New Modder needs help

[katarna]

I have both KotOR ganes and have enjoyed them greatly, but I have not tried to mod them until now.

 

I would like to make a custom armor that looks like the Genoharadan armor, but has different bonuses and does not restrict force powers. After three hours on the forums, I cannot find any tutorial that will allow me to do that. I have the latest versions of the KotOR Tool, KotOR Saved Game Editor, and GFF Editor. I was wondering if there is anything else that I would need to create this mod. I do not think that I need a graphics editor because I like the way it looks now. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Lordjedi]

That has to do with an Item Editor go to BIFs>BluePrint Item>and find the armor you want there.

[katarna]

I know how to do that, what I can't seem to get right is the properties of the armor and the execution in the game. Also, I am running all of these programs on Vista, although I don't know if that has any effect on it or not.

[Stream]

what I can't seem to get right is the properties of the armor and the execution in the game.

For the properties that really depends on what it is you're wanting to do. To get it to work in game all you have to do is put the .uti file in the override folder and either use the give item cheat or add to your inventory with KSE.

 

--Stream

[katarna]

I tried that. But I couldn't get KSE to recognize the file and the cheat codes will not work on Vista in KotOR I, they work in KotOR II, but I cannot get them to work in the first one. Also, I cannot get the armor to allow Force powers. That is my biggest problem.

[Princess Artemis]

There are certain things you have to set through a GFF editor since Kotor Tool doesn't set it right, such as the upgrade level of the armor.

 

The thing is, I don't think it's possible to grant only one armor in an armor type non-restriction of Force powers. That seems to be bound to the armor type...I can't seem to find what's defining armor types, but I don't see an option to make an armor that's not a robe or Jal Shey/Zeishon Sha type that won't restrict Force powers. Maybe there is and I just can't find it.

 

Sorry for all the extra info below if you don't need it...thought I'd be thorough (that and I was typing while you were posting, grk). Getting it into the game might have to do with the TemplateResRef and the Tag...? Also, it may be you can't get it into the game in K1 because you have to go through the process of making an .uti all over for each game...they don't use the same fields for everything, so an armor made for TSL isn't going to work for K1. Dunno what to say if it's Vista...does KSE work in Vista? You could try that.

 

Anyway, to get the armor to work in the game, you need to make your own .uti for it and extract a texture (two, actually, one for male and one for female) and icon that fits that armor type--if you don't plan to reskin your armor or change the icon in any way, extract them as .tcp, but if you want to reskin them, extract them as .tga. Make sure you select the information you find in the box below the image of the texture and check "Export Selection to TXI File"--you'll likely need it to make sure the armor looks right in game. In Kotor Tool, find an existing .uti that uses the armor model you want (to make sure you've found the right one, look at the name of the armor in the Description tab), set the Texture Variation and Body Variation field to some number you pick, and change the texture, icon, and .txi file name so it has that number (it's the last numbers in the names--change the last numbers to the texture variation you picked...in the icons, there will probably be several numbers, just change the last numbers...so if you picked 42 and the icon has 074, change it to 042, otherwise, don't change the names). Also, very important, change the TemplateResRef and the Tag to something else. You can change it to have your texture variation number, that's a good way to keep track of things, or if you want to make it easy to remember, you can name it something completely different...it's just good to be consistent with them and the name you eventually save the .uti as. For instance, I've made a few custom armors for my Dustil-related mods, and I named them all dustil_clothes or something like that in the TemplateResRef and tag, then saved them as dustil_clothes.uti...it just made it easier for me scripting them in, but it also makes it easier to cheat an item into the game or add it to your inventory with KSE if the file name and the TemplateResRefs and tags match! (A for instance on that--I downloaded a mod that added weapons to K1 and they had easy to remember file names but I had to open them up in Kotor Tool to find the tag so I could actually cheat them into the game since the tag and the .uti filename were different...the game doesn't care what the .uti filename is, it cares about the TemplateResRef and the tag.)

 

To set different attributes to the armor, you can adjust the existing ones by double-clicking on the gray row in front of the attributes and that will pull up a box with a bunch of drop downs. The drop down menus contain things that should only be assigned to items, so be sure you're assigning properties that go with armor. Adjust them as you see fit, then click "Update". To delete an existing property, select the row and press the delete key. To add a new property, double click the star shape at the bottom of the gray row and it will bring up the attributes pop-up, just like adjusting them does.

