JC's Saber Workshop

[JCarter426 1,215]

It's time to dust off something from the old lapsed mods bin. Some of you might know of my Saber Workshop mod for K2. It adds a saber workshop to the Ebon Hawk and lets you mess about with lightsabers so you aren't stuck with unwanted randomly-generated ones. A while back - almost two years ago, according to my records - I was working on a version for K1. I let it lapse because couldn't make up my mind about some things. I'm making this topic so I can ramble on about that and so anyone who wants can tell me what to do, either for that or for an update to the K2 version.

 

For the K1 version, here's what I know it should do:

• You can choose your lightsaber color when you first make your lightsaber. You don't have to pick the one that goes with your class.
• You can choose your lightsaber type when you first make your lightsaber, just as you can in K2.
• Five new lightsaber colors: cyan, orange, silver, viridian, and pink. In other words, all the colors available in K2. Plus pink. Because pink is rad.
• You can modify the color of the Heart of the Guardian and Mantle of the Force crystals, so you aren't stuck with a certain color because it has better stats. I haven't decided whether this would mean getting rid of the unique colors (they would respectively be replaced by orange and cyan) or if there would be a new version for each color. That's because each new color requires a new model and there's a limit of 255 total models. More on that problem later.
• You can change the lightsaber type, as you can in the K2 version of the saber workshop.
• Saber workshops can be found on Dantooine, Korriban, and on the Ebon Hawk.

Most of this is already implemented.

 

I was also thinking of adding new crystal types. Since K1 lacks the other upgrade types (energy cell, emitter matrix, lens) I was hoping to add more options through new crystals. These would be color crystals, like Heart of the Guardian and Mantle of the Force, that alter the saber's stats while still allowing for the placement of two power crystals. Although they would function as color crystals, they would be available in all the standard colors. I was working on four varieties:

• Unstable Crystal
• +1d6 electricity, -2 attack, -1 defense
  Glitchy blade effect like Kylo Ren's. I believe The Force Unleashed had them in a bunch of colors. This would add damage, but also have a penalty to attack and defense, as the blade is more difficult to control. I added it in red and I was considering the other colors - but again, the model limit comes into play. Still more on that later.
• Compressed Energy Crystal
  -1 damage, +2 attack, +1 defense, keen
  If I recall correctly, this one was also in The Force Unleashed. It gives the saber a narrower beam, which I intended to translate to a penalty to damage but a bonus to attack and defense, as well as the "keen" property that increases the critical threat range. However, I could find no way to reduce a weapon's damage without affecting all other weapons of the same type. There are ways around that, but I didn't like any of them. So I wasn't sure what to do. I could do it with one of the messier ways, or I could change the stats to something else. But there needed to be some negative to offset the bonus.
• Crystal Lens
  +1 energy, -2 attack, +2 blaster deflection
  This one was inspired by some of the lens upgrades in K2. This crystal gives the saber a wider beam but less wieldy beam, which makes it hurt more and helps with deflecting blasters, but comes with a penalty to attack.
• I was also thinking of adding more Force-attuned crystals like Heart of the Guardian and Mantle of the Force, though I never had any specific plans.

I also toyed with changing the lightsaber types a bit. This was the key area where I kept going back and forth on what I wanted to do...

• I wanted to add the longsaber - like Malak's. This would function as a two-handed weapon, like a greatsword in RPGs. In order to do this, however, I would have to replace the short lightsaber. That's due to the way the upgrade system works; you can only have three types in there. The base stats would be: 3d8 energy, critical 20-20 x3. It would receive the same bonus from the Dueling feats as standard lightsabers. And it could receive all the usual crystal upgrades, and the new ones.
• I considered retaining the short lightsaber, while losing the ability to upgrade it. That means no upgrades of any kind - none of the usual ones from the game, none of the new ones either. To offset this shortcoming, the short lightsaber would grant the Master Two-Weapon Fighting feat. However, you would only be able to use it in your off hand. Because if that weren't the case the game would let you use the small one in your main hand and the big one in your off hand and give you the same bonus, and that wouldn't make sense.
• I was also working on adding some other types, such as the dual-phase lightsaber. Any new types would not be upgradeable, however.

I also had more elaborate ideas for the long term and this is where that model limit I keep talking about comes into play. I'm not very good at 3D modeling, but I've been trying to learn, and I've thought about adding new hilts if I ever managed to make any decent ones. Maybe some modelers would be willing to donate models as well. I came up with a system for how I would implement them, given the limitations of the game's upgrade system.

