DarthMod Napoleon v2.4 Open Beta Update 5 (12/4/2012)***CLOSED***

[DARTH VADER]

***REMOVED***
-Unzip somewhere
-Copy DMN_Darth_Effects_Napoleon.pack and DMN_DarthMod_Napoleon.pack
-Paste them to the Data folder of your game which is usually in:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\napoleon total war\data

***Backup the old files before copy/paste if you want to revert to old v2.3***
Version 2.4 Beta

• Cannon & musket smoke became the most impressive you have ever seen... I never thought Napoleon engine was capable of these effects!
• More dust from infantry/cavalry movement and with correct color (not white)
• Howitzer impact smoke is now greyish/white
• Carcass and Quicklime effects and damage improved
• Projectile Damage from muskets and cannons lethality chance improved
• Melee mechanics a little better
• Guns/Cannons have all a much more distinct character per type (accuracy/ballistics etc.)
• Improved the projectile trails to be better visually (for those who use them copy/paste the file DMN_Projectiles_Trails_ON.pack)
• Improved formation system for a far more effective battle AI, especially in defense.

This is fully save game compatible

[Chevalier IX]

The new effects are phenomenal. the new way that the smoke forms and moves feels more natural and subject to wind and weather than previously. It also has a new density that totally obscures the action in concentrated areas adding to the confusion of the fight. I like the addition of dust for unit movement as it only adds to the battle atmosphere,and lends itself to a very cinematic effect,as the elements run amok on the field choking both men and horse alike in dense clouds of sulphur dust and blood. excellent job as always Lord Vader. I would definately use this current build for future improvements as it is better than the already phenomenal previous pack

[The Darkness]

adds to the confusion, yes, but only the human's confusion. AI has xray vision always.

[DARTH VADER]

Chevalier your feedback is always helpful and I trust it. Thank you very very much. Eager to hear more opinions.

[Major Hogan]

To see more dust is great! Like Chevalier IX I think it gives a very nice cinematic addition. The smoke is better and I will give it a closer examination but first I have a question: the smoke from the artillery and muskets has the same colour as the dust. I cannot imagine you would have changed the colour so what am I doing wrong? Just copied/ pasted...

Please let me know Lord Vader that you intended the colour of the gunpowder to be white/ blue-ish, not the same colour as the dust.

If I know that, I will try again, or reboot or something to get it right...

[DARTH VADER]

White/Blueish... is someone seeing Blue as well...?

[jan_boruta]

For me:

-The dust is too strong and barely transparent. It's also white, like normal gunpowder smoke. I suggest making it more yellow/brown.
-Musket smoke is better, but it dissipates too slow and isn't transparent enough. It still looks like cotton, but now it's mostly white and not brownish. If large forces fight, then two massive WALLS (straight lines) of cotton-looking, solid smoke are created. It doesn't look neither good nor realistic, although the reaction to wind is proper.
-Naval cannon smoke also dissipates too slow and is too solid, but I really like the effect when a ship is hit, it's really dramatic.

Overall, I think there's much to be done, in comparison to both Blood and Smoke mod for NTW and to your own Enhanced Smoke for DMUC. I think your Full Enhanced Smoke provided the most realistic smoke ever in Total War and is vastly superior to current Darth Napoleon effects. It feels natural and realistic, it doesn't look solid and doesn't obscure the battlefield (the solid smoke effect makes battles barely playable and controllable). But this beta shows good progress, although you need to decrease the volume of smoke and increase the speed of dissipation in the air. Also, this blue-ish or gray-ish colour in addition to white is more realistic than a brown tint in musket smoke. In DMUC Enhanced Smoke it was captured perfectly.