 

When you're done setting attributes, go have fun changing the text and name in the Description tab. Then save it--make sure to save it with the same name as the tag you gave your item so as not to confuse anyone.

 

Stick your .uti, textures, icon, and .txi files into Override and cheat the new armor into the game to make sure it works.

[Totenkopf]

Not sure what you've done to your file, but have noticed when using KSE that I can't click on some modded files and get anything other than an error when trying to add to the inventory. As to Vista, seems rather odd that it won't let you use a modified configuration setting file for one game and not the other. Not to be insulting, but did you change that file for KOTOR?

[lactose_]

Whether an armor restricts Force Powers should be defined in baseitems.2da (in K1 at least, I don't have K2 installed atm but it should be the same).

 

If you want to create such an armor in K1 - don't think you specified which game - you will need to add a new row in the aforementioned .2da file. Then your .uti will need to reference this new row number.

[Princess Artemis]

Now I'm curious just for the sake of being curious (though it should help katarna with the issue), what column is it that decided if something restricts the Force or not? Is it "armortype", waaaaay at the end? And 'leather' armor doesn't restrict the Force while 'armor' armor does? It looks that way, since in K1's baseitems.2da, all the robes are leather and the rest is armor, while in TSL's, all the robes + Jal Shey/Zeison Sha are leather while the rest are armor (with the exception of Revan_Armor, which has **** in that column).

 

And to make the new armor use the proper model, the column "itemclass" would be used...? So, if the Genoharadan armor is, just as an example, Armor_Class_9 in the .uti, the new baseitems.2da row would have to have the column "itemclass" say a_Class9? And to keep it from being confused with something else, the column "label" would be something completely different, like, say, 'Force_Unrestricted_Armor' and that would be set as the base item in the .uti?

[Darkkender]

Now I'm curious just for the sake of being curious (though it should help katarna with the issue), what column is it that decided if something restricts the Force or not? Is it "armortype", waaaaay at the end? And 'leather' armor doesn't restrict the Force while 'armor' armor does? It looks that way, since in K1's baseitems.2da, all the robes are leather and the rest is armor, while in TSL's, all the robes + Jal Shey/Zeison Sha are leather while the rest are armor (with the exception of Revan_Armor, which has **** in that column).

 

And to make the new armor use the proper model, the column "itemclass" would be used...? So, if the Genoharadan armor is, just as an example, Armor_Class_9 in the .uti, the new baseitems.2da row would have to have the column "itemclass" say a_Class9? And to keep it from being confused with something else, the column "label" would be something completely different, like, say, 'Force_Unrestricted_Armor' and that would be set as the base item in the .uti?

 

I'll look over the segan wyndth armor mod tonight as off the top of my head I can't recall which field was changed for the jedi armors.

[Miles Edgeworth]

Now I'm curious just for the sake of being curious (though it should help katarna with the issue), what column is it that decided if something restricts the Force or not?

 

It's itemtype, I believe you have to set it to 37.

[katarna]

OK, originally I had planned to take the GenoHaradan armor and modify it to allow Force powers as well as some other properties. I was able to modify some armor's in KotOR II, but have not gotten it to work in K1.

 

Now I am thinking that I will have to take an existing armor or robe that allows Force power usage, modify the properties, and reskin it to look like the Geno armor.

 

My question is, are either of these things possible, I think they are, but as I said, I am new to modding, especially in K1. Secondly, which of these two options is easier. And finally, how do I go about doing them, for example, if I use the second option, what file is the geno armor skin under? How do I get the new skin on the old armor? Will this cause problems if I took a robe as my base file because they cover different areas of the body? And finally(I know, I said that before) do all clotjing variations look the same on the player character? I had considered changing the attributes of the clothes, but I was wondering if the variations look different.

[katarna]

It's itemtype, I believe you have to set it to 37.

 

Actually, the Jedi robes are set to 38 and the basic clothing is set to 37.

 

Also, how do I save the file once I have changed the item type?

