Kotor, The Knights of the Old Repulic 1 & 2 topic Options

[SubRosa]

Since it stirred up a few posts worth of talk in the What Are You Playing topic, I thought I would make the Kotor games a thread of their own.

I'll start with some handy tips for playing them on a modern computer. First off getting them to install on a 64 bit OS is probably not likely. But Gog.com has them for $10 each, and their installs will work on Windows 7 (I haven't tried them on my Win 8 tablet, and I don't have Win 10, but I am sure they work on those OSes as well). There are probably some modder-built installers floating around the internets if you still have the old cds as well.

In any case, neither game can do 1920 x 1080 resolution out of the box. But you can get it on each.


The only way I know for Kotor 1 is to use Flawless Widescreen. You have to start it first, select the Kotor profile, and leave it running. Then start Kotor 1 itself and go to the graphics options to set the resolution there to anything different from what you find it. 1920 x 1080 won't be there the first time you try. But change the resolution to something anyway. Flawless Widescreen is a memory hack, that detects the change in resolutions and then tries to add in the higher resolutions. Exit the game, restart it, and 1920 x 1080 might be there the second time. If not, go for a third time, etc... Sometimes it comes up the second time. Sometimes even after six or seven times it does not. If I go that long I turn off Flawless Widescreen and open it again. Usually then the next time you start Kotor you have the higher resolutions. Sadly, you have to do this every time you play the game.

Okay, I found an update to running Kotor 1 at high resolution. Make a backup copy of your Swkotor.exe file. Download the KotOR High Resolution Menus 1.4. Then copy the 3 hires_patcher files to your main Kotor folder. Run the bat file. It will ask you four questions, such as the width, height, etc... that you want. Then go back to the file you downloaded, and navigate to the folder of the screen size you want. They will first be in ratios like 16-9, and so on. Drill down until you find the one you want. Then copy the files over to your Kotor\Override folder. Done! The menus in the game will look really big. But the hud will be visible in gameplay.

Now a year later, I am having problems with even this method. It just is not working anymore, and I do not know why. But what I did find that works is to download the latest version of Flawless Widescreen here. I used the x86 version. Run that and select the Kotor 1 profile. Then start Kotor 1, go to the graphics options, and 1920 x 1080 will be there for you to change to.

You only have to change the graphics options once. But you do have to start Flawless Widescreen every time, before you start Kotor. It is a bit more convenient than the old way of using Flawless Widescreen however.





Kotor 2 has a slightly more complicated fix, but at least you only have to do it once, and then you will always have the high resolution.

Start the game and set it to the highest resolution available, then exit it.

Run the Universal Widescreen Patcher. Select the Kotor2 profile, tell it where the game is on the computer, and put in the resolution you want (1920 x 1080).

Go to your Kotor 2 folder and open swkotor2.ini file.

Set the following:
Under
[Display Options]
Width=1920
Height=1080

Under
[Graphics Options]
Width=1920
Height=1080

Copy the Widescreen UI Fix to the Kotor2\Override folder.

Done!


Steam has the revamped version of Kotor 2 done by Aspyr. It has the advantage of high resolutions built in without need of all the work above. But other than that it does not really add anything I personally care about. It is all Steam achievements, Steam cloud saves, controller support, and so on. The native 5k support would be handy for folks like ghastley that use multiple monitors though. But I think that can be done as with a hack (not positive though). I am glad I did not buy it this way, as I got everything I wanted from the Gog version, without the added joy of DRM.



On to mods.
Kotor 1 & 2
Kotor Tool - A modding tool that allows you to extract and mod the game's files.

Kotor Savegame Editor - A savegame editor that allows you to modify all of your stats, and those of your companions. It works on both games. One really cool thing about it is that it allows you to edit your inventory, and modded items will show up in the editor. So you don't need to use the command console to add them within the game.


Kotor 1
Lightsaber Choices - When you construct your lightsaber on Dantoine, this mod gives you more options in the choice of your color crystal, what type of saber (standard, short, or double), and lets you create a second one too if you want to dual wield.

90SK's K1 Robes - changes the look of the jedi robes, based on the Bastila robes. A big improvement over the vanilla look.

Deadly Stream has a huge amount of Kotor mods. Of course there is a Kotor 1 Nexus site, and Gamewatcher has a few Kotor 1 mods


Kotor 2
First and foremost is the Sith Lords Restored Content Mod, which puts a ton of stuff back into that game that never got used in the release version. I am using it now for the first time, but since I have not gotten far, I cannot say just how much it really changes. It sounds like it adds an awful lot though.

