Pro.I have purchased Kotor 2 through steam and I'm very interested in applying as many mods as possible. From what I have read so far, seems as if TSLRCM is a must. I would also like to run M4-78EP and maybe a few more mods which bring in new content (Jedi temple/Jedi enclave and so on). I would also love to set up the widescreen UI if at all possible.

 

Now from what I've seen so far, we are only able to subscribe to 5 mods on steam max or else the game will crash. I know that other mods can be installed manually but that's where I'm stuck. I read and watched countless forums and videos but nothing seems to be specific enough. What I mean by this is: the people who create these often won't included the specific steps required to move forward. I tried installing wineskin which was recommended but it skipped things like: what version, what engine, what it should look like and so on. (This is my first time doing something like this so every basic step is important)

 

It has been a few weeks since I've purchased the game but I refuse to play it without adding some mods. Which bring me to my two questions:

 

For mac users out there, are you able to simply just subscribe to at least TSLRCM 1.8.5, M4-78EP, and the widescreen UI on steam? Or can I manually install them without the use of anything like wineskin.

 

And....

 

Will all three of those mods be compatible together?

 

Thanks in advance.

[superSzym 155]

From what I know, it doesn't matter how many mods will you subscribe to, but most content-adding mods except TSLRCM and M4-78EP which are designed to work together have to be installed manually into the TSLRCM directory. I think it doesn't matter for the Widescreen UI. Why would you like to use the last mod? The Steam Version has Aspyr's update, which adds widescreen, enabled by default.

[Saber14 1]

Thanks for the advice!

 

So this is what I would like to know now:

 

Do I Subscribe to both TSLRCM and M4-78EP on steam then do I limit myself to just 3 more mod subscriptions on steam or is there a way to add other mods onto my MacBook Pro without the use of wineskin or similar programs?

 

My apologies if this seems confusing,

Thanks.

[superSzym 155]

Why would you limit yourself to five mods? I don't know about such a thing that would make your game crash if you have more. And why would you want to use some WineSkin things? Most of the mods don't use .exe installers except TSLRCM and M4-78EP, which you would install by subscribing to them and mods that use TSLPatcher to patch your game files (you'll only need it when they change something else than textures - .tga, models - .mdl and mdx, always files of both formats, as these are always overrides and scripts - .ncs, as they currently cannot be patched), and these do only content mods that affect existing pieces of the game like most of, but not all quest mods, NPC edits (not necessarily adding NPCs, as that can be handled by scripts) and item changes (again, such edits mostly aren't required for creating new items). Simpler mods do not require you to use the .exe to install them, you just open the .zip (I think that to open compressed folders you don't need an emulator, 7Zip should be available for Mac) and drop the files to a folder you are told to in the ReadMe (usually the Override).

[Effix 532]

The 5 mod limit is a myth. Conflicting mods is not.

[TotalRuler1 2]

Trying to re-start this discussion:

MBP 2011, 10.13.6 High Sierra

Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MBA, MD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB

I purchased TSL from Steam and I will try installing TSLRCM and use the instructions here to drop in the mods that don't require an .exe

 

[Thor110 501]

It could be possible to install a mod to an empty folder by deleting the game directory and leaving perhaps the .exe and registry entry in order to extract the necessary contents for any mods that use an installer, to allow for their use on Mac, but this is just a thought.

I believe most TSLPatcher mod installations have the relevant files sat next to them, so for most mods this would be easy, but TSLRCM & M478EP are packed into .exe's so would require some form of work around, my thoughts were to install with just a registry entry on a windows machine and perhaps the swkotor2.exe to get the relevant files from the mods without having to individually figure out what is new and or has been edited, but it is also possible the .exe install may require access to files that might be modified, though I doubt it I know that the TSLPatcher is capable or combining mods that edit 2DA files or from what I have read anyway, from there somebody could upload the base files for Mac users.

[TotalRuler1 2]

Separate question about installing content from Steam -  Snigaroo warns against installing things from the Steam Workshop, but isn't that what "subscribing" to them is?

[Thor110 501]

I believe that is what subscribing to them is on Steam, though I am not sure I was reading about steam workshop mods the other day and it did say just to subscribe in order to access the mod, so I believe this is the case.

Being that I haven't actually used the Steam Workshop for anything yet, I cannot say for sure.

I would also imagine some steam workshop content would not be mac compatible, but I would expect it to be listed on the content.

