Cut content sux!

[WRFan]

I installed several inofficial patches that fix some bugs and re-add cut content into the game. Can't say I like the "improvements". Most stuff is frustrating or simply annoying:

 

1) HK50 assasin droids are regularly spawned everywhere, every couple of minutes! Unless you have HK47 in your party, you need to destroy them. Early in the game it is rather difficult, since their fortitude is very high, plus they have extremely many hit points. Second, every time you destroy them, you earn XP, and since they respawn all the time, you level up waaay too fast, which is just cheating, if you ask me.

 

2) Influence bugs have been fixed, but now it has become extremely difficult to gain enough XP with allies to reap the rewards. In particular, it takes much longer to earn influence with Bao-Dur and Hanharr. Bao-Dur is particularly problematic, since he doesn't have access to the stealth run feat as long as he's no Jedi, so you need to gain influence with him as soon as possible, BEFORE you board Goto's yacht. otherwise it takes ages to navigate him through the ship in stealth mode.

 

In the original game, it is possible to gain enough influence with Bao on two occasions, one on Telos, second on Nar Shaada. But if you install the influence patch, it makes it more difficult to earn influence with him.

 

With the influence patch installed, it is impossible to unlock Hanharr's rewards by just talking to him. And I NEED his rewards, because you get 1 pt Wisdom from him, and since my char is a jedi consular, it's extremely important.

 

Besides, you earn influence with him by doing dark deeds, and I can't do it, right after getting Hanharr into the party, I begin my ascent to light mastery. So first, you get dark mastery to get access to Hanharr, otherwise you get Mira. Then you talk to him, HK47 and Go-t0, because this involves dark side points. As soon as I get their rewards, I only do light side deeds, avoiding dark side points altogether, rising quickly to light mastery, which gives me 3 pt Wisdom, plus 3 pt Wisdom as Jedi Master prestige class. This in addition to 3 pt Wisdom through Hanharr (1 pt Hanharr, 2 pt Kreia strength lesson), 1 pt Wisdom through HK47.

 

For this reason, I need to complete this entire annoying Nar Shaada business as early in the game as possible, so that I can begin my light side ascent as early as possible. The inofficial patches interfere with my strategy, for the reasons described above, as well as for the following reason:

 

the inofficial patches add some cut content on Nar Shaada - allies fighting the bounty hunters. All these bounty hunters are extremely tough, high fortitude and will saves, high attack modifiers, armour up to 31 points. It wouldn't be a problem if I had access to my Jedi consular, who's extremely powerful even at level 15 (DC 44 for force powers, DC 49 for Force scream). But you are stuck with the other morons like Kreia, Atton. Kreia is a joke as a Jedi consular, her DC is a phucking joke. Atton sux either. The bounty hunters score critical hits every 2 seconds, it's just insane! I increased Atton's armour to 38, attack modifiers to 28 (mainhand), 26 (offhand), hit points to over 200, equipped him with mandalorian power shield. He's immune to critical hits. Still, he's killed all the time by the bounty hunters.

 

And I CANNOT do this mission later, since, as explained above, I NEED to finish this whole nar shaada business very early in the game (I usually begin at level 15, by the time I leave Goto's yacht, I am level 18).

Edited October 18, 2008 by WRFan

[Meshugger]

Errr, the "cut content", i presume that you mean by Team-Gizka, hasn't been officially released yet. It is obvious that you're playing a leaked version, and thus, it not suprising that it is not working correctly, or at all.

[Hassat Hunter]

My my... why would it be called a leaked BETA?

 

Anyways, if you dislike the restored content and rather play the modified KOTOR2 no-one forces you to use a (pre-liminary) TSRLP. Just hit that cute uninstall button, and all your problems dissapear as by sunshine.

 

Also, I find it somewhat fun you mention the XP gained from the HK-50's to be "like a cheat" then progress to complain how powergaming is limited.

 

(PS. Doing the dockscenes early on isn't impossible, even if NS is your first planet. I've done it twice already. Just use the right technique )

Edited October 18, 2008 by Fionavar

[Marcus]

My my... why would it be called a leaked BETA?

 

Anyways, if you dislike the restored content and rather play the bastardised KOTOR2 no-one forces you to use a (pre-liminary) TSRLP. Just hit that cute uninstall button, and all your problems dissapear as by sunshine.

 

Also, I find it somewhat fun you mention the XP gained from the HK-50's to be "like a cheat" then progress to complain how powergaming is limited.

 

(PS. Doing the dockscenes early on isn't impossible, even if NS is your first planet. I've done it twice already. Just use the right technique )

Knights 2 is inferior without the cut content? Do others feel the same?

[Hassat Hunter]

Seems like Fio changed my post. "Modified Kotor2" would be incorrect, since I refered to the unchanged mod-less Kotor2.

 

Anyways, not "inferior", but atleast severly mutated by it being rushed was what I meant...

[Marcus]

Seems like Fio changed my post. "Modified Kotor2" would be incorrect, since I refered to the unchanged mod-less Kotor2.

