Mods To start out later

[test]

i was just wondering if there is a mod or something that'll let me start out at the jedi base in dantooine so i wont have to play the very begining ALL over again. thanks.

 

btw...are there mods that add extra levels or any such thing? ive seen some general ones, but im not sure if they are good or reccomended. thanks once again!

 

any cool lightside mods because im playing with lightside this time thru? thanks

[SuperSquall]

Originally posted by test

i was just wondering if there is a mod or something that'll let me start out at the jedi base in dantooine so i wont have to play the very begining ALL over again. thanks.

If you check out this sticky thread you will find a couple mods that can work for you. I don't think there are any mods that actually allow you to skip that far ahead, but there is a mod that lets you start the game as a Jedi and skip the Endar Spire. You could use this in conjunction with Darth333's warping armband to zip through Taris in under an hour I'm sure. You *could* warp straight to Dantooine but you'd be missing a few characters (such as Bastila) and so on.

 

If you want to just start at that point in the game you could just keep a save game there and load from it, and if you want to change your class and all that jazz just use the KotOR Save Editor.

 

btw...are there mods that add extra levels or any such thing? ive seen some general ones, but im not sure if they are good or reccomended. thanks once again!

There are a couple out there, but they probably aren't what you have in mind. Most mods of this variety use exhisting maps from the game and just chain them together differently.

 

There are mods for ORD Mantell and a post-destruction Dantooine. I haven't played any others so I won't comment on them. I wouldn't recommend either of them too strongly since they don't really offer anything new, just a new version of an old area. The two I played were both fun, but I'd sooner go for new stuff (but that's just me, and the mods I mentioned are both fine).

 

any cool lightside mods because im playing with lightside this time thru? thanks

Since you've already started the game I can't really think of any except for some Jedi Robe mods etc, but they aren't really light side specific. I'd go for the Bastila Revelation Robes mod and Nequams modernized Jedi robes.

[RedHawke]

Originally posted by SuperSquall

There are a couple out there, but they probably aren't what you have in mind. Most mods of this variety use exhisting maps from the game and just chain them together differently.

 

There are mods for ORD Mantell and a post-destruction Dantooine. I haven't played any others so I won't comment on them. I wouldn't recommend either of them too strongly since they don't really offer anything new, just a new version of an old area. The two I played were both fun, but I'd sooner go for new stuff (but that's just me, and the mods I mentioned are both fine).

Not trying to flame here SuperSquall, but you obviously have NO IDEA what making a new area in KOTOR entails.

 

Those new area mods that people make are a boatload of work, and not something you players should take so lightly... your statement of "I wouldn't recommend either of them too strongly since they don't really offer anything new, just a new version of an old area." sounds pretty ignorant of the KOTOR modding process, we cannot make totally new game areas yet, until a map making toolset for KOTOR comes out all you players can get is rearranged game areas, as we don't have a cushy toolset like NWN has... and the KOTOR modding community is probably better for it.

 

So unless you are up to making a KOTOR map making toolset like they have in NWN, then completely new areas would be possible, and all of us Modders would be more than happy to make tons of new areas, so until then, you players will have to live with rearranged new areas, and not hold that against the hard-to-make New Area Mods that are available.

 

Again, I'm sorry if this comes off as a flame, that was not my intention, but you need to realize what is currently possible Modding KOTOR before you rate things down for not being "new stuff."

[SuperSquall]

Originally posted by RedHawke

Not trying to flame here SuperSquall, but you obviously have NO IDEA what making a new area in KOTOR entails.

Your post is accepted as a non-flame but despite the low post count I know how long some mods can take. I *haven't* tackled anything as huge as a new area mod because it's beyond my ability right now, I'm still getting the hang of the basics here. I don't think I ever said that they weren't a lot of work, and I didn't mean to sound flippant. What I *meant* to say was that I wouldn't recommend them too strongly because I didn't think they were what he was looking for. I also wouldn't recommend the ORD Mantell Mod if he was looking for a short and easy fight with Mandalorians either.

 

Those new area mods that people make are a boatload of work, and not something you players should take so lightly... your statement of "I wouldn't recommend either of them too strongly since they don't really offer anything new, just a new version of an old area." sounds pretty ignorant of the KOTOR modding process

That was not my intent. I've done some basic modding with KotOR and know how out of my league projects like these are. I wasn't meaning to flame *them* in any way.

