Widescreen, FOV, HUD and text rendering fix for Chrome and Chrome SpecForce. Also disables LOD switching and increases draw distance (optional).
Chrome and Chrome SpecForce - Visual Fidelity (unofficial patch)
INTRODUCTION
=============
The goal of this "patch" is to enable the games to be played in widescreen resolutions, ultra widescreen,
multi monitor setups and in 4K and above by fixing text rendering and FOV issues and properly scaling some HUD elements. Another goal was to increase the visual fidelity of the game by forcing the game to render highest quality assets even when they are far away from the player. Only assets that will actually be changed are the HUD map textures.
No gameplay changes have been made. All changes are listed in "change_log.txt". Jackfuste from Widescreen Gaming Forums fixed the "ChromeEngine2.dll" for the hor+ FOV, and high resolution map textures for original Chrome were taken from Chrome Widescreen Mod(Chrome HD Fix).
For information how to install the updated files read the included "instructions.txt" file. If you need help send me an e-mail, post on my blog or YouTube channel since I get a notification immediately.
Alternative download link: MediaFire download link
You can watch a short comparison video here: YouTube comparison video
My blog: AntonioR Software Blog
NOTE: If you have previously installed the old "Chrome HD Fix" you will be missing some textures for original Chrome (because the installer would delete them) and the HUD will not render properly. To spare you the trouble of re-installing the entire game, here are the missing textures, read the included "info.txt" to see where to put them('"ch_p_skaner.tex" is not needed, copy only if you want the original texture back): Chrome missing files
HUD, FOV and text rendering - before and after
![HUD and FOV_before]( "HUD and FOV_before")
![HUD and FOV_after]( "HUD and FOV_after")
HUD, FOV, text rendering, level of detail - before/after
![HUD_FOV_LOD_before]( "HUD_FOV_LOD_before")
![HUD_FOV_LOD_after]( "HUD_FOV_LOD_after")
Level of detail (zoomed in) - before and after
![Level of detail_before]( "Level of detail_before")
![Level of detail_after]( "Level of detail_after")
Third person perspective hack
![SpecForce TPP]( "SpecForce TPP")
LIST OF CHANGES
===============
- disabled screen resolution limit(all supported screen resolutions are available, even multi-monitor or virtual resolutions) in the options menu
- enabled all available texture filtering options in the options menu
- enabled all available texture quality options in the options menu
- disabled mouse acceleration in first person mode
- Hor+ FOV is used instead of Ver- FOV for all rendering(big thanks to jackfuste from WSGF for fixing ChromeEngine2.dll files)
- increased FOV for vehicles
- fixed weapon being cut off in Chrome on higher FOV when aiming down sight
- fixed a bug causing the game to use small fonts on higher resolutions
- increased font size on higher resolutions
- added resolution based scaling for the following: hint and objective text, cut-scene subtitles, Logan subtitles, HUD item counter, HUD implant notifications, cursor, crosshair, hit indicators, sniper/binoculars compass and text, player position and map waypoint indicators
- added F7 toggle for object/motion detector (when available)
- added F12 toggle for entire HUD (nice for screenshots)
- reduced object/motion detector size to 65% and fixed horizontal stretching
- wrote "Chrome font scale" program that sets scaling factor for text in all HUD and GUI files and fixes aspect ratio of left and right HUD circles and positions them properly
- increased/reduced the size of some HUD/GUI elements to display properly on screen
- Fixed issues with high resolution maps from Chrome Widescreen Mod(Chrome HD Fix):
- disabled margins, so the player is positioned properly on the map
- added black borders, so the texture is rendered properly
- added/removed objects that were missing/are not there
- reduced contrast and saturation to match closer to original textures
- made high resolution 1024x1024 maps for Chrome SpecForce too
Visual Fidelity*:
- disables LOD switching on mesh objects
- disables LOD switching on trees
- disables LOD switching on terrain
- lowers mesh cull size
- increases tree draw distance
- increases object draw distance
- increases grass draw distance
- increases rain draw distance
- increased terrain draw distance
Bonus*:
- FOV multiplier
- third person perspective toggle with F6 (when activated)
- third person perspective, walker and jeep camera height adjustment
- activate object detector in SpecForce(also changed the color to match the rest of the HUD)
- remove black bars in cut-scenes
- crosshair scaling
- additional mouse sensitivity setting
- player jump height multiplier
*these settings can be simply changed/activated with a Java class editor. dirtyJOE editor is included in the download and the instructions.
Thank you !
Btw. Would be nice to see bigger inventory addon for your mod :)
Thank you
Please add the possibility to use this patch with higher 4:3 custom resolutions (1440x1080 and above). Or is it already possible?
It seems it's already possible, leaving the original DLL.
If everything works correctly the game should display all resolutions your GPU/monitor support in the video options menu, but you can also set the resolution manually:
-Go to the installation folder and open VideoSettings.scr file with Notepad.
-Change the Resolution values to the width and height you want.
-Save your changes and close the file.
(The new dll is only used to fix the FOV on widescreen resolutions)
Request: can you port your brilliant fixes for Chrome Multiplayer too? Now they apply only to the SP component of the game.
Sorry for not answering sooner, I didn't see it, sending me an email would have been better. I left a note about multiplayer in the instructions.txt file under Step 3.
Nice mod,shame it destroys my fps(playing on a 960gtx).
I played on a R9 270X(I think your card is better) and i5-4690 at 1440p, no problem keeping 60 FPS. Game physics are programmed for 60 FPS, having higher framerate makes the player slide on the terrain and is hard to control.
Hmm,I am using windows 10.Im guessing that is the problem.I will try fiddling more,thank you.
Mod breaks the game hardcore. Can't move and FPS dips alot...
This mod has been available for a year now and people already used it without problems. Movement is a known problem in this game if your framerate is too high, it has nothing to do with this mod. The included description already has a warning that the visual improvement is very hardware demanding, that is why it is the last step and is optional.
Use with dgVoodoo2 on Windows 10 to force VSync ;)