[lactose_]

Now I'm curious just for the sake of being curious (though it should help katarna with the issue), what column is it that decided if something restricts the Force or not? Is it "armortype", waaaaay at the end? And 'leather' armor doesn't restrict the Force while 'armor' armor does? It looks that way, since in K1's baseitems.2da, all the robes are leather and the rest is armor, while in TSL's, all the robes + Jal Shey/Zeison Sha are leather while the rest are armor (with the exception of Revan_Armor, which has **** in that column).

Miles Edgeworth is correct, it's itemtype: I believe you can basically use the number of any other type of clothing that doesn't restrict force powers.

And to make the new armor use the proper model, the column "itemclass" would be used...? So, if the Genoharadan armor is, just as an example, Armor_Class_9 in the .uti, the new baseitems.2da row would have to have the column "itemclass" say a_Class9?

Yes, itemclass would be used. IIRC Genoharadan is the lightest armor, so a_Class4 should be it.

And to keep it from being confused with something else, the column "label" would be something completely different, like, say, 'Force_Unrestricted_Armor' and that would be set as the base item in the .uti?

Hmm, yeah you could do that if you don't want to get confused when you're setting the itemtype of your .uti, but actually the name can just be left as-is. It'll make no difference to the game engine.

...Now I am thinking that I will have to take an existing armor or robe that allows Force power usage, modify the properties, and reskin it to look like the Geno armor... are either of these things possible, I think they are, but as I said, I am new to modding, especially in K1.

Yes, they are possible.

Secondly, which of these two options is easier. And finally, how do I go about doing them, for example, if I use the second option, what file is the geno armor skin under?

I believe changing the baseitems.2da and getting your armor .uti correct is way easier.

[Princess Artemis]

I haven't looked in-game, but I think the GenoHaradan armor texture is PMBC03 and PFBC03 under ERFs --> TexturePacks --> swpc_tex_tpa.erf (or _tpb, _tpc for the mid and low res versions) in Kotor Tool. The icon is ia_class4_003 under swpc_tex_gui.erf.

 

In TSL, the same texture files look like the GenoHaradan armor texture and is found in the same place. The icon is also the same, just ia_Class4_003.

 

If you're going to change the baseitems.2da, probably (maybe! I've never done this before, it just looks right so someone correct me if I'm wrong!) the way to do it is to extract the .2da to your Override (unless you've got one there already, then back it up somewhere and edit it), copy the row for Armor_Class_4 and insert the copied row at the bottom, then change the "Row Label" number to the next number higher than the last row, change the "name" number to a number not being used elsewhere in the .2da, then change the "itemtype" to 37. Make your .uti in Kotor Tool based on geno_armor.uti (so you only have to worry about changing the properties, TemplateResRef, tag, and any discription you want to give it), then in a GFF editor change the .uti's BaseItem struct number to the new "Row Label" number you just made for baseitems.2da.

 

Someone hit me if that was a good way to blow up a game!

[lactose_]

^^^ You've just about nailed it, Princess Artemis. Just some exceptions:

1) you can leave the "name" field as is;

2) you don't need a separate GFF editor to change the "Base Item" reference of the geno_armor.uti - I think what you have to do is to make sure in your Kotor Tool options you tick "Look in Game's Override folder for 2DA files" and you should be able to change it from Kotor Tool itself.

[Princess Artemis]

Ahhs...OK, I didn't know about that option in Kotor Tool. In that case, it would probably be useful to change the "label" name to something else other than Armor_Class_4 to keep things cleaner and less confusing when setting the Base Item in Kotor Tool. (I'd suggest doing it anyway just to save confusion down the line when looking at one's .2da and seeing that something was changed but not having a useful reference as for why it was changed. I know I've done that before and scratched my head as to why I changed something )

[katarna]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this but I have haad som, ahem, issues, ahem, with my ISP. They have been dealt with and I was wondering if I had this right now.

 

If I want to mod the GenoHaradan armor, I can change the itemtype in baseitems.2da to 37 or 38, save it to my override folder, check the appropriate box in Kotor Tool, and it will allow the use of Force Powers.

 

I can then change the item properties, save that file to my override folder and it will change the properties of the armor in the game, correct?

 

If I have anything wrong, will someone please help me? Also, has anyone made a Darth Vader Armor mod, without the mask?