 

we cannot make totally new game areas yet, until a map making toolset for KOTOR comes out all you players can get is rearranged game areas, as we don't have a cushy toolset like NWN has... and the KOTOR modding community is probably better for it.

Well I'm not sure what you mean by saying the KotOR mod community is better for it (unless you mean it in the sense that the stalwarts of the community aren't pampered and are actually diving into the game, in which case I agree).

 

So unless you are up to making a KOTOR map making toolset like they have in NWN, then completely new areas would be possible, and all of us Modders would be more than happy to make tons of new areas, so until then, you players will have to live with rearranged new areas, and not hold that against the hard-to-make New Area Mods that are available.

Again, I never intended to flame the new areas. He asked about new areas and I got the impression that he meant something along the lines of:

-a new floor on the Leviathin

-Ebon Hawk ---> Millenium Falcon

-Any area from Ep I - VI et cetera

In that manner of speaking there aren't any new areas so I wouldn't recommend ORD Mantell or Dantooine revisited. I re-read my post and I understand it sounded dismissive, but please: my brain isn't the size of my post count. I'm a n00b here but I know enough to appreciate just how hard it is to do some of these mods.

 

And no, I don't have the ability (I don't think anyway) to make a KotOR map editor. I thought about coding up something to make mods compatible when there were .2da conflicts but I then noticed that the KISS handles that sort of thing, so as far as programming is concerned we're out of my league there too.

 

Again, I'm sorry if this comes off as a flame, that was not my intention, but you need to realize what is currently possible Modding KOTOR before you rate things down for not being "new stuff."

Don't worry about it, I think you're being kinder than I would be to some 5-post nutjob bashed people who (like yourself) added new areas/planets. My new stuff comment was suggesting stuff like Lightsaber packs, Nequams modernized Jedi Robes, your Revan/Bastilla item pack etc.

[Doom_Dealer]

Although i understand you intentions are not to anger as many people as you can here on holowan, i think you still do not quite understand the idea of area modding.

 

You may not of fel like you had experianced anything new witht he ORD Mandel project, but at this moment in time, it is the best around, and as an area modder myself i realise how much effort REdHawke put into the project.

 

When you say:

 

I wouldn't recommend either of them too strongly since they don't really offer anything new, just a new version of an old area.

 

you must understand. new versions of old areas are the best we can do. The current projects i am working on have work arounds to this, i.e. using locked, unselectable doors to block of certain areas. -- the Jedi arena is basically a shrunken version of the Jedi enclave. It will still be very familiar, but it isnt possible to change the area. You must understand this. The only real option is to use 100s of placeables of locked, uinselectable doors as lots of walls. but, this would take months to finish.

 

i suggest you take a look into area modding, in its simplist form:

http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130451&highlight=module+tutorial

 

 

I also suggest you search the forum, this type of thing has been discussed many times, use some time to understand the barriers we face and then you might understand why you r comments are offensive to others.

 

 

--edit-- and i suggest you try looking harder for mods along the lines of "adding a new floor to the leviathon".

Hint - Boba Fett mod is made so it is worked into the game, and im currently working with the MECK team to bring similar projects in such a way. There are mods like you say there is a lack of, you just need to use that lovely search button

[PsyckoSama]

where would one find this post-destruction Dantooine mod...

[Doom_Dealer]

unfortunatly the link on the site has been taken down, i suggest trying to find a nice volunterr who can email you the .mod file, unfortunatly i dont have it myself so i cant help.

[90SK]

This is a bit off topic but I just had to chuckle at this. If this kind of thread happened it's way into the JA section, it would probably turn into some kind of flame war, and everyone would be mad. Its nice to know everyone here is better than that.

[SuperSquall]

Originally posted by Doom_Dealer

you must understand. new versions of old areas are the best we can do.

I don't believe I ever said otherwise in either post. I did my reading up on things and even did some modding for KotOR before I even registered for this forum. I know where our current limits are, but the point I was trying to make was that we simply don't have any truly "new" areas. I don't think that makes ORD Mantell or any of the other areas bad by any stretch of the imagination, I just don't think that is what this person was asking for. I know we can't create truly original areas yet (yet). I hope we get around that too.

 

You must understand this. The only real option is to use 100s of placeables of locked, uinselectable doors as lots of walls. but, this would take months to finish.

I don't think I have for one moment shown that I don't understand what our limits are. Have I gone and said "teh onlee reason we dnt hav n3w areaz is cuz modderz R la-Z"? No. I know what can and can't be done by *any modder* right now. I also know that our moddings tools are expanding and sooner or later we might be able to do some new areas.

