New to KOTOR Tool and would like some help

[Illy-chan]

Hey all, I'm Illy. My boyfriend just got me hooked on KOTOR (curse him, like I'm not addicted to enough games I'm also a mod addict and, while I'm not new to modding (though I've mostly done Oblivion and Morrowind mods) the Kotor Tool has pretty well confounded me on all but the basics.

 

I've seen a bunch of tutorials but what I'm really looking for (besides a way to add items to preexisting containers) is some kind of glossary for the terms that the tool uses and what they alter since some of them aren't very obvious.

 

Thanks in advance for the help! <3

[Seikan]

I posted something that might help you in an other thread so :

 

Well, it seems you don't know the full functions of kotor tool ^^"

 

So:

 

With Kotor tools, you can open almost EVERY component of the game:

 

- you can open the characters: modify their stats, their name, their appearance, their equiped items, their droped items etc.

 

-Open the item files: modifu their damage, bonus stats, effects, like poison, stun, critical X2 etc etc

 

-Extract, the textures, the models, etc

 

You have a big content in the "BIFs" like almost all the items, some characters, The 2Da files and more... (with the 2Da you can change de XP rates, the effect of poisons, the appearances, the feats gained per lvl, or the force powers gainded per lvl, the lvl required for some power, and much more x),

 

 

Then after it you have the RIMs where you have all the modules in the game, so if you want to change some specific character or other, search the module in there, the item, placeable (cilinder), character, etc...

 

Then finally the ERFs where you have your custom modules (from mods), and the texture packs of everything

 

And dont touch the savegame part, it's a bad idea if you don't know well what you're doing x)

 

 

so you can have fun exploring all of that, but if you do it, put your corrent override in a safe place, and di it with a new one, like this if you mess up some files, you can just delete your override ^^

 

Hope i help

 

If you need more help tell my what you don't understand exactly ^^

[Illy-chan]

Ah, that clears things up a bit, thanks.

 

My main current peev is that I'm trying to figure out how to add the items to a container so I don't need the stupid console (because it's kind of annoying to be branded a cheater just because I'm using a mod-made item). Other mod tools I've used are a bit more straightforward but, from what I've seen, it seems like the only way to do something like that is via scripting. Is that true or is there something more convenient?

[Seikan]

Well, go the the RIMs, then you have all the modules of the game, so chose the module where you want to add the items, (go to tools>Options> then check "show module Descriptions" and "show module locations" tu see in the Rims the name of the modules).

 

Then expand the module you want (there are two times each module, one is the module.rim, and the other the module_s.rim, this last is the one you must expand), then you have different options:

 

-Blueprint, Character: here you have all the characters of the module, you can also put your mod items in a character, you can made them wield the item or just drop it. (to do that open their "inventory".

 

Blueprint, Doors: if you don't make new modules, or big modules changes, there is not any use of knowing about it.

 

Blueprint, Item: here you have the unique items in the module, for example: you will not have de g_w_blstrfl01.uti, that you found every where, but you will have for example the "sith_passcard" you only found in that specific module, etc etc, so when you don't find a item in the BIFs, lokk for it here.

 

Blueprint, Placeables: that's the one you're interesed in, the placeables, are the triggers, the containers, the death corpses, the swoops, cages, etc here an there. So to add an item to a container, you have to look for one in this list, but you have to be sure that this file is unique, for example you can have two, or three modules that use different "footloker001.utp" but your override won't recognize of wich module is the one you have modified, so it will change ALL the "footloker001.utp" in the game, so you must look at the unique placeable, for example:

 

In the tar_m08aa_s.rim, the Davik's Estate, in taris, you have the footloker001.utp, and you must not touch it if you don't want to loos the contain of other footlokers through the game, and found your custom item everywhere, but you have also a "tar08_strongbox0.utp" the fact that there is the "tar08" means it is on "tar_m08" so, you can be sure it is an unique placeable, then you can open it an edit his inventory, to do it, you have to add a new item, from the list you have at your left, then in the column "ResRef", you delete the one of the item you put and you put the one of the item you want (the resref is in the uti files, of your custom items, and is the reference that you have to tip in the cheat codes), the name of the old item will remain, but you just click on "ok" and open it again, normally there will be only the resref, and nothing in the "name column", when it's done, you can save you placeable, and put it in your override, and go looking for it in the game ^^.

 

(if you edit a placeable on a module where you have already been in your savegame, it won't work, so you have or edit a placeable of a module you have never visit, or star a new game, ou an earlier savegame, to add it in a module you have already been in your savegame)

[Illy-chan]

OK, that certainly sounds doable. Thanks a ton for the info.

 

KOTOR Tool makes me so nervous. It seems like it's so easy to accidentally break the game which is temperamental enough without me adding to it.

 

Looking at this... Is there a way to add a new container? Like a map editor?

[Seikan]

It's possible, but you should extract all the modules files, edit the map to add the container, compile it again, and put it in the modules folder, but that's not really convenient, I think you can also do it by scripting, but the scripts aren't really a part of my modding knowledge.

 

But don't worry about breaking the game, everything you can do, can be fixed by removing the files you edited, you just have to always keep two savegames, one of your current game, and the other one of the last module you were before the one where you are in your current game, like this if you found a bug since you are playing, and you're blocked, you can fix it, and load te previous save game, and when you will enter to the module bugging again, it will be reload, so the files you fixed will be reloaded too, and the module will work fine.

 

Just one last thing, if you made a new item, put the same file name as the resref (example: katana.uti; resref: katana), i you don't your savegame could be ruined.

[Illy-chan]

Well that sounds like fun. XD

 

I'm not so much into making new items from scratch as I am into modifying preexisting ones because even its awesome stats doesn't make up for how stupid Cassus Fett's armor looks).

[Seikan]

yeah, it looks awful xD i should change it into a mando armor, like in the comics x)

 

And, if you find an unique placeable, there wouldn't be any problem, like the

death jedi in the endar spir, on taris, or the outcasted bodies in the sewers, the sith tombs, nemo in the ruins on dantooine, the death jedi on manaan in the underwater station, wookies bodies or on some characters, like sheruk, brejik, the boos of the vulkar's base, calo nord, davik, darth bandon, you have a lot of choices, of unique placeables x)

[Illy-chan]

Yeah, I just re-colored the sucker. It doesn't look so bad in a camo-ish green. Seriously though, what self-respecting bounty hunter runs around in pink-purple armor?

[Seikan]

Yeah xD

 

And after this a mandalorian commander... i think it could be nice to made it a neo crusader armor.I have already remplaced almost each weapon model "i left the simple weapons model, as "vibro blade" "vibrosword" but i replaced bacca sword, sith tremor sword, echani foil, and all that stuff x) the original kotor weapons are really pitiful xD

So now it's time to made my armor's improvement x)

[Illy-chan]

Yeah, I wish I were more confident in my modeling and modding skills. I'd probably change more than a few things.

 

Like, if I were to ever do a big mod, I'd probably change the Ebon Hawk's interior. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome ship but it's kind of spartan for the main ship of a huge crime lord. Heck, I'd half expect a jacuzzi and bar!

 

Of course, I'm mostly going off of what real crime lords like to live like. Most of them would probably armor and arm the thing a million times more too.

[Pein_KeS]

Haha, Well We look forward to your future mods then Illy-chan