Battlefront II -Reforged- Release file

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*********REQUIREMENTS*********
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Requirements are technically none, but know that the way I've set things up you probably
should have a decent PC because there is a lot more 'flashy shite' compared to the previous release.

Recommended external mods to have installed:
- Unofficial 1.3 patch as there is one minor cosmetic feature I've used, but it's not mandatory.
(1.3 is included in Anakin's Remaster mod IIRC)

- Sleepkiller's Shader Patch is far more important. Again not mandatory, but all of my maps have been
made compatible with Shader Patch features and therefore you would be missing out on a LOT of graphical beauty.
Even without the material system, it fixes the annoying terrain darkening bug from the vanilla game that
ruined the aesthetics of all my maps (and everyone else's, including official maps) if Lighting Quality was set to "High".

- The Remastered mod by Anakin is also highly recommended.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Disable AI heroes from the Remastered settings page! I have custom scripts handling that. If you leave that option enabled, the conflict will cause AI not to spawn.

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*********INSTALLATION*********
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Extract "Battlefront Reforged.exe" into Battlefront II's "GameData" folder. It is a self-extractor, just point it in the right place and it will put the files in there.
Keen eye will notice indeed that I use something in the 'data' folder instead of 'addon'. This is just a sound file that needed to be in the 'data' folder because a certain script instruction I used would always crash if I tried to make it read from 'addon'. In other words, it has to be this way because 'just BF2 things'.

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----------Some words about the mod--------------------

While I had been experimenting with BF2 modding since 2010, it wasn't until mid-2016 when I seriously started producing content. Until then, I was just a child playing around with cool tools every now and then.

Basically, this finished product is a bundle of many different features; a little bit of this and that, something for everyone. As of 2.0 Clone Wars era has been expanded to the same scope as the Galactic Civil War, and there are a million improvements in gameplay, aesthetics, audio, visuals, practically everything. I read some praise about 1.0 so if you're one of the people who liked that, this one is going to blow your mind sky high. :)

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--What this mod is about--
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- Expanded factions to include more variety in units, heroes, etc. etc.

- Gameplay is a bit more non-linear, with each faction having an underlying 'theme':

- The Rebel Alliance has a lot of gimmicky and difficult to use weapons, but when used with skill and determination they're well suited for wrecking a lot of devastation. As the underdogs, they're naturally building their arsenal out of whatever they can scrounge up, and as such are more suited for underhanded guerrilla tactics.

- The Galactic Empire, in contrast to the rebels, of course have all the resources at their disposal, and they do not hesitate to use whatever it takes. Their arsenal consists of a wide array of sophisticated high-tech arms as well as big weapons of mass destruction. The Empire's tactics are relatively simple: Shock and Awe.

- The Confederacy of Independent Systems prefers to use its resources for overwhelming numbers: quantity over quality. While one would think this is a fool's errand, you won't be smiling once you end up staring down a million glass cannons. A single battle droid might not be able to survive for a long time in the heat of battle, but grouped up they can roll over a lot of their opposition. Essentially, they advance slowly but they will not relent.

- The Galactic Republic is moderately specialized in terms of arsenal. They're more than well suited for taking down droid targets, but if they are to be facing organics, their specialized weaponry will not be as effective. Nonetheless their fortitude for winning battles comes not so much from what the clone units are holding in their hands, but their unparalleled talent in surviving against impossible odds and fighting tooth and nail to take down the enemy.

--- Visual improvements all around:

I finally found out a way to crank up the particle cap of the game which gave me a lot of room
to improve upon particle effects. Everything looks much better and lively and there shouldn't be
any more invisible explosions or any of that nonsense. Along with that, I've gotten rid of some of the
worst models the game had, most notably heroes, and replaced them with more detailed ones.

--- New maps:

There is an array of custom maps to play. Some of them are adaptations from Battlefront 1,
some of them recovered Xbox DLC maps from 2006, a couple of old Prototypes and some completely
new designs that were inherited from elsewhere. For anyone interested, I'll spare a few words about each.

