Comments - 4Aces

I tried using putting the folder "731604991" as well as the files within it in "\ShooterGame\Content\Mods" with no success. It looks like Steam now requires a ".mod" file in that mod directory to handshake with the game and reference the files in the numbered folder. So this method of using a third-party site to grab a Steam mod may no longer work.

Sent PM.

Can get it from gamefront.com about 4 - 5 X faster than *any* of the ModDB mirrors (all the same turtle speed).

No, there is no torrent (yet).

That is because it does not exist. Their link seems to just be back to a moddb mirror site (same crappy speed - Averaging 60 kb/s after three hours).

Averaging 50 kb/s for the last hour. This is lame...

The official site must be linking to the same server as trying to DL at the same time results in the same speed. I have no other DLs going, and no other traffic.

@Devs
PDF defends bad original design choices by GSC. You *fixed* the lack of mutant parts, so it is not less profitable.

As for artifacts - well I will have to wait 7 hours before I know why you would say it is not profitable. I seriously hope you are exaggerating.

If enemies weapons are crap then they should be jamming all the time and do less damage - since they do not, this is highly unrealistic. Weapon condition has to be 40%+ or the result is pure silliness - where the enemy can put 10 mags through it without problems, but you can fire more than three rounds without constant jams. Just drop the value range that traders offer for them, and it is easily balanced to keep us from getting rich quick.

You contradict yourselves with "dead bodies have nothing", but "there are *many* new items in this mod due to realism". It cannot be both. The bodies should have random bits of non-critical stuff (e.g. three or four different kinds of ammo in very small quantities), and cheap stuff (e.g. lots of vodka, bread, and medkits).

People should *not* be reacting to you having a weapon out, since they are all waving their own weapons in *your* face and each others. Same goes for the base requiring you to stow yours while everyone else can have them out all the time.

You contradict yourselves with "many items due to massive smuggling" followed by "recession makes importing very problematic". Repair should always be cheaper than a whole new weapon since you can break-down one good weapon to repair a few others.

Many things sound good right now, like minimap removal, and the quick release system. Will hold off on the artifact containers until I see how they are implemented. Cannot wait to hit the Black Road!

It takes 5+ hours to DL the full mod! Sure hope the speed increases over time, not the inverse. Second the distribution via torrent. Would simplify things.

@S.T.A.L.K.E.R.fiend - There are two flashlights now. The 'L' headlamp, and the holding of the 'O' (same as detector) to get the pocket flashlight out. Which do you mean (or is it both)?

Without the official toolset I did not want to invest the time deciphering the Bioware meshes given how complicated they made the ERF files (lack of file names). So this was all done using Photoshop and a Normal Mapping tool. It covers the the Diffuse, Specular, and Normal Maps for complimentary results. The extra detail is mostly from the Normal Maps which do not cost any extra polys, so this is efficient in both development time and how much extra system resources it will cost you. Considering that each Normal Map is actually made of two, and I generate each of them specifically, it results in better detail than most of the originals.

Doing all this in Max would have probably taken longer, but would have resulted in even better results since I could have used my own lighting rigs and made sure everything was done properly (I think there are problems with the normals on the guard armor mesh). That would have taken much longer though, so I would not have finished as much as I did. When I start with the indie game company I will be doing this in Max first then CS5 to combine and put the cosmetic touches on it.

Well thanks for sharing that.

I had to go away for Easter so I am just going to make the comparison shots now. They should be up in another hour or so.

I forgot to put this in the summary (which I cannot edit right now) that this includes the previous Human Male Armor release, so you do not need it anymore. It was only RegRes (Regular Resolution) sized anyway.

I have been uber-busy getting as much done as quickly as possible. My objection to the landscape was that the same textures were copy and pasted, and that some were quite bland. What I did not realize is that the massive number of shaders that they are using is multiplying the color levels significantly, which is why my colors look so vivid. So my landscape is more varied, and I figured that with an action game, a little more color would be appropriate.

@4xle - Yes, the mix and matching that the Devs did means that some of the gauntlets/boots/helms will not match up. That is why I asked for the Alpha testers to let me know if they wanted certain, commonly used ones (like the ones you are describing), changed to fit with the color scheme of that group's armor. This will mean that anyone else in the game that is using that type of g/b/h will not match, but it is believable. Since most of the people that DL'd the Alpha did not comment on anything, you are the first to request it. If someone seconds the request then I will change the metal on the gauntlets (probably just remove the color and make them silver if they are used on that many special characters). It is one of the weakest points in this game that they have so many different combinations possible, yet they only used a few.

@ Everyone - do not forget to check my webpage for the latest info. I update it on a (more) regular basis. ;-)

Sites.google.com

Wow, that was very helpful. Thanks for the 5/10. Just a question - Did you even bother downloading it or did you just go ahead and rate it.

And people wonder why I do not care about rating systems...