• A lightsaber would be composed of five parts: crystal, hilt, energy cell, emitter matrix, and lens. Mechanically, in the standard game the crystal performs the role of both the crystal and the hilt in my system - in that whatever crystal you put into the saber determines what model it gets. That's the crux of the problem.
• The mod would add new hilt items. The workshop would let you put crystals into the hilts, or take them out, or whatever. In other words, you can change the hilt type and then proceed to upgrade it in the usual manner.
• Hilts could be found or made. For example, if you find a rancor tooth, perhaps you could make a rancor tooth hilt.
• The emitter matrix would determine the lightsaber type. There would be the standard type, which goes into all three upgradeable varieties. Then there would also be exotic ones such as dual-phase, crossguard, and curved. Depending on the models available, of course. Sabers made with exotic emitters could not be upgraded, due to the game limitations. This would possibly include the short lightsaber, if it were to be replaced by the longsaber in the upgrade system.
• The big issue here is that with 10 colors and up to 3 variations of those colors, 30 total, there can only be about 8 hilts per saber type. 12 hilts if one style is dropped, 24 if two. There's a little wiggle room but not much. I don't know what if any hilt models will be added with this mod, so I could just use all the space I want for colors, but then it wouldn't be compatible with any hilt mods.

So the point of all this is I don't know what's the best idea, what someone using the mod would actually want. I'm looking for any general input, but more specifically:

• Do people feel strongly about the short lightsaber? Either way - retaining it or replacing it with something else?
• Is the longsaber worth adding? Even if it means getting rid of something else?
• Are the new color options worth having at the expense of hilt options, or should extra room for hilts be prioritized?

[Domino5555 119]

Love this idea, dude.

[Kexikus 995]

 

I also had more elaborate ideas for the long term and this is where that model limit I keep talking about comes into play. I'm not very good at 3D modeling, but I've been trying to learn, and I've thought about adding new hilts if I ever managed to make any decent ones. Maybe some modelers would be willing to donate models as well. I came up with a system for how I would implement them, given the limitations of the game's upgrade system.

• A lightsaber would be composed of five parts: crystal, hilt, energy cell, emitter matrix, and lens. Mechanically, in the standard game the crystal performs the role of both the crystal and the hilt in my system - in that whatever crystal you put into the saber determines what model it gets. That's the crux of the problem.
• The mod would add new hilt items. The workshop would let you put crystals into the hilts, or take them out, or whatever. In other words, you can change the hilt type and then proceed to upgrade it in the usual manner.
• Hilts could be found or made. For example, if you find a rancor tooth, perhaps you could make a rancor tooth hilt.
• The emitter matrix would determine the lightsaber type. There would be the standard type, which goes into all three upgradeable varieties. Then there would also be exotic ones such as dual-phase, crossguard, and curved. Depending on the models available, of course. Sabers made with exotic emitters could not be upgraded, due to the game limitations. This would possibly include the short lightsaber, if it were to be replaced by the longsaber in the upgrade system.
• The big issue here is that with 10 colors and up to 3 variations of those colors, 30 total, there can only be about 8 hilts per saber type. 12 hilts if one style is dropped, 24 if two. There's a little wiggle room but not much. I don't know what if any hilt models will be added with this mod, so I could just use all the space I want for colors, but then it wouldn't be compatible with any hilt mods.

So the point of all this is I don't know what's the best idea, what someone using the mod would actually want. I'm looking for any general input, but more specifically:

• Do people feel strongly about the short lightsaber? Either way - retaining it or replacing it with something else?
• Is the longsaber worth adding? Even if it means getting rid of something else?
• Are the new color options worth having at the expense of hilt options, or should extra room for hilts be prioritized?

 

I'd love to see that part implemented. I even intended to do so myself two years back but in the end I decided that using this would just be too impractical without a proper new GUI. I do think that the special hilts are only really needed for the "standard type" sabers, i.e. normal, double and short (and long, although I have to admit that I don't see the point of that one). Others, like the crossguard sabers could do with just one hilt just like in Sithspecters mod.

 

In any case, the most important question is this: How do you actually use these ingame if there's no GUI for it? With a dialog system? Will that work in a way that's not too annoying to use?

