Durango's Interface Visual Enhancement Mod 1.0 - Loading screens, Battle HUD, and Main Menu
Introduction
This mod aims to spice up the interface of ETW in a manner similar to what Napoleon did the year after the game was released. To do so, this pack includes a selection of my own UI creations to share with the community. The goals were the following:
Implement custom loading screens that replace the vanilla ETW ones, and that builds on NTW content
Create a static menu background "movie" that calms the eyes when inside the main menu, allowing you to focus on choosing a faction, changing settings etc
Differentiate between the campaign and battle UI, giving the latter a look suitable for visually representing combat and field conditions
Campaign UI may be added at a later date
Importantly, all of the above are made from high quality source material and given the polish necessary to not stand out amidst the vanilla Empire interface.
Changelog
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Version 1.0: Main release, no reported bugs
Features
- Custom loading screens based on Napoleon Total War. These have been changed to include items appropriate to the time frame of ETW, such as a central map, sketches, pistol etc. If you play NTW a lot, the changes might be obvious!
- Static map background for the main menu. Instead of a continuously playing movie on a loop, this background is based on what you often see in other games. The theme also fits in, with a compass, ropes, and a worn maritime map.
- Battle HUD. This new interface replaces the one used for both the campaign and battle mode, so that the campaign now gives you the feeling of managing things at the government level, while going into battle changes things to get a bit more gritty. The new HUD is based on wood and paper, and gives a nice clarity to unit selection.
Compatibility
These files should work with most mods that don't change the loading screens, menu interface or UI. It's meant for vanilla and light gameplay mods, but using it in big overhauls might have unintended effects. I have tested them mainly on my own vanilla install as well as my main modded ETW install.
Permissions
All files may be used freely by other modders if they desire to. All I ask is to be given credit. If the download links in this post stop working, any user on the forum may re-upload the unchanged files in this thread.
Installation: This is a "mod" type file, you need to place it into your Empire Total War\data folder and then put it into your user.empire_script.txt like you would activate any other mod.
Installation: This is a "movie" type file, so just drop it into your Empire Total War\data folder. Credit goes to user coolgit for updating this file and making it much simpler to install.
Suggested mods
I highly recommend Bran Mac Born's Napoleon Effects Packfor getting the complete Napoleon effects on the campaign and battle map. It includes filters, lighting, battle maps, campaign textures and more. Very worth it for getting old ETW up to spec with the more later games in the series.
Feel free to leave feedback below, as well as suggested changes and expansions. What would you like to see? For the future, a bigger overhaul of the campaign HUD is something that I've thought about, if there's demand for it.
Enjoy!
Last edited by -Durango-; January 22, 2021 at 09:41 AM.
Reason: 2021 Update
Re: Durango's Interface Visual Enhancement Mod 1.0 - Loading screens, Battle HUD, and Main Menu
Originally Posted by Alwyn
Impressive modding work and a well-presented mod, thanks for making this available!
Thank you! If you're looking for graphical work done for a new or updated mod (like your great Minor Factions packs) just let me know. I'm enjoying a nice campaign using the unlocked ships you provided.
Re: Durango's Interface Visual Enhancement Mod 1.0 - Loading screens, Battle HUD, and Main Menu
The menu background is rather time consuming exercise. It's not a good idea to modify CA files.
It worked with my DarthMod mod.
DarthMod has 2 media pack files and I'd tried adding frontend.bik to the DME_Media.pack with 3 bik files in it and it didn't work.
I then added frontend.bik to the DME_MediaUC.pack and it worked.
It seems that the frontend.bik must be alone, the only file in a pack file in order to work.
Not wanting to override DME_MediaUC.pack the DME_MediaUC.pack with original frontend.bik was placed back in the \Empire Total War\data\DME\Packs directory for future use.
What I did was create a new pack file and create a new folder - movies - then add frontend.bik. Of course the new pack is a movie type.
Saved the new pack file as Durango_Media.pack and it didn't work and vanilla bik was showed.
Renamed Durango_Media.pack to Durango_Movies.pack and it worked.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by coolgit; January 22, 2021 at 02:55 AM.
Re: Durango's Interface Visual Enhancement Mod 1.0 - Loading screens, Battle HUD, and Main Menu
Originally Posted by coolgit
The menu background is rather time consuming exercise. It's not a good idea to modify CA files.
It worked with my DarthMod mod.
DarthMod has 2 media pack files and I'd tried adding frontend.bik to the DME_Media.pack with 3 bik files in it and it didn't work.
I then added frontend.bik to the DME_MediaUC.pack and it worked.
It seems that the frontend.bik must be alone, the only file in a pack file in order to work.
Not wanting to override DME_MediaUC.pack the DME_MediaUC.pack with original frontend.bik was placed back in the \Empire Total War\data\DME\Packs directory for future use.
What I did was create a new pack file and create a new folder - movies - then add frontend.bik. Of course the new pack is a movie type.
Saved the new pack file as Durango_Media.pack and it didn't work and vanilla bik was showed.
Renamed Durango_Media.pack to Durango_Movies.pack and it worked.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for your work! Very nice to see a way around having to edit CA files, which I could never figure out due to the strange behavior of certain packs.
Would you be interested in sending the finished pack file to me? I could then credit you with the fix when I update the main post.
Re: Durango's Interface Visual Enhancement Mod 1.0 - Loading screens, Battle HUD, and Main Menu
Just a heads-up! I tried your mod and was impressed. As per your permission policy, it will be included in the Ottoman : Total Overhaul Mod with all due credits to you !