[WIP][Beta] Expanded Galaxy Project

[Thor110 497]

Old message about important detail I failed to notice!

Spoiler

On 1/7/2019 at 7:28 PM, Qui-Gon Glenn said:

No, not really! I just didn't want to make any assumptions, which looking back I clearly failed

indeed, sometimes little details can help a google search, so you are welcome.

Ah I see, the only detail I actually missed is that NWN is Bioware / Bioware made the Aurora Engine XD how the hell did I not know that? Great game I use to play years back and I can't even remember Bioware made it! For some reason I thought NWN was a different companies game.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived message.

[Guest Qui-Gon Glenn]

And that you aren't actually working on the Aurora engine at all, but the Odyssey engine. Almost trivial detail, but it is correct.

[JediArchivist 70]

Did you manage to fix the lighting problems, how is it going?

What editions of K1 / K2 did you use when porting the maps and are now having lighting issues with? The Steam, GOG or 4CD Original edition? Since you mentioned patching I believe it is the 4CD version?

If you don't have the GOG version of the games, I highly recommend you purchase them, as they are optimised for modern OS, and only about 10$ each game (20$ for both games), a true bargain!

Which texture pack are you using, since there are actually 3 versions of the same textures: TPA - High Texture Quality; TPB - Medium Texture Quality; TPC - Low Texture Quality, you said you mixed all 3 of them and dropped them into the Override folder? Though since it's a lighting issue, i don't believe the textures have any impact on that, just saying...

[Thor110 497]

Old message about project plans removed, check first post for updates.

[Thor110 497]

Old message about patch information.

Spoiler

The conversion of all maps is ready for release for both games, but I am delaying it because I need a website to try and make sure the internet doesn't go wild over the next few years with my project / release, by wild I mean making too many different universes that change the kotor 1 or 2 storylines, I would prefer it was only used for total conversions where you are neither of the main characters from both games as well as the overall project I have planned.

All of my files are split into folders within the override folder, this seems to work just fine so I have all three texture packs in folders names "swpc_tex_tpa" etc.

On 1/7/2019 at 9:19 PM, JediArchivist said:

Which texture pack are You using, since there are actually 3 versions of the same textures: TPA - High Texture Quality; TPB - Medium Texture Quality; TPC - Low Texture Quality, you said you mixed all 3 of them and dropped them into the Override folder? Though since it's a lighting issue, i don't believe the textures have any impact on that, just saying...

Turns out I was being silly, for some reason lighting just isn't working in the second game for me  which is really good news in a way, but it seems the maps for both games that I put in the first game all work just fine, so in light of this I have prepared and compressed both modders resources ready for release as well as backed them up permanently, I am not sure what I want to do right now as I find myself at a little bit of a dilemma.

Note : prior to porting all of the maps / modules I cannot remember what version of the game I used though this won't matter too much as I have reason to believe I may need to convert every map again for two reasons A to be thorough about the game version issue and B as I realised the Yavin models converted by @Effix allow animations to play on the relevant surfaces but the Yavin Orbital Station models I converted do not.

Additional : Due to the realisation that the Kotor Toolset is capable of opening .module files this leaves every mod open to updating, integrating, patching and more. Though this is the case I would still appreciate all of the original authors permission as well as hopefully their co-operation, hopefully once I set up a website for the Expanded Galaxy Project they will be more willing ( Though I have not had anyone refuse I have not asked or looked into porting other mods that much yet ).

Current Version : These are the file names for the updates I used obtained from deadlystream that I have sat next to my mod / installed on the most recent installation of the game I have tested with that was installed only hours before this update.

"sw_pc_english_from200424_to210427" KotOR2 Patch I am currently using.

"SWKotOR1_03" KotOR Patch I am currently using.

I am looking forward to more input from everybody, will begin work on a website tomorrow so that I can try and keep things organised.

Any more input about the best versions to use is welcome as I am open to re-extracting the files to use the best versions.

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived message about updates.

[Snigaroo 119]

2 hours ago, Thor110 said:

My worries are that loads of different people will make loads of different universes for both games, which though a great thing is conflicting for the overall experience of the game unless they are used in total modifications, therefore I believe my best plan of action is to set up a website for The Expanded Galaxy project which will focus around getting the entire community to contribute to the project enhancing and adding to the overall KotOR experience as well as if possible adding an online feature for both.

In order to prevent too many different universes popping up over the next few years that will rapidly change the KotOR 1 & 2 games for the better or for the worse.

I'm not a modder and typically I stay away from these sorts of things, so now in butting my head in I hope I'm not misreading your intent, but am I correct in saying you're suggesting that you would like to create an offsite for users to collaborate with you for the development of mods and porting of content in a way which you would define as being beneficial and compatible with the game's original aesthetic/design, and to reduce the frequency of projects created which are contrary to that interpretation?

The online thing aside, I'm not sure I understand what you would want out of such an offsite, and why you're worried about alternate aesthetic/design interpretations--universes, as you call them--being developed. Is not the point of creating a mod to allow users and modders to decide what kind of content they would like to use, whether it be in their games, with compatible mods, or simply to draw inspiration from? What is the downside of users having open access to this content, if whatever mods come of it are the user's choice to utilize or not? The only mods which are ever going to be universalist are TSLRCM and a few assorted bugfixes, after all; there is no great likelihood that the entire KOTOR community would become so reliant upon the usage of one new mod that it would become a standard, as TSLRCM has. Forgive me if I am misinterpreting you, I'm simply not clear on this.

