The Sith Lords Restored Content Modification (TSLRCM) is a fan volunteer effort to reinstate or recreate unused content for the 2004 video game Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and fix a vast number of technical issues present in the retail release of the game.
A years-spanning project that aims to improve the gameplay experience of The Sith Lords as intended by its developer, TSLRCM is developed by a group of fans who pieced together disparate narrative elements through data extracted from the game's fragmented code, which contained innumerable unused original assets and voice-over recordings, and incorporated these alterations into the final product.
Wanting to capitalize on the success of BioWare's 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, publisher LucasArts gave the team less than a year and a half to complete the project using the same engine and assets as its predecessor.
[2][3][4][5] Besides the presence of disjointed story arcs as a result of cut content, The Sith Lords also launched with numerous software bugs, ranging from minor glitches like the same cutscene being played repeatedly, to major issues that would render the game unplayable for some players.
[6] The mod is noted to be "unfinished but playable", as work on the project was eventually abandoned following lengthy delays and subsequent unexplained withdrawals from team members.
[2] The mod fixes well over 500 bugs present in the retail release of The Sith Lords, including dialogue tree errors and combat or item glitches.
[10][9] The most recent build of TSLRCM is compatible with the M4-78 Enhancement Project, a related mod which adds the "droid planet" M4-78 as a fully playable area with new or reintroduced story elements and characters.
[11] He credited his past experience working with the mod toolset for Neverwinter Nights for preparing him to navigate The Sith Lords's game engine.
[11] The team eventually made a decision by consensus to widen the project's scope by restoring cut content on every planet in the game as well as fixing gameplay issues.
[7] Some items, mostly cut dialogue lines which were present in existing files but were removed from main conversation branch, were relatively easy to find.
[7] In other cases, the team had to pore through game voice files in order to find cut content, which took up a considerable amount of time and effort.
[2] Most of his time spent with TSLCRM involved developing content and troubleshooting issues for the HK-50 factory area, originally planned by Obsidian as an essential element of the story arc for HK-47.
[2] Although the player's party encounters HK-50 units as recurring enemies throughout the game's story, it is not possible to uncover their origins as intended by the developers.
[6] Following the release of a few versions of the TSLRCM, Staniewicz stepped away from the project while the rest of the team were working on the game's random loot system, as he believed he no longer had substantial feedback to offer for the development process.
[13][14] In December 2020, Staniewicz posted a mobile version of the mod for the iOS and Android ports of The Sith Lords developed by Aspyr.
[17] In September 2015, Paste Magazine published an article authored by Luke Winkie, where he documented his survey of multiple players who spoke of their positive experiences of the mod.
[12] Multiple critics gave credit to the mod for enhancing gameplay experience of The Sith Lords, a game widely considered to be laudable for its content but flawed in aspects of its execution.
[18] He welcomed the ease of access to TSLRCM provided by Steam Workshop as of 2015, and said that players no longer need to "slog through the conclusion alone", which culminates in an unfulfilling final encounter.
Club said Atton's death at the hands of Darth Sion, a potential scenario restored by the TSLRCM mod, turned to be a profoundly sad and moving moment for him.
[10] Jen Rothery from PCGamesN was motivated to complete The Sith Lords after she last played the game more than a decade ago, and enjoyed the additional character moments she experienced with Atton Rand.
[13][18] On one occasion, Avellone said he respects its team of modders for their dedication as well as willingness to "experiment with gameplay and narrative aspects" of Obsidian's titles, which he felt is something meant to be "shared, improved upon, and whenever possible".