 

[JCarter426 1,215]

I'd love to see that part implemented. I even intended to do so myself two years back but in the end I decided that using this would just be too impractical without a proper new GUI. I do think that the special hilts are only really needed for the "standard type" sabers, i.e. normal, double and short [...] Others, like the crossguard sabers could do with just one hilt just like in Sithspecters mod.

I'd be fine with that myself - personally, I would prefer:

• Custom hilts for notable sabers (e.g. Bastila's, Jolee's, Juhani's, the Korriban tomb ones... I think there was a thread dedicated to this topic a while back). These needn't be upgradeable, so they wouldn't be taking up dozens of model slots.
• Stylized sabers like the rancor tooth example, maybe an electrum one, stuff like that. Just a little variety. And with context - like this hilt style is good for this thing or you found this unique crafting material and made a hilt from it. There's a little story for where it came from in the game.
• A new hilt for each distinct type of lightsaber (double, short, long, curved, crossguard, whatever).

That's just what I would look for as a player. Coincidentally, since I'm not a very good modeler then reducing the amount of required models sounds like a good idea. But historically, what people have expected in lightsaber mods is for every conceivable lightsaber hilt that has ever existed. And I can say right now that not only will my mod not deliver that, but it'll likely be incompatible with any mod that does. That's why I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, I could deliver that would be able to compete with that. It's good to hear at least two of you seem to think some of this is a good idea so far, anyway.

 

In any case, the most important question is this: How do you actually use these ingame if there's no GUI for it? With a dialog system? Will that work in a way that's not too annoying to use?

 

You put a saber into a placeable and then use a computer terminal to disassemble it. It destroys any sabers in the placeable's inventory and then spawns in the corresponding part items, and adds them to your inventory. One script does all that automatically. To make a saber, you trigger the same computer terminal dialogue and you can choose what saber type to make and the color, based on what crystals you have in your inventory. I don't think it's too convenient, but one major downside is you have to take any upgrade items out of the saber before disassembling it, or else they'll be irrevocably destroyed. Unfortunately that can't be helped.

 

In general, it plays the same as the initial saber creation in K2. That's with the current version of the K2 mod, anyway. The new content would require some additional steps for the new hilt and crystal types, but nothing too elaborate.

 

Create a saber -> saber type -> hilt type -> crystal type -> color

 

No more than 5 steps, by my estimate. Less if some of those steps can be consolidated for the standard types (i.e. there would be a "more..." option for the special builds, with the non-special builds reduced to the current three steps). I haven't gone over it in depth yet as I've been putting that off until all the components are finalized.

 

 

and long, although I have to admit that I don't see the point of that one

Well... I don't see the point of short lightsabers. There's a bit more to it than just that, though. It's a bit technical, but I'll try to keep it in English.

 

Every weapon type in the game has set of characteristics, such as the weapon size (whether you hold it with one or two hands, what penalties there are for the off hand), damage amount (in dice, naturally), damage type, critical threat range, and the critical threat multiplier. This is like a template that every weapon of that type has. The individual items can add additional stats, but for the most part you cannot change any of what I just listed unless you make a new item type. We are limited to three lightsaber types.

 

Short lightsabers are of a different size (no penalties in the off hand) and they deal less damage (d6s instead of d8s in K1, d8s instead of d10s in K2). That's it. The rest is all the same. They aren't all that different from standard sabers, and you're meant to use it alongside one.

 

What I've described for the longsaber certainly requires a new item type - the size is different (more so than short from standard), the damage amount is different, the critical stuff is different. It's certainly its own thing, a distinct style. One blade, but you have to use both hands. Different stats to reflect that.

 

So if I were the BioWare design team circa 2002 and I was given these two options, I would say the longsaber has more of a point to it. The short saber doesn't offer a different type of gameplay. You get nothing from using it on its own. You can still dual wield with two standard lightsabers, and depending on your build you might be better off doing that. So what does it give you that makes it worth using up one of only three possible saber types? The longsaber definitely offers a different style - more raw damage, but less finesse and versatility. Add to that, we could still have short lightsabers in the game, in some form.

 

On the other hand, this still isn't how I'd really like it. If I could design it from scratch, it would all be very different, but I'm limited by the game and its three weapon types. And I'm resistant to to changing one of them, even if it's one I don't like. So I keep going back and forth.