- Bespin: Cloud City
This is one of the Xbox DLC maps I recovered. Not a whole lot to say
about this one, I did some finalizing touches here and there, but all in all
it's mostly the same "dusk" version of Cloud City as it was in the DLC.

- Crystal Islands
This one isn't actually as spectacular as I would have hoped originally,
but it turned out alright. It's a map from Year of the Dragon.

- Desert Ruins
Previously seen in 1.0, this map hasn't changed much at all except for some sound effects
that I recorded from the source media itself. As you might know this is also a map
from Year of the Dragon and it's only fitting to use some classic ambient sounds from it.
Aside from that, all the changes since then are purely cosmetic or technical optimizations.

- Felucia: Battlegrounds
My Felucia bundle is unique in that it is, indeed, a bundle. Under the same entry, it features
two separate maps depending on whether you choose Clone Wars or Galactic Civil War. The Clone
Wars map is not all that exciting, as it is just Marshlands. It does feature some twists though,
so check it out. The GCW map, titled 'Ancient Abyss' is where the good stuff lies. This one
was an attempt to recreate Felucia in a TFU-esque style, and indeed that's what ended up happening.
The Shader Patched version especially is extraordinarily pleasing to the eye in terms of aesthetic,
however, in terms of gameplay, you're figuratively and literally mucking in mud here. This is a jungle,
and you get to be in the thick of it. :) Hazards will try to get you at every turn.

Fun fact: Did you know there's an unused reference in the original Felucia map's script to a deathregion
titled 'Sarlac01'? Indicating that Felucia once included a Sarlacc pit... makes you wonder, what did that
map look like in development builds?

- Frozen Altars
Another returning map. The more notable thing about Altars is that while it is
based on a Year of the Dragon level, it's actually not a direct copy. Part of the
reason for this is that this was the first Spyro map adaptation I attempted so
the formula for success wasn't that refined yet. It worked out in the end so I'll let it be.
I've made some changes to make it more faithful to the source, as well as add some visual
flair of my own design. It's a bit more interesting than it used to be, but largely still the same.

- Freezeland
If I had to take a guess, this one is based on a much less known game. I think I remember
hearing someone say they got Skyrim vibes from this place, but I actually wouldn't know -
I never played Skyrim. No, this is actually from an old gold game on the PS1, called
Digimon World. I had this map in 1.0 already, but since then I revamped it just a bit
so that there are more flank routes through certain locations so as to avoid the battle getting
deadlocked at that one damn intersection. In addition, I put in some additional prop geometry
so the environment wouldn't look so uniform and plain. Shoutouts to anyone who realizes what
the Wampas in the level are a reference to ;)

- Geonosis: Foundry
You all know this one. It's BF1 and BF2 Geonosis mashed up into one with all the good stuff.
I don't think I ever really changed this joint a whole lot since 2017, apart from some better
textures and sounds. Maybe some mission stuff.

- Geonosis: Spaceport
AKA Prototype Geonosis. This is the one dating back to 2003, and it is actually just
a bit more movie accurate regarding the First Battle of Geonosis; I thought it would be
a cool addition to the map pack so I picked it up from Psych0fred's archive and refitted
it to the BF2 engine. It isn't as full of features as it was originally supposed to be,
but it checks out.

- Kashyyyk: Wawaatt Archipelago
Not even sure I spelt that right, but it's just a fancy name to separate it from
the other 'Docks' ports. That's right - Docks. This was in 1.0 as a pretty standard BF1 map,
just with a night theme and BF2 textures. Since then, something bad happened and I lost
practically all of the layout of the map proper, and for a while I was pretty bummed because
I had big plans for this place. In the end I picked up my marbles though, and decided to
try the opposite approach - use the BF2 Kashyyyk as template and integrate parts of the
BF1 Docks map to complement it. I think it turned out better really. I also replicated
the aesthetic of the Prologue Kashyyyk in the Krome Studios version of TFU to some extent.
Call it a happy accident - I think this map is better in terms of both gameplay and
visual experience compared to the old one.

