Talk:Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Walkthrough

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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is currently #8 on the Most Wanted list on the Main Page (Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is #3!), so I'd better get on with it... Onderduiker (talk) 18:45, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Below I'll keep notes on outstanding issues that come up as I work on the walkthrough. These will also have a lot of bearing on KotOR II, and possibly other BioWare or role-playing games on which I work in the future (Dragon Age: Origins is also in my library).

This is primarily for my own reference, but if anyone has any feedback, feel free to add it to the relevant section, or add it to the end of the page.

Images

There are currently over 500 images in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic images category, and that number is certain to increase: at some point I may create sub-categories corresponding to each of the sections below, but for now I'll use the All pages with prefix function to list them separately.

Icons

Icons where extracted using KotOR Tool and converted from .tga to .png format. 26 icons prefixed KotOR Icon have been uploaded: 10 32x32 icons for skills (including Bash) and dialog, and 16 64x64 icons for NPC portraits and on-screen updates. These will be used by the Dialog and Update templates.

Feats and powers

100 32x32px icons have been uploaded for all feats, prefixed KotOR Feat, as have 44 icons for all Force powers, prefixed KotOR Force power. This was necessary since the Feats and Powers sections of the Abilities menu only display text descriptions for a feat or power when highlighted, and the icons are used elsewhere in the user interface. They'll also be used elsewhere in this guide, in templates for feats and powers within the NPC template to indicate which feats and powers an NPC has, the Item template to indicate On Hit properties, and in item lists to indicate when a feat is required to equip an item.

Items

Hundreds of 64x64px icons, prefixed KotOR Item, have been uploaded for items, although this was not necessary as the Equip, Party Inventory, NPC inventory and container menus always use text labels as well. Consequently many could be deleted, although icons for grenades, mines, medical items and stimulants are used elsewhere in the user interface, and some will be used in templates for items within the NPC template to indicate which items an NPC has. Once I've completed the walkthrough, I'll remove item images from the Appendices pages, and any unused files will then be marked for deletion.

Maps

As of yet only 4 .png maps, prefixed KotOR Map, have been uploaded, and only the map notes are labelled on those: I intend to add more detail to those I upload. From screenshots of the Map screen, each map is 440x256px, although I may enlarge them to add detail and a legend. I plan to standardise presentation by centering a 480px thumbnail map at the top of each page in the space beside a floating Table of Contents. It would probably be a good idea to make a template for this...

The walkthrough needs at most 74 maps:

Taris Space Unknown World Star Forge
  • South Apartments
  • Upper City South
  • Upper City Cantina
  • Upper City North
  • North Apartments
  • Lower City
  • Lower City Apartments (East)
  • Javyar's Cantina
  • Hidden Bek Base
  • Lower City Apartments (West)
  • Undercity
  • Lower Sewers
  • Upper Sewers
  • Black Vulkar Base
  • Black Vulkar Base (Garage)
  • Sith Base (Taris)
  • Davik's Estate
Leviathan
  • Prison Block
  • Command Deck
  • Bridge
  • Hangar
  • Central Beach
  • North Beach
  • Rakatan Settlement
  • Temple Exterior
  • South Beach
  • Elder Settlement
  • Temple Main Floor
  • Temple Catacombs
  • Temple Summit
  • Deck 1
  • Deck 2
  • Command Center
  • Viewing Platform
Star Map worlds
Dantooine Tatooine Kashyyyk Manaan Korriban
  • Jedi Enclave
  • Courtyard
  • Matale Grounds
  • Sandral Grounds
  • Sandral Estate
  • Crystal Cave
  • Ruins
  • Anchorhead
  • Dune Sea
  • Sand People Territory
  • Sand People Enclave
  • Eastern Dune Sea
  • Czerka Landing Port
  • Great Walkway
  • Village of Rwookrrorro
  • Upper Shadowlands
  • Lower Shadowlands
  • Docking Bay (Manaan)
  • West Central
  • Ahto West
  • East Central
  • Ahto East
  • Sith Base (Manaan)
  • Hrakert Station
  • Sea Floor
  • Kolto Control
  • Hrakert Rift
  • Dreshdae
  • Sith Academy Entrance
  • Sith Academy
  • Valley of Dark Lords
  • Shyrack Caves
  • Tomb of Marka Ragnos
  • Tomb of Ajunta Pall
  • Tomb of Tulak Hord
  • Tomb of Naga Sadow

Some maps are so small or straightforward that they may be replaced by screenshots. This may come to include some of those listed above (for example, the Crystal Cave on Dantooine is a single passage with no branches, ending in a cave; in fact, that page might actually be merged with another (Sandral Grounds), as may some others).