[Thor110 497]

Old message about the purpose and goal of the Expanded Galaxy Project.

Spoiler

On 1/8/2019 at 2:14 AM, Snigaroo said:

I'm not a modder and typically I stay away from these sorts of things, so now in butting my head in I hope I'm not misreading your intent, but am I correct in saying you're suggesting that you would like to create an offsite for users to collaborate with you for the development of mods and porting of content in a way which you would define as being beneficial and compatible with the game's original aesthetic/design, and to reduce the frequency of projects created which are contrary to that interpretation?

The online thing aside, I'm not sure I understand what you would want out of such an offsite, and why you're worried about alternate aesthetic/design interpretations--universes, as you call them--being developed. Is not the point of creating a mod to allow users and modders to decide what kind of content they would like to use, whether it be in their games, with compatible mods, or simply to draw inspiration from? What is the downside of users having open access to this content, if whatever mods come of it are the user's choice to utilize or not? The only mods which are ever going to be universalist are TSLRCM and a few assorted bugfixes, after all; there is no great likelihood that the entire KOTOR community would become so reliant upon the usage of one new mod that it would become a standard, as TSLRCM has. Forgive me if I am misinterpreting you, I'm simply not clear on this.

I am not at all saying people cannot use it, the first upload will be purely [RESOURCE] / [MATERIAL] / [TUTORIAL] Content for people to freely use...

What I mean is I would like to try and integrate as many mods as possible as well as future mods by creating a site for the mod that will document development and allow for voting on what will or wont be included overall as well as offering tutorials for people to include their own content and tutorials on how to integrate other mods if possiible.

Think you misread my intent  but someone was going to.

I am not worried, simply think it could be troublesome for non-advanced users in the future to pick from what might become a lot of different mods and was simply suggesting they be more generally focused or used for Total Conversions, but not saying people cannot do what they want as this is being released as a resource, I literally only started this project to port the Yavin Orbital Station over to TSL and to have fun while I was playing both games through ( which I haven't actually done yet lol ) because I just loved having a random vendor to go to out in the middle of nowhere.

Thor110

Update : For example if TSLRCM & M478-EP did not work together, I was not sure I was going to bother with either.

Additional : Say two really great mods came out for either game using this as a base, but one didn't include the contents of the other in either a module ( map / level ) or overwrites the dialog.tlk file or replaces anything from one another in general.

Was hoping to make some documentation for the dialog.tlk file about entries added, what they relate to by area and or mission, as well as hoping to integrate other peoples amazing work with their permission ( though you seem to not mind about that ) in a way I do not either, but I sort of do.

As for actually making another site, it might never happen as I am not a big fan of web development, it's extremely boring, it might end up just being here and ModDB, but who knows what the future will bring, I did also have plans for my own website in general, so this could tie in and have a sub-page or something along those lines.

Swoop Update : A few pictures of the Taris Swoop map in K2. ( is actually Telos by the looks of it even though I changed the room models in the .are file, very strange )

Spoiler

The first time I loaded the map it seemed to work ( almost anyway, I took off but didn't collide with anything ) the second time I loaded the map after exiting the level it didn't seem to take off at all.

For the moment I used the Telos Swoop maps scripts and such as a base but changed the rooms.

 

 

Additional : Thoughts of creating a configurable setting for headsets and soundsets, depending on the amount out there and if people think it's worth doing, as well as any other content that could be added to the game in a similar fashion.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived message about the Expanded Galaxy Project.

[Snigaroo 119]

31 minutes ago, Thor110 said:

What I mean is I would like to try and integrate as many mods as possible as well as future mods by creating a site for the mod that will document development and allow for voting on what will or wont be included overall as well as offering tutorials for people to include their own content and tutorials on how to integrate other mods if possiible.

I see, I did misunderstand you. Thanks for the clarification.

[Thor110 497]

Old message about first release of the modders resource.

Spoiler

The first release of the Expanded Galaxy Project is up! For both games! All modules are in both games! They can only be warped to as of yet, head over to ModDB to check it out and access news, tutorials, downloads and more as well as new resources plus both the latest versions of the mods. ( Beta v0_2_5 )

To see regular updates check out the first post here and on the ModDB page.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/kotor-ii-tsl-expanded-galaxy/downloads/k1-to-k2-exiles-expanded-galaxy this is for KotOR 2 ( K1 maps for K2 )
https://www.moddb.com/mods/expanded-galaxy-project-kotor-12/downloads/k2-to-k1-beta this is for KotOR ( K2 maps for K1 )

Note : Both downloads include the files necessary to re-construct the modules these are the "modders resource" release versions as well as the beta for the Expanded Galaxy Project.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived first release message.

[N-DReW25 1,336]

9 hours ago, Thor110 said:

What I mean is I would like to try and integrate as many mods as possible as well as future mods by creating a site for the mod that will document development and allow for voting on what will or wont be included overall as well as offering tutorials for people to include their own content and tutorials on how to integrate other mods if possiible.

