Listing of Available KOTR I Restoration Work

[CrisG]

Thanks Darth I, I have posted the corrections, thanks for the info very much.

 

And I just PM'd the lead writer for KOTR at Biowar to see if there is any chance at all that we might get any unused materials for the game...we will see.

[Robespierre]

I had a brainwave last night. Well not really a brainwave, but just a thought that would help prospective modders get an idea of the restorability (lol that's a word) of certain bits of content. Its a 'criteria system' which tells the modders what exactly exists for a particular piece of content. So here a my criteria:

 

1) Dialog - Does the dialog itself exist

2) Voice Over/Lip Syncs - Do the Voice overs and/or lip syncs exist

3) Module - Does the module where the scene takes place exist

4) Cutscenes - Do any related cutscenes exist?

 

And based on the partial, complete or missing nature of the above criteria, each piece of content can be ranked according to ease of restoration.

 

For example:

54. Due to a small glitch in a dialogue file Bioware forgot to fix, conversation between Juhani and Canderous that takes place on Kashyyyk is never heard in the final version of the game

 

This is 1/10, since it requires about 10 seconds of work to fix.

 

3. The planet Sleheyron

 

This is 10/10, as it is close to impossible

[CrisG]

Loony, that is a very good point, that was funny that you picked that one item that is so easy to fix, i had just been thinking about posting about it, going through the list this AM...anyone up for a quick fix and some nice restored content to add for us all?

 

54. Due to a small glitch in a dialogue file Bioware forgot to fix, conversation between Juhani and Canderous that takes place on Kashyyyk is never heard in the final version of the game

[Robespierre]

Click, click, upload.

 

I would, if I the computer that had KOTOR 1 on it wasn't in disposed at the moment.

 

The reason I suggested it is because I have no idea how much of the content exists, and where the content exists. If people could post comments about the content, that'd be great.

[Darth Balor]

anyone up for a quick fix and some nice restored content to add for us all?

 

54. Due to a small glitch in a dialogue file Bioware forgot to fix, conversation between Juhani and Canderous that takes place on Kashyyyk is never heard in the final version of the game

 

I've done that for my Belaya mod. I'll remove the belaya dialog, and upload it for you guys.

 

EDIT: i've created the KotOR I Restoration section, so bring any topics and crap you want over here: http://www.99emotions.com/valor/forums/viewforum.php?f=46

[CrisG]

Ok, we have had a very very nice reply from David Gaider who was the senior writer for KotOR I at Biowar, he is still with Biowar and is a Designer for the company and working on new projects. He tells us that the models and the dialog files for KOTR I are sadly not available due to changes in file configurations half way through the project, and the company moving, BUT he said that he very willing to share what is in his head, i.e. memory about the game and details of the plot that were left out or put in. This is a remarkable offer and wonderful opportunity. I will post his reply in detail once he gives me permission to share it but I wanted to let you all know that we have this chance to ask questions that there may be no other answers for. I would hope that he would not be deluged with tons of mail but it appears he realy is willing to help us with questions on the game and the storyline. That is very nice indeed and I wrote immediately to thank him and to let him know I would pass his offer on to all of you.

 

Let me know if you want me to pass on questions or if you want to send them directly to him, and I asked him too how he wants to handle this, and hopefully we can enjoy this unique opportunity to solve puzzles and riddles that remain from the files and the lost areas. Great news and nice to be able to pass on.

 

The last line of his post says:

 

"...I'd be willing to answer any questions you had, about Sleheyron or KotOR in general. Nice to see that there's still some fans out there interested in the project. It was a lot of fun to work on."

 

As an example of the depth and insights he can share with us are quotes from posts he made back in 2003 in response to questions about the plot, from the Biowar Forum archives, found by Dan Loto....

 

http://swforums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=275277&forum=89&highlight=

 

(2003 Biowar Forum Archive)

 

Quote: Did any of you have a character that did not make it in the game that you really wished would have?

