BFME2 & RotWK Widescreen and Triplehead Mods--Released

[GeneralAdmission]

My tweaks for WS and TH increase the camera to a level that gives enormous Hor+ and even Vert+ over the default settings in the game. The engine applies more Vert- the wider you go, but the mod compensates for it. See my TH comparison shots a few posts above.

[Mergatroid]

I would not consider this optimal for a single-screen setup, but for those of you hankering for a 'skycam' (one of you voted Higher! in the poll), this should float your boat. :wink:

:shock:
Yes please.
I would change my vote if I could (and I'm the one who voted for 500 :P).

Mergatroid-
Thanks for investigating the HUD issue. If nothing pans out it's not a huge deal. The camera tweaks I've done for surround users actually make the game worth playing, with a fantastic horizontal FOV in particular. Without the tweaks, the game would apply such a cut to the Vert res that it would be like the camera is only 30' above the ground. Which reminds me, I need to get a screenshot of that so I have it for the before/after comparison.

I haven't given up quite yet. I'm pretty sure there is a way to do it, I just haven't come across the correct file/files yet. At this point I'm just trying to find it so I can get the hud in the center screen and sized correctly for the TH users.

On a QA note: I played through the "Good" campaign on BFME 2 yesterday. The only map that had a problem was the one for the Blue Mountains mission, where you have to kill the dragon lord. I think it was mission 4. It was still at 300.
It was actually quite infuriating to play after doing everything else at 600 :).

[GeneralAdmission]

Thanks for testing the campaign maps, Mergatroid. I was most concerned about those because of the scripting and map customization they use. Glad to hear most work fine.

I checked out the Blue Mountain map. The camera is set to 600 like the others, so I will have to go through the map scripts and other settings to find the problem. I'd like to test the map myself, but I haven't played the campaign at all and I can't find any launch parameter or tweak that will allow me to load that map directly in the game. Do you have any suggestions? I don't have the time right now to play through the game to get to a certain point.

The screenshot I took of the Triplehead camera tweak running in 16:10 was from BFME2. I need to try it in RotWK and in more maps to see if it works across the board. Look promising, though.

[Mergatroid]

The only thing I can think of is that the camera gets confused due to 2 different terrain heights + caves. Try setting it to 900.

[GeneralAdmission]

The only thing I can think of is that the camera gets confused due to 2 different terrain heights + caves. Try setting it to 900.

I just now figured out how to run this map in the game without having to play the entire campaign. I will have to tweak it into submission, though, since it starts and then automatically defeats me :evil: ;).

I will try changing the camera height, though my guess is that if my first tweak from 300 to 600 didn't make a difference, then it's likely another setting/script somewhere in the map that is the culprit. There are other variables related to ground height, and this map uses a number of cutscene scripts at several points. I guess it's just back to the good old "eliminate the variables" troubleshooting method.;)

FYI--I added a little "Thank You" credit for you on the wiki page for the mod. :)

[drakino]

[quote]I am very curious as to why they would tie game speed to the framerate.

I have absolutely no knowledge in game programming BUT maybe it's to ensure max smoothness of the models' animations during the most epic-scaled battles. Maybe all animations in BFME2 were designed at 30 fps to begin with, and tied to the framerate so that when the game slows down, the game doesn't get choppy and always feels smooth and "cinematic". Unfortunately this also means that anything higher than 30 fps will make it all go "Benny Hill fast"...

I sure didn't remember the framerate was capped, hopefully it won't be too much of an eyesore when scrolling the map left and right at 3840x1024 :?

Thats actually probably a really good guess there. I don't know the specifics behind these games on the decision, but could see it as a valid reason. If the animations are set for 30fps, it means the animation code simply has to display one frame after another. This results in less CPU time, vs having to calculate out what animation frame should be active each frame. With an RTS, you could have many units on the screen, and calculating where the animations should be for all of them could be a large enough of a hit to slow things down. A steady framerate is usually better then having a high framerate that dips randomly.

[Mergatroid]

FYI--I added a little "Thank You" credit for you on the wiki page for the mod. :)

Thanks :)

I've run through both good and evil campaigns for bfme2 and the campaign + epilogue for rotwk and all of the rest of the maps work.