Models

Only 12 .png images prefixed KotOR Model have been uploaded so far: 11 256x256px models of party members, and one 752x752px model of a Rancor (which is unusually large). These will be used by the NPC template.

Models for party members and merchants are fairly straightforward, but those for enemies are complicated by the fact that multiple enemies can use the same model, and the same enemy can be encountered in different locations with different equipment, some of which can change their appearance. I'm unsure whether to use a generic background (for example, change my character's model using KotOR Savegame Editor and take a screenshot of the Character screen: unfortunately some models are too big to fit), the background of their first location or upload images for separate locations if the backgrounds are jarringly different. This isn't something I really need to worry about until the walkthrough is completed, though.

Screenshots

25 1024x768px .jpg images prefixed KotOR Screenshot have been uploaded so far. Some of these will replace maps that are too small or straightforward to be strictly necessary:

Taris Tatooine Kashyyyk

This list may expand as I work on the walkthrough, particularly since some pages and maps may be merged (for example, I'm considering merging Woorwill's Home and Worrroznor's Home with Village of Rwookrrorro).

Others may have explanatory purposes on Get Started pages, although those which have already been uploaded lack Screenshot in their name.

The remaining screenshots will show points of interest throughout the game, possibly combined with action shots of party members (for example, HK-47 barbecuing dark Jedi with a Flame Thrower on the streets of Anchorhead, Canderous going man(d)o-a-man(d)o with fellow Mandalorians on Dantooine or Kashyyyk, Juhani deflecting blaster bolts and Carth and Bastila in action on the bridge of the Leviathan): I want to avoid including the main character, since appearance can vary. I plan to standardise presentation by centering a 640px thumbnail on the page, so another template may be advisable...

Templates

Only the following guide-specific templates were originally used in this guide:

These will eventually be replaced. The following templates have since been created:

Template Usage
KotOR/Header Consistent presentation of map or screenshot and table of contents at top of pages
KotOR/Screenshot Consistent presentation of screenshots on pages
KotOR/NPC Consistent presentation of non-player character (NPC) information throughout walkthrough
KotOR/Party Consistent presentation of party member information throughout walkthrough and on Party page
KotOR/Item Labelled and linked item icons within KotOR/NPC and Party templates
KotOR/Feat Labelled and linked feat icons within KotOR/NPC and Party templates, and on Feats page
KotOR/Power Labelled and linked Force power icons within KotOR/NPC and Party templates, and on Force powers page
KotOR/Lock Highlight locks encountered throughout walkthrough (Security use)
KotOR/Mine Highlight mines encountered throughout walkthrough (Awareness and Demolitions use)

Dialog

KotOR Dialog already allows the following:

  1. Your dialog
  Name: NPC Dialog
  Trask: Party dialog
  1. [Computer]
  1. [Repair]

It needs to be expanded to include Persuade and Force Persuade options:

  1. [Persuade] Always
  1. [Persuade] Easy
  1. [Persuade] Medium
  1. [Persuade] Hard
  1. [Persuade] Never

Difficulty check (Always, Easy, Medium, Hard or Never) determines border and background colors, as well as icon label. The green and red border and background colours are derived from the Yes, Yes2, No2 and No templates and I'm happy with them; however I'm not happy with the yellow border and background colours, so I'll change them (they'll be used in other templates as well).

  1. [Force Persuade] Low (Affect Mind)
  1. [Force Persuade] High (Dominate Mind)
  1. [Force Persuade] Impossible

Difficulty check (Low (Affect Mind), High (Dominate Mind) and Impossible) determines border and background colors, as well as the icon and its label.

  1. Response moving closer to light side
Light Side Points Gained: +#
  1. Response moving closer to dark side
Dark Side Points Gained: -#

Alignment shifts are technically on-screen updates, but they almost always occur as the result of dialog choices. The nature of the shift (light or dark) determines icon and background colour, and the number of light or dark side points gained (#) is also needed.