Well, Sleheyron (the one planet that was cut) was mostly written when it was cut and I had written it, and there was a series of Hutts there that you could take jobs with. They were all enemies of each other and you could play them off each other. it was kinda cool. One of them was named Suuda the Hutt and I liked him a lot, he was very catty.

 

And, no, before anyone asks it is not in a state that it can be restored. I think the dialogue I wrote back then was even in a different format, so it is not salvageable.

_________________

Posted: Tuesday, 04 November 2003 08:00AM

Quote: Posted 11/03/03 18:06:50 (GMT) by Grant Dempsey

Would you mind describing what Sleheyron was going to be like a bit more? A planet inhabited by several Hutts, all in opposition toward one another, sounds very interesting. Plus, judging from other characters' dialogue about Sleheyron, it seems like an interesting place on its own. I'd love to read about what sort of areas, NPCs,--(Hutts and otherwise)--and Quests could've been found there.

 

Well, as I recall Sleheyron was one of those over-industrialized planets within Hutt space. Sort of like Taris with all the large buildings... but much more drab and ugly, with everything in hues of orange and brown. Seleheyron was intended to be the place where you visited the seedy underbelly of civilization: here you engaged in smuggling and other illegal activities for various Huttese gangsters and either took part in or bet on the infamous gladiator matches.

 

Like I said above, you could work for various Hutts... you didn't meet them, but rather worked for their intermediaries (like how Bib is Jabba's go-between). I think there was four... I only remember the names of two, though: Moosh and Suuda.

 

Each of the Hutts had a few things you could do for them. The really extensive one was Suuda, who was involved in a cross-planet smuggling plot (which is too bad that it got cut, really) which ended in an assassination plot... you get admitted to Suuda's presence and can either try to carry through with the plot to kill Suuda or uncover it and get rewarded by him.

 

As I recall, I think you could enter the gladiator tournaments under one of two Hutts. That was kind of interesting... there were five other teams of three gladiators and the matches got assigned ahead of time. You could check which team you were up against and sometimes you had the option to work the other team over... romance their captain and get them to throw the fight, poison one of them, make a deal to get them out of slavery, etc. Otherwise you were in one of four types of matches... the plans for those I remember being pretty cool and each match type focused on one style, like one was a labyrinth, one involved pure combat, stuff like that.

 

Hmmm. I remember that one of the Hutts had an estate you could infiltrate. Can't remember exactly what happened there, though. I do recall that there was a cantina where you met up with a couple of servants belonging to that Hutt and you could romance the key out of them (as one way of getting in).

 

At any rate, this all sounds like it was done but it really wasn't. Much of the dialogue and planning had been written, and some of the area modelling, but that's it. I'm not sure how we would have done all the gladiator games stuff at all. Probably best that the planet was cut overall... it was too complex considering all the stuff we had in KotOR already.

 

I wrote Yuthura after Sleheyron was cut. That's why I mentioned it in her dialogue.

 

Posted: Wednesday, 05 November 2003 11:48AM

Quote: Posted 11/05/03 08:41:00 (GMT) by Bastila the Hun

Maybe you shouldn't have let us know how great the game could have been

 

To be honest, there's usually a big difference between the initial plan and where something ends up. Like I said, this was still really early in the game's development when Sleheyron was cut. Especially considering that it was so complex, there'd likely be a big difference between the planned Sleheyron that you're hearing about and how it would have turned out after months of cutting, scripting and tweaking (I ended up re-writing Korriban twice during development and it had to make major changes from its initial vision in order to get it "right"... Sleheyron would have been no different.)

 

And, incidentally, I really doubt Yuthura would have ever appeared on Sleheyron. The only reason I had her mention the planet was because it had been cut.

[Darth Balor]

I've created the KotOR I Restoration section, so bring any topics and crap you want over here: http://www.99emotions.com/valor/for...wforum.php?f=46

 

If you want I can recreat this last post over there and format it and make it a ask questions thread.

[Dan Loto]

I think that these should be the top priority for asking him...

 

The Sleheyron star map information (where it's located, ect.)

