Mount & Blade Panoramic Mod v 2.0 [RELEASED] (updated 25/01/09)

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TheWitcher

Knight
Mount & Blade
Panoramic_Banner.png
ver 2.0

DOWNLOAD from M&B Unofficial File Repository: M&B_Panoramic_2.0
Mirror (SendSpace): M&B_Panoramic_2.0

Authors: TheWitcher (textures, skyboxes) & Soil (modelling)​

This small mod simply attempts to extend field of view and create fake horizon line for every outdoor scene in Mount and Blade.

Purpose: deeper immersion factor, no "end of map" feeling and better visuals.​

Comments and ideas are most welcome!

v 2.00

+ major change in the method of creating panorama (changes in outer_terrains.brf and  outer_terrains_b.brf)
+ added new sky textures (17 in total) to create more diversive look of the skies
+ many changes in material properties for used textures
+ changed outer terrains models (huge thanks goes to Soil for doing that!)
+ changes in skyboxes.txt
+ optimisation of models and textures to reduce system requirements (there's minimal impact on performance)

v 1.01

+ major changes in skyboxes.brf (expanded skydome mesh)
+ changes in skyboxes.txt to prevent "world map bug"
+ new set of textures with horizon line

v 1.00
+ new textures for every skydome with added horizon landscapes


Installation:

1) Unpack.
2) Backup skyboxes.txt in Mount&Blade/Data folder.
3) Copy contents of the package to your M&B directory.
4) Open your module.ini (in every mod you have!) with the notepad and change following lines:
 
load_resource = terrain_borders
load_resource = terrain_borders_b
load_resource = skyboxes

to:

####Panoramic Mod Resources start####
load_resource = pm_textures
load_resource = pm_materials

load_resource = pm_terrain_borders
load_resource = pm_terrain_borders_b
load_resource = pm_skyboxes
#####Panoramic Mod Resources end#####

5) Run the game & enjoy!

             

This version isn't overwriting any root files apart of skyboxes.txt. It is advisable to make a copy of it.

Compatibility:

This mod is compatible with every other mod. It will simply replace every mod skyboxes and outer terrains. Just make sure that you've changed every module.ini or anyway the game will give you an RGL error!

Very important: If you're using mods changing skyboxes, like Battlestar Galactica or Star Wars Mod you chave to revert skyboxes.txt to vanilla one before playing these mods. Sorry for the inconvenience but that's the only way to keep compatibility with those mods.


It is generally adviced to use it with Zaro's Graphical Enchancement for a better visual effect. You may want also to use Calradia Map Refinement Mod which creates more diversity in random terrains and locations terrains.

This mod is also compatible with HDR mod and both DX7 and DX9 renderers.


Disclaimer: this mod can be included in any mod you like without permission but credit and quick info about in which mod it's going to be used would be very nice gesture. No financial profit can be made out of it at any circumstances.

Thanks goes to:
Soil for his great models
Alixyang for his help with skyboxes
Yoshiboy for his initial research about skyboxes.txt
Tul for his helpful advices about the weather
Ipek, Armagan and the development team for creating Mount & Blade


My special thanks goes to:

Argus from Russian S.T.A.L.K.E.R. modding community for inspiration, long time ago...
Many photographers who are uploading their amazing photos to free stock exchange sites.

Have fun!

Soil & TheWitcher

Ok. Here's the quick fix for sun showing up through hills:

Open skyboxes.txt with notepad and find this line:

pm_skybox_sunset_3 17 180.000000 12.146000 0.600000 1.045455 0.500000 0.159091  0.000000 0.000000 0.000000  0.069048 0.100000 0.190476  180.000000 4284510352

and change it to that:

pm_skybox_sunset_3 17 180.000000 17.280000 0.600000 1.045455 0.500000 0.159091  0.000000 0.000000 0.000000  0.069048 0.100000 0.190476  180.000000 4284510352

SCREENS:
mb1.jpg

mb10.jpg

mb11.jpg

mb2.jpg

mb3.jpg

mb4.jpg

mb5.jpg

mb6.jpg

mb7.jpg

mb8.jpg

mb9.jpg
 
:shock:... good lord.... the second picture down... :shock:


This is fantabulouslydelicious. I will try to add this to my little mod. The Pagan Way - A Barbarian Clans Mod. Thank you Witcher, Awesome work man.
 
Thanks for thumbs-up guys! :smile:

I was trying to do my best to create as most realistic feel as possible.

Looks like old film makers trick with painted background works! :grin:

As for now I'm struggling with skyboxes.brf to remove some unwanted effects (damn mirror effect for example). Also I have slightly improved dawn/sunset skybox because that's the one I wasn't 100% sure when creating first package. But I won't include it for now - I want to make some bigger update soon with new textures added to brf and txt file - like couple for each time of the day or something.

And here's my question: does anyone know how the engine is checking time of the day and applies a skybox and light effects accordingly? Is it scripted or hardcoded? Also - is it possible to script some kind of check in what part of the map is the character? So when generic scene is created proper horizon is applied (high mountains/steppe/desert/forest/sea)?

I would be grateful for any answer in this matter...

 
Humanoid said:
Beautiful! 

Too bad my computer sucks hard and can't handle goodies like this.

It doesn't cause any stuttering or performance drop because it's only revamped skybox texture. :smile:

And actually third screen from the bottom is taken under DX7 with GE 2.51 + HDR + Panoramic. Plays smooth as silk..

:cool:
 
Don't mean to be rude but it doesn't look nearly as good ingame.  Rather fake actually.

I must commend the man, however, for his clever screenshot work to make them look amazing.
 
Narduiran said:
Holy moly!!!

Yo nard.

On topic: Nice try, the screenshots look pretty good.

Let's see if I can do better by remodelling the outer terrain model :smile:
 
Pali Gap said:
Don't mean to be rude but it doesn't look nearly as good ingame.  Rather fake actually.

I must commend the man, however, for his clever screenshot work to make them look amazing.

Heh. Thanks! :smile: No offence taken.. :wink:

The thing is that it's aimed to create better look without significant performance drop on weaker computers. There are three problems concerning that:

First - there would be need of extending skydome mesh to make feel of a bigger distance between actual map and the sky texture. I've tried that - but that causes another problem - huge gap and mirrored sky texture between outer land border and the skydome. Another funny thing - every texture is the same dimensions, and hills picture is identical in all of them - just recoloured to match the sky. But it looks like sunset texture is kind of higher than other skies. What causes that? I don't have a single clue.... :smile:

Second - There's no possible way with this engine to create dynamic weather. At least none I would know of yet. So for example filling the gap with the fog isn't a way to improve visuals. I would love to make dynamic weather and timeflow during the battles. But for now it seems impossible with current engine limitations.

Third - it's all about fake really. I'm still thinking about creating way more detailed textures to remove some feel of it - but on the other hand - when you charge into battle you don't really look for blurry pixels on the horizon, do you? :smile:

About extending outer terrain mesh - it's great idea, but I'm afraid it might cause significant performance drop as the price for huge piece of totally unused land you cannot enter. Is it worth it? It's yours to decide.

I'm still working to improve this mod and add new textures. Some looks way less fake than the others. But as some of you may know - graphical engine of Mount & Blade does have it's limitations, and actually a lot of this stuff seems to be hardcoded. It will be definitely improved when I'll find any proper way to alter some stuff (skyboxes.txt looks promising).

Just a small disclaimer - none of the screenshots were altered in PhotoShop by any means. They're taken ingame.

Cheers!

P.S. Soil If you want to extend outer terrain model and you think that it won't cause any performance drop - you're welcome to PM me and we can join our efforts in creating Panoramic. I don't aim by any means to be the leader of the project or sth. It was just few tweaks I used in my game and I thought it might be a nice idea to share it with the community. Also - I'm eagerly waiting for Zaro to release GE 3 as I think it's outstanding work in bringing better quality to M&B.

 
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