Koru 24 Posted August 17, 2020 Hi folks! I've had a total modernization rework of KOTOR head models floating on my mind for years and thanks to the fantastic tools released on this site, I've been able to get a fully functioning prototype going with a few test cases. I'm starting this thread to document my progress with it and share with the community. First up, huge thanks to developers of KOTOR Tool, Kotormax and MDLops for making this possible. My goal is to build a universal head base that can be extrapolated to replace all the player and party head models with a much more modern standard - one that looks good, and is also very easy to adapt and modify. Hair will be handled as a separate mesh instead of something modeled as a fixed part of the head model, as is the solution in vanilla meshes, removing the need to do skinning cleanup for new heads. Texture layouts for heads are standardized as a result. Where I'm at right now: -New head geometry completed. -New teeth, tongue and eyes. -Eyelids are no longer separate geometry, instead the eyelid models have been converted to dummies and the eyelids on the head mesh are skinned to them, allowing for far more natural looking blinking. -Much more believable eyelashes have been integrated as a result. -Head is fully skinned for facial animation, though this is still a work in progress and needs a lot of testing and iteration. -Early tests for texturing and stylization are underway. First pass with vanilla eyelashes before I took the plunge to try the dummy skinning route, which ended up being a huge gamechanger. Skinned eyelids and eyelashes. Much more detailed teeth! Testing out eyelid skinning. To see how much I can get out of the new geometry I chose to start with a pretty major quick redesign of Juhani based on Cathar from SWTOR. If I have the stamina to see this project to full completion I'll probably also make a 'classic' version. This is probably going to be a pretty long project, but I'll try to keep updating once in a while. I plan to release a full resource pack of this even in the absence of a fully completed replacer mod. Thanks for stopping by! I'll be happy to answer any questions in the meantime. 15 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KnifeMaster 33 Posted August 17, 2020 ooh, neat 😄 great work so far. this would be a huge improvement. I've always thought that the KotOR games were more in need of high-poly models than high-res textures, although both would be ideal. I wish you luck in your endeavor! edit: the TOR style Juhani looks very good, but the marks below her eyes are almost too cat-like lol. maybe that's just me, though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joshjonasone 3 Posted August 18, 2020 I love this! This is the best thing since sliced bread. Keep up the good work! :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jorak Uln 458 Posted August 18, 2020 Love it! Great work, excited to see what you have in store as well! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Koru 24 Posted August 19, 2020 (edited) Thanks guys. Some very early tests on Bastila and trying to wrestle against the often unflattering eyelid animations, vanilla hair for a placeholder. edit: 2nd pass on her head model, adjusted a lot of things and corrected eyelids. Edited August 20, 2020 by Koru 6 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joshjonasone 3 Posted August 22, 2020 Looks great! Her nose seems a bit off to me, but I am not sure. Those robes and hair sure look low poly with the new face. I wish someone would port SWtor Bastila robes to Kotor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jorak Uln 458 Posted August 23, 2020 On 8/19/2020 at 11:07 PM, Koru said: Thanks guys. Some very early tests on Bastila and trying to wrestle against the often unflattering eyelid animations, vanilla hair for a placeholder. edit: 2nd pass on her head model, adjusted a lot of things and corrected eyelids. first of all, just fantastic work already! Ive hoped that someone would step up & do this! Its great that you give the Cathar a unique look.. Now, i think Bastila needs more attention though- while you did well for an early build, she should have that instant recognizability.. So far, imho the best Bastila ive seen is this one from Mike Wilson. Maybe you could get her more in that direction? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sith Holocron 2,478 Posted August 23, 2020 18 minutes ago, Jorak Uln said: So far, imho the best Bastila I've seen is this one from Mike Wilson. Maybe you could get her more in that direction? Not crazy about Mike Wilson's head for Bastila but the outfit is on point. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joshjonasone 3 Posted August 23, 2020 Real problem with that outfit would be the poly count. I imagine it would be difficult at best to make it work with Kotor. One of the reasons why I suggested the Swtor model is because it is relatively low poly, while it looks decent enough. I know it doesn't look right at first glance, most armor doesn't look as good as it can be in Swtor, but a few adjustments to the texture could make it just right. I don't have Swtor installed at the moment, but if someone could provide me the Bastila armor mesh and textures, I believe I should be able to prove my point. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DarthParametric 3,782 Posted August 23, 2020 13 minutes ago, joshjonasone said: Real problem with that outfit would be the poly count. No it wouldn't. It's only 55K tris, and half of that is probably in the head. The only problem would be getting access to it. I doubt he plans on releasing it for use in a KOTOR mod. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joshjonasone 3 Posted August 23, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, DarthParametric said: No it wouldn't. It's only 55K tris, and half of that is probably in the head. The only problem would be getting access to it. I doubt he plans on releasing it for use in a KOTOR mod. I stand corrected. I only made that comment because I am not exactly sure what the poly count limit for Kotor is and I know most models for Swtor is low poly anyhow. Would you consider porting Bastila armor from Swtor? I can already guess your answer, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Edited August 23, 2020 by joshjonasone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DarthParametric 3,782 Posted August 23, 2020 Nah, the TOR outfit looks like ass. Not worth the effort. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joshjonasone 3 Posted August 23, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, DarthParametric said: Nah, the TOR outfit looks like ass. Not worth the effort. You don't disappoint. Like I said, I could already guess your answer. I say it only looks awful because of the texture and it could be made to look good. Because mesh wise it looks exactly like the original. Are you up for a challenge then? Provide me with the mesh and if I could make it look right, you will consider porting it? Deal? Edited August 23, 2020 by joshjonasone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KnifeMaster 33 Posted August 24, 2020 after looking at your heads for a bit, I think they might be slightly too small. it's most apparent when comparing the size of Bastila's upper arm and head (or maybe the old hair is just throwing me off). as far as facial features are concerned, it probably wouldn't hurt to make her look a little... well, bitchier. it's not Bastila without a serious case of RBF. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Koru 24 Posted August 24, 2020 (edited) 43 minutes ago, KnifeMaster said: after looking at your heads for a bit, I think they might be slightly too small. it's most apparent when comparing the size of Bastila's upper arm and head (or maybe the old hair is just throwing me off). as far as facial features are concerned, it probably wouldn't hurt to make her look a little... well, bitchier. it's not Bastila without a serious case of RBF. It's more that the original heads are proportionally really big, actually. Bastila here is pretty much exactly 7 heads tall, while the vanilla heads have the characters at between 6 and 6.5 heads tall due to the size of the head, which reads visually as a shorter than average person. Superhero proportions would land at 8 heads tall. Edited August 24, 2020 by Koru 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icebuckets 2 Posted September 2, 2020 On 8/23/2020 at 9:41 AM, DarthParametric said: No it wouldn't. It's only 55K tris, and half of that is probably in the head. The only problem would be getting access to it. I doubt he plans on releasing it for use in a KOTOR mod. Unless someone wants to do something unethical and rip the model from his ArtStation turnaround 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Koru 24 Posted September 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Icebuckets said: Unless someone wants to do something unethical and rip the model from his ArtStation turnaround Even if you're half-joking, please don't do that. It's really awful towards artists and a lot of people on there are opting out of posting model viewers because so many are getting their work stolen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stormie97 253 Posted September 3, 2020 On 8/19/2020 at 11:07 PM, Koru said: edit: 2nd pass on her head model, adjusted a lot of things and corrected eyelids. I think her likeness is pretty spot on. Her eyes have a lighter hue in the vanilla textures. Also her eyebrows normally have that stern, authoritarian and arrogant look to them. Other than that she looks fantastic! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RavinNightBeast 2 Posted September 3, 2020 Very Very Nice Work! I'm Looking Forward To Seeing More! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