- Naboo: Plains
Probably the least changed map, it's almost identical to the BF1 map, but as of 2.0
I've at least given it a slightly different weather setting. Honestly don't know what
else to do with it, the only reason it's still even in the mod is because it's the best
place for a game mode involving the Gungans. I'm not even convinced the 'Objective' mode
in here works right. It was a lot of scripting nonsense, and I got it to a seemingly functional
state, but I didn't get the chance to bug test it as well as I wanted to. I bloody tried, man. >:(

- Naboo: Streets of Theed
Oh boy. This place has had one hell of an identity crisis. You might remember in 1.0
it was just a carbon copy of BF1 Theed. Since then I redesigned it into an expanded
original concept, and I struggled with it for almost 2 years before finally I decided
that it's rubbish. From start to finish it was doomed to fail. It was way too big, way too
spacious on top of it because I ran into the hard object limit. I had to cut down on a lot of
buildings and such and it just became empty and hollow. It stretched the engine to every end
and the problems just kept multiplying, so in February of 2020 I decided it needs one last
redesign: this time, however, I had a better idea what to do with it. I discovered some demo
builds of BF1 had a satellite image of a Naboo: Theed layout that we've only ever seen a
brief glimpse of in a BF1 trailer (until recently). Fortunately all the assets for that
iteration of the map still existed so what I decided to do is to recreate that map,
but with a rainy night style. Later down the line, as my luck would bittersweetly have it,
a beta build of BF1 was found and this map was indeed part of it, so if you're wondering
why it's not exactly the same... well, there you go. I did it first, by hand with no other
reference but that damn blurry satellite image, heh. It's fine really. :)

- Naboo: Gallo Valley
This is actually the source of a terrain satellite shot that I used as the basis for
the failed Streets of Theed map, but the shot was even older than this prototype, I think.
At least it was different in the way the river was set up. It's very lucky that I discovered
Psych0fred has released this prototype's source files as it is a satisfactory replacement.
I wanted a prerelease Naboo map, I ended up with two. Blessings all around.

- Rhen Var: Harbor
Rhen Var. The most released mod maps for Battlefront II, no doubt. Everyone and their
cats and dogs have a Rhen Var map in their mod. So did 1.0 of mine. From now on, what
separates mine from the rest, however, is that I've taken the time to revamp these two
maps not in the BF1 style, but in the BF2 Xbox DLC style. A few textures could not be
extracted, sadly, but I did the best I could.

- Rhen Var: Citadel
Pretty much the same as Harbor. As much a DLC vibe as I could get given the tools I had
available.

- Space Battle over Coruscant
Not the one you'd think, though. It's Galactic Civil War - this battle I don't think happened
in either Canon or Legends at least until after Ep.6, but who cares. I wanted to recreate the
ship layout of the campaign mission in GCW style and I decided to make it beautiful. This one
doesn't include the 'Hangar Wars' though because the objects are so far up in relation
to the terrain grid, it was god awful to try and make any sort of AI pathing. Just get
in a cockpit and fly like a man >:(

- Space Battle over Kamino
Some people certainly made the connection in 1.0, and it's true. I based this one loosely
on the Kamino attack in TFU2. As of 2.0 I've actually more or less finished this map,
as I honestly forgot to do it for 1.0. Talk about embarrassing. So the rebel cruiser
has a slightly expanded interior now too, and I've recovered some cool cosmetic stuff from
a PS2 beta build of the game too. The layout is based on the unfinished Space Kamino
campaign mission, but obviously there won't be Republic-owned ships here. Also the layout is
actually reversed so that the Empire is the one defending.