[nakaka]

i support jan_boruta opinion. you've done lot's of fantastic improvements to the game visual aspects Darth, but these walls of cottonish substance covering all the line of battle form the first salvo on is too much. neither realistic nor playable , when the goal should be the right compromise between both i guess. (not to mention significant reduction of simple joy of WATCHING your troops.)
i know, i know - the goal is chaos and confusion, but the units in reality had their own commanders that micromanaged, whereas in TW GOD general controls all scheme you have to be able to see anything to make the fight reasonable.
thank you for spotting the problem and reaction, but more effort is needed.
cheers

[Major Hogan]

@Darth Vader: I started Steam again, and after that used the DarthMod icon on my desktop to start the game. This solved the problem of the brown gunpowder smoke. It is now white. (Not white-blueish - I'm sorry for the confusion; my opinion is that gunpowder smoke may look a bit blue-ish. Never brown, that's for sure!). The dust is brown. Will play some more tomorrow and come back here.

@jan_boruta: strange how you get white dust and white smoke, while I got brown dust and brown smoke. Neither is correct. What we need (and I think Darth Vader intended) is brown dust and white smoke. Try to start Steam, then launch the game with the DarthMod icon (so not by clicking on the game's title on the Steam page), and confirm your settings (for example 'Enable SP'). For me this seemed to work and I got nice brown dust and white smoke - could be that the dust turned to white when played in a snowy environment but I need to check that again. It would be awesome if Darth Vader pulled that 'white dust' off! As mentioned above I will test some more tomorrow.

My first impression is that the dust is not too strong, and transparent enough. It gives a sense of speed to cavalry and interacts with the environment (the ground they walk on) beautifully. I largely share your opinion about the smoke's density and shape. Gunpowder smoke should never be brown-ish, but it might contain a little bit of blue-gray.

Is there a movie clip to show the smoke mods 'Full Enhanced Smoke' or 'Enhanced Smoke for DMUC' so we know what we are talking about? Would be helpful.

[Nigrinus]

Tested in a few battles:

Walking smoke: should be an option for the user to turn on/off. I liked it at first but well, it does not fit in every environment. Especially in rainy weather.

Musket Smoke: I don't see the cotton balls any more. It really looks beautiful. Can't see why someone is complaining about the color of the smoke. In my battles it was white/grey.

Cannon Smoke: Perfect I like this very much, maybe a bit more dirt coming up when the ball hits the ground, but this is also a matter of taste.

Howitzer Smoke: Well aaahm...this is the only downside for me, the smoke here is brown on impact/explosion and I don't really know why. Should be more like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ydpF...eature=related

at least white smoke when it hits the ground and a white cloud when exploding in air...(and at the moment it dissperses too quick the white small clouds should stay longer)

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your effort Darth.

[Fencible]

Tested in a few battles:

Walking smoke: should be an option for the user to turn on/off. I liked it at first but well, it does not fit in every environment. Especially in rainy weather.

Musket Smoke: I don't see the cotton balls any more. It really looks beautiful. Can't see why someone is complaining about the color of the smoke. In my battles it was white/grey.

Cannon Smoke: Perfect I like this very much, maybe a bit more dirt coming up when the ball hits the ground, but this is also a matter of taste.

Howitzer Smoke: Well aaahm...this is the only downside for me, the smoke here is brown on impact/explosion and I don't really know why. Should be more like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ydpF...eature=related

at least white smoke when it hits the ground and a white cloud when exploding in air...(and at the moment it dissperses too quick the white small clouds should stay longer)

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your effort Darth.

Thank you Nigrinis - I completely support your well illustrated opinion on this.
fencible

[jan_boruta]

@jan_boruta: strange how you get white dust and white smoke, while I got brown dust and brown smoke. Neither is correct. What we need (and I think Darth Vader intended) is brown dust and white smoke. Try to start Steam, then launch the game with the DarthMod icon (so not by clicking on the game's title on the Steam page), and confirm your settings (for example 'Enable SP'). For me this seemed to work and I got nice brown dust and white smoke - could be that the dust turned to white when played in a snowy environment but I need to check that again. It would be awesome if Darth Vader pulled that 'white dust' off! As mentioned above I will test some more tomorrow.

Even if intended, brown musket smoke is utterly unrealistic, as it should be white with a gray/blue tint when it dissipates. I'm launching the mod via DMN launcher, not vanilla Napoleon icon anyway. What are your particle effects settings? Maybe I'm missing out on that, as I've got them set on high and not on ultra.

