therfiles

Ack! Sorry that I missed this!

This is super exciting. So NpcSP has always been a nifty tool, but it is completely limited by the "smoke and mirrors" of soft-code UI and script changes, rather than deep coding additions. Your AI Workshop has all the features I've wanted to tackle. One thing that I could see being helpful would be a proper NPC freeze that also don't block scripting. For instance, I may want to freeze all the NPCs, go up to each of them and edit their options. In my my experience, simply using d_npcfreeze/icarus freeze block all further manipulations. I don't know if you've already figured out a work around. In addition, binding NPC spawn/presets could be awesome. In fact, it would be great to spawn an NPC with the presets from your pre-set edits with the press of the button. Also, a non-glitched NPC control feature would be excellent (and not the ghetto mind-trick/mouse droid control from JK2). From my experience, giving the user as many features and options to change is the best course: a toolbox for players.

Gosh. I wish we had this cracked back when I modded more. HUD elements are super exciting for UI/scripter. You can add custom graphics to the HUD for objectives (kill 5 stormies, with icons...like LEGO Star Wars), new counters (for my Harry Potter mod, I added a custom counter for "magic" points). I would also love to be able to change how weapon/force icons are displayed. Perhaps vertically? Anyway, I think that could give a lot more freedom. However the VERY biggest roadblock with any HUD modding (even with OpenJK in my experience) is CVAR manipulation. For instance, say I wanted the icons of 5 stormtroopers to appear in the corner, and for them to disappear as I killed them. However, the only way I know to UI script an element like this is to use CVAR checks...and there is no way (in my knowledge) to change CVAR values by script/event (change cvar_Stormies_left to '4'). So HUD manipulation is great, but scripting these elements to get data from the actual gameplay is very important.

As for the cheat menu, I'd say hide it somewhere. People who are going to use it know the game, and have played it. Hiding it is a cool feature that is fairly standard (IMO) for most games that choose to include it. And keeping it locked up by game completion is silly since people might use this mod just to spice up gameplay. The audience I see using it are people interested in spicing up the gameplay for a game they've beaten a bunch of times (this game is old after all).

Finally: feel free to plunder or re-work any of my mods/menus if that would be helpful to you.

Neat video! I really love that character! And the music seems to be a cover of the Batman V.S. Superman Trailer music.

Interesting! Thanks for the tid-bit of info, dude!

Hmmm. I'd say removing weapon pickups is your best bet. And then making some scripted weapon pickups when you need them. I'm not sure if this would work but the death script idea is a good one. Change the weapon to none and then bolt the model of the gun to their hands, faking it a bit. I'd have to play around with it to be sure.

"Disagree" would only work in a few situations. How can you "disagree" with someone's WIP post?

Dislike would only invite more negativity and I think we have a bit too much of that already.

Great work, @@eezstreet! This is really fantastic and powerful. I feel like this is a much more powerful and compelling version than my (grotesquely unfinished) NpcSP v2. Really excited to see where this goes.

Out of curiosity, how complex is the user interface with this? Or is it all console commands?

I guess...why does it matter? Just like what you like. Understand that there is an "official" timeline of events (otherwise how will new fans enter the story), but as a fan you are free to like things however you want. Is there a reason we need to redefine things?

If that works for you, good for you.

This is a somewhat known error. I'll have to tinker with it myself, but it should be just modifying the menus.txt file to include both the new menu sets needed by the mods. Let me see what I can do!

Sorry man! I don't know how to code

Not without code, I think.

These leaks are so fake lol

Oh crap. Totally right. Nice catch @@Ramikad!

Yep. Make a quick ICARUS script with "SET_UNDYING" set to false. Then, spawn a Boba with a npc name (npc spawn boba_fett boba) and then write "runscript script_you_wrote boba" and that will execute that quick script you put together on the NPC with the name you referenced when spawning Boba.

Hope that helps!

I was a huge fan of the saber sounds in TFA. They had a much more "heavy" and "menacing" presence than previous saber sounds. Would love to see this get made!

I loved Bionicle so much as a kid! The original 2001 technic ones are really incredible. Can't wait to see more!

@@NumberWan: This is really sad, but I almost forgot that Mon Mothma was still canon...(which is absolutely ridiculous haha)

Sadly, I think it is confirmed to be "Jyn Erso" but Jan would have been a neat nod to the fans.

So much to love here. Mon Mothma, that new imperial guy with the cape, Forrest Whitaker's character (is he an old, wounded Jedi?), that cloaked guy who kneels before an energy source (with royal guardsmen), and that awesome little martial arts take down. So cool!

Oh boy. It's here and it's incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji-BZ0oCwg

So pumped for this trailer! So glad it comes out early in the morning.

Those saber recreations look gorgeous. And the new concepts look great. I especially like Arbitrator concept and the Veteran looks very interesting. Will you play around with 3-bladed sabers, like Kylo's? Great work here.