- Space Battle over Mygeeto
Hear me out. I know this one already exists in vanilla game, but not in this form -
I dug this out from the PS2 beta build too, and imagine my surprise when I found out
there was originally a second Republic Venator in this battle. And only two frigates
per faction. So I've brought the second Venator back in the fight. (Or rather, the first
Venator - as it is the second Venator that was allowed to stay in the first place)

- Tatooine: Dune Sea
Well this was a pretty standard port in 1.0. I don't think I changed anything, really, except
for the lights and only to make it in line with BF2's lighting system. Oh, but for 2.0,
this map went through two major revisions. First one was just an expansion - make it night time
(surprise, suprise) and add the previously unused canyon wall props into the mix. (Who knows
how old those props are) Then I happened upon the BF1 beta build, and that vastly expanded Dune Sea
it contained? Yoink. It was better in every way for my plans. A big map like that obviously
didn't work out for the bot count limits we had on the consoles back then, but for modern
standards (and BF2 standards really) it's perfect. We can actually have good battles on it.
Even then, to counteract some major graphical issues, I reinstated the big canyon walls and
frankly, they fit in so well. Mind you, for a beta map this one is curiously similar to
the final one - I think even in the beta it had just recently gone through some renovations.
There are two CPs missing that were labeled in the localization files, called "Sarlaccs"
and "Crossroad", and a texture is still awol from the homestead lamps. Furthermore those
canyon walls I mentioned, and a "tri-arch" prop were still unused, and there were countless
AI barriers that don't match the geometries at all... almost as if the geometries were
JUST changed. :) And regarding geometries, Tatooine props seem to use a "LOWD" handler for
far scene model chunks rather than "LOD2" like all the other maps in this beta do. Finally,
the map doesn't resemble the Tatooine map briefly shown in a trailer video where the sky
has a rather flat red hue. I wonder, if the prototype had been two weeks older,
would Dune Sea have looked way different?

- Tropical Island
Loosely based on Digimon World's Tropical Jungle, this only vaguely resembles the general layout
of the region. Without going too much into it, I guess I made a fine job making a map
feel like you're trekking through a thick jungle. For 2.0, I've done quite a bit of cosmetic
improvement as well as adding a bit of gameplay flavor. It wasn't my first ever map, but it
was the first that I made with a serious intent to release so there you go.

- Yavin 4: Massassi Valley
Since I'm a sucker for prerelease content, this one naturally had to end up in the mod.
Featuring a different layout to what Yavin 4: Temple was in the final game, it's a pretty
interesting iteration. Arguably more intuitive than the final one, but the point here
isn't to debate that. As per the usual, I've changed the weather a bit to make it a unique
experience, and of course made some adjustments to make it in line with BF2 standards.

- Yavin 4: Arena
Straightforward conversion from the Xbox DLC. Nothing utterly unusual here, it's just a
different outlook on the map, I guess.

--- Heavily revamped and improved audio:

This is another point that a lot of mods sadly ignore, but it's not all about visuals and gameplay - sound design is also a major player in any game, and this is no different. I've added a lot of new more accurate sound effects, ambient noise, replaced some music tracks (or rather all of them for GCW) and tried to do my best to make maps use proper sound spacing so sound effects would reverberate differently depending on what kind of a space you're occupying.

--- What is left to say? If you're still interested, boot up your game and check out what I've done.

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-------------------KNOWN BUGS----------------
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I tried to stamp out as many as I could, but some things I simply couldn't catch.
There may be some graphical oddities first and foremost, but a more major bug I couldn't figure out
is if you play Bespin in multiplayer - for me, the game would simply crash when the map starts
and I have no idea what causes it. It doesn't happen in singleplayer, and the debug executable
doesn't do multiplayer, so... It remains a mystery.

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(Credits will be included in the internal readme in the download, make sure to check it out!)

Anyway, with all that said and done, go ahead, play and savor it.
Satisfaction guaranteed, unless, of course, you f*ck it up yourself. :)