 

Who the Hutts on Sleheyron were siding with (the Sith or the Republic.)

 

Any information on Sleheyron would be helpful really.

 

20. A trash compactor puzzle in the Taris Sewers.

 

That's not much information and I doubt he remembers such a small detail.

 

21. A quest that would have allowed the player to become a sort of Messiah of the Sandpeople and lead them against their Czerka corporation oppressors.

 

Information on this could be helpful.

 

22. A Gammorean stronghold in the Undercity

 

*cough*

 

46. A Czerka depot could've been found on Korriban along with a quest involving the president of Czerka operations on Korriban. {There was evidently quite a bit of Czerka content originally planned for Korriban}

 

Perhaps what the story is around this.

 

53. The player could go back to Dantooine after escaping the Leviathan.

 

I suppose you could also ask about the original Dantooine landing pad.

 

Extra shadowland level.

 

More might have been cut than we know.

 

and why the free roam camera cheat is on the Xbox version but not the PC version.

 

(I doubt he remembers this...)

 

I also recommend that CrisG is the only one who messages him. It will be the most efficient and cut down on spam.

 

I almost forgot the Tatooine Temple...you could ask about the Sarlacc/Starmap/Creatures in the cave.

 

This is really great that he's willing to help!

[Miltiades]

Wow, generous indeed. Never thought he'd do that. But I'm happy he's happy there's still "some" fans interested in the game!

[Darth Payne]

Does he know about kotorfiles?

[CrisG]

OK thanks Darth Balor, let's continue here for just a bit before we move this thread over to there and keep the questions for David here as most people will come here in the immediate future, i will wait to see how we feel about the best way to get the questins to him, and gather the questions up and post them here first before passing them on to him, so we can get it very clear. It is an exciting thing to have this chance and i want it to be as smooth as we can make it. And easy for him. It is VERY good news that he is free to talk with us openly about the plot line and is not hindered by NDA or other restrictions.

 

Thanks again Darth B for the forum area for our restoration work and I really really appreciate you doing that, and I am sure we will move over there soonest, I just wanted to keep this thread going a bit longer as people will be checking in here and it will be a good nexus until we find our way for the next steps. This is really wonderful movment in a positive direction, and great to see. thanks to all.

 

What I suggest of everyone is comfortable me passing on the questions to David, and bringing back his replies that I do it weekly, and will post the questoins current in a post here, and then will put in his replies if and when they come, and we can duplicate this into the restoration forum that Darth Balor has so kindly created for us at the Team Exile site too. This will keep the pipeline to David clear and simple, and make it easiest for him IMHO.

[magnusll]

My 2 cents:

 

- questions sent to Gaider only through a single point of contact, and no more than once per week

- concentrate on the biggest questions first, things like major plot points and the like

 

A request from me: ask him if it would be at all possible to clarify a few technical details on the file formats. Probably not, but asking can't hurt...

[CrisG]

Magnus what technical points do you need to know about....i think he may be able to find out if we can ask specfic things, my sense is that he is willing to help us, and will also he will be totaly and openly honest when he can't which I very much respect. My suggestion is that we send questions on Fridays, as that gives him time to think things over and reply when he has comfortable time.

[Darth Balor]

Ask him if Belaya was intended to take the place of Juhani if you killed her in the grove.

[Robespierre]

22. A Gammorean stronghold in the Undercity

 

That's already being restored...

 

I'm glad that he's willing to help the restoration efforts.

[Darth Payne]

maybe tell him about Quanons work?

[Darth Balor]

That's already being restored.

 

yes, and the person who proposed the question be asked is the same person as the one restoring it. He wants to know what was intended for that area.

[CrisG]

Danyael, what specifically about Quanon's remarkable work do you want me to share with David?

 

I will collect all the questions we have come up with by Thursday and formulate a list, and post that in its own topic here and on the forum that Darth Balor has so kindly created for us, as a Q and A and then if and when we get replies to specific things I will post them with each question to keep it streamlined if that seems ok with everyone. Pls be as specific as you can about your questions as it was some years ago for him workng on the game, and remember too you all know this matieral much better than I and I need your details to pass on your questions correctly. I will be sure to post al the questions on Thursday for your review to be sure i get them right.

