KOTOR 2 Is Finally Finished


Recommended Posts

KOTOR 2 Is Finally Finished

KOTOR_II.jpg

Those that made their way through to the "end" of Knights of the Old Republic 2 will be aware that the game they just "finished" wasn't anything of the sort.

Tight timeframes ended up in a rushed development cycle, in turn resulting in a game that had huge chunks missing from the final, playable product. Chunks that coders later found out were included on the disc, albeit in a rough, unfinished form.

So some modders took it upon themselves to yank out that code, polish it up, drop it into the final game and give us all the version of KOTOR 2 that developers Obsidian originally intended.

Last week, the team at Deadly Stream announced that their work was done, and that if you own a copy of KOTOR 2, you can download a playable version of the restored content.

I haven't done so myself because, well, I banished all memory of KOTOR 2 some time ago. Anyone that does have a copy lying around, grab a copy from the link below, let us know how it all goes.

TSL_Restored_Content_mod ver1.4 "READY"

Kotaku

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if they fixed the major bugs that prevented people from being able to actually finish the game. I had to use a program that hacked the saved files so that I could progress myself beyond the several places that I became stuck.

That was nearly four years ago, I don't have the patience to revisit this game

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if they fixed the major bugs that prevented people from being able to actually finish the game. I had to use a program that hacked the saved files so that I could progress myself beyond the several places that I became stuck.

That was nearly four years ago, I don't have the patience to revisit this game

If this project doesn't fix those bugs, the "restoration" project which is seperate does I'm sure. Both seek to change the game so it's able to be finished, and restore the content not in the game that was cut etc.

Alot like the Vampire Bloodlines community patch guys. They've supported the game better than any retail company could and really made that game a total classic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a warning this is still an open beta.

Anyway, i didn't realise this existed. I'd been looking at the Team Gizka patch and saving my second play through of KOTOR II for when that was complete. I might just try this instead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if they fixed the major bugs that prevented people from being able to actually finish the game. I had to use a program that hacked the saved files so that I could progress myself beyond the several places that I became stuck.

That was nearly four years ago, I don't have the patience to revisit this game

Ha, I remember those. I can't remember if it was the first or II where at one point I got off a ship and the FPS dropped to 2...If you progressed past a certain part it would go back to normal but it was such a hassle.

Unfortunately I don't think I have the time to go back through the "restored" version but the KOTOR series is one of my favorite RPG's of all time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hah, random, I finished Kotor II back in the day and never even realized that it was incomplete.

Same here, I thought it was finished when I "finished" the game :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if they fixed the major bugs that prevented people from being able to actually finish the game. I had to use a program that hacked the saved files so that I could progress myself beyond the several places that I became stuck.

That was nearly four years ago, I don't have the patience to revisit this game

Hehe! I remember using a save file editor to add new weapons, differently coloured light sabres, and even new character models. Oh man, I remember loving the game to death. It was the first real Star Wars game that "mesmerized" me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

KOTOR is one of the best Star Wars games of all time. I'd even say one of the best games overall. I always knew that the game didn't get the credit it deserved. It wasn't as good as the original from BioWare, but I didn't know there were massive sections that were incomplete in the shipped code that weren't used. I'm happy to see the community has gone to the effort of bringing it back and getting it into the gameplay. I have it both for PC and Xbox but I prefer the console controller over hte keyboard and mouse for this type of game so I'm gonna have to reinstall it and go through the game again. Maybe get it working with the 360 controller.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the tip. I've been waiting forever for this, but every time I've checked it wasn't available yet :D

Edit: Bah. This appears to be a different project than the one I've been keeping tabs on. I'm not sure how similar they are or which is better, so I'll be loading this up and checking it out anyway.

Edited by Darrian
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It started a few years ago when someone discovered some missing content in the PC version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords. They took it upon themselves to to go into the game's files and restore some of the data on their own. Then, someone else encountered a serious bug in the same title and started using the first person's work to fix the problem. From then on, it was like the snowball that gradually turned into an avalanche. The result was a large-scale project that was aimed at bringing as much missing content as possible back to the game.

After years of development, the cut content has been finally restored and the most of the bugs have been fixed, thanks to a project known as known as the "Restored Content Mod." The mod, revealed in The Deadly Stream forum, is in open beta, which means that players can now experience as complete a Jedi adventure as possible, provided they're willing to help the development team by reporting any issues they encounter. According to the project team leader, who goes by the handle "Stoney," the project's completion has been a long time coming. The result? An expanded, refined game that hints at what the original release should have been.

"The whole thing kind of started for me when I wanted to fix the broken 'Redemption' quest on Dantooine," Stoney told Ars. "While I was searching through the files... I found that it was tied into a lot more content that was cut." The quest in question required players to either condemn or redeem the reputation of the Jedi on the planet, but many gamers have reported that the quest would never resolve itself, no matter what path a player took. Stoney began working to bring back other missing pieces from the game and found himself working with another fan of KOTOR II. As a result, the duo began releasing mods that gradually made the game more complete.

Eventually, the team of two began to grow. More people got involved with the project, and a team of nine volunteers found themselves working together on a restoration effort that was much larger than anything they'd tried to accomplish on their own. "More or less, once we starting putting [our heads] together, we found a list of cut content and decided what we could add and started adding content."

Anyone who's played KOTOR II knows that it was a game that often felt incomplete and/or rushed. According to rumors?which were eventually confirmed by interviews with members of the game's development team?LucasArts gave Obsidian a deadline of roughly a year to produce a sequel to Bioware's seminal Knights of the Old Republic. Because of the game's size, a slew of content was cut in order to meet the tight deadline. According to an interview with Obsidian founder Chris Avellone, the smarter development move (in retrospect) would have been to make a shorter game that still included some of the more interesting content (like a "droid planet") that was only half-finished at the time of release.

kotor2restoreb.jpg

While some might dismiss this as little more than a fan project, the Restored Content Mod deserves attention and praise for the sheer volume of content that the volunteer team has managed to return to the game. The full list is impressive: a total of 93 separate events and bugs have been reincluded or fixed. The scale of these events varies, ranging from expanding character dialogue and development to restoring missing boss battles to allowing players to determine the final fate of Malachor V.

At the moment, neither LucasArts nor Obsidian have issued any sort of response to the Deadly Stream team's efforts, though LucasArts has openly stated that it supports and welcomes fan mods of its Star Wars games. On the other hand, reactions to the restoration effort has been positive within the forum community. "So far... the response has been favorable," Stoney said, though he admitted, "there are still some bugs and rough areas. But with everyone's help we are fixing it so the final release will be better."

While the mod has yet to be finalized, the project is much closer to completion than other fan-led restoration efforts for the game. When asked about how it felt to be so close to releasing the finished version of the mod, Stoney voiced feelings of vindication and satisfaction. "It feels good," he said, "I'll feel better when the final release is actually done, then I'll be taking a break for awhile." Of course, the question on everyone's mind is "when will the final build be released?"

To that, Stoney can't provide a definite answer. "[That's] hard to say, it depends on how many bugs we find and how long it takes us to fix them."

If you're interested in trying this new content, head over to the Deadly Stream forums for instructions on how to download the Restored Content Mod. You'll need a PC copy of the game.

Source: Ars Technica[/urThree Minute Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOFzco3Xskc[/uSource for mod: http://www.deadlystream.com/showthread.php?t=339

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My bad, Sethos. Didn't mean to make a duplicate.

Anyways, I can't wait to replay KOTOR 1 and 2 again. It's been a few years. :) Are there any must play mods for KOTOR 1?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.