@@Cerez, again I misspoke. I still don't like that all that canon was thrown out, and I do value one, well-created storyline. But I think the sacrifice maybe was worth it, especially since the way they've handled it thus far. Again, I really appreciated this discussion.

Hey Cerez! Sorry to see you go . Good luck with stuff and I've really enjoyed having you around this place. Hope you manage to recapture the magic of Star Wars for yourself someday!

This movie is a modern reboot of the original Star Wars film, but on a much lower production level.

What? A New Hope was made with just 13 million dollars. The Force Awakens was created with a whopping 204 million dollars. Say what you want about the quality, but one clearly has more production value than the other. Now, I'm not saying that ANH wasn't innovative and ground breaking, but maybe I'm missing your point.

And again, while I agree that the original films and KOTOR are incredible and innovative pieces of storytelling, I fail to see how TFA isn't. Again, I'm not arguing that TFA is perfect. It is not. In fact, the mico-story (the characters) play strongly but the overall story is a bit more murky (political confusion, etc).

Really? No originality? I mean I'm not huge fan of the PT, but I cannot deny the new stuff it does and the new ideas it brings to the table. Any way, here are some of the biggies that stuck out to me:

Cosmetics/Visuals

• New aliens and droids
• New planets (alteration on the desert archetype = junkyard. I won't argue that Takadona or Q'Dar are super original because they really aren't atm )
• New lightsaber type
• New spaceships (not really...kinda forgettable but I'm being honest haha)
• Much more cinematic than any of the previous Star Wars films
• Compelling action
• New lightsaber fighting styles (as a formidable weapon, not a meat cleaver)

Lore

• No more Sith. All new dark side faction that has a new ideology
• A more brutal Empire (compare with what we saw in ANH to what we see in TFA)
• The Jedi didn't rise again. But why? Darth Caedus (I mean Kylo Ren) killed them all. Why???
• New force powers (force freeze, mental abilities amped up)
• New force practitioners (Church of the Force)
• New political situation (factions are now on a somewhat even footing. Republic vs First Order)
• Snoke and Maz. Where were they and who are they?

Story

• Leia as a political outcast. She is the only one who really sees the danger of the First Order but the Republic has grown complacent.
• Luke as a troubled outcast, afraid of his own abilities.
• Han as a wise figure, but struggling as a father.
• Han and Leia's conflict (Leia hiding the risks of training from Han)
• Rey's Journey. Someone who is left behind who only wants and needs someone to accept her (Finn or Luke)
• Rey's interaction with the force. She is truly powerful, but she never taps into it because she doesn't want to let go of her past.
• Rey vs Ren. While one is clearly more trained, Rey has more control over herself and thus gains the upper-hand.
• Ren's killing of his father as a way to convince himself that he is evil, and failing (just look at his face!). He has to convince himself to stay on this dark path.
• Finn's Journey. A traitor who was destined to always be on the run until he gained courage from an unlikely source (Rey). He was overwhelmed by the massive struggle in the galaxy, but once he made the conflict in the galaxy small (Ren kidnaps Rey) he gained the strength to go on.
• Kylo Ren. A figure very much aware of the dualism within him. Knowing he will be tempted by the light and yet he suppresses it (usually, people try to suppress the dark side)
• Kylo's parentage and interaction with Vader. How he views his sacrifice as weakness
• The Hux vs Kylo conflict.
• Undid the "happy ending" of the OT. Hurtful to the OT, but more realistic as an authentic story.

Sorry, this list is super incomplete. I hope to watch TFA again in the near future.

Again, I understand your anti-Disney narrative. But I'd love to hear how you counter some of my above points. And remember the alternative. We'd have no new Star Wars without it. No new fans. Etc.

EDIT: Also, a quick, incredible quote by Lucasfilm Story Group creative executive Pablo Hidalgo: "When you ask 'is it canon?' The answer means 'do other storytellers need to take it into account?' That's all the answer means."

@@Cerez:

That's cool you feel that way. However, I don't think you are being entirely fair to a new generation of content creators or fans. The old books, the games, the shows...they all exist. And that's awesome. But there is more content, more story to be had, and now there is room for it. The old stuff still exists and is still respected, but there is a new direction. Its fine you don't like it, but its hardly a marketing scheme or only a profit motivated venture.

I often forget that Star Wars was quite dead before the Disney buy out. I'm so glad that new people can finally get into Star Wars. I know quite a few people that have never been Star Wars fans (by choice or by never seeing the films) and they love this new direction. So its cool if you don't but I don't see why it needs to be such an us vs them conflict. To be fair, games like KOTOR, JKA and other licensed products are just as much "profit" driven as any other Star Wars properties. If you want to talk about innovation and quality, that's a different story, but Star Wars has been a business since day one.

Again, saying TFA brings nothing new to the Star Wars universe on a thematic or narrative level is simply false. I'd be happy to outline this argument if you like.