 

But the idea only crossed my mind because of the three type limitation. I was trying to think of how to add lightsabers that would offer a different sort of gameplay, like the curved and dual-phase ones. So I came up with the longsaber (and the crossguard would also count as a longsaber, for the record) and realized that what I wanted would require a specific item type (if nothing else, to change the weapon size). Which would mean getting rid of one, short being the obvious choice. But I still don't know if I want to do it.

 

Now, I did have an alternative idea. I had thought of changing the stats of the standard lightsaber to more closely resemble the longsaber idea - you have to use both hands, at least. And then changing the short lightsaber to more closely resemble the standard lightsaber, but maintaining the size of the short lightsaber (no off hand penalties). But that comes with other issues, for which I ended up rejecting it.

[Kexikus 995]

Would those custom hilts include variations for different colors and types, e.g a blue single-bladed saber for Bastila? And also, if I may suggest another hilt: Revan's saber which was pretty much the reason that sparked my mind back when I thought about doing this.

 

Your process does seem reasonable enough with the game's limitations. Well done

 

Okay, I get the long saber now. From a gameplay perspective it certainly makes sense. Maybe it's just that I can't really picture what a long lightsaber would look like.

[jc2 581]

I prefer the longsaber idea. 

 

Also I'm a fan of more colors over more hilts. 

 

I enjoyed your k2 version, looking forward to seeing this develop! 

[DarthParametric 3,785]

But historically, what people have expected in lightsaber mods is for every conceivable lightsaber hilt that has ever existed.

I think that's one of the things you "grow out of" once you realise that no matter how many polys your model has, no matter how many pixels your textures have, your saber models all end up looking like a blurry silver (or insert other colour here) tube regardless. I'd say don't feel too bad about focusing on non-visual elements.

[JCarter426 1,215]

Would those custom hilts include variations for different colors and types, e.g a blue single-bladed saber for Bastila?

No, because then they'd need at least 10 model slots... so we'd run real quick. I was thinking they would be like Freedon Nadd's lightsaber, comes as is. Well, there's nothing stopping Bastila's lightsaber from being one of the few that can have any color, but there is a limit and some definitely couldn't.

 

With 10 colors, there can be 24 hilts of any color, plus 15 hilts that are limited to one color (I'm assuming we will need more than 5 of these, so 15 slots are reserved rather than using that extra 10 for another hilt).

 

With an extra variation for each color, for either unstable or Force attuned, we have 20 "colors" so those numbers drop to 12 hilts of any color and again 15 slots reserved for one-color models.

 

With an extra variation for them all, that's 30 "colors", 8 hilts of any color, still 15 reserved.

 

There's a bit of wiggle room, but that's the gist of it. 30 feels excessive to me, so I'm leaning towards the middle option.

 

If you just want Bastila's in any color, but don't care about the different variations of that color, that's more doable. I suppose the question is whether it's important to be able to change her and other party members' saber colors.

 

And also, if I may suggest another hilt: Revan's saber which was pretty much the reason that sparked my mind back when I thought about doing this.

Well, how would you go about including Revan's saber? Would the first saber you make have a specific hilt, or would you have options? Would it be upgradeable? I think it would have to be, considering Zhar says as much... Would it have any bonus stats, or would it only be an aesthetic thing?

 

Okay, I get the long saber now. From a gameplay perspective it certainly makes sense. Maybe it's just that I can't really picture what a long lightsaber would look like.

Oh, it would just be like Malak's. Long blade, regular hilt though. Not like a lightsaber pike or something. Although I did think of having a lightsaber pike.

 

There's another option with the longsaber I forgot to mention. It would be possible to add the longsaber without getting rid of the shortsaber, so long as the longsaber can't be upgraded. I've heard that new sabers also can't be used with Force Jump. Even if that's the case, I might prefer this option as the longsaber has a more exotic feel to it, and the lack of upgrades would probably help balance out its advantages over the standard saber.

 

Well, I'll definitely put it in somehow, since we have two tentative votes for the longsaber. Also I remember a longsaber mod that did replace short sabers being fairly popular back in the olden days. That author was just bolder than I am.

 

I think that's one of the things you "grow out of" once you realise that no matter how many polys your model has, no matter how many pixels your textures have, your saber models all end up looking like a blurry silver (or insert other colour here) tube regardless. I'd say don't feel too bad about focusing on non-visual elements.