 

Anyways, not "inferior", but atleast severly mutated by it being rushed was what I meant...

I was going to say. If I remember correctly, you are one of Knights 2's bigger fans. Edited October 18, 2008 by Marcus

[Walsingham]

Hold on. You're saying the material which was judged too crap to include is too crap?

[WRFan]

don't get me wrong. It's interesting to see stuff that was cut from the game, but only once. I don't think I am going to do this again. Actually, it's possible to remove the annoying crap from the override folder. Remove the following files:

 

a_influence_dec.ncs

a_influence_inc.ncs

n_hk50ectr1.utc

n_hk50ectr2.utc

n_hk50ectr3.utc

 

this will restore the original influence system and remove those stupid annoying HK50 units altogether.

 

Also, I find it somewhat fun you mention the XP gained from the HK-50's to be "like a cheat" then progress to complain how powergaming is limited

 

Powergaming is one thing, cheating is another. I never cheat in RPG games.

 

Forgot to mention one thing in my original post. You see, the fights against the bounty hunters on Nar Shadaa require you to level up Atton, otherwise he's obviously too weak to fight those tough bounty hunters. In the original version of the game, he only has to fight the twin sisters, so it's sufficient to level him up to like 13 or 14. After you return from the Goto yacht, you can then turn Atton into a Jedi and level him up as a Jedi. Only 13 or 14 levels will be lost to the scoundrel class.

 

But the inofficial patch adds 1 mio additional bounty hunters, so you have to level up Atton even more, losing more and more levels to the useless scoundrel class. It's exactly the same problem as in Kotor 1, only there it was your own character who lost levels to a non-jedi class. Everybody hates that.

 

Yes, sure, I could turn Atton into a Jedi BEFORE starting the Nar Shadaa quest, but you see, turning him into a Jedi involves at least 7 light-dark side shifts and I don't want to lose them before I begin my light side ascent after gaining access to Hanharr, as indicated in my original post. So I simply cannot do this. I save all the light points for later. For the same reason I cannot talk to the Handmaiden, Disciple, T3, Visas etc. before finishing the Nar Shadaa business, because all these conversations involve light side shifts and I need them for later

[H]

With the influence patch installed, it is impossible to unlock Hanharr's rewards by just talking to him.

You need to have a character around to influence him? No ****.

Only 13 or 14 levels will be lost to the scoundrel class.

What do you mean, lost? Scoundrel levels give him Sneak Attack.

Edited October 19, 2008 by H

[random n00b]

Hold on. You're saying the material which was judged too crap to include is too crap?

To be honest, that's not the case. From what I've read, it looks like the OP is mostly pissed about the difficulty of certain encounters. This isn't an issue with the mod itself (save for the insane amount of HPs given to the random HK encounter droids), but with the game's own autobalance system, which is one of the most gleaming examples of the unpolished state in which the game shipped.

 

It's really easy to fine-tune the game to suit your preferences, anyway. It only takes five minutes of editing 2da files. Probably less than it took the OP to write his pointless rant and subsequent replies. And I say pointless because no-one here has any degree of control about how TG judge what is an adequate difficulty level.

 

And yeah, Atton's scoundrel levels rule. Give him a keen lightsaber when you jedify him and max his crit strike, and he's murder incarnate.

[refuse]

It sounds like he's more annoyed that the game has forced him to act beyond his routine playthrough strategies. He also assumes that whatever mods he has downloaded (leaked betas or not), that they are somehow supposed to be perfect, seamless additions to the game. Particularly in the case of the leaked beta, I feel he should realise that what he has installed was never meant to be available to anyone in the first place. Obviously there are going to be issues with balancing and bugs that have not been addressed, so arguing about it is pointless.

[Gorth]

I think he proves the point of why it is not a public beta.

[WRFan]

It sounds like he's more annoyed that the game has forced him to act beyond his routine playthrough strategies

 

you are correct. what's wrong with routine strategy? It took me some time to develop these strategies, obviously I want to stick to them. I want to play the game the way I prefer it, not the way mod developers like to play it.

 

I think he proves the point of why it is not a public beta

 

who says the final mod will be any different? As far as I know, Gizka is only fixing some bugs at the moment. Overall, the final release version will resemble the beta in nearly every way

 

btw, a second mod is available here:

 

http://www.freewebs.com/k2rp/

 

It's supposed to allow you to train Hanharr as a Jedi, but I'll be damned if I know how to turn this animal into a Jedi. Would be interesting to see Hanharr fighting with two lightsabres

[H]

you are correct. what's wrong with routine strategy? It took me some time to develop these strategies, obviously I want to stick to them. I want to play the game the way I prefer it, not the way mod developers like to play it.

Then don't install any mods. That's the only solution to your problem, really.

[Strix]

what's wrong with routine strategy? It took me some time to develop these strategies, obviously I want to stick to them.

 

You are, however, no longer playing the same game and thus your old strategies must be adapted to fit the new structure.

 

btw, a second mod is available here:

 

And, most likely, it will not work with the Team Gizka beta and cause some compatibility issues.