9

I like the sound of that. I'd like to point out though that the modules can also be used in different ways than just porting all of Tatooine to K2 for example, people could if they wanted to Port Anchorhead and maybe the K1 Dantooine and reskin it and add it as part of an Onderon Expansion where the player can leave Iziz and go explore the outside of the city, the possibilities could be endless.

[Thor110 497]

Old message about re-using module pieces from both games to create entirely new levels using content already available in the game.

Spoiler

On 1/8/2019 at 12:15 PM, N-DReW25 said:

I like the sound of that. I'd like to point out though that the modules can also be used in different ways than just porting all of Tatooine to K2 for example, people could if they wanted to Port Anchorhead and maybe the K1 Dantooine and reskin it and add it as part of an Onderon Expansion where the player can leave Iziz and go explore the outside of the city, the possibilities could be endless.

This is also the sort of thing I mean, would be perfect for creating new areas considering all the pieces available in both games! as well as the content that can be added.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived and updated.

[JediArchivist 70]

2 hours ago, Thor110 said:

The first release of the Expanded Galaxy Project is up! For both games! All modules in both games! They can only be warped to as of yet, head over to ModDB to check it out and access news and new tutorials as well as new resources plus both the latest versions of the mods. ( Beta v0_2_5 )

Beta release and new resources available on ModDB : Various map example files that will go alongside tutorials I will write, these will show you how to make modules using existing maps in K1 or K2 as well as modules using the new maps available in v0_2_5 of the Expanded Galaxy Project.

To see regular updates check out the first post here and on the ModDB page.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/kotor-ii-tsl-expanded-galaxy/news/beta-resource-release this is for KotOR 2 : TSL ( K1 maps for K2 )

https://www.moddb.com/mods/expanded-galaxy-project-kotor-12 this is for KotOR ( K2 maps for K1 )

Thor11

Did you edit the K2 to K1 files and "empty" the levels, or are they as they resulted from the porting? I mean, are the placeables, characters, area transitions, scripts, etc. still in the level / module or have they been removed and the module is a "blank slate"? 

[Thor110 497]

Old message about what is edited in the Source Files released on ModDB.

Spoiler

Take a look and test it out, either way you need the Full Release to test it and or use the maps, but the module files I have created remove most references to a lot of story relevant content in the first game for the second game and the same goes for the K2 maps for K1 mod.

On 1/8/2019 at 1:55 PM, JediArchivist said:

Did you edit the K2 to K1 files and "empty" the levels, or are they as they resulted from the porting? I mean, are the placeables, characters, area transitions, scripts, etc. still in the level / module or have they been removed and the module is a "blank slate"? 

A lot of stuff is edited out but mainly triggers in the .are, .git and .ifo files, if you wish to re-use anything from the main game you will need to re-extract every module from scratch and edit it to your liking using Kotor Tool ( the .rim and _s.rim files contained within the modules subsection of the program ) but bear in mind a lot of the scripts referenced will cause K2 to crash, the same goes for K1, I removed every entry necessary that might have crashed the game, referring to scripts in the first game, most if not all modules have the scripts in a separate folder if you plan to use them.

But the .are, .git and .ifo files had to be modified for a stable release.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archiving messages.

[JediArchivist 70]

Adding multiplayer to KOTOR... I think someone tried it 5 years ago...check this project out: https://kotorremastered.weebly.com and https://www.kh13.com/forums/topic/72719-kotor-hd-remake-currently-in-development/ Also check the description of this video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Fnke4AKIU

Looks like they were trying to do an overhaul of K1 with some new added planets and multiplayer / Co-Op support. According to the description in the Youtube video and in their forum post, they were planning to add an open world game mode as well as 5 competitive game modes with 32 players per server...

I have no idea how thay were planning to do that, if they were trying to alter the game engine or use a third party utility to create and host the servers. Unfortunately, it seems the project was abandoned.

Qoute from their project description at: https://www.kh13.com/forums/topic/72719-kotor-hd-remake-currently-in-development/

Quote

What new planets will there be? 

The new planets are strictly for Multiplayer, and co-op alone. There will be Djun, Felucia, and three more we don't want to spoil!

Some new features:

1) Interactive Co-op campaign mode. 

2) Over five competitive online game modes with up to 32 players per server. 

3) An open world online game mode.

4) Five additional planets. 

5) COMPLETELY remastered in fine 1080P HD

6) Updated textures, models, and more.

7) COMPLETELY new EXP system.

8) Absolutely FREE!

 

[Thor110 497]

Previous message about the KotOR Modding Tutorial Series I am writing that will show you how to create an entirely new planet with 2 levels as well as cover any information that could help people make small mods for the games as well as covering how to start a Total Conversion.

Spoiler

I will be writing a tutorial on new module creation, covering loading random module pieces into a 3D modelling program, taking down the new co-ordinates and creating a completely new level out of pieces already in the game, this should make it possible for lots of people to create total conversions and new levels for both games and my expanded galaxy mods.