Heh, yeah, and it's certainly something I've grown out of wanting as a player. And as a modder too, even with what little modeling I've done in that area. It didn't take me long to realize that more detail in a texture could actually make it look worse. I've done textures with nicely detailed brushed metal and then I've done textures that are seriously just a grey gradient.

[DeadMan 103]

 

There's another option with the longsaber I forgot to mention. It would be possible to add the longsaber without getting rid of the shortsaber, so long as the longsaber can't be upgraded. I've heard that new sabers also can't be used with Force Jump. Even if that's the case, I might prefer this option as the longsaber has a more exotic feel to it, and the lack of upgrades would probably help balance out its advantages over the standard saber.

This another option you mentioned is making a new baseitem for it? Then Force Jump won't work with new sabers AND they will not deflect blaster bolts.

[JCarter426 1,215]

You're right. I even tested that a month ago. Grr, there are so many parts to this that every time I go over the options I forget one of the problems. That's part of why I haven't come to a decision yet. Well, that's not a favorable option, then.

[Durendal 5]

Slight model variation is fun for weapons, but it shouldn't be a priority. Giving the unique/high end crystals a unique hilt model or texture does help sell that they're more special, though.
Aside from that,

If longsabers need to replace the short lightsabers, I don't think it's worth the tradeoff.

More options are always good, especially in K1 where it's far more limited than TSL. However, might it be easier, if less exciting, to make the "unique"/new types of sabers their own, special crystal types like Sithspecter did for his Crossguard saber mod? Like, a crossguard saber crystal/hilt is two-handed, but deals noticeably more damage or has some other benefit to compensate, while the curved hilt counts as a finesse weapon?

EDIT: This was the method that SLM 2.0 used, and other than some issues (Don't put dual-blade crystals in a single blade saber, etc) it worked fairly well. The biggest limitation would be the 256 entry limit, but K1 already has less saber types than TSL, so it might be harder to run into that limit.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Durendal

[JCarter426 1,215]

However, might it be easier, if less exciting, to make the "unique"/new types of sabers their own, special crystal types like Sithspecter did for his Crossguard saber mod? Like, a crossguard saber crystal/hilt is two-handed, but deals noticeably more damage or has some other benefit to compensate, while the curved hilt counts as a finesse weapon?

That's not possible. Making items with properties like that is only possible by editing the item type in baseitems.2da and then it affects all weapons of that type. That's why the longsaber would have to replace the short lightsaber, as there are only three of them.

[Kexikus 995]

That's not possible. Making items with properties like that is only possible by editing the item type in baseitems.2da and then it affects all weapons of that type. That's why the longsaber would have to replace the short lightsaber, as there are only three of them.

 

Couldn't you add the properties in the saber's .uti? That wouldn't allow as many changes as a baseitems edit, but might still be worth looking into.

[JCarter426 1,215]

Not for properties such as weapon size. So unless I edited baseitems.2da, there'd be nothing stopping you from using two longsabers or crossguards or whatever. There's a very limited amount of things that can be changed with simple UTI edits, though I have been doing that for the new crystal types I've mentioned before.

[Kexikus 995]

RIght. I forgot about those properties.

[Durendal 5]

Oh, I didn't know that weapon size was hardcoded. Still, I think that making the new types special "crystals" would be easier, if other properties can be altered per-crystal.

[JCarter426 1,215]

I started modeling again to see what I could manage.

 

 

 

Before:

 

After:

 

 

 

I may attempt more.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

You realize that is basically the standard double-blades saber hilt, right?

 

Replace the high poly tin cans!

[JCarter426 1,215]

I'm actually working on that right now. I was thinking of how to convert Bastila's lightsaber to the other hilt types and how I'd have to do that over and over and I should have some systemized design philosophy for how one style translates into single, double, and short. So now I'm just remodeling the originals as practice, so I can get a feel of how each variation should be. With any luck, once I figure out that process it'll be easy(ish) to convert each hilt to all three types as I complete each design.

 

I'll include my own tin cans in the workshop, and possibly as its own mod in case you just want those.