[Darth Payne]

Mainly just tell him about the temple, seeing as it's the first of it's kind.

[CrisG]

Ok, can do.

[Robespierre]

yes, and the person who proposed the question be asked is the same person as the one restoring it. He wants to know what was intended for that area.

 

And now I'm going to shut up. Remind me to talk less.

 

I suppose its not possible for him to release the tools that Bioware used to design the modules in the first place? Valve actually did that with Half Life 2; they released Hammer and allowed users to create maps for Half Life 2 and its offspring.

 

47. A sound file exists that involves Carth teaching you how to use a droid that was supposed to allow you transit between the Taris City levels.

 

Would this be hard to restore? Obviously you could only use it once you'd been to all three of the levels (and got the appropriate papers)...Kinda like the terminals in Telos. In fact, exactly like the terminals in Telos.

 

Hang on, I just thought of something. If you got the Sith uniform, went into the Lower Levels, traded your uniform for the papers, can you get back up to the Upper Levels? And if so, does that mean that you can use the papers to get back down again? If so, then this should become available as soon as you've traveled to the Undercity.

 

Assuming that you can use the papers to travel freely through the levels, can it be done?

 

Oh and one more thing. a lot of content in the list above is mentioned, but it would be useful if people could add the names of the relevant files concerning the content, so that people could work out how viable a restoration is.

[Darth Balor]

It actually was a droid for every planet, and Carth has no connection to it. It was able to warp you to the areas you have visited on each planet.

[magnusll]

Magnus what technical points do you need to know about....i think he may be able to find out if we can ask specfic things, my sense is that he is willing to help us, and will also he will be totaly and openly honest when he can't which I very much respect. My suggestion is that we send questions on Fridays, as that gives him time to think things over and reply when he has comfortable time.

 

I was thinking about things like a list of controllers used in emitters along with their associated numerical values, just as an example.... or the meaning of the field which can take the values of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 in the AABB node structure. Basically I'd need a little help in bridging the gap between the NWN formats (most of which have been made public by Bioware) and the Kotor ones. It would certainly help me a lot in rounding out KAurora. I can compile a small list of questions, but maybe it's better to first ask if these questions are acceptable in the first place.

[CrisG]

MagnusII, my gut feeling is that we can and should be as detailed at the outset as you can be, so he can give us guidelines on what he can help us with. He seems very candid and willing to be open about the development, and he will certainly tell us what he can and can't share, so if you could do a short list of detailed questions, I think this is the time to ask them.....but I will follow your lead on this however you want to do it. Loony has asked about asking them if they can release their level making tools, so this might fit with that and help David know what would help us the most. We will include a note to him that Quanon's new Totally New Temple Module also.

[Quanon]

I'll just post my questions here about the level editing itself.

That's my main interest ofcourse, I just hope he can share some hints

or just a tip.

 

Though I fear we might be asking the wrong guy about this kind of stuff.

Still its great he's doing this !

 

So here it goes :

 

Man, what to ask? I'm rather speechless...

 

But I have small list :

 

- How narrow can a corridor be made, 2 m ~ 3 m for party members to follow fluently ?

 

- How does the WalkMesh block off the camera and line-of-sight of party members and enemys ?

 

- Is there a way to create more "effects" for the textures ? Like the metal shine ( CM_BareMetal), I've found this has a TGA , is there a way to make the game accept new TGA for those kind of effects ?

 

- And how to approach the lightmaps ?

 

- For now only the Mesh , created for the walkable area accepts multi/sub-object material from 3D-Max.

How do I get the ohter Mesh objects to use this aswell ? Else I can only use like 20 textures...

 

- Is there a way to make AuroraDlights flash or pulse ?

 

Some of the questions might be to vague

 

I just hope we get some treats .

 

~Q