I have also updated my tutorials topic to become a general directory for all of my tutorials, I still only have the one but have prepared files for more and will be writing them soon : https://deadlystream.com/topic/6886-tutorial-all-of-my-tutorials-for-the-kotor-series/

I look forward to seeing what people can make when I have made the tutorials, there are also files on the ModDB pages to help people easily view assets in the game.

Total Conversion Template for the K2 Odyssey Engine

Spoiler

I have decided to release either a tutorial or as part of the final installer program an option to copy the default K2 install and trim all of it's content to the bare minimum (174mb) in order to allow people to easily create a total conversion for the Odyssey engine, for now I have trimmed down a copy to 174mb, but it needs to include the models.bif a further 845mb in order to actually start, I believe once I figure out which models are a part of the menu and simply place them in the override this will solve the issue, I have not tried to do this yet.

This is the trimmed version of the game, I plan to just put the models used in the menu / throughout the menu in the override folder and remove the models.bif to finish the template example for which I will most likely write a tutorial for people to follow so that they can do the same.

From here users will be able to pick and choose exactly what they want to be a part of their total conversion.

A further 126mb can also be trimmed once I single out the gui files specifically used for the games interface and menus and remove anything KotOR2 related.

This would trim the overall Odyssey engine down to 48mb.

From here I hope to string together every tutorial I write while documenting every change I learn to make to the game making my mod that will show people how to do the same and create a Total Conversion using assets from K2 and the light version of the engine.

Update : The first post has been updated and re-formatted to include all information about the Expanded Galaxy Project and both mods, I will be posting story ideas, quest ideas and more when I am ready which will require feedback from the community as I would like to make sure it fits with the overall universe as well as the feel of the games.

Progress : I have updated all sound and music entries for the K1 to K2 maps, opened all the doors and fixed transitions between levels that are set up for doors, I still need to fix area transitions that are not attached to doors.

I am currently working on creating an entirely new map made from pieces already in the game to export with a new .visibility and .layout file to go alongside the tutorial I will write for creating entirely new modules out of existing pieces.

This should also allow me to fix the .visibility files for both mods, which I see as important, forcing the entire level to render at once is not a good option for poor performance machines, given that is is such an old game this is generally going to be fine for most users, but may cause trouble on other platforms, tablets, mobile and older computers.

So I plan to fix this to prevent problems caused by rendering the entire level.

Unfortunately I am not very good at 3D modelling or editing, so this may take me some time, but hopefully not too long to create a simple tutorial and some simple new maps for testing, using this process I hope to expand upon areas already in the game.

New Map Ideas

Such as the Telos Citadel Station which was mentioned to me and documented in detail by @Jorak Uln as well as Onderon.

I would also like to restore the Jedi Enclave Sub-Level on Dantooine for the First game, Nar Shaddaa could also easily be expanded upon and given new areas made out of existing pieces, as could Taris and the Telos Restoration Zone.

There was also the idea to add new areas to Dxun making the journey to the Mandalorian Camp take longer, or just adding new areas to explore, but this is just a thought for the moment as it could alter Vanilla gameplay experience, but new areas could still be added and given signs so players can just avoid them to maintain a Vanilla experience.

Just by adding something like a Rakatan flag next to new areas and content could make it so that players who wish to maintain a Vanilla gameplay can do so without having to uninstall the mod ( unless they don't want to see the planets or new content in game either ) perhaps for filming.

Lehon the Unknown World could also receive some expansions using areas already in the game as a template.

What does everybody think about these ideas? & does anybody have any tips for constructing maps?

I think this could prove great for constructing new map pieces and allowing for an incredibly diverse level creation system based on tutorials using Gmax, KotorMax and K-GFF Editor, for example you could take the Terrain from one map, buildings from another and extras from yet another map, using pieces from across maps in the game to construct entirely new pieces for use in your maps and for others to use.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived message about KotOR Modding Tutorial Series.

[Basil Bonehead 99]

From what I've examined the modules are well ported, (accept dantooine's enclave exterior which the ruins is missing the proper door), the only things that are not working properly are level transitions, enviromental sounds and music

I look forward to see what you have in mind for these modules for this mod

[Thor110 497]

Previous message about fixing the environmental sounds, music, updates and community input.

Spoiler

On 1/12/2019 at 8:12 PM, mrmann said:

From what I've examined the modules are well ported, (accept dantooine's enclave exterior which the ruins is missing the proper door), the only things that are not working properly are level transitions, enviromental sounds and music

I look forward to see what you have in mind for these modules for this mod

I have now fixed all environmental sounds and music as well as any level transitions that use a door, I have written in great detail in my first post and most recent post in this topic as well as my tutorial topic.

Here is a patch to update all the modules, all that is left to do is to add the planets to the galaxy map and fix Area Transitions that do not use doors, then I will be ready to start writing script for both the Expansions I have planned.

v0_2_9 Patch.zip

Update : I am currently working on adding a Merchant to the Yavin Orbital Station that I will release as a stand-alone mod / demo for the Expanded Galaxy Project.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/kotor-ii-tsl-expanded-galaxy/downloads/yavin-demo

This is the current version of the Yavin Orbital Station demo, featuring Kex, who does not yet work as a Merchant, I will update the demo to feature a high level Merchant and two NPC's that talk about both the K1 & K2 portions of the Expanded Galaxy Project, this won't feature much information but will highlight some of the planned features for both expansions and serve as a stand-alone mod for anybody that might want to add just the Yavin Orbital Station.