[Hassat Hunter]

I think he proves the point of why it is not a public beta.

 

Because people are idiots that complain about the most trivial things?

(OMG... how can they not think about us *poor* Powergamers? Damn TG! Damn them to Hell! )

[Darth InSidious]

My my... why would it be called a leaked BETA?

 

Anyways, if you dislike the restored content and rather play the bastardised KOTOR2 no-one forces you to use a (pre-liminary) TSRLP. Just hit that cute uninstall button, and all your problems dissapear as by sunshine.

 

Also, I find it somewhat fun you mention the XP gained from the HK-50's to be "like a cheat" then progress to complain how powergaming is limited.

 

(PS. Doing the dockscenes early on isn't impossible, even if NS is your first planet. I've done it twice already. Just use the right technique )

Knights 2 is inferior without the cut content? Do others feel the same?

Yes.

Hold on. You're saying the material which was judged too crap to include is too crap?

There's a supposition there.

[random n00b]

And, most likely, it will not work with the Team Gizka beta and cause some compatibility issues.

I'm playing through TSLRP + DStoney's M4-78 (plus a crapload of other minor mods) just fine... the only showstopper I found I worked around by means of a warp armband. Not saying it'll be seamless, but mods rarely are. I don't think it's reasonable to expect modders to serve everything on a silver platter, but that's just me.

[Strix]

And, most likely, it will not work with the Team Gizka beta and cause some compatibility issues.

I'm playing through TSLRP + DStoney's M4-78 (plus a crapload of other minor mods) just fine...

 

Well the M4-78 mods was designed to work with TSLRP and DStoney has already said he will release another version if they become incompatible. I doubt Team Exile bothered to do that though, as their mod is designed as a rival to the Team Gizka mod.

[Lord2]

It's LucasArts' fault that KotOR II was incomplete - they rushed Obsidian. That's too bad, and now they're planning a MMO with Bioware... Oh my

[refuse]

you are correct. what's wrong with routine strategy? It took me some time to develop these strategies, obviously I want to stick to them. I want to play the game the way I prefer it, not the way mod developers like to play it.

 

The problem is that you want to retain the way the 'vanilla' game plays by downloading user-made content that by DEFINITION is there to alter the gameplay. Even if you get a new set of force powers, that means you use them instead of those supplied in-game; same can be said about items, NPC's, story-development, etc... The point of user-made mods is to give the game a new twist. Do you see the error in your logic? It's like that anti-war slogan "fighting for peace is like 'fornicating' for virginity".

 

who says the final mod will be any different? As far as I know, Gizka is only fixing some bugs at the moment. Overall, the final release version will resemble the beta in nearly every way

 

Those bug-fixes, along with other ones that will/might pop up later in the progress and other 'spring-cleaning' will most likely make the patch a lot more stable and intergrated into the game. Are you an experienced modder yourself and do you have inside knowledge on the work that remains to be done, in order to come to your conclusions? There are no guarantees of the outcome of this mod, but judging from the quality of FINISHED work they released in the past (fixes that have since been removed from their site to be implemented in their patch), I'd say there's a good chance that their work will deliver. I played the beta myself and was very pleased with what I saw, prompting me to be more patient until the eventual, bug-free release. It remains to be seen and you don't need to share my optimism, but nobody is forcing you to care about this project, nor download it.

 

It's supposed to allow you to train Hanharr as a Jedi, but I'll be damned if I know how to turn this animal into a Jedi. Would be interesting to see Hanharr fighting with two lightsabres

 

I'm sure that mod team has broken up and/or ceased operations on that project; last update on their work was last year. I remember reading something about it in the Holowan forums on Lucasarts last summer.

 

If you want Hanharr to become a Jedi/Sith and don't mind about the story/dialog aspect of it, you can easily do so with the KSE (save editor), where you can alter inventory items, stats as well as add and edit classes for your PC and NPC's. Just make sure you make copies of your save games, in case you alter something you shouldn't, or mess up a character.

Edited October 23, 2008 by refuse

[Markus Ramikin]

Wow, the first of this thread had me having dark thoughts about the future of the human race.

 

So basically you take a leaked, incomplete, buggy beta of a project that at the time isn't even close to completion, and you conclude that it sucks? And then you even have the effrontery to ask, "who says the final mod will be any different?" Well what do you think the Team has been doing with the project since that beta, if not making it different and better?

 

As to mods being typically buggy, I think the idea is that after the installing of TSLRP, the game might be -less- buggy than the vanilla game, not more. This isn't some amateurish "let's add a lot of cool stuff like lightsabers and new force powers and sexy clothes" mod, it's a serious project that, I imagine, is taking years for a reason.

 

They're fixing a bunch of stuff that was a problem in the original game, and screening the readded content pretty thoroughly, it looks like. Although who knows, maybe the cut content will "balance" it with new undetected bugs... So personally I'm going to just wait and see what happens when they release the real thing, rather than make dumb comments based on material that was never meant for release.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Markus Ramikin