 

i suggest you take a look into area modding, in its simplist form:

http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130451&highlight=module+tutorial

I already have "A Guide to modules" actually, though I certainly don't know all of its content by heart yet.

 

I also suggest you search the forum, this type of thing has been discussed many times, use some time to understand the barriers we face and then you might understand why you r comments are offensive to others.

Please give me some credit, I really might be competent. I might actually have a rough idea on what the limits are, and how my comments might be taken offensively. I attempted to clarify them, but I'm not going to act like I was any less informed when I made them than I actually was. I'm sure I know less about modding than a lot of people here but I do have some university computer science under my belt and I've done modding with other games, original projects, and ROM-hacking. I know what this stuff is like. I know how much harder it is without your own editing tools. I still don't think the average person who is asking for a "new area" is thinking of the Holowan Spire when they type up their post, I think they are thinking about something which is currently out of our range. I don't believe I ever said that ORD mantell or any other mod was bad. This is because they aren't bad, and I'd take issue with anyone who said they were - you and RedHawke aren't the only ones who'd stand up for some mods to a n00b. I'm not going to act like I was thinking they were easy to make when I wrote my response. I already apologized to RedHawke - I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough in my first post. I'm not going to act like I'm clued out because I'm simply not. I'm sure plenty of people here are better modders and I'm sure almost all of you have more experience at KotOR modding, but that doesn't mean I was totally ignorant when I opened my mouth.

 

--edit-- and i suggest you try looking harder for mods along the lines of "adding a new floor to the leviathon".

Hint - Boba Fett mod is made so it is worked into the game, and im currently working with the MECK team to bring similar projects in such a way. There are mods like you say there is a lack of, you just need to use that lovely search button

You know, I think you just aren't giving me any credit here (and understanbly so, I'm the low-post, no-mod noob who offended you) but please, I think you *know* what I meant and there's no need to be so nitpicky. I was giving examples of what I thought the guy was looking for and I'm pretty sure you know perfectly well what I was actually trying to communicate there.

 

I'm not trying to flame you either BTW. I'm just trying to stick up for myself *and* for the mods I inadvertantly bashed.

[Doom_Dealer]

lol, dont worry i wasnt offended, or underestimating you.

 

anyway, im just gona wipe this from my mind and start affresh..

 

supersquall, welcome to the forums, sorry for the bad first impressions but im stick with us and ui'kk come around.

 

anyway, moderators may aswell lock this, its abit of a silly thread tbh

[SuperSquall]

Originally posted by Doom_Dealer

lol, dont worry i wasnt offended, or underestimating you.

 

anyway, im just gona wipe this from my mind and start affresh..

Thank you. I'd say the same but I happen to have one of your mods that I intend on keeping

 

Sorry about the rough start

[Xavier2]

Originally posted by SuperSquall

Thank you. I'd say the same but I happen to have one of your mods that I intend on keeping

 

Sorry about the rough start

I don't want to start this discussion all over again, but i think you just expressed your opinion. It wasn't a "rough start" at all. As CaptainSkye stated, you will find that this community is very comprehensive and ppl here are very self-given. If and when you start your own mods count me in for any help within my knowledge.

[RedHawke]

Originally posted by SuperSquall

Well I'm not sure what you mean by saying the KotOR mod community is better for it (unless you mean it in the sense that the stalwarts of the community aren't pampered and are actually diving into the game, in which case I agree).

That is indeed what I meant.

Originally posted by SuperSquall

Again, I never intended to flame the new areas. He asked about new areas and I got the impression that he meant something along the lines of:

-a new floor on the Leviathin

-Ebon Hawk ---> Millenium Falcon

-Any area from Ep I - VI et cetera

In that manner of speaking there aren't any new areas so I wouldn't recommend ORD Mantell or Dantooine revisited.

Actually test asked;

Originally Posted By test

btw...are there mods that add extra levels or any such thing? ive seen some general ones, but im not sure if they are good or reccomended. thanks once again!

I would take this "add extra levels" question as asking for exactly such things as ORD Mandell, Exar Kun's Tomb, Dantooine Aftermath, The Jawa Shop, Maverick's Mod Shop, Jabbas Palace, and the others of their kin.

Originally posted by SuperSquall

And no, I don't have the ability (I don't think anyway) to make a KotOR map editor. I thought about coding up something to make mods compatible when there were .2da conflicts but I then noticed that the KISS handles that sort of thing, so as far as programming is concerned we're out of my league there too.