Again Deadly Stream has a bunch of Kotor 2 mods. The Nexus has a Kotor 2 site and Gamewatcher has a Kotor 2 mod site as well.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Dec 15 2020, 04:10 AM

[Callidus Thorn]

I forget what class yellow was for. It might be sentinel. I always preferred purple, so that is what I have usually gone for thanks to that mod.

Iirc:

Yellow is for Sentinels
Blue is for Guardians
Green is for Consulars

What I would like to see is a little more originality with the Force Powers. Not just in a future game, but in the Star Wars universe as a whole. As I said in a different topic, we never see a Jedi using the Force to calm the savage beasts like Gundarks, or those big monster things in the arena in Attack Of The Clones. Why can't there be an Animal Whisperer Force Power? Or someone who can read the Force energy in another and thereby predict everything they do before they do it? Or siphon that Force energy for themselves? Or control it (and use it to make them chop their own head off with their lightsaber). Or use the Force to make your body harder than diamond, and immune from lightsabers. Or to regenerate any wound. With something like the Force, the options should be as wide open as mutant powers are comics.

I think Jedi and Sith would be a lot more interesting if part of gaining mastery meant moving beyond the stock techniques like deflecting blaster bolts and telekinesis, and developing a unique ability like one of those above. Something really strong that defines how they use the force, and is a reflection of who they are as a person. You would still have the runt Jedi Knights and Sith Assassins, but the Obi-Wans, Yoda's, Mace's, etc... would all be one of the kind.

I have to disagree with the underlined. By the time we get around to people like Obi-Wan Kenobi, even by the time we get around to Revan and the Old Republic, the Force has been used by Jedi and Sith for thousands of years. The teaching methods for the safe use of that power are long established, categorised, and classified. They're all drawing from the same source of power, as a result of similar training, along similar lines. So them all being capable of similar things makes sense. On the other hand mutant powers are a grab bag of randomness, courtesy of the quirks of unguided mutation.

There are a few quirks though. Corran Horn/Kieran Halcyon from some of the books had the ability to absorb energy, even from a lightsaber, and redirect as force energy. We see Darth Vader do the same in Empire Strikes Back when Han shoots at him on Bespin. And, much as I despise the prequels, there is the reference to Darth Plagueis, who basically became almost immortal thanks to the force, and Yoda catching and seemingly absorbing Force Lightning with ease. But that apparently required an immense mastery of the Force, and possibly a vast amount of time to reach that level. Not to mention going way beyond what they were taught.

It would basically turn every Sith or Jedi of importance into walking, semi-invincible gimmicks.

I don't have any interest in MMOs either. I was so disappointed when The Old Republic came out. I would have vastly preferred a third Kotor game. Or another Jedi Academy game. Or even a new X-Wing game.

And yes, I want to play as a Twi'lek! Or an Iridonian, or a Tortugan! Humans are so boring. I already have to play one IRL.

Same here. Anyone of those games would have been awesome.

And with the number of races popping up in the Star Wars universe, we really need the chance to play as them.

I’d like to see a future game move beyond the limiting confines of Jedi vs. Sith. Or, more precisely, i’d like to see Sith who aren’t all ‘twirl the mustache’ evil (or, at the very least, let’s see a bit more subtlety in the evil... like the machinations of Palpatine) and Jedi who aren’t all saccharine do-gooders (give us the option to be a Qui-Gon).

Good and evil in videosgames needs a complete overhaul in general. These games aren’t made for a pre-teen audience anymore, so why do we continue to have such an anachronistic morality system?

I have to agree with you on this.

In all honesty, I blame the Extended Universe for that. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, the proper Jedi from the original films, weren't the good guys. They were more grey than light or dark. Vader and Palpatine were definitely dark, but they were being opposed by the Rebels, and they were the good guys, not the Jedi. Luke wasn't even a good guy, not really. Once his Jedi training kicked in, he dropped the Rebels and went off to pursue his own goals. Take Return of the Jedi, where his goal was to redeem his father, while the Rebels were trying to bring down the oppressive Empire, and would have succeeded whether Luke was present or not.

But the Sith are the bad guys, and it takes Jedi to stop them. Which, by default, forces Jedi to be the good guys(becuase who wants complicated moral situations, right? ). Which is what they ran with for all the books and videogames. And the prequels were made for that pre-teen audience(******* Jar-Jar Binks ), so why not make the games for them too? Bleh.