[JCarter426 1,215]

Update: I did some modeling and testing and planning and made some key decisions, and now I'm looking for input again. Here's what I got so far:

• 3 common lightsaber types: standard, short, double-bladed. I've given up on changing that. Unlike in the base game, however, the lightsaber hilt can be changed...
• 5 common lightsaber hilts: Traditional, Guardian, Sentinel, Consular, and Dark Jedi. These are aesthetic changes only - they change the hilt model, but not the stats. Common lightsaber hilts are fully upgradeable and can be used on all 3 common lightsaber types.
• 5 material hilts. There will be crafting components scattered throughout the game; each material can be used to create a new, custom hilt. You will have to find the necessary materials to craft them, but apart from that they behave as common hilts - aesthetic changes only, fully upgradeable, all 3 types.
• Individual hilts. Certain characters will have their own personal hilt design. They can't be crafted, must be found. Apart from that, they behave as common hilts - aesthetic changes only, fully upgradeable, all 3 types. So far there are 5 of these, but I'm debating whether to add more.
• 7 exotic lightsaber types: Crossguard Lightsaber, Curved-Hilt Lightsaber, Forcesaber Lightsaber Pike, Temple Guard Lightsaber Pike (I'll probably call it something like "Saberstaff" for clarity), Longsaber (long blade like Malak's), and I'm also working on a new Sith weapon type. Exotic lightsabers cannot be upgraded, but the color of the blade can be changed. No fancy hilt customization here, generally one hilt per new type. They are new "types" but not necessarily new base item types for technical reasons. Only two of them actually are. The others will be modified versions of one of the three common types, as far as UTI edits will allow. Since they can't be upgraded, I've made them about as powerful as a fully upgraded weapon of the same base item type, or at least that's my intent.
• Unique lightsabers: Like Freedon Nadd's Short Lightsaber, these are rare item drops that cannot be upgraded at all, not even blade color. Darth Malak and Darth Bandon's lightsabers are the only certain ones for now. I've included the Darksaber in my system database to ensure compatibility, but I'll leave that as a separate mod. I have some ideas regarding Ajunta Pall's swords as well, but that's beyond the scope of the current mod. I plan to utilize the system I'm building with those and possibly other mods (including the K2 version of course) once it's complete.
• 10 lightsaber colors: blue, red, green, yellow, violet, orange, cyan, silver, viridian, and pink. All lightsabers except unique ones will be available in all 10 colors.
• 6 focusing crystal types: Natural Crystal (i.e. the kind in the game), Synth-Crystal, Comprssed Energy Crystal, Crystal Lens, Heart of the Guardian, and Mantle of the Force. I've dropped the unstable crystals. There was no way it was going to work with 20 different blades and the 255 model limit. I could conceivably add more colors or blade effects for unique lightsabers, but not for every saber. There are 10 colors and every new type is available in all 10 colors. Every crystal type comes in 10 colors.
• Natural crystals and synth-crystals can go in any lightsaber. The others can't go in exotic lightsabers.

Overall, there will be more than 20 hilts that can come in all 10 colors, plus a few special cases. I'm currently debating how much more than 20 I'm willing to go, what with the model limitation and also the actual modeling work. There is enough room for some other characters to have their own designs. On the other hand, I've yet to place some of the designs I've already decided on. So that's where I'm at right now. Two key questions.

1. Who should have a custom hilt design?
   Characters included so far: Bastila, Jolee, Juhani, Darth Malak, and Darth Bandon.
   Characters not included so far: Belaya, Dustil, Jorak Uln, Lashowe, Mekel, Nemo, Sherruk, that one Sith on Manaan, Uthar, Yuthura.
    
2. What are some good ways to integrate the new items into the game?
   I've gone through and confirmed a bunch that will work, but I'm mostly going by memory and I haven't decided what goes with what yet. The above unused characters are all potential drops, for example, if they don't get their own stuff. Potential placement methods could be in the form of actual lightsabers, lightsaber parts, or schematics.
   Items not yet placed: Consular Hilt, Sentinel Hilt, Guardian Hilt, Crossguard Lightsaber, Curved-Hilt Lightsaber, Lightsaber Pike, Longsaber, and Saberstaff.

So, if you have strong feelings about some character deserving their own thing, or ideas for what would go good with what, or if there's anything I've missed, let me know.

[DarthParametric 3,785]

I'm currently debating how much more than 20 I'm willing to go, what with the model limitation and also the actual modeling work.

There's always the prospect of sub-contracting some of the work out, assuming you have specific designs you can point to. I might have a few bits and pieces buried in the archives if you are looking for canonical hilts.