Programming is a little out of my league too, but I intend to work on that.

 

As far as KISS is concerned, if the creators of it weren't so cryptic, and evasive, and actually decided to join the KOTOR Modding community, it would probably be a far more popular tool than it is.

Originally posted by SuperSquall

I re-read my post and I understand it sounded dismissive, but please: my brain isn't the size of my post count. I'm a n00b here but I know enough to appreciate just how hard it is to do some of these mods.

 

Don't worry about it, I think you're being kinder than I would be to some 5-post nutjob bashed people who (like yourself) added new areas/planets.

Don't worry, my rebuttal like Doom_Dealers, were intended to educate, that is all... no worries!

[PsyckoSama]

Somewhat on topic, how hard is it to reskin a map?

[90SK]

I didn't know it was possible to re-skin a map, though I've heard OF it many times. I've never seen it done, though (or if I have, I havn't noticed).

[PsyckoSama]

Originally posted by CaptainSkye

I didn't know it was possible to re-skin a map, though I've heard OF it many times. I've never seen it done, though (or if I have, I havn't noticed).

 

Just wondering because I think it would be cool to reskin taris as another city word like Coruscant.

 

Hmmm... I wonder if you can use KOTOR1 maps in KOTOR2...

[90SK]

I would think so, since the only thing the devs changed regarding map format was the whole wheather support thing. If so, a pretty re-skin of Taris combined with a few Nar Shaddaa levels and we would have one sweet Coruscant.

[SuperSquall]

Originally posted by PsyckoSama

Somewhat on topic, how hard is it to reskin a map?...

 

...Just wondering because I think it would be cool to reskin taris as another city word like Coruscant.

 

Hmmm... I wonder if you can use KOTOR1 maps in KOTOR2...

I thought about how Taris was very Coruscant-esque as well. I'm not sure how far we could take a map reskin but I was browsing around with KotOR tool today and found the skyline for Taris, so if we could override that file with a Coruscant Skyline that'd be a very huge step right away in terms of atmosphere.

 

In terms of how hard it is I don't think anyone knows for KotOR since I don't think anyone has tried a "reskin" of a map (though there are tons of mods I don't know about).

 

If my suggestion for the skyline works then we'd get that bit out of the way in under an hour. Everything else would take quite a bit more time though, if it is even possible right now (which I doubt...)

[Doom_Dealer]

It is actually possible, i had a mess around with the sith academy textures once, you need to route through a hel of alot though.

 

however, you cant make a new module with custom textures, that requires actually changing the mapping in an areas model then changing all the other files - not a gd description but tbh i dont really know what im talking about i

 

another problem arises when you change some textures, what i found was when i changed the texture of a wall panel in the academy, parts of the rock and walls in the valley of the sith also changed, which looked just plain weird. UNfortunatly due to reuse of textures, whicj is completly understandable, by making one area look new and shiny, it might make another area just look plain odd.

 

 

hope this clears it up,

 

there was also a thread with an attempt a while back, you might want to have a search for it.

[T7nowhere]

You can hex edit the models to change the textures just like you would with any other model, the problem is that you have to change dozens of texture referances.

 

You can also try useing the renamer function in mdlops accept Its still very buggy I have tried a few area models with it But I just end up with a corrupted model

[PsyckoSama]

Originally posted by T7nowhere

You can hex edit the models to change the textures just like you would with any other model, the problem is that you have to change dozens of texture referances.

 

You can also try useing the renamer function in mdlops accept Its still very buggy I have tried a few area models with it But I just end up with a corrupted model

 

Hmmm... well, I really only wanted to change some of the textures and not all of them (basically the ones that are very marking as to location, like Sith symbols and the like)

 

Say, If I can figure out a lay out would anyone be willing to help me put it togeather. I want to learn how to mod, and I am DLing the programs, I just don't know how to deal with maps quite yet.

 

Already have ideas for the plots on the planet though.

 

I'm thinking eather using the map where you get the Hawk as a personal palace of some political figure. You get access coruscant after you're invited to visist the planet (gives you a reason to go there)

[SConrad]

Originally posted by RedHawke

Programming is a little out of my league too, but I intend to work on that.

 

As far as KISS is concerned, if the creators of it weren't so cryptic, and evasive, and actually decided to join the KOTOR Modding community, it would probably be a far more popular tool than it is.

