I used AI upscaling tools to enhance the most of the textures in the game. Most of what was applied gives the game a
smoother and clearer look. The UI of the game (specifically JPG files) have also gotten a cleaner look and are noticeably better than the original images.
The differences are very noticeable and I hope you enjoy the changes.
Most textures were upscaled 2X-4X the original and all of it was done via AI modeling (no manual touchups). Static images (menu screens, etc.) were resampled.
- Joeschmo1402
Hello!
The pictures uploaded are not as high of quality as the actual in game, there are restrictions when uploading the sample pictures.
I used AI upscaling tools to enhance the most of the textures in the game. Most of what was applied gives the game a
smoother and clearer look. The UI of the game (specifically JPG files) have also gotten a cleaner look and are noticeably better than the original images.
The differences are very noticeable and I hope you enjoy the changes.
Most textures were upscaled 2X-4X the original and all of it was done via AI modeling (no manual touchups). Static images (menu screens, etc.) were resampled.
Textures Upscaled:
buildings (most of the files)
cutscene_props
heads
landscape
siege_equipment
units
animals
terrain
ui
What wasn’t upscaled:
TGA
PNG
BMP
Basically anything that wasn’t JPG or DDS - the other image file formats probably could be enhanced, but they are smaller and users
probably won’t see much of a difference
I wasn’t able to upscale all buildings files, since the game would crash on the loading screen.
I could probably re-upscale everything smaller in order to touch everything, but a lot of the files leftover
are height maps and light maps and the vast majority are enhanced.
Potential issues:
Realtime errors that crash the game: this should happen infrequently (always save often in any game with mods),
but when a few times when testing, I had some crashes. I believe I removed all the problem textures and haven't been having an issue since. You could also play with the graphics
settings. I had set Antialiasing to 4X, texture detail one bar less than the max, and Anisotropic Filtering to 4X. The reduced settings
should not affect the quality level that much, as the base textures are still very much enhanced over the original ones, but again, I haven't been experiencing issues and if you are,
try this as well as reverting some of the textures back to their originals.
You could also try launching in compatibility mode, reducing the game screen resolution, etc.
I could also release a separate and smaller, but still detailed model pack if there are a lot of issue reports.
You might notice that armor looks a bit more gray than silver and shiny - if you prefer, you may revert those textures on the lords, swordsman, etc.
Installing Textures:
You will need to go to your Stronghold 2 game files folder and find the matching folder names and manually move my upscaled files into the corresponding folder.
DO NOT OVERWRITE THE GAME FOLDERS WITH THE MODDED FOLDERS.
The modded folders omit all original game files and only have the textures and images that were enhanced.
Manually move the modded files into the game folder, and then overwrite the original game files with the modded ones.
If you accidentally overwrite the folder or some other issue, follow the steps for Reverting Textures to restore the Steam game to normal.
If you are using another method to play, you should be able to manually back up the original game files/folders before installing or revert in another way.
Reverting Textures:
To revert the textures back to the original files:
In Steam, go to your Library
Right-click on Stronghold 2
Select Properties
Select Local Files
Select Verify integrity of game files
This will revert all game files back to the original. If you only want to revert a few, you can manually drop in the old files into
their respective folder locations, if you had backed them up. Otherwise, you can revert all, then only re-install those textures that you want.
Disclaimer:
I do not own any assets altered and am not affiliated with Firefly Studios. All assets are owned by Firefly Studios and the files provided are for use
with purchased copies of Stronghold 2.
Credit:
All the modders who have come before me that have created mods I (Joeschmo1402) have enjoyed.
A special thanks to those behind ChaiNNer, a great tool that can be used to bulk upscale and edit files.
Check them out on Discord (https://discord.gg/pzvAKPKyHM) and download the tool on Github: Github.com - their website is a work in progress but is
found here (at the time of writing): Chainner.app!
The pictures uploaded are not as high of quality as the actual in game, there are restrictions when uploading the sample pictures.
I used AI upscaling tools to enhance the most of the textures in the game. Most of what was applied gives the game a
smoother and clearer look. The UI of the game (specifically JPG files) have also gotten a cleaner look and are noticeably better than the original images.
The differences are very noticeable and I hope you enjoy the changes.
Most textures were upscaled 2X-4X the original and all of it was done via AI modeling (no manual touchups). Static images (menu screens, etc.) were resampled.
