Kotor Restoration Project: K1RP Official LF Thread!

[southern_fox]

Don't get me wrong Chris, I'd be happy to turn over what I have; the problem is that none of it is actually an installable or playable program. I'm really happy that you are interested. Its just that I don't have any models or things that could be used to create a new area.

 

My work specifically was relegated to Microsoft Word documents. Area descriptions, rundowns, synopsis-style stories. Stuff like that. Even that is not complete.

 

I'm not sure what good it could do to hand it off to a future team, although I'm not necessarily closed to the idea. I would imagine though that if a new team came along to attempt to do what this project attempted, they would probably make their own storylines/descriptions.

 

I probably got about only 1/3 of Sleheyron written out, at least as I saw it. I had a broad overview of the world, and I knew where I wanted to go with it, but I did not hammer out smaller details in a lot of areas, especially the "lower levels" of Sleheyron City. Most of what I wrote was for the upper area.

 

The lower areas, as well as the mines, have brief but colorful descriptions, and have no where near the intimate detail of areas like the landing pad or the streets. Outside of Sleheyron, I have a very brief rundown of Pollard Seario, the Czerka administrator of Dreshdae; a Sith sympathizer, antiquities collector and embezzler, playing his own allies in order to steal discovered artifacts. I vaguely thought of some sort of mission where the player can recover an artifact for him, or double-cross him and tell the Sith, who in turn gives the player a mission for his silent assassination, but I wrote nothing of it.

 

If you plan on organizing a revival of the project, or are recruiting others; thats great. I'd love to see this project fly.

 

Other stuff that the project made, like the artwork and 3D stuff were Quanon's work; as such, its best to ask him.

 

As Quanon said, for the project to be successful, whatever team that assumes the job will need to be significantly large; I might add intelligent, and well experienced. I felt a bit overwhelmed writing most of everything, and I'm sure he felt the same about all of the artwork. It burns me out. If the project did fly again, I'd be really happy to continue (in my spare time). But the team would need to be larger, more interconnected, and more active.

[Seamhainn]

@CrisG: Start a new forum or better yet, start a email list with the persons who want to help. I would like to help, as little as my help is worth.

 

Take care

[Inyri]

I'm in a somewhat peculiar position in this, as I've been working on a tool (KAurora) which is not necessarily linked to any project in particular but can theoretically be used in any mod. Though, truth to be said, the initial impulse in writing KAurora was in fact given by the K1RP.

 

In any case, I have no problems whatsoever in making KAurora available to any site which may want to host it. If you do create an hosting site, just let me know and I'll send you the package. Allowing me to directly upload it (and edit the relevant description) would make the release of new versions somewhat smoother than what currently is, as I could then mantain a "stable" release, which gets updated every once in a while, and a "development" release containing the most up-to-date version, incomplete as it might be. But this is not a requirement. In any case, StarWarsKnights will keep getting regular updates until I stop the development work.

You need a website, my man. If you need some free space with limited restrictions KotORFiles provides hosting for mod-related sites. They've yet to have anyone take them up on it, either.

[Quanon]

You need a website, my man. If you need some free space with limited restrictions KotORFiles provides hosting for mod-related sites. They've yet to have anyone take them up on it, either.

 

Indeed , I think that would greatly help to spread the "WORD" .

 

Most people still think this programme is for a lucky few and you need to be privelegde or something to get it ... Which is ofcourse NOT the case !

 

I would grab that change Mag !

 

@Topic :

 

and I'm sure he felt the same about all of the artwork. It burns me out.

 

Yep , that is more or less what happened , I had a blast of energy in the first 2 months , then I just got bogged down and there where some other prived issues that needed to be handled .

 

Plus it started to look like I was the only one doing something , no offense to the other team members , I'm sure they somehow feel the sameway about it .

 

And like I said before , this project needs a strong ART arm , mainly in the beginning .

 

One man on its own can do a part of an area , but not all .

 

If I take a wild guess if I would continue to work on Sleheyron ( and get it to nice level of hobby modelling ) I would like need 2 years to get things working .

 

And I'm thinking positive here ...

 

Anyway , to bring this back out of the dead , we need a strong batch of leaders , to take care for all aspects of this big mod .

