Activision CEO: Economy pressuring console price drop

Bobby Kotick says the US financial situation may prompt Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo to drop the price of their products. [READ]

No PC 'Madden '09' Coming

EA Sports' new top dog Peter Moore said in a recent interview that there will be no Madden 09 for the PC, due to piracy and the onrush of awesome plasma screen televisions, which is what the game is built to optimize. [READ]

Shrinking January game sales predicted

In a note to investors, Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson predicted that last month's software sales will wind up down 5 percent from the $549 million posted for January 2007, due to a combination of factors. One main reason for the expected decline is that the NPD Group's reporting period for last month was four weeks long, whereas the previous year's reporting period encompassed an extra week. [READ]

UK gov't to act on game ratings

As the legal battle over the release--or not--of Manhunt 2 in the UK continues, The Guardian newspaper on Saturday claimed that the government is planning to introduce a "legally enforceable cinema-style classification system" for video games. [READ]

310k 360s Sold Over Thanksgiving Week

In an addendum to a story on the console maker's various woes with Xbox 360 reliability, Tech Check reports that US consumers purchased more than 310,000 systems for the week of November 18. For the entire month of October, the NPD Group reported Xbox 360 sales of 366,000, compared with 519,000 Wiis and 121,000 PlayStation 3s. [READ]

Halo 3 Sales Smash Game Industry Records

Microsoft's Halo 3 racked up $170 million in sales on its first day of availability, making it the hottest selling title in video game history. Microsoft said late Wednesday that the game's sales easily surpassed first day sales for Halo 2, which previously held the record. Halo 2 launched in 2004 and posted $125 million in sales on its first day. [READ]
 

KOTOR: Jedi Robe Model Released [ 01.05.08 ]

Just a few odds and ends relating to modding and the KOTOR series. First is a hilarious and very informative walkthrough for KOTOR II: The Sith Lords. In addition to the great takes on the game, there is lots of info regarding content that was cut from the game (which was a heck of a lot).

David Gaider, who was a lead writer for KoTOR I for Bioware, was kind enough to answer some questions for those of us at Lucasforums. There is a lot of great stuff there about lost content, plots from the game, and general insight. It's a great read if you are a fan of the game like I am.

I get a fair amount of questions regarding various aspects of modding. One thing that often gets overlooked is how to build a team for larger projects. Personally I've only done a few team projects, but there is lots to consider when trying to succeed where so many other teams fail. The Valve Developer Community has a nice wiki with some insight on the subject of building a Successful Mod Team. It is worth taking a look if you are considering doing a larger mod.

One thing that every modder enjoys and often strives for is for others to enjoy what they create. I have been fortunate enough to have had good reception for the work I have done. Recently, I have come across videos containing stuff that I have done. For example, here is a vid using my clone trooper mod...

I always welcome the free pub!

KOTOR: Jedi Robe Model Released [ 16.03.08 ]

Many of the mod requests I have received are for robes that are a close approximation of the Jedi robes seen in the prequel Star Wars films. This mod takes the Jedi robe model created by Xavier2 and adds 23 new robes, each with unique new textures. Some of the robes are based on movie and Expanded Universe sources, and others I simply dreamed up.

robe model

These robes replace the original versions that come with KOTOR. Instructions are included with the mod to allow players to associate different looks with different robes to suite their tastes.

You can download this mod here.

Darth Talon Mod Voted Among Best of 2007 [ 11.02.08 ]

My Yuthura Ban to Darth Talon Conversion has been voted by the KOTOR community one of the top mods of 2007, coming in at #4. I'm always greatful that players enjoy my stuff, and thank you to everyone that gave this mod a vote! Be sure to check out the other mods mentioned, as there are some great ones there.

I have been lucky enough to have had mods that have been mentioned on these lists in past years. In 2006 my TSL Imperial Knight mod came in at #8. In 2005 the Republic Commando mod was voted #5 that year. Also in 2005 my Movie Jedi Robes and Armours mod for TSL came in at #2.

Darth Talon Mod Appears on YouTube [ 29.11.07 ]

I love free publicity, and Shem has given me some by posting this video on YouTube. It is the confrontation with Yuthura and Uthar in KOTOR. This particular clip uses my Darth Talon mod. Thanks for the free pub, Shem!

Lucasarts and Bioware team up [ 30.10.07 ]

Well the Bioware news just keeps on coming. From the press release...

"LucasArts and BioWare Corp. today announced that they have entered into an agreement to create an interactive entertainment product. The product, details of which will be unveiled at a later date, will be developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, and will push the boundaries of the gaming market by utilizing the strengths of both companies to deliver an innovative, high-quality experience.

“LucasArts has a deep commitment to developing compelling stories and characters for the unique medium of interactive entertainment, and we have been searching for a developer that shares this value. We found this in BioWare,” said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. “Through our previous collaborations, we know that BioWare has an impressive ability to blend gripping stories with technological advancements, and we believe that our upcoming product will deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment.”

“BioWare’s mission is to deliver the best story and character-driven games in the world, delivering powerful emotional experiences to our fans.” said Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer, BioWare Corp. Added Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare Corp., “The collaboration with LucasArts allows us to combine our passion for creating high quality and innovative experiences with those of a company dedicated to bringing only the finest games to market."

We'll have to wait and see what all this results in, but I'm sure it can only be good things!

