Mod Rating: Beginner
Watcher07 brings us reskins of the Mandalorians. As thou may seest, Watcher has altered them so that they are, for the most part, grey or black, with Mandalorian symbols placed on the front and back, and with the colouration of the armour reduced to a single spot.
As the author (rightly) points out in the readme, not many armies in the history of the world have divided themselves up by colour, and it rather makes things easy for the enemy if all your officers are easily identifiable from the distance... ;) That said, some sort of colour-coding is clearly in operation amongst the Mandalorians, and hence the reduced elements visible in this mod.
This mod is based upon some of Shem's work, and inspired in part by a mod by KWN2. If you have Shem's Mandalorian Ultimate Mod, then this mod will also replace the skin for Canderous' armour, to be in-line with the uniforms of this mod.
Since the mod is based upon Shem's work, it is a little difficult to know how much to praise the author for the mod, or blame them for it's weaknesses. That said, the author is to be commended for the clear effort put into the skinning done - the Mandalorian symbols genuinely look like they have been applied to the armour, and not as though they have been slapped on top in Photoshop, as is sometimes the case with such skins. The author has also been restrained in using the metal shader, which is also welcome and sensible. :)
There's not much that can be said against this mod on the other side, since it fulfils what it sets out to do pretty well, and can't easily be criticised on those grounds. However, it is perhaps worth reflecting on the Mandalorians' love of ground assaults, preference for concealment, and use of jungle bases, which might indicate a preference for camouflage, rather than a uniform grey... Nevertheless, this is an aesthetic point only, and does not affect the good quality of the mod, and the clear effort put into it by the author.
NB: Please leave constructive criticism, particularly if you download and use this mod, as the download-counter isn't very informative.
-Darth InSidious
====================================================== KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC MODIFICATION ====================================================== AUTHOR: Watcher07 EMAIL: [email protected] NAME: K1 Mandalorian Armor Reskin CREDITS: Shem, KWN2K, Bioware, Lucasarts FILENAME: K1MandoArmorReskin.rar FILE SIZE: 1.46 MB DATE RELEASED: 9/13/08 INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS: Extract the four .tga's from the .rar to your Override folder. DESCRIPTION: This mod will replace the default Mandalorian armor skins with new, much improved skins. The skin I modified is actually from Shem's Mandalorian Ultimate Mod (http://knightsoftheoldrepublic.filefront.com/file/Mandalorian_Ultimate_Mod;84477), it is his Canderous Black Armor skin and I added some things to it based on a K2 mod I was inspired by that KWN2k made called Mandalorian NPC Reskin (http://knightsoftheoldrepublic.filefront.com/file/Mandalorian_NPC_Reskin;74804). More about the changes and why I made them in the comments. I used the black skin as a base and recolored one shoulderpad per suit to reflect the different armor colors (yellow, red, blue, black). I also added in the mandalorian skull on the back and the mandalorian flag symbol on the left chest to give it a more uniform like appearance. I know as a fact these skins can be used in K2 (not the N_Mandalorian04.tga as that is exclusive to Shem's Mandalorian Ultimate Mod) but I cannot guarantee the EXACT same appearance in both games as I haven't yet tested it in K2, though I have swapped different Mandalorian texture mods between both games in the past. COMMENTS: So throughout the time I've played Kotor, the Mandalorians never sat quite right with me being in multi-colored armors. Their entire civilization is based on militaristic methods and having been in the military myself, their lack of uniformity and organization beyond being the same base model seemed strange. Throughout history every army has looked nearly identical due to uniforms. Its not always the case, but a good general statement. It plays with the mind when you see hundreds or thousands of what seems like one unit coming at you rather than being able to clearly determine that there are so many yellows, so many blues, reds, etc. which is easier to tactically manage. Simply put, its more scary when you can't tell just how many are coming for you. I changed one shoulderpad to reflect different colors as it seemed like it would be an effective way to identify command structure on the battlefield without being too obvious. I chose the black armor for a base because the Mando's used Basilisks frequently to invade planets from space and it seemed the most fitting color for darkening the sky during an assault. Anyway, after seeing Shem's mod and seeing the extremely high quality skins he had included, I created this for my own playthroughs and asked his permission to release it from which I got a good go ahead. KWN2K's readme said I could use his mod as long as he got credit, and though I didn't use anything except some inspiration from the idea, I still feel he deserves credit for that since his idea spearheaded this project for me. BUGS/ODDITIES: None. The N_Mandalorian04 texture is used to replace Canderous Ordo's armor texture *IF* you are using the Mandalorian Ultimate Mod by Shem and want him to look like his counterparts, otherwise it is not needed. PERMISSIONS: Since this mod is almost entirely made of Shem's Mandalorian Armor Texture, I don't feel I can claim any right to allow its use in other mods. If you like the skin, check with Shem first before you go trying to use it in any other mods, if he gives the go ahead, no need to ask me. THIS MODIFICATION IS PROVIDED AS-IS AND IS NOT SUPPORTED BY BIOWARE/OBSIDIAN ENTERTAINMENT OR LUCASARTS OR ANY LICENSERS/SPONSORS OF THE MENTIONED COMPANIES. USE OF THIS FILE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND THE ABOVE MENTIONED COMPANIES OR THE AUTHOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED TO YOUR COMPUTER FOR THE USAGE OF THIS FILE.
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