 

Who can setup somesort of planning , devide the tasks to various modders .

 

Just my IMO .

[Seamhainn]

Hello!

 

I think Sleyheron is what killed the project. As Quanon stated, his estimate is two years to complete the planet. I think its importent to concentrate on the RESTORATION of the stuff which is already on the cd (and give it some finishing touches maybe).

 

For example: Deadeye Duncan on Manaan is already been resurrected by Dart333. The mod (or restoration) could stand as it is. It doesn't lend anything new to game, but gives it some nice conversation for the pc. The only odd thing about it, I always thought, is that Duncan stays put if you don't kill him (which I actually never did, as I am a lightside sissy). He begins the conversation on and on if you let him. I think he just should walk away and disappeare when the conversation ends. But that is all there is to say about it.

 

The developers might or might not have a side quest regarding Duncan intended. We don't know it, and the folks who did the proggy are not available to ask them. So the team should discuss wether Duncan should walk away or not, and that is all there is to restore him. (Of course others might make a side quest for/with him, but that is a mod then and not restoration.)

 

These are just my two credits, of course. But I think those nice bits and peaces could be done and released in a manageable time frame, and I would gladly help (as little as that help might be) with such a project.

 

Take care

[Quanon]

Hello!

I think Sleyheron is what killed the project. As Quanon stated, his estimate is two years to complete the planet. I think its importent to concentrate on the RESTORATION of the stuff which is already on the cd (and give it some finishing touches maybe).

 

True , very true .

 

Sleheyron was a project on its own , wich would have needed a big team .

 

Perhaps I made the wrong choice and should have started on the Rakatan Temple on Tatooine .

 

I think I would have had more result and other Team members could finannly start modding on the area filling it with life and the nessecary bits for the Star Map quest .

 

But , no ... I had to go for a whole new planet

 

Alas , its one of many projects that died because it was to big to handle .

[Darth InSidious]

It wasn't just Sleheyron. No-one seemed willing to accept reasonable limits. There was talk of adding sidequests to the few released fixes before we'd even got the main restoration-work done.

[Seamhainn]

Okay, who wants to take over the torch? I already contacted Darth333 via pm if she would lend a hand to fix Deadeye Duncan finally. (No answer yet.) Who is willing to add his/her knowledge to finish some of the possible restorations?

 

Take care

[CrisG]

Excellent dialog going on here, thanks so much for all of you sharing your thoughts as they seem very to the point about the way that restoration can and might proceed. I will look into a website or see if it is possible to keep the current one going as a place to keep dialog up, i am currently calibrating a new larger monitor which takes some time as i am a artist and have to have exact specs, but when that is done i will look into a place to put files so there can be a repository. My feeling is that focusing on resotration initially, and smaller scale achievements will give a chance for team building and coherence and success to happen, even a small achievement completed gives a nice feeling, and builds strength. I feel any effort will be rewarding as this is a key time, there may be some chance of connection with existing staff at the companies at some point, who knows, and there is the strong flow of energy in the community based on the power of the game itself. Thanks again for the replies and interaction, this is the place that it has happened, and I am glad to see it. For now I will start a thread here, on resources for ppl to post about, in a simplified way, as a way to start seeing what is available. That can be moved to a new forum or site as suggested as things grow if they do.

[southern_fox]

It wasn't just Sleheyron. No-one seemed willing to accept reasonable limits. There was talk of adding sidequests to the few released fixes before we'd even got the main restoration-work done.

 

Yes, thank you. I think that multiple factors combined to make the project too heavy. No one seemed to want to get down to technical details, or to set reasonable benchmarks, limited goals, etc. Discussion about Coruscant or Yavin honestly had no place in the project – unfocused imaginations, “this would be cool” mentalities, and wandering off target caused a total lack of focus.

