(Re)play Portal with a partial graphical overhaul that doesn't mess with the original aesthetic and keeps support for achievements
UPDATE 2020-09-13: Turns out I forgot to compile LDR lightmaps for some maps, and that cubemaps were corrupt in the last map, so I have fixed that. I have also added a new line to the autoexec.cfg, 'ai_norebuildgraph 1' which fixes the issue with reloading saves and turrets not firing
IMPORTANT!!! To install, extract the 'custom' and 'cfg' folders into 'Steam\steamapps\common\Portal\portal'
If done correctly, there should now be a 'custom' folder below the 'cfg' folder and above the 'downloadlists' or 'maps' folder, depending on if you have already opened the game once, and inside the 'cfg' folder, there should be a new file called 'autoexec.cfg'. If upon extracting, it says that 'autoexec.cfg' already exists, please open the existing autoexec.cfg and add 'r_hunkalloclightmaps 0' and 'ai_norebuildgraph 1' without the quotes each to new lines in the file.
With the advent of 64bit compile tools thanks to Garry's Mod, pushing Source to its limit when it comes to shadows is now a possibility. Portal was the perfect testing ground due to its indoor, compartmentalized nature, which kept compile times low (escape_02 [the last level] took just under 2 hours to compile due to it having a small outdoors section).
Along side the changes that were necessary to facilitate high fidelity shadows, there is now HDR support and 256x256 reflection cubemaps for all maps (anywhere between a 4 to 16 times improvement to reflection resolution!) Due note that these changes do come with a performance penalty, but any mid to high-end system from the last 4 years shouldn't see a big performance impact (iGPUs and anything less than 8 gigs of RAM will probably suffer greatly; this is for people who have their settings maxed and have frames to spare)
Known bugs/unfixable issues:
- You may see a weird tiling of white lines on large surfaces; that is due to how the map is chopped up to increase the shadow resolution, and the effect is unavoidable as far as I know.
- Maps testchmb_a_10, testchmb_a_10_advanced, and testchmb_a_15 are not included because they had issues. testchmb_a_10 and testchmb_a_10_advanced both crashed the game, no matter what I did/didn't do, and testchmb_a_15 had some bizarre and borderline game breaking graphical glitches that didn't match the quality of the rest of the maps. You can download testchmb_a_15 and its associated VMF here, if you would like to see what I mean for yourself and maybe try and have a go at fixing it
- If you find any glitches or inconsistencies (i.e. stuff that vanilla has that this doesn't), do not hesitate to comment
These maps are not based off of decompiles.
Hey, AMAZING mod!
Decided to play through Portal 1 with this mod, but every chamber after chamber 17 has no lighting and is covered with black and purple textures, and some words are always on the screen. Just saying A.I.
Interesting, I'll look into this, thanks for pointing that out
There is also a glitch in chamber 16, where if you die the turrets will stop working and just sit there.
Reddit.com And if you revisit any chamber after visiting any chamber after 17. The enhancements won't work
Just updated the download with the fixed maps, and added a new line to the autoexec.cfg, so replace that when extracting or add ai_norebuildgraph 1 to autoexec.cfg
1.59gb? Holy
those graphical glitches is because of anti aliasing
Good maps for the most part but too glossy in some spots. Also escape_02 is scuffed as all hell, the concrete walls are shiny and the shadows are completely mangled in the hall before you reach GLaDOS
im getting a slight black flicker every once and awhile. anyway to fix?