Lack of energy of persuading interest for a tool most modders seemed to *shrug* off - yes. Cryptic and evasive - no. I do wonder how you would think of us that way.

 

I maintain my opinion that KISS is the tool for taking KotOR-modding to the next level - but that might just be me.

 

As for "joining the community", I made an attempt. Problem is, I spent most of the time exploring the engine and aiding in developing KISS rather than making mods. I'm no texturer - my strength is the programming and the scripting. I even offered the modders around here to convert their mods to KISS, and thus nullify the whole compatibility issue. No luck, there, either. I lost interest and headed back to a modding community for another engine.

 

I'm back, though, and I'm still more than willing to help in introducing KISS to modders and answer any questions.

[Darkkender]

Originally posted by SConrad

Lack of energy of persuading interest for a tool most modders seemed to *shrug* off - yes. Cryptic and evasive - no. I do wonder how you would think of us that way.

 

I maintain my opinion that KISS is the tool for taking KotOR-modding to the next level - but that might just be me.

 

As for "joining the community", I made an attempt. Problem is, I spent most of the time exploring the engine and aiding in developing KISS rather than making mods. I'm no texturer - my strength is the programming and the scripting. I even offered the modders around here to convert their mods to KISS, and thus nullify the whole compatibility issue. No luck, there, either. I lost interest and headed back to a modding community for another engine.

 

I'm back, though, and I'm still more than willing to help in introducing KISS to modders and answer any questions.

 

Welcome back to the community SConrad. I actually have to admit that I agree with Redhawke's statement you quoted and here's why. When a few of us have asked for help understanding KISS or trying to get it to work all we get is vague answers that can sound and read very cryptic and evasive. Truth be told they sound alot like a salesman still selling the product and alot less like technical support.

 

What we all could use is a down and dirty nitty gritty tutorial with detailed instructions of what to do. Lately some people have put together picture tutorials of how to model and the and what to do. Something like this would be really helpful. Basically we need a "KISS for Dummies manual" to really understand it and make use of it. Offers to help convert are mods are apreciated but many of us would like to know how to use the program so we can do it ourselves.

 

I for one welcome you back and I hope this maybe of some help to you for promoting and getting others to use KISS.

[SConrad]

Originally posted by Darkkender

Welcome back to the community SConrad. I actually have to admit that I agree with Redhawke's statement you quoted and here's why. When a few of us have asked for help understanding KISS or trying to get it to work all we get is vague answers that can sound and read very cryptic and evasive. Truth be told they sound alot like a salesman still selling the product and alot less like technical support.

If this is the case, then I'm sorry. Personally, I've never felt that I recieved any technical questions whatsoever, except a few minor issues which seemed not to have any follow-up at all. We've tried to be salesmen, yes, to stir an interest for KISS. But I've never experienced anyone really asking me about the technical aspects of the tool - which caused my/our lack of interest.

 

Originally posted by Darkkender

What we all could use is a down and dirty nitty gritty tutorial with detailed instructions of what to do. Lately some people have put together picture tutorials of how to model and the and what to do. Something like this would be really helpful. Basically we need a "KISS for Dummies manual" to really understand it and make use of it. Offers to help convert are mods are apreciated but many of us would like to know how to use the program so we can do it ourselves.

Tutorials exist, I've written two myself found here:

 

Scripting tutorial

 

Installer tutorial (EDIT: Looking back on this tutorial now, I can see a lot of flaws in the .nsi-script. I'll fix this at some point, although it works as it is.)

 

These tutorials was appreciated when I released them, and many modders expressed satisfaction. A problem might be that they're not located on this forum, since we also wanted to 'promote' a new modding community for KotOR. Naturally, I can offer to put them up here as well, if you all wish.

 

As for picture-tutorials; well, I could do that, but I don't really see the point since KISS is a command-line interface running off a script - which is pure text and no buttons to click or anything like that. Still, if people really want to have pictures, then, as I said, I could do that.

 

Originally posted by Darkkender

I for one welcome you back and I hope this maybe of some help to you for promoting and getting others to use KISS.

Thanks.

[Darkkender]

Okay thanks for the heads up on the tutorials. At the time when I got KISS and was trying to learn it those were not available frustrating me to no end. Hence some of the bitterness. Might I suggest doing us the favor of going ahead and posting those as there own tutorial here at the boards using a simple copy and paste method. That way people only have to visit one page thread by itself here. I'm sure Darth333 or one of the other moderators here would be willing to add it to the tutorial stickies for everybodys quick reference.