[JCarter426 1,215]

I'd certainly be happy to receive donations. It's not that I mind modeling it, but there's only one of me and only so much I can do or can do competently. I'm very much still learning as I go. I am looking to use the canon designs as much as possible - I believe there are ones for Bastila, Malak, and Jolee, and I also have some reference images for Bandon and Juhani, and a lot of contradicting reference images for Revan that I'm not happy about. I'm also planning to base the class hilts on the Guardian, Sentinel, and Consul hilts from Jedi Academy. It's the other way around, really; I realized all three were already there, and thought that would make things easy. I believe I can get the models for those, though, so it would be a trivial matter to import rebuild build them in higher quality as I've been doing with the original KOTOR hilts. The crossguard lightsaber would be based on the one in Rebels. I have some other ideas in mind, but I've yet to decide on a lot. Maybe I'll compile what goes with what in a big image.

[DarthParametric 3,785]

I know Kexikus had both Malak and Bastila hilts, because apparently I textured them (poorly it would seem) back in February 2016. I can't see a public release, and the forum doesn't appear to support PMs that old, so maybe ask Kex what the story with those is.

 

I have an untextured Revan hilt that I gather is derived from this (which is supposedly also the canon appearance of the standard KOTOR metal pipe). You are welcome to it if you want.

 

Also, completely unrelated to anything canonical, but I have a model based on this physical fan hilt, made by a guy called EvilHenchman over on TheForce.Net forums circa 2006. I really like the design, and the version I did had probably the best hilt textures I ever made.

[Kexikus 995]

Yeah, I should have those hilts somewhere... You also made a wooden saber for me, based on Orgus Din's saber from TOR. The problem is, that I can't find them. I still have our PM conversation from back then but there's no link to these models in there, so maybe you never sent them to me? Or I have lost them somewhere, as I can't find them right now :/

 

To answer some of the questions above: I still think that Revan should get a custom hilt. Kaidon Jorn has a model for that in this mod that you can use (he gave permission for all of his stuff to be used). And maybe Uthar and Yuthura. All the others seem too minor to get one.

As for the drops, maybe the saberstaff could be found in the Jedi academy, as they are used by these masked Jedi dudes (forgot their name). Not sure about the others. Maybe you'd find the crossguard saber inside a tomb, as it's an older design.

[JCarter426 1,215]

Well, if they can be found, I'd like to take a look at them.

 

Oh, that's cool. There may be room for it if you want.

 

I still think that Revan should get a custom hilt.

 

That's definitely a possibility, but there are three complications.

 

First, this...

I have an untextured Revan hilt that I gather is derived from this (which is supposedly also the canon appearance of the standard KOTOR metal pipe). You are welcome to it if you want.

 

I have seen the source of the image. It's a page of with many pictures of "notable lightsabers", and all it says is "Darth Revan". The problem is, MMO shenanigans with him changing color every day of the week aside, Revan had at least three lightsabers in canon: the violet-bladed one he had as a Jedi which he also used as a Sith, the red-bladed one he had as a Sith Lord, and the one built in the game which is apparently supposed to be this. So the matter is vague.

 

It definitely isn't the MMO one, and it doesn't look like the comic one either. It doesn't even look like the one on the KOTOR campaign guide.

 

Now, I'm willing to rule it all off anything as inconsistent art, and just pick whatever I want, but I'm not sure what I want. What really bothers me is none of these look anything alike when they were all meant to be built by the same person.

 

The second issue is that if we go with the MMO hilt for the one you make on Dantooine, then you're forced to start with that hilt. Which might be fine, but it would rule out the option of getting a hilt based on your class, or choosing from a variety of hilts, or anything of that nature. I'm not ruling it out, and I've certainly left room for it in the database, but I don't know what to do with it yet.

 

The third matter is what to call it. It can't be "Revan's lightsaber". But it's also not possible to put the player name into items in K1. I believe you yourself encountered this problem, Kexikus. A name can be picked, but I got no ideas.

 

As for the drops, maybe the saberstaff could be found in the Jedi academy, as they are used by these masked Jedi dudes (forgot their name).

 

Oh, I suppose. I had thought of having a generic saberstaff and a special temple guard saber staff, but it might not even be worth it to have different ones. I'll check around the enclave to see if there's a good spot for it.

 

Maybe you'd find the crossguard saber inside a tomb, as it's an older design.

 

Well, it'll be old in 4000 years... but maybe.

 

And in other news, I'm working on my administrative stuff so I can start making the show and tell I promised... then my intentions will be clearer, I hope.