Wednesday, May 30, 2012

[Risen 2] Dynamic Torch Light Shadows

This mod enables shadow casting for the torch item light.

Version 1
- enables shadow casting



Version 2
- enables shadow casting
- increases light range (+50%)
- changes light color (more yellow than orange) / less flickering




Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?dbl1u7qvrrhc619

Extract the .zip file and copy either DynamicTorchLight_v1 or DynamicTorchLight_v2 to the following directory:
%localappdata%\Risen2\Config\ , f.e. C:\User\MyName\AppData\Local\Risen2\Config\
You can only use version 1 or 2 but not both at once.

Keep in mind that the additional dynamic shadow casting light causes a performance impact of ~10-20%.





Credits: NicoDE

Monday, May 14, 2012

[Risen 2] LoD Distance Mod

This mod does increase the LoD distances of all objects and prefabs (=grouping of single objects) in the game. Except speedtrees that are already covered by Baltrams AntiWarp Mod.

I tried to find suitable LoD values to keep the performance impact quite low. This means that I didn't just crank up the distances as much as possible. Besides I took the size (small/mid/big) and occurrence (outdor/interior) of all objects into account.
According to my testings the FPS loss is less than 5%.



Download:

Packed Version

http://www.mediafire.com/?0033p79ri828df4
Use this one with the latest patch.

Download the .zip and extract the file templates.p01 into the common folder of your Risen 2 installation.
This is by default C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\risen 2\data\common


Unpacked version

http://www.mediafire.com/?uxze8ag8284657q
Use this one if your game is not (yet) patched.

Download the .zip file and extract all including files to the following directory:
%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Risen2\Config\ , f.e. C:\User\MyName\AppData\Local\Risen2\Config\ (Windows Vista/7)
C:\Documents and Settings\*User Name*\Local Settings\Application Data\Risen2 (Windows XP)




Screenshots









 Performance stats

Puerto Isabella, 45sec. run Average Minimum Maximum
no mods, ini tuning 40.7 32 56.7
LoD Distance Mod 40.1 (-1.6%) 32 55.3
Average FPS of 3 runs



Antigua, 45sec. run Average Minimum Maximum
no mods, ini tuning 44.7 31 61.7
LoD Distance Mod 43.4 (-3%) 30.3 60
Average FPS of 3 runs

Sunday, May 13, 2012

[Risen 2] No POM Mod *Update*

A new version of this mod is available now. It's based on modified parent materials and does provide a slightly better performance as the previous version.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?6a5lxbecab34ebn

Instructions
Download the .zip file and extract the materials.p00 file to the common folder of your Risen 2 installation.
This is by default C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\risen 2\data\common\

I recommend to delete the ximg files of the previous version from your AppData\Risen 2\Config folder. Though this is not mandatory since both versions are compatible.


Performance stats:

Average Minimum Maximum
original 36.9 29.5 48.5
No POM Mod (previous version) 39.6 31.5 51.5
No POM Mod (new version) 40.3 33 52.5
60 sec. run at Takarigua that covers both, forest and town areas. Average FPS of 2 runs. 

[Risen 2] Crosshair Mod v1

This mod does change the crosshair size, color and shape of both the musket and shotgun.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?wadi889gt2ckspd

Instruction: Download the .zip file and extract the included file to the following directory:
C:\User\*UserName*\AppData\Local\Risen2\Config\ (Windows Vista/7)
C:\Documents and Settings\*User Name*\Local Settings\Application Data\Risen2\ (Windows XP)

Screenshots:


Video (musket): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW_I0NqxkcM

Thursday, May 3, 2012

[Risen 2] No POM Mod (FPS improvement)


 New version available!


This modification will remove Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM) from all terrain materials. POM is a quite expensive technique (though Risen 2 uses a simple implementation with only a few samples and no self shadowing) which won't be disabled even with lowest graphic details settings. I highly recommend using this mod on slow machines that can hardly run Risen 2 at smooth frame rates. The FPS improvement is between 5-20%.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?uuf5jjfcuc0vtuw

Instructions
Download the .zip file and extract all including files to the following directory:
C:\User\*UserName*\AppData\Local\Risen2\Config\  (Windows Vista/7)
C:\Documents and Settings\*User Name*\Local Settings\Application Data\Risen2\ (Windows XP)

Many thanks to Baltram for the r2ximg conversion tool.

Comparison
screenshots with POM enabled (left) and disabled (right).