[Guest Qui-Gon Glenn]

The Workshop simply doesn't work correctly for our games; that is the issue. It makes a new folder for each mod, each with their own hidden override. The engine can't digest that... And it opens up all other sorts of issues.

Subscribe to just TSLRCM. Install everything else old-fashioned. That's the way to best results. Without a windows emulator to run the TSLPatcher, not sure how this is accomplished on Mac.

[TotalRuler1 2]

Without a windows emulator to run the TSLPatcher, not sure how this is accomplished on Mac.

Can you point me to a clear tutorial on how to use wineskin to run the emulator version of this game on mac? I can't find clear step by step Mac instructions. Thank you!

[Guest Qui-Gon Glenn]

I would think that if the game will run natively on Mac OS, you should run it natively in Mac OS for best results. However, you could use wine to install TSLpatcher mods if running an .exe is the issue there.

I am not the one to ask about Mac OS unfortunately.

[JediArchivist 70]

Or you could just use BootCamp and dual boot Windows on that Macbook Pro 

If you have access to a Windows PC, you could easily extract a TSLPatcher mod (without having to figure out what file from the tslpatchdata folder goes to which game folder), by simply creating a new folder (could be on Desktop or anywhere else), with the name of the mod for example, then copy the dialog.tlk file from either K1 or K2 (doesn't matter which, TSLPatcher just uses it to verify KOTOR is at that location) into the newly created folder, then inside the folder create another folder called override. This will trick TSLPatcher to think there is a full version of KOTOR installed in that folder!

It should look like this: Desktop --> Mod Folder --> override & dialog.tlk

Then just run the TSLPatcher installer for the mod, and when asking for KOTOR location, just point it to the folder you made and prepared earlier!

Wait for it to install, and you just got yourself a manual installable copy of the mod that you can just copy on a USB drive or HDD and plug into your MacBook, then copy the files to your KOTOR folder there! Simple, right?

*I have not tested, but this could work to trick the installers of TSLRCM and M4-78EP to create a manuall install as well!

[Guest Qui-Gon Glenn]

^ that might work for one mod. Maybe. Install another mod, and the old one is broke and who knows about the new one.

[LiliArch 115]

10 hours ago, JediArchivist said:

then copy the dialog.tlk file from either K1 or K2 (doesn't matter which, TSLPatcher just uses it to verify KOTOR is at that location)

Yeah, no. While that may be true for most cases, you can’t set that as a general rule. Some TSLPatcher installations actually need the file, since they add lines in it and use them in the mod. So unless you want a broken install, use correct dialog.tlk.

[JediArchivist 70]

15 hours ago, LiliArch said:

Yeah, no. While that may be true for most cases, you can’t set that as a general rule. Some TSLPatcher installations actually need the file, since they add lines in it and use them in the mod. So unless you want a broken install, use correct dialog.tlk.

TSLParcher does not alter the original dialog.tlk file, or any other files from Kotor like .2da, etc. for that matter. It actually drops modified copies of the files it alters into the override folder, leaving the original files intact.

If it modifies the dialog.tlk file it finds in your Kotor folder on spot, or it just installs a pre-modified version of the file made by the modder, i do not know so far.

 

My described method is far from perfect, as mods that alter the same file would just overwrite eachother's files, and that could cause trouble... That is what TSLPatcher is used for after all, to prevent mod conflicts by just injecting modded parameters in copies of the game's .2da, tlk and other files insted of copying the whole file over and over for each mod.

[Guest Qui-Gon Glenn]

Patently false.

Digital copies are identical. Yes, a copy of the unedited .tlk is made into a backup. However, that leaves the original file, to be edited.

How could anything modifying the .tlk work properly if it wasn't actually modifying the file? This makes no sense.

Semantics at play here? Probably, but I am a stickler for such things. Also, I don't want misinformation about this topic resulting from the direction of the thread.

The work that TLKEd does is more complicated than simple injection or appending. It compares and edits by line.

The biggest problem in your "method" is that GFF files can't be edited using it. That breaks every major mod in existence that edits modules rather than dumping everything in override.

In short, and I hate to be this guy.... But you are out of your element and that's all there is to it.

All that negativity, let me finish with a bright spot - Wine apparently has just had a major update enabling DX12 support, Vulcan, etc...

It is enough to make me seriously consider Linux.

