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*** THIS MOD IS OFFICIALLY ABANDONED

NEW MOD: AESTHETIC CINEMATIC GAMEPLAY RELEASED ***
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@Soviet Sakura
thank you :)

***Update on the overhaul mod's progress:
i hope to being able to release a first beta version of the mod soon. ETA: 1-2 weeks***

hope its come out soon i like your mods

@A_BloodyVanguard

please also note that i am not updating ACG anymore because i am working on a bigger overhaul mod that includes ACG + more. Until i finