Topografix Mod for ToS:WS is here!

Voidhawk · Post by **Voidhawk** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:03 am

Well, I promised (threatened?) to do it months ago and it has finally begun.

I always wondered what the terrain in WS would look like with the height gradients reversed; that is, light high ground and dark low ground instead of vice versa. After some experimenting, I was so pleased with the results that I decided to redo all the terrain sets that I wasn't happy with.

Here are the first four of my new terrain sets, two each for the terran and savannah battlefields. Check the readme.txt in the zip file for instructions and all that jazz.

I also made a zip containing some preview screen shots so you can tell exactly what this mod changes and if you want to download and use it or not. I should be done with the other sets in a week or so.

Download the preview screen shots here:
http://home.nc.rr.com/yurialeksei/tosws ... eviews.zip

Download the mod itself here:
http://home.nc.rr.com/yurialeksei/tosws ... fixmod.zip

Have fun!

tarendelcymir · Post by **tarendelcymir** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:11 am

These are very nice, Voidhawk. I'll let you know what I think in more detail after I've played a few matches using them, but just from the previews, I'm quite impressed.

Voidhawk · Post by **Voidhawk** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 11:21 am

Thanks taren, yes, please do. This project is still very much a work in progress so any and all feedback from fellow players is welcome.

I'm thinking about maybe splitting each terrain set into its own little file so people can pick and choose which sets they want to use, but players would have to paste the new terrain "strips" into their HeightTexture.bmp themselves.

(unless anyone out there with a rudimentary knowledge of programming and a bit of spare time would like to code a little utility to do this, which would be extremely cool

).

Thorgrim · Post by **Thorgrim** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 12:24 pm

I prefer the originals. Terran green is too bright.

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 6:18 pm

They look good to me. Just some of the colors are a tad too saturated.

Thorgrim · Post by **Thorgrim** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 6:44 pm

What I'd like to see was the 2D hexes redone, with more of a matte look. And buildings too, with more of a "serious" look

LarkinVB · Post by **LarkinVB** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 6:46 pm

There is the advantage of better height recognition but some colors do hurt my eyes. If you can find a way to do best of both worlds it would be great.

rosary · Post by **rosary** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 7:32 pm

A utility to pick and choose through the various modified terrains and cover would be a nice addition to the game.

Voidhawk · Post by **Voidhawk** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:00 pm

Ok, I'll desaturate some of the brighter colors in the terran sets (most notably the green, I've been playing too much AoW2 lately) and definitely the water in savannah1 for the next version. I'm trying to make the colors a bit more vivid overall, but I've played on these sets so much it's hard for me to determine how much is too much.

Aside from the water, I think I'm happy with the savannah sets. Any suggestions for those?

Thanks for all the input.

(here is why Marc gets paid to do this stuff and I do not

)

Thorgrim · Post by **Thorgrim** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:30 pm

I prefer darker tones to vivid colors, but that's just me. I also prefer the original gradients, from lighter to darker.
Savannah 2 is not good IMO. There's no height recognition in the hills. It all seems the same.
Terran doesn't necessarily have to be green. I don't like terran2 much. Depressions are also less visible there.

Rebel Yell · Post by **Rebel Yell** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:01 pm

Now, if we could just mod the Titans themselves (several irritatingly ugly little buggers). Ah well....

Voidhawk · Post by **Voidhawk** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:03 pm

Yes, if there's one area in PC gaming where you can't make everyone happy all the time due to varied personal preferences, it's definitely graphics.

One thing I didn't mention, make sure you try out the new terrain in-game before you deliver a final verdict. The jpeg screenshots are compressed and don't always accurately represent the actual in-game look. They're mainly just a guideline for players like Thorgrim who already know that they prefer the original gradient/height scheme over mine.

Rebel: I have 3D Studio Max and I'm not afraid to use it. You have been warned.

LarkinVB · Post by **LarkinVB** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:10 pm

Voidhawk wrote: One thing I didn't mention, make sure you try out the new terrain in-game before you deliver a final verdict.

Start a hotseat game, disable fog of war and set river to 100%. Select a large map. Then you can press 'M' multiple times to get different maps to evaluate.

LarkinVB · Post by **LarkinVB** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:14 pm

Voidhawk wrote: Rebel: I have 3D Studio Max and I'm not afraid to use it. You have been warned.

Hint : If someone will do a a TGA with turrets like the first column of a tosXX.tga file I might get inspired

Rebel Yell · Post by **Rebel Yell** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:47 pm

Voidhawk wrote: Rebel: I have 3D Studio Max and I'm not afraid to use it. You have been warned.

<Rebel assumes the begging position> On please, Great Voidhawk, bestow upon us, visual goodness, and Titans and great beauty and perfect scale!

Thorgrim · Post by **Thorgrim** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 6:46 pm

LarkinVB wrote:Hint : If someone will do a a TGA with turrets like the first column of a tosXX.tga file I might get inspired

*That* would be awesome!
Oh, and bridges, and walls/gates, and bunkers, ... heheh

tarendelcymir · Post by **tarendelcymir** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 3:42 am

On the subject of walls/gates, etc, if anyone has the time and talent to do so, a map mod I'd really like to see is an interior one. Since I've started working on a campaign, there've been several times when I'd like to see something like a steel floor and/or walls, not to mention things like doors, cargo containers, hangars, etc, etc. If I had the artistic skill, I'd do it myself, but sadly I don't. You can fake it with the core or biochem maps, but it lacks a lot when you're trying to make the interior of a fortress or a starship, or whatever.