Community Input : I am seeking input from the community for the Expanded Galaxy Project as well as Beta-Testers for the Mod & Original Game as I intend to patch and fix as many problems as possible, including bugs, visual errors and adding more placeables, characters and access to areas from both games, if anybody knows of a list of current bugs for the game as well as suggestions for current community patches to include or make compatible this would be helpful.

Any fans of the Old Republic Era and all three games can also help by offering story suggestions and quest ideas, bearing in mind my plans for maintaining as much of the Vanilla experience as possible while also updating and enhancing the game.

If you wish to help please read this post, my first post and both ModDB pages in detail.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived message about updates & community input.

[Basil Bonehead 99]

installed it, it's definitely an improvement, but this is still early in development so there's still do iron out

like what i found:

some of ambience sounds are placed in the wrong modules and/or missing

some of the level transitions are still don't work

i tried going to the upper city cantine using tar_m02ae and it takes me to the lower city cantina instead, i think the lower city cantina was cuplicated

but again, these issues will be corrected, obviously

[Thor110 497]

Previous message containing story ideas, project overview and an old release.

Spoiler

Issues I have noticed are :

Spoiler

Animated textures do not work on my converted models ( for example Effix's Yavin Orbital Station #01 .mdl the animations work ) so I need to find a better way to convert maps between games, I believe using 3DS Max & KotorMax will be the best approach, doing this I will also be able to re-create visibility and layout files which should help the project overall.

I have not fixed as much for the K2 to K1 maps, but I will fix so much in one project and then fix the same in the other.

Spoiler

As you have mentioned any of these issues should be ironed out, but I believe now all of the music and environmental sounds should be fixed, but I did not correct EnvAudio for some reason I thought it might have been the volume for the AmbientSndDay & AmbientSndNight entries because the other entries had a corresponding volume entry.

On 1/12/2019 at 9:45 PM, mrmann said:

installed it, it's definitely an improvement, but this is still early in development so there's still do iron out

like what i found:

some of ambience sounds are placed in the wrong modules and/or missing

some of the level transitions are still don't work

i tried going to the upper city cantine using tar_m02ae and it takes me to the lower city cantina instead, i think the lower city cantina was cuplicated

but again, these issues will be corrected, obviously

Always good to know that it works for somebody else, I am pleased with my first release and looking forward to the next.

Thank you for your input, any issues besides area transitions, sound, music and the lack of planets on the galaxy map is what I am looking for at the moment.

Expanded Galaxy Project - Exiles Expanded Galaxy Storyline

Spoiler

This is a short and rough description of the storyline, quests and galaxy crawls that I will introduce in the Expanded Galaxy Project for K2, I have been preparing ideas for the K1 portion of the project as well, but they are not quite ready yet.

Battle Over Belsavis

Spoiler

This is an important storyline I have planned that will tie in HK-51 from SWTOR to the K2 game, during the long galaxy crawl of the expansion the player will be lured to Belsavis, trapped by a tractor beam and taken aboard the ship the player must fight their way through a battalion of HK-51 droids in order to shut down the ships engines and set it on a crash course for the nearby planet of Belsavis.

The Imperial Transport Ship carrying HK-51 droids intended to hunt down the Exile will then crash causing both the players decisions and the Exiles decisions to be crucial in the overall storyline of all three games.

Malachor V & The Credits Followed By The Expansion

Spoiler

Malachor V - KotOR 2 : TSL Ending / After the Credits.

Yavin - Short Galaxy Crawl - Taris - Long Galaxy Crawl - Taris - Expansion Credits - Free-Roam Expansion

On Malachor V find Datapad for the Yavin Orbital Station on the way back to the Ebon Hawk.

Then proceed to the Yavin - Orbital Station to unlock its doors.

During the short galaxy crawl, players will also be able to access any of the missions on the new planets available
throughout the main storyline but not available during the expansion, there will be a note of this before continuuing
at a certain point in the game.

There will be a short galaxy crawl before getting the black market co-ordinates to Taris in order to tie up
the storyline of the Orbital Station by having the player retrieve or deliver certain pieces of information
in order to have the stations computers allow access to the co-ordinates or arrange a meeting with the black
market contact.

Pick up where the previous owner left off with some black - market co-ordinates and imperial codes to allow
somebody to break through the Imperial Blockade and land on Taris in a safe zone.

Meet up with survivors of the Taris Massacre and begin the long galaxy crawl to help the Taris Restoration Effort.

Tie up galaxy crawl and Taris Restoration Storyline, then after new / expansion credits introduce free-roam.

 

Expanded Galaxy Project - Revans Eternal Empire Storyline

Spoiler

This is a rough description of the mods storyline for the first game.

As Revan you will either keep the Star Forge for yourself or destroy it.

If you keep it, you will no longer pilot the Ebon Hawk around the galaxy but the Star Forge itself as you seek to take over the galaxy.

With the light side ending Revan will destroy the Star Forge and pass through the galaxy one last time before drifting off into the outer rim and dissapearing forever.