Thanks, it looks like it will take another two days to get the rest of the male armor done. I re-textured the gloves of the main templar standing in the gallows courtyard. Unfortunately, the Vanilla gloves (Diffuse, Specular, and Normal Map) looks just as bad up-close and nothing seems to help. So it looks like it is a graphics engine problem. I expect it is all the overlapping shaders, which I will be looking into after the armor is done for all groups (before I start on the weapons). Cheers!

I just checked the 'Normal' textures that come with the game, as opposed to the official 'HiRes' pack that Bioware made us download. I was stunned to see the puny size of the textures that they are trying to claim are regular sized. So my previous statement that the Male Armor is Regular Sized is wrong. It is actually larger than normal, but this should not effect any PC made in the last 8 years unless you only have 1GB of RAM (but then you should not be able to even start the game).

Download the preview image and zoom in to see better detail. The lack of a decent camera in the game prevents better screen shots. To make things worse, the design of the city makes it very hard to find shots of people in sunlight - so that you can see the textures at their best.

Please look for seams or glaring errors. The Vanilla armor/clothes look poor up-close, which is why they prevent the camera from getting close very easily.

Cheers!

I know it does, which is why this is only where I am starting. Most of my team members decided that DA2 was not worth it, given how Bioware is withholding the modified DAO toolset. I have to start with my strongest talent, and that is graphics. Then I can get to re-balancing everything and trying to make combat more reasonable.

At the very least the re-texture will make playing the game a little more enjoyable for everyone. The normal sized version (landscape only has one size) will also improve system performance for those experiencing lags.

No one was using the mirror so I stopped updating it. All the files are here.

@ vecuccio - each has a description to explain what it is for. You only need to download the latest version of what you want to use. Since they are so large, they have to be individual downloads. Most people only want parts, not everything.

@ takmikula - I never did get modcraft updated, so those files are old. For some reason ModDB is blocking the link, so when you encounter that kink of problem just cut & paste it into your address bar and it will work. I will be taking the modcraft page down soon as most of the files are older versions.

Your English is easily understandable. Haute Définition = High Definition which only means 60 FPS+ it does not have anything to do with the textures. There are a lot of people that started using that term over the last year, and the more it is used the more confusing it will become. Some call my HiRes work HD, others call original textures with noise maps applied HD, and others call total ReTextures at HiRes size HD. It basically being used (inappropriately) for everything and quickly loses all meaning. The highest quality are ReTextures and then High(er) Resolution or HiRes (at least double original dimensions).

I forgot that Atmosfear uses skyboxes. When I added CC's mod to mine, I did try 1024^2 but there was little improvement so I just used two of his and some of my own.

Any improvement to A.I. is good regardless of where it came from. After I take a look at what you did (as I merge it with mine), I might have a few suggestions for you. I made some A.I. advancements with my mod, like enabling people in the 'safe zone bases' to shoot at enemies. If you do not have that in yours I will PM you with the info so you can use it if you want.

Cheers!

I see the infection of improper naming is spreading, so do not think that I am only after you. I will be asking everyone I see to please stop calling textures HD. HD is High Definition, which is a minimum of 60 frame per second which is totally controlled by the screen refresh rate. Please call them HiRes if there are more pixels than regular (400%+), or if they are retexture using real world samples then call them that. HD means nothing with video games since all games are start with the ability to technically be HD - 60 FPS minimum is common with a Vanilla game.

One question - you say that you tweaked the Atmosfear textures but only used 512² (due 32-bit system limitations). What does the game only running in 32-bit have to do with the size of textures you used?

I most of the AI changes sound great! I cannot wait to merge this with my own gameplay mod to see what the effect is (just for personal use).

First I sharpen using my own process, then I enlarge, and then I do a second detailing sharpen pass. Then I generate new normal maps. That is for the upgraded textures which are processed at about 500 per day.

The ReTex is totally new textures, and only a few can be done per day.

To the last three people that have rated my mods at around 3.0 : If you are too lazy to leave a comment and try to be helpful, you should not be rating anything poorly. Just saying 'it sucks' does not help anyone.

What you have been waiting for (even if you did not know it) is here.
A mod that enables more RAM when running NVSE even if you are running a 32-bit OS!

This is a must have if you have more than 2GB of RAM in your system.

Newvegasnexus.com

Cheers!

Yes, Matty it is me. It has been awhile!

I cannot edit the summary so here it is:

This is file one of three. They not part-files (split) so you can download and test each separately.

Done Liberty and Bretonia and there were only two new ships, two new pieces of mountable equipment, and NO new weapons! Since the price tag on the ships and equipment was about $4-5M. For the ships this is 20X what a similar vanilla ship costs, so this is just silly.

Without the bump maps working (which they do not), there is no reason for such large textures on low poly meshes. That just means most of the massive size of the mod is bloat!

You should really play the Rebalance Mod if you are going to claim half of the thing you do. That one actually delivers most of this, though still needs a massive amount of balancing and cleaning up.

I noticed that most of the textures I examined were NMC's (from CS) not mine. What did you use of mine (texture or other files) and what was the source (SoC/CS or CoP)? Or did you not mean to credit me but NMC?