 

A project of such a size needs to have very precise goals about what to do, how to do it, who does it, and exactly what to leave behind and make no attempt in doing. I think that the success and ongoing life of Team Gizka can be partially attributed to that. They rejected restoring aspects of the game that it became clear that they could not do – for whatever reasons, from a lack of existing material, to content size and time requirements, and so on. That’s why the Droid Planet was left behind. As has been repeated many times already, Sleheyron really would need a team of its own to have a hope of a chance of being playable. A writer, an artist, and a few other people working independently were a wholly inadequate approach to the enormous task. I would say that, at minimum, 25 active and experienced people alone would need to be dedicated to a planet. There are parts to the project that really needed to be dropped, like restoring the Sarlaac beast – which I didn’t think could be done professionally. Or the Swoop bike-parts stuff, which I’m not sure how it could have been implemented to improve the rather-linear races. It all sounded cool, but goals needed to be realistic, defined, and have a clear approach in how to tackle them. Otherwise, they go nowhere – which is exactly what happened.

 

Sleheyron would be great, but it’s a work from scratch, and just too enormous. I think that time should have been spent on things that, as have been said, were already partially found intact. Like the Tatooine Temple or the Czerka module. Fixing them and integrating them to the game are realistic goals. Building an entire world from concept – not so much.

 

For the project to become alive, goals would need to be starkly defined, realistic, and have a sufficient number of experienced people dedicated to them.

[Seamhainn]

As this is SithRevan's thread about his and his teams project I feel a bit that we are cannibalizing his efforts and this thread. Unfortunately he can't be contacted via his website/forum. So I suggest, another forum should be opened to discuss what can and cannot be restored.

 

Take care

[CrisG]

Here it is:

 

Listing of Available KOTR I Restoration Work

 

http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=184979

 

I have PM'd SithRevan and others of the team and hope to hear soon, as I titally want to be in respect of the team efforts and not presume on them at all. My concern was for a saving of reserouces and a transition to what might be. There seems to be good consensus and understanding of realistic limits and possible positive wys to advance. So I opened a thread here for this, or will follow anyone who wishes to lead in a different way with this all.

[magnusll]

My two cents on this: the project started in an extremely loose way and without a strict timeline for the very simple fact that, when it started, it set out to do the impossible: rebuild Sleheyron when there was no way to create areas from scratch. There was no point, at the time, in setting a definite date to complete something you couldn't even start. Also stemming from this was a non-existent filter on things which "cannot be done": if you plan to recreate Sleheyron, then you can also "restore" anything you want by simply doing it from scratch.

 

Now it has become possible but, as many have correctly pointed out, solving the technical problems doesn't change the fact that creating a new planet is a huge task. Even assuming a smallish planet with few quests going on (and Sleheyron was anything but small), you'd still need half a dozen new areas at a minimum. This requires a team of 3D artists with some serious Max skills, not to mention the better part of a year. I think Quanon's temple is rather revealing of the type of skills needed, and difficulties you're going to meet.

 

If the project has to be restarted, it'd need a much stricter organization and a pool of several people to whom to assign various parts of the project. Also, if Sleheyron is still a target, you'd need at least a team of 3-5 3d builders dedicated exclusively to it to complete the initial, massive area creation work.

[southern_fox]

Yes, I think thats completely true. The project started out with ambitions that it could not immediately tackle, so no rigid organization was ever set up in the first place. It could not be.

 

It served the team in the beginning, but later became a fatal handicap.

[CrisG]

I have contacted KOTRFiles about a hosted site and will see if there is enough interest here to create one for hosting.

[Pavlos]

I'd be happy to help as a writer (though, do feel all writers should learn how to mod generally so there shouldn't be a writing team so much as a design team) if you need another for this... umm... rebirth.

[Quanon]

I suppose I could have a peek at the Tantooine temple ...

 

But I want first to see a strong leader joining the team or at least some middle man who can play the "manager" , to set the goals and keep everything together a bit.

 

Setting up sites is nice and all , but doesn't keep the boat from sinking .

 

Just my 2 cents

 

~Q

[Seamhainn]

I, too, think hosting is not the problem, as nothing was really done which can be regarded as finished.

 

The main thing needed at the moment is a private forum where the ones who want to contribute can discuss what can and connot be restored.

 

I think I will have Deadeye Duncan on Manaan finished in a way I am satisfied with in a couple of days. Unfortunately family and work schedule as well as my limited knowledge of modding are a hindrance, but I will follow that path. After I will present it if we have a forum, and it can be discussed.

 

Then it is Shuma the Hutt and the third Vulkar level. But to accomplish that I need huge help from the community.

 

@Quanon: I can be a restraining manager any day :-) .