Both of these storylines follow alongside what I remember from both games, if anyone wishes to point out or note any serious plot-holes or story elements from either games that I might want to keep in mind, please do so.

Note : Looking for beta testers for various versions of the game, I also need to re-play them both myself.

Spoiler

I really need to sit down and play both games now that I have prepared most of the base of the mods so that I can start writing story and implementing the story after the main games credits, I also need to seek permission to include TSLRCM or look into what I would need to do to make it compatible with the Expanded Galaxy Project.

If you know an author of a great mod or want to suggest a mod to include please message me or reply here, also if you are the creator of a mod or know anyone involved in developing any mods for the game, please let them know I am interested in including and making as many mods compatible as possible.

Latest Release : The latest release ( v0_2_9 ) contains just the relevant maps, modules and pieces I will be using for the K2 portion of the Expanded Galaxy Project, as there being some maps I can not use due to Story Implications & Restrictions such as the Star Forge, Leviathan, Endar Spire & Taris, but portions of these maps could be used and I have also set the files aside, this has trimmed the overall mod size down to around 1GB or 450mb compressed.

I did have plans to re-use some of these areas or at least assets from, perhaps having bits of the Star Forge crashed down onto Lehon.

There is also the possibility for using pieces of the Harbinger & Endar Spire to better map out that class of ship for re-use.

As for Taris, I had next to no plans to use it, except for pieces of the underworld, though all of these pieces may be useful for anybody looking to make Total Conversions and are still backed up in v0_2_5 permanently as a modders resource.

Link :  https://www.moddb.com/mods/kotor-ii-tsl-expanded-galaxy/downloads/expanded-galaxy-k2-beta-v0-2-9

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived message containing Story Ideas.

[JediArchivist 70]

I got this idea for the Expanded Galaxy Mod last night:

Use the Ebon Hawk, Harbringer, Leviathan and the severly damaged Sith ship at the end of K2 before Malachor (i forgot how it's called) on Lehon (the Unknown World)! They could be some of the derelict ships that have crashed onto the planet in the past! Modules from the Endar Spire and the Harbringer could be used as the crashed Hammerhead-Class ship on the beach (imagine how awesome it would be to get inside it)! The entry poimt to the ship could be on the beach where the Ebon Hawk lands, to the upper right while facing the sea, there is a shallow road that narrows down and is blocked (i'll send a picture if You can't find it).

There could be flooded portions of the ship (shallow water that the player can walk through like on the beach) and it must show signs of damage. Here the player would have to use some Power Couplings and other parts found on other derelict ships in order to restore emergency power to that ship, with the purpose of retrieving some data from the ship's navicomputer. The data could result in a new sidequest eventually. On the ship there could be some damaged, abandoned droids and turrets that attack the player because their targetting systems got damaged from the crash and also worn out in time.

You could also find scattered datapads and terminals that tell the story of the surviving Republic soldiers that were on the ship when it crashed, as the ship was their temporary base on Lehon after the crash. They stayed on the ship a few years and after multiple Rakata attacks they eventually moved to one of the islands and left the ship, while a small number remained on the ship. You can find them in a section of the ship and one of them is a merchant giving you some unique items. There is also a workbench and lab station in that section. They tell you about another Sith ship that crashed nearby and give you some sidequests: investigate the Sith ship and kill the Sith faction there, retrieve some supplies and essential parts from that ship, turn of the malfunctioning security system on a deck, there could be a section that is inacessible because it is underwater, and you would need to activate a pump in order to drain the area and then it becomes accesible (in that area you would have to install the power couplings, etc.).

There could also be a Sith scouting party / commando searching the ship for a way to get off the planet as well and you would have to fight them.

There would also be a crashed Sith ship (use modules from the Leviathan and the damaged ship from the end of K2) where there would be a Sith faction and you would have to fight them and explore the ship in order to get the power couplings and parts needed to restore power on the Republic ship! Through the cracks and gaps of the damaged ship you could see the Lehon landscape (sea, beach etc.) instead of the original space view!

This would make and interesting addition, as i always had a thing for exploring / fixing (restoring power) / investigating derelict ships!

 

[Thor110 497]

Previous message and reply about story ideas and anybody who wishes to send me their story ideas.

Spoiler

The idea for a flooded ship is an interesting one! Perhaps I will look into this while I am learning to make maps for KotOR out of pieces already in the game.

Spoiler

On 1/13/2019 at 2:12 PM, JediArchivist said:

I got this idea for the Expanded Galaxy Mod last night:

Use the Ebon Hawk, Harbringer, Leviathan and the severly damaged Sith ship at the end of K2 before Malachor (i forgot how it's called) on Lehon (the Unknown World)! They could be some of the derelict ships that have crashed onto the planet in the past! Modules from the Endar Spire and the Harbringer could be used as the crashed Hammerhead-Class ship on the beach (imagine how awesome it would be to get inside it)! The entry poimt to the ship could be on the beach where the Ebon Hawk lands, to the upper right while facing the sea, there is a shallow road that narrows down and is blocked (i'll send a picture if You can't find it).

There could be flooded portions of the ship (shallow water that the player can walk through like on the beach) and it must show signs of damage. Here the player would have to use some Power Couplings and other parts found on other derelict ships in order to restore emergency power to that ship, with the purpose of retrieving some data from the ship's navicomputer. The data could result in a new sidequest eventually. On the ship there could be some damaged, abandoned droids and turrets that attack the player because their targetting systems got damaged from the crash and also worn out in time.

You could also find scattered datapads and terminals that tell the story of the surviving Republic soldiers that were on the ship when it crashed, as the ship was their temporary base on Lehon after the crash. They stayed on the ship a few years and after multiple Rakata attacks they eventually moved to one of the islands and left the ship, while a small number remained on the ship. You can find them in a section of the ship and one of them is a merchant giving you some unique items. There is also a workbench and lab station in that section. They tell you about another Sith ship that crashed nearby and give you some sidequests: investigate the Sith ship and kill the Sith faction there, retrieve some supplies and essential parts from that ship, turn of the malfunctioning security system on a deck, there could be a section that is inacessible because it is underwater, and you would need to activate a pump in order to drain the area and then it becomes accesible (in that area you would have to install the power couplings, etc.).

There could also be a Sith scouting pary / commando searching the ship for a way to get off the planet as well and you would have to fight them.

There would also be a crashed Sith ship (use modules from the Leviathan and the damaged ship from the end of K2) where there would be a Sith faction and you would have to fight them and explore the ship in order to get the power couplings and parts needed to restore power on the Republic ship! Through the cracks and gaps of the damaged ship you could see the Lehon landscape (sea, beach etc.) instead of the original space view!

This would make and interesting addition, as i always had a thing for exploring / fixing (restoring power) / investigating derelict ships!

 

My main story ideas are written in my first and last posts, K2 - Battle Over Belsavis, K1 - Fate of the Star Forge & both games free roam elements.

For anyone looking to message me story ideas you can post them here or message me with them, but please try to keep them contained in spoilers so as to make the overall topic easier to navigate, I was also wondering if everybody who has posted previous messages could archive them within spoilers and leave just the most relevant part of the message as I have done with my previous messages.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Thor110
Archived response about story ideas.

[Guest Qui-Gon Glenn]

I just want to say I appreciate your effort in maintaining this thread and documenting your voyage, @Thor110.

The thread becomes a tutorial itself!

Keep up the good work

[Thor110 497]

Update : I have removed any areas not being used for the moment in both mods.

K2 Areas Removed : ( Star Forge, Endar Spire, Ebon Hawk, Leviathan & Extra Modules )

K1 Areas Removed : ( Peragus, Harbinger, Dantooine, Korriban, Ebon Hawk & Extra Modules )

Removing Areas From The Game!

Spoiler

These areas have been removed for the moment to make the over-all package smaller, this will also mean less work when reconstructing all of the modules as I will not be reconstructing modules I do not need to use, I have set them aside and might still be using them, just for what I do not know yet.

I am preparing for the v0_3_0 release which will have all planets added to the galaxy map, all area transitions fixed and all creatures, cameras, triggers, stores and unnecessary entries in the .git files have been removed already as well as having updated the music and sound entries for both games.

On top of this I have constructed a new set of modules for each level in both games to allow me to build an entirely new galaxy for the Expansion, I believe I will need to create a new Ebon Hawk module to do this and use it to not only list the new planets, but the duplicates of the old planets using new modules.

So for example K2 now has the original "201tel.rim" and now a "201tel++.mod" for each level in the game that will be re-used.

I do have some rough plans for all of the content I have removed, but some of it may not be applicable due to story restrictions.

To-Do List for things I am currently working on

Spoiler

K2 Mod To-Do List

Unlock Dan++ & Kor++ doors.
Remove Excess .git entries

K1 Mod To-Do List

Unlock / Check All Module Doors
Remove Excess .git entries

Both Mods To-Do List

Add planets to the galaxy map
Create an additional Ebon Hawk Map to store the new galaxy map after the main storyline.

Create Missing Module Files for un-used maps in both games.

This will allow to build all the new levels without having to build them on top of current levels
and will save on a large amount of conditional statements that would need to be checked if the new story
was built on top of the current levels

Note : I have been archiving a lot of my old messages to make the topic easier for new viewers, I would appreciate it if others did the same or a moderator could do this for me, thank you.

I will be leaving them here for the meanwhile and going through them again at some point in order to pick out any relevant information or ideas I have noted down here.

Discord : https://discord.gg/g9cnEvr - For Testing & Story Discussion.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Thor110
Updated & Discord Link Added.

[Thor110 497]

Old messages.

Spoiler

List of problems left.

A little update on the progress so far, I have finished fixing up all the doors / transitions in all of the maps I am currently using. ( Tatooine, Kashyyk, Manaan, Lehon & Yavin Orbital Station ) including to the Ebon Hawk.

Spoiler

I have only noticed a few problems here and there so far, the main one being a missing portion of Kashyyk, cannot figure out why this is at the moment, feel like it would be missing textures but I have the entire texture pack in the game, so unless some are hidden in the gui texture pack as well I am not sure.

Spoiler

Other than that the only issues I have noticed are white ships in the sky above Anchorhead & above Manaan also.