EA buys Bioware and Pandemic Studios [ 12.10.07 ]

Normally I would just throw such a news item on the side of the page, but I feel that this is a big enough event to warrant more attention. It seems that EA is aquiring Bioware and Pandemic Studios. The big question is what happens to these development houses and the kind of products they will produce in the future. Given EA's track record, I doubt that this move will sustain or improve games made by these companies.

And judging from the response on the Bioware forums just about everyone agrees with me.

Let's hope we are wrong...

KOTOR: Yuthura Ban to Darth Talon Conversion Released [ 19.08.07 ]

Yuthura Ban is the one of the main Sith at the academy on Korriban in KOTOR. This mod changes her appearance to that of Darth Talon, a Sith from the Star Wars: Legacy comics. This is a full body replacement which gives Yuthura Sith tattoos similar to Darth Maul. It also gives her a new body that has patches of armour plating.

imperial officer

This mod only affects the appearance of Yuthura, but included is a disquise item that will change the appearance of any player character to Darth Talon. You can find out more about the Legacy comics at the Dark Horse website.

You can download this mod here.

Mass Effect Character Creation Video [ 14.08.07 ]

Mass Effect is probably the one game that would make me go out and buy an XBox 360 soley for it. It looks simply spectacular, and comes with the Bioware track record.

Here is a recent video detailing some of the aspects of the game, specifically character creation. It looks as though the options are endless.

A Look at Some Games Coming Down the Pipe [ 13.08.07 ]

Some initial views of some of some anticipated Lucasarts games are slowing starting to pop up.

Eurogamer has a preview of Star Wars: Forced Unleashed that gives some hints as to what players can expect. They report that there is a lot to like, but also some disappointing aspects, such as quite a short experience and will likely not compete with the JK series in the lightsaber department.

C3 News has a short video from Comic-Con 07 of Lego Indiana Jones from Traveller's Tales. Fans of the Lego SW series should find a lot that is familiar, and enjoy their take on the Indy series.

Carth Armour on the Way [ 19.06.07 ]

I have another small mod that is almost completed. I have only worked on it sparingly, but it will allow Carth to wear Republic military gear like other Republic soldiers. There will be both a helmeted and unhelmeted version. This mod will be for KOTOR only. Hopefully I'll get off my ass and finish it sooner rather than later...

L0rdReV@n88's ARC Trooper Mod [ 14.04.07 ]

L0rdReV@n88 has created an ARC Trooper mod for TSL based on the textures from my clone trooper mod. You can find the mod over at knightsoftheoldrepublic.filefront.com.

Running KOTOR on Vista & Force Unleashed Tech Vids [ 01.03.07 ]

There has been lots of complaints about being unable to run the KOTOR series games (and a lot of other things for that matter) in Windows Vista. In most cases this is likely due to compatability issues. I've added some steps that might address some of these issues. You can find them in the Tutorials section here.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is of course the new game coming from Lucasarts that will be the first Star Wars game to take full advantage of the next gen consoles. It promises over the top force powers and the chance to play as Darth Vaders apprentice in the timeframe between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. There are some demo videos showing some of the new technology that will be used in the game.

KOTOR & TSL: Imperial Officers Released [ 27.02.07 ]

More stuff for both KOTOR and TSL games. This mod replaces the uniforms for the Sith officers in both games with new ones modeled after the Imperial officers seen in Star Wars episodes 4-6. For the KOTOR, an additional admiral uniform replaces the one worn by Saul Karath.

imperial officer

There are two types of basic uniforms included. The main one is the more common grey naval uniform. The second is the black stormtrooper officer uniform. I tried to maintain some level of accuracy, so each uniform has accurate insignias for their rank bandages on their chests.

You can download the KOTOR version of this mod here.

The TSL version of this mod is here.

NWN Samurai Portrait [ 15.01.07 ]

samurai portrait A new portrait for NWN has been added. It is based on the awesome samurai piece created by Harvey Tolibao. The colour scheme is a bit different and more stylized than most NWN portraits, but hopefully players will still find it appealing.

You can get the mod here in the Neverwinter Nights section.

NWN Links Added [ 12.01.07 ]

Added some links relating to Neverwinter Nights. Some contain general information about the game and others cover existing mods as well as tutorials and info for creating custom content. I'll be adding more links related to this game and others in the future.

If you have a link that you would like to see added, please feel free to contact me.

Happy New Year! [ 01.01.07 ]

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year from Warped Productions! I hope everyone had an enjoyable festive season with friends and family.

As a side not, just a little housekeeping around here. The site news from 2006 has been moved to the archives, and we are more or less starting fresh for 2007 on the news page. So if you are looking for something that was posted in the past year, you can still find it here.

Also, my mods have been mirrored at kotorfiles.com as well as been reviewed. Some have even been honoured with being featured mods. Thanks to Shem for taking the time to post them! My control of the Internet is spreading...

TSL: Imperial Knight Armour Mod Released [ 21.12.2006 ]

This mod adds armour, belt, gauntlests, gloves, and lightsaber based on the Imperial Knights from the Star Wars: Legacy comics from Dark Horse. These items are usable by most NPC characters as well as the PC.

The Imperial Knights were an order of Force-users loyal to Emperor Roan Fel of the New Galactic Empire in 130 ABY. They were fully trained in the ways of the Force, but the New Jedi Order saw them as Gray Jedi, as they swore loyalty to the Emperor above all else, including their devotion to the will of the Force.

You can download this mod here.