EDIT: I've set particle settings to ultra. It looks a bit better, but both musket and cannon (+naval) smoke clouds are too solid, and are not transparent until very late, short before they disappear completely. It creates really unpleasant walls of smoke that move with the wind but without changing their form - instead they keep floating as walls of clouds... And it doesn't help in combat. I think the point is not to make battles even harder, but to make them look prettier, but it fails in this district also. Also naval cannon smoke creates ugly, persistent and solid blocks on sea surface (where the ship fired) that don't move with the wind and stay there for a lot of time. They should either disappear more quickly or become a bit transparent. Also, the smoke in general could respond a little bit more to the lighting. It looks dull and dark at the moment, while it should be a little bit brighter with more white than gray.

[Major Hogan]

This is the first time my screen begins to flicker... anybody know a reason?

I play with particles set on ultra.

SMOKE: largely agree with jan_boruta where density, shape (though better than ever) and behaviour are concerned. When seen in a snowy (white!) environment, it shows that the smoke is far from white. Could do with a touch of gray/blue perhaps.

DUST: great! I can see why it is said that it is too white; but this is true only if very dense. I would not alter density (because that is fine) but colour to let it be more brown. It is rightfully remarked that when it rains, there should be no dust. Different options for dust effect would be fantastic! I would love it to have a 'desert dust' option included, so you get: 1. dust (normal), 2. no dust and 3. extra dust (for in Egypt and dry parts of Spain).

ARTILLERY: I love the current effects.

Look forward to what you make of this Darth Vader! Thanks!!

[tommyz89]

Here's my feedback, i think that the current effect is perfect regarding density, quantity, movement, reaction to wind, both in smoke and dust. The only improvement I could suggest it's about the color, and I could quote these two opinions from geritdriessen:

SMOKE:When seen in a snowy (white!) environment, it shows that the smoke is far from white. Could do with a touch of gray/blue perhaps.

DUST: great! I can see why it is said that it is too white; but this is true only if very dense. I would not alter density (because that is fine) but colour to let it be more brown.

Great work as usual darth!

[Nigrinus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES1k_RyfQgI

Sounds for recording

[Shea O'Gorath]

Would it be possible to see this smoke and the cannon sounds in DM Napoleon to DMUC
That would be epic but all in all the effects are very well done

[DARTH VADER]

OK thanks to your feedback I have now everything under control I think. Check out the new update!

[jan_boruta]

Darth, I don't know what kind of sorcery you are using, but most of my issues with smoke have been resolved. It dissipates more quickly, is less brown and looks spectacular. The density is now really good. My only complaint is that the dust is too big (but not too much, I can live with it - though I once mistook it with cannon smoke ) and that the cannon smoke itself covers too much of land in comparison to the size of the gun... But It might be different with stronger wind in land battles. Great work overall!

[♔Greek Strategos♔]

Thanks for the update Darth....

[Major Hogan]

I think you nailed it this time Darth Vader. It looks great!!

SMOKE: the smoke generated by a line of fire is nicely irregular, the speed of the smoke interacts truly with the way and speed the smoke changes shape, giving it a natural feel. It disappears more gradually and does not longer hold it's thickness for too long. Thus, it does not obscure the battlefield more than it should and gives us God generals back the overview. And you simply can enjoy the battle more now you see more. I love it to see the yellow flashes when the muskets fire again (as a result of your improved smoke effect), so that is also a plus. The colour of the gunpowder is more gray and holds up even in a snowfield. Good!

DUST: this version shows what dust can do to the cinematic feel of a battle! Really, it looks so true. It should not be less dense, perhaps the dust trail could be a bit longer, disappearing more gradually (hey, where did I hear that before?). But it looks great, it really adds a kind of dynamic. One wish remains: the three options for the amount of dust. Rain = no dust, desert = lots of dust, natural law, not mine . This feature could make the DarthMod dust even more sophisticated.

Thanks for the effort Darth. This 2.4 is a real improvement. Kudos from me!!

I have not yet tested the new BAI but will do that now. Just wanted to give you my thumbs up for the effects without delay .