All that is left to do after fixing these issues is add the planets to the galaxy map and try to bypass the 16 planet limit if possible.

I think there are a few doors that lead off the map that need to be locked, but I will be leaving them open for testing as it could be possible to extend some of these areas by re-using pieces of modules, once I have added Tatooine, Kashyyk, Manaan & the Yavin Orbital Station to the galaxy map I will release 3_0_0 for people to have a look around in.

Thor110

Update! - Simple Story Ideas & things I am working on.

Spoiler

Tatooine

SWTOR story prequelling the Imperial & Republic Conflict as well as Czerka's general operations
on this planets, as well as smugglers, gangsters and anything else that might tie into KotOR or TSL.

Kashyyk

Look into any references to Kashyyk in SWTOR K1 / K2, include a Czerka follow up or remove them and
place the Republic with Wookies in the old Czerka base.

Manaan
Swoop Racing, Pazaak, Merchants and Swoop Bike Mechanic on all relevant planets.

Yavin - Orbital Station
Merchant & Swoop Vendor or Upgradeable Swoop left by Suvam and made for Revan.

Lehon
Rakata continuuation or research Mandalorian Lehon Expansion to see how it plays out
and make a following progression of that or seek assistance in this.

Starships
Endar Spire, Harbinger, Leviathan, Ravager, Harbinger.
There are also a large number of Sith Bases & odd cut-scene modules that could be used
to create some interesting levels and simple dungeons.

Doors
Any doors that can not be opened should be noted because they will be part of the actual
model rather than a functional door object, there are also doors that lead out of the map
altogether, these should also be noted.

CZ-196
Or a similar made from Korriban, Kashyyk, Manaan, Tatooine & Other Czerka pieces
throughout both games, or a Czerka Starship, such as a weapons research facility
like mentioned on one of the Starships in the Imperial Fleet on SWTOR.
Look into any references in SWTOR to K2 or K1, trying to exclude Revan's fate.

Add more to the Dantooine Jedi Enclave in both K1 & K2.
Expand upon every planet including extras like Coruscant & M478.

Tie M478 into the Flashpoint from SWTOR on the similar Droid Planet.

Finish the Upgradeable Swoop bike mod by bead-v.

It is my hope the demo will include all 5 Planets / missing areas as well as Swoop Racing and vendors, as well as be fully accessible from the galaxy map once you have no story restrictions in game.

I am also looking for people to get involved in the project, starting with a 3D modeller for making maps and fixing geometry errors on maps, the project will also need regular beta testers and more.

 

New Ideas

These are the ideas I had planned for the upcoming demo including re-introducing cut content.

Spoiler

Ideas for the completion of the Demo

1 - Thor Merchant for Upgradeable Swoop Bike

2 - Travel to Planets via Galaxy Map

3 - Swoop Track Access through conversation on each planet

4 - Conversation Travel to Underwater Manaan Base from the Sith Base

5 - Minimap Scaling & Large Map

6 - Text on doors and transitions.

Extra

1 - Terminal for viewing Cameras in every map

2 - Downloadable maps for every map

3 - Stunt Modules & More

4 - Force Power for Co-Ordinates

5 - VR Simulator for Swoop Tracks & Combat Training ( Taris Arena )

6 - Add all characters to content re-introduced for the VR Combat Training Scenarios.

Story Ideas

1 - Yavin introduction to Revan's choices in K2 so as to allow for K1 story Cameos.

2 - Tatooine Introduction from single Czerka Guard at the Landing Pad

3 - Two Face Merchant Still there talks about Czerkas Decline.

4 - Hutt offers mission to hunt down stolen supplies by Sand People

5 - Cantina vendor offers tips and information about Anchorhead

Change Yavin Orbital Station into a Swoop Bike & Droid Upgrade Shop

VR Combat Areas Planned

Spoiler

There is also the possibility to re-use every map in the game in this way multiple times just using .are, .git and .ifo files to construct new modules made accessible via the VR Simulator on the Ebon Hawk.

Telos Hanger
Telos Polar Plateau
Taris Combat Arena
Endar Spire Scenario
Harbinger Scenario
Leviathan Scenario
Ravager Scenario
Star Forge Scenario

Lots of new ideas with great potential to re use all of the original maps from both games.

As well as many scenarios and possibility to fight bosses from both games.

Here are some screenshots of odd items in the game I would like to use in maps and ideas I have had.

Spoiler

 

And some ridiculously sized map I thought about making for some sort of Cloud City type Refinery with a couple of levels. ( this will probably never happen but I converted all of the maps to PNG for easy editing and to jog my memory about certain map pieces around the game that could be re-used )

Could also be a good idea to re-use this piece of coruscant in the background of the train chase scenario / mission I had planned ( again this might not happen, its just a thought I have noted down )

0_3_2 New Mod Resource & Expanded Galaxy Version, containing a total of 251 module files.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/kotor-ii-tsl-expanded-galaxy/downloads/expanded-galaxy-resource

Edited January 25, 2019 by Thor110
New ideas for the project.

[JediArchivist 70]

Great work so far! I love the custom maps, if they are easy to make and implement we will get loads of awesome new mods!