 

Take care all and have a nice weekend!

[southern_fox]

I could join as a writer; although, as has already been said, I'd really need a strong, effective leader step in to run the project.

 

I could help setup and organize goals/objectives, and be an adviser to project structure details, but I certainly don't have the time this semester to do such a job full-time. I'm taking 5 classes.

[Quanon]

I've ran around in the Tantooine temple for about an hour or 3 .

 

Man , what a mess ...

 

Its big and its full of holes, showing the great void , half finished walls ,

weird light placement , floating things and all .

 

And its a real Maze with death ends , the Cave corridors are a bit strange , they look just like those Shyrak caves on Korriban , thoug a differant layout .

 

To be honest , to restore that temple ... is as heavy as creating Sleheyron from scratch .

 

If I want to restore and fix this up ... well I'll have to add extra walls , cut or remove things here and there .

 

But I'll have to rebuild the whole thing in Max to get a good feel how the layout is . And to decide how to fix the many troubled areas ...

[southern_fox]

Really? Wow, I wasn't aware that it was so bad.

 

That goes to show my lack of knowledge about 3D modeling.

[Miltiades]

It shows how unrealistic this project was, no offense. If the Tatooine Temple requires as much work on it as Sleheyron, it's an immense amount of work. What does surprises me, is that Quanon didn't know how much work had to be done to that particular temple before now. And that's vital for any modding project. If he had known, maybe he could've told others that maybe they shouldn't be that ambitious. Now, I'm not blaming anyone (and especially not Quanon, seeing as what he has done - how much can a man do, right?), but it just shows again how bad communication was between the team members.

[Seamhainn]

Quanon is totally right!

 

What can be done (and I have no knowledge of making modules):

 

- The third level of the Black Vulkar Base (I am on it right now to make it at least accessable for interested players).

The module creats its map while exploring (!). There are some npcs already. Some of them even have voice overs (!). It seems that a story was involved in this (pc disguising as a laborer?), but it - the story - was (as of my estimate) only 5 to 10 % completed. Though it is worth visiting.

 

- The third level of the Shadowlands.

This module is essentially an empty area (!). There is not even a hint what was panned for it. The map does not advance properly while exploring, and I did not discover the entry point(s). If modders whould like to do something with it they should be highly experienced! Worth visiting - maybe.

 

- EVERY other module is in a state which needs a real bunch of work and a team (3 to 5 persons min. - modeller, scripter, story/dialogue devs, playtester(s)) which concentrates solely on that one project. Also what was intended with each particular module (storywise) can only be guessed at best.

 

Take care

[Quanon]

Really? Wow, I wasn't aware that it was so bad.

 

That goes to show my lack of knowledge about 3D modeling.

 

Well there are many ugly parts , all I can say they dropped this area very early , all I can think of that this was more like a test , to see how to fit rakatan architecture with caves or such .

 

THere parts of cave wich are not fully modeled , bad alignments to , if you turn the camera around your character you start to see lots of unfinished business.

 

Its not undoable , but I know that importing module/ area model parts is a crashy affair .

 

Though this might be a long project , but like I said a few post before :

 

I first want to see someone , declaring himself "leader" of this project , ask the writers where they want to take the cut modules story wise .

 

And then I can start to repair the Tatooine Temple in talk with the writers , so we can decide what exactly is needed of the Temple .

 

Plus I haven't talked about the WalkMeshes yet .

 

And to clearify : I'm in for the 3D part , I'll leave the .mod file handeling to other volunteers .

[Seamhainn]

@Quanon: As I said before - I can be a leader any day!

 

Unfortunately my modding knowledge is pretty limited. Though I am willing to invest time and effort to learn.

 

I don't want to kill the fun, but why not start with a restoration which can be done much more easily? The deleted Vulkar Base level is already available. Unfortunately my modding knowledge... see above.

 

I looked a bit into the conversations which take place there. It seems that the pc should need a key card. He could get it in exchange for some spice if I am not mistaken (there *was* something with spice I am sure). But actually it is not enough material to see exactly what the original developers intended with this level. The restoration of this level would be mostly for curiocities sake. To make this level worth playing the modders would have to create a new story around this level.

 

If somebody wants to help, send me a pm, please.

 

Take care