[GeneralAdmission]

@Mergatroid

:shock: Wow. You get the "maniac map tester" award. ;) :D I need to embellish that credit I gave you.

Glad to hear all the other maps work correctly. Blue Mountain is proving a pain in the arse! I managed to force access to it via the skirmish menu, but it played wonky and the graphics were messed up so that proved useless--except for the fact that the camera seemed to be at the correct height of 600. So I just knuckled down and started playing through the campaign so I could playtest it correctly. Got there earlier tonight and just like you my camera was stuck at sea level.

Now I need to find the problem. My gut is telling me it's in the scripting, though so far I haven't found it. I'll keep on the hunt while I work on the Triplehead version of the mod.

Many thanks again for your help!

[Mergatroid]

Just a random thought, but have you tried changing the "DefaultCameraMaxHeight" in gamedata.ini? The map may be forcing it back to the default somehow.

I doubt this will work, but it's worth a shot. I'll try it later tonight or tomorrow if I have time.

[GeneralAdmission]

Finally got Blue Mountain map fixed.

So after none of the camera settings I adjusted had any effect, I tried deleting the entire section of script for the opening cinematic. No effect.

Leaving the game running, I checked OpenedFilesView and saw that the game was not even accessing the Maps.big file during that map, but it did have several other .big files open. Guess what's inside _patch101.big: Blue Mountain. Changed the camera, reload, it works!

I'll add this to the next release. If you want to test it, here is the new .big file (backup the original first!):

[GeneralAdmission]

I tweaked the Argonath shellmap for BFME2 so it doesn't look so ridiculous in Triplehead (due to severe Vert-). Here is a preview:

[skipclarke]

Funny to hear water splashing, and not see any

[GeneralAdmission]

Funny to hear water splashing, and not see any

Yeah, the volume of the water surprised me a little, especially since I had raised the camera 200%. Maybe I'll try to drop the first shot down to river level so that the water and canoes are visible.

Of course, any Tolkien fan would know the Argonath stand over the Anduin River. ;)

edit
Changed the first camera shot. Now the shellmap is more diverse and 'cinematic'. :)

[Mergatroid]

Finally got Blue Mountain map fixed.

So after none of the camera settings I adjusted had any effect, I tried deleting the entire section of script for the opening cinematic. No effect.

Leaving the game running, I checked OpenedFilesView and saw that the game was not even accessing the Maps.big file during that map, but it did have several other .big files open. Guess what's inside _patch101.big: Blue Mountain. Changed the camera, reload, it works!

I'll add this to the next release. If you want to test it, here is the new .big file (backup the original first!):

Tested and confirmed working.

Did you change the other maps in the patch files (if there are any)?

[GeneralAdmission]

I found no other maps in the patch files, so I think I got them all, now.

Curiously, the patch.doc file in the game folder mentions nothing about Blue Mountain at all, not even under the 1.01 section. :? Oh well, it's fixed now and that's what matters.

Thanks for testing it on your system. Most appreciated, is your assistance. :)

BTW, whenever my daughter catches a glimpse of my screen and your avatar is visible, she yells out excitedly, "Puppet"! I hope you are ready for those heart-melting moments. :D

[Mergatroid]

GLEEEEEEEE!!!!!! :D

[skipclarke]

Have you posted new versions of the map packs?

[GeneralAdmission]

Have you posted new versions of the map packs?

Not yet. I need to add the fixed file for the Blue Mountain map and then re-upload. I was planning to do a little more map testing myself first to minimize the number of times I need to upload and "release" a new version.

[skipclarke]

No problem. Just checking.

[scavvenjahh]

Nice work on the shellmap, I knew you could do it ;)

The only drawback of playing with cam height at 600 is that you lose most sound effects... The engine is being a bit too clever at applying "distance fading" to sound sources. You have to zoom in quite a few to really live the battles. The most distant cam angle is like a tactical map, but you can't really play the game using only this bird's eye view, partly because micro-management is harder, but mostly due to the missing sounds imo.

But that just a thought, it sure is darn great to have this freedom of zoom, both in (crazy close-ups!) and out.

I'd love to see what the game looks like on one of those crazy 6-panel double TH2G setups :)