[JCarter426 1,215]

On 1/25/2019 at 7:53 PM, JediArchivist said:

TSLParcher does not alter the original dialog.tlk file, or any other files from Kotor like .2da, etc. for that matter. It actually drops modified copies of the files it alters into the override folder, leaving the original files intact.

That's not the case for dialog.tlk. The difference is that the "original" 2DA files are not kept in Override. They're archived elsewhere (global.rim for K1 and 2da.bif for K2) so it's generally safe to modify them and if you delete any from Override, you won't be deleting the original. The game has a load priority so it loads from Override before looking through the other archives for 2DA files. But dialog.tlk is only ever installed directly to the main directory (SWKotOR or SWKotOR2) and this is indeed the original and only copy of the file, unless you make a backup.

[zendiagram 10]

Hey real late to the party but I also play KOTOR 2 on mac and have a ton of mods downloaded both through workshop and downloaded off of deadlystream, nexus, and gamefront. Using a wineskin has always been a big hassle and buggy for me (Especially since I'm terrible with computers in general), so mods that use TSL Patcher are out of the question, which sucks because there are some phenomenal mod authors who use that program for their mods. In regards to download mods off the internet, you want simpler mods that can be dropped right in your game's override folder. That means armors, reskins, weapons, and head SKINS (Nothing that really adds any models or adds new heads generally) should all be good. More complicated mods that run scripts in game can be a real issue or downright impossible without a wineskin on MAC, so your options are limited sadly. That being said, I am an newbie at best so I'm speaking from personal experience exclusively and not from a seat of knowledge or modding experience. If you have any questions PM me and I can send you my mods list that I have downloaded and hopefully help you out!

[Soka 6]

On 3/22/2019 at 5:42 PM, zendiagram said:

Hey real late to the party but I also play KOTOR 2 on mac and have a ton of mods downloaded both through workshop and downloaded off of deadlystream, nexus, and gamefront. Using a wineskin has always been a big hassle and buggy for me (Especially since I'm terrible with computers in general), so mods that use TSL Patcher are out of the question, which sucks because there are some phenomenal mod authors who use that program for their mods. In regards to download mods off the internet, you want simpler mods that can be dropped right in your game's override folder. That means armors, reskins, weapons, and head SKINS (Nothing that really adds any models or adds new heads generally) should all be good. More complicated mods that run scripts in game can be a real issue or downright impossible without a wineskin on MAC, so your options are limited sadly. That being said, I am an newbie at best so I'm speaking from personal experience exclusively and not from a seat of knowledge or modding experience. If you have any questions PM me and I can send you my mods list that I have downloaded and hopefully help you out!

Hi! I play both Kotor games on my MacBook and I am able to install mods that use tslpatcher with ease, using winebottler, despite being terrible with computers, and relatively new to my MacBook. I can pm you how I do my whole process (in depth plus screenshots) for using tslpatcher if you like because it took me a lot of figuring out and research to be able to get it right, and I'd be happy to help and explain for someone else, and it sucks that you would have to miss out on some amazing mods that use the tslpatcher. I'd be happy to do this for anyone else as well, who has issues using tslpatcher mods on Mac. 

I do however only use the steam workshop version of TSLRCM. Everything else I drop into steam workshop's tslrcm override folder. I'm not sure if having multiple steam workshop installs is the issue with tlspatcher not working - I could imagine though that it is an issue, that the patcher has to sort through multiple override folders. And I'm soon going to do a clean reinstall of my Kotor 2, to use the installer version of tslrcm, just to be safe with mods I download using tslpatcher (though I have downloaded and tested tslpatcher mods using my current mod setup so I know as long as you have only one workshop override it definitely works). 

Edited April 7, 2019 by Soka
Removed part referring to mod files not working as I have since figured out the problem and that .mod files DO work on Mac

[TotalRuler1 2]

@Soka Thanks very much for your offer to provide a few screenshots, I'll PM you for those!

@zendiagram also thanks for posting, I appreciate any help from Mac users on how to spice things up a bit.

I am currently in the middle? of a light-side playthrough using the M4-78 version of the TSLRCM 1.8.5 that I subscribed to from the Steam store. Other than that I did not bother subscribing to mods because I did not want to mess up this playthrough. I am using the Steam store because I couldn't wrap my brain around how wineskin works and having to set up an entire windows environment, that's not really a full env to run the game on my older machine seems like it is going to be buggy no matter what.

Ii will begin experiementing with dropping in some smaller mods directly into the app folder and see how it goes.