There may also be special dialog choices, like those in the second Jedi trial:

  1. Jedi Guardian response
  2. Jedi Sentinel response
  3. Jedi Consular response

The nature of the response (Jedi Guardian, Sentinel or Consular) determines border and background colours, as well as the icon and its label (and possible link).

All dialog is included for the sake of completeness (so people can check it to see if there's anything they missed before they start another play-through, and in many cases reveal the illusion of choice where different dialog options actually lead to the same response), but that which is optional or whose conclusion is the same regardless of options chosen is hidden in collapsible tables:

Dialog triggers a scene, and usually (but not always) involves choosing dialog options; comments are simply superimposed on the screen in blue text in a translucent window, with no further interaction. I should probably make a template for these collapsible tables, since they're used often and have a similar design to the NPC template.

Wherever possible mutually exclusive dialog options, or 'options' which lead to the same response, are placed in a row to conserve space: at present this is achieved by placing individual dialog boxes in a table (effectively mini-tables inside another table). However, options of varying length can lead to boxes of varying height, which I'd like to eliminate for aesthetic purposes. Aside from being of equal height (which should mean they need to be in the same table), each box in the same row would normally by of approximately equal width:

50% 50%
33% 34% 33%
25% 25% 25% 25%
20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
17% 16% 17% 17% 16% 17%

However, in some cases the default widths would need to be adjusted. For example, when some, but not all, mutually exclusive options lead to the same response:

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3
Response to 1 and 2 Response to 3

Other than number of columns and row height, another complication is that dialog boxes in the same row can be of different types (usually due to being mutually exclusive, rather than leading to the same response). There have also been occasions where one column contains a dialog box spanning multiple rows in another (usually due to a party member responding, or two party members like Bastila and Carth going back and forth).

Option 1 Option 2
Response 1 Response 2
Response to Response 1

I think it would simplify things to remove border colours, ensure all dialog options use a single row and icon cells have the same background colour as text cells, and possibly use the prettytable template used elsewhere in this guide. This would have the most effect on current alignment shifts:

  1. Response moving closer to light side +#
  1. Response moving closer to dark side -#

Space could be saved by moving the Light/Dark Side Points Gained text to the icon label, and the points (#) to the end of the text. However, if at all possible I'd like to remove the border between the icon and text cells (placing them in the same cell would result in text wrapping under the icon), and I'd like the style to be consistent with other templates.

NPC

The KotOR/Party template already exists, for showing information about your party members when they first join your party:

Bastila Shan
File:KotOR Model Bastila (Light Side).png
Class Jedi Sentinel
Level 3
Alignment 70 (light side)
Attributes
Strength 12 +1
Dexterity 18 +4
Constitution 12 +1
Intelligence 10 0
Wisdom 12 +1
Charisma 15 +2
Remaining 5
Attribute Base Total
Vitality 24 27
Force1827
Attack 2 3
Defense 10 16
Fortitude 3 4
Reflex 3 7
Will 2 3
Skills Base Total
Computer 0 0
Demolitions 0 0
Stealth 0 0
Awareness 4 5
Repair 0 0
Security 0 0
Treat Injury 4 5
Remaining 34
Items and abilities Feats (5 remaining) Force powers (17 remaining)
File:KotOR Item Body.png File:KotOR Feat Weapon Proficiency.pngFile:KotOR Feat Weapon Proficiency.pngFile:KotOR Feat Weapon Proficiency.png  File:KotOR Feat Force Immunity.png  +         

A separate template will be created for non-player characters (NPCs) encountered in the game:

Combat Droid
Model
Class Combat Droid
Level 12
Alignment 50 (neutral)
Skills
Awareness 11
Attributes
Strength 13 +1
Dexterity 13 +1
Constitution 15 +2
Intelligence 6 -2
Wisdom 8 -1
Charisma 6 -2
Attributes
Vitality 150
Force 0
Defense 22
Fortitude 10
Reflex 5
Will 3
Ranged Main Off hand
Attack 14 -
Energy > 24 -
Threat 20-20,x2 -
Melee
Attack - -
Damage - -
Threat - -
Items Feats Force powers

File:KotOR Item Heavy weapons.png File:KotOR Item Shields.png

File:KotOR Feat Weapon Focus.png File:KotOR Feat Droid Upgrade.png File:KotOR Feat Logic Upgrade.png

None

Rancor
 
Class Soldier
Level 20
Alignment 50 (neutral)
Skills
Awareness 18
Attributes
Strength 45 +17
Dexterity 8 -1
Constitution 10 0
Intelligence 3 -4
Wisdom 6 -2
Charisma 4 -3
Attributes
Vitality 90
Force 0
Defense 26
Fortitude 12
Reflex 5
Will 4
Ranged Main Off hand
Attack - -
Damage - -
Threat - -
Melee
Attack 37 -
Physical 27-77 -
Threat 20-20,x2 -
Items Feats Force powers

None

None

None

The only differences between the two are the background colours. Another template is needed for merchants:

Name Larrim
Map South Apartments
Buy 110%
Sell 40%
Buy Item Cost Amount
Medpac 44 Infinite
Computer Spike 275 2
Parts 220 2
Military Suit 165 1
Heavy Combat Suit 110 1
Combat Suit 55 Infinite
Light Battle Armor 275 1
Vibroblade 88 1
Stun Baton 33 Infinite
Long Sword 5 Infinite
Quarterstaff 2 Infinite
Vibrosword 132 1
Short Sword 1 Infinite
Ion Blaster 220 1
Sonic Pistol 220 1
Buy Item Cost Amount
Blaster Pistol 110 Infinite
Light Repeating Blaster 550 1
Poison Grenade 143 1
Sonic Grenade 143 1
Concussion Grenade 88 2
Frag Grenade 88 Infinite
Energy Shield 154 1
Sound Dampening Stealth Unit 220 1
Stealth Field Generator 110 Infinite
Battle Stimulant 110 1
Minor Flash Mine 110 1
Minor Frag Mine 110 1
Minor Gas Mine 110 1
Minor Plasma Mine 110 1

This would be the standard layout, but there are several merchants who offer conditional discounts (Suvam Tan on Yavin station offers two) so the option of multiple Item Cost columns would need to be enabled.

A KotOR/Link template could be created to make linking to items significantly easier: for example, it could replace this:

[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Blaster pistols#Blaster Pistol|Blaster Pistol]]

With something like {{KotOR/Link|Blaster Pistol|Blaster pistols}} to give Blaster Pistol. Given how often I insert links in this guide, this template could be expanded (much) further, or similar templates could be created.

  • On Hit
  • Prerequisite:
    • Armor Proficiency: Light/Medium/Heavy
    • Droid Upgrade Class 1/2/3
    • Upgrade
  • Restricted to: Light/Dark Side
  • Light/Dark Side Points Gained

Update

There are already KotOR Journal, XP and Item templates, but they share enough similarities that they could be replaced by a single KotOR/Update template.

Template:KotOR Journal

Quest and Update are needed, as is the option of multiple columns (since updates can differ depending on how or whether or not a quest has been activated, and the same action can update multiple quests).

Template:KotOR XP

Template:KotOR XP

Template:KotOR XP

Experience can be received from an action (usually quest related), kill, or skill use. Action and skill use need an XP #, while kills require a Challenge Rating (it would be easier to add the number of enemies killed to the text where necessary, rather than including it in the template). That seems fairly straightforward, although to conserve space, adding additional columns should be enabled.

Template:KotOR Item

Item(s) Lost?

The container and a bullet-point list of items received are needed. At present there's no Item(s) Lost option, since almost all items lost so far have been quest items which are lost automatically, and have no other use beyond completing quests. However, I may include one for those few occasions where loss of items is optional (I can remember having the option to give a Med Kit to someone twice).

To conserve space, the options of additional columns and placing this in the same row as an XP update should be enabled.

  Credits Received: #
  Credits Lost: #

Credits received or lost should also be added, and this should be fairly straightforward. In terms of style, I made the background colour of the icon cell black (and subsequently added a black border to the box) because I thought it looked ugly otherwise, but this may change depending on what I do with other templates.

      File:KotOR Icon Item.png       File:KotOR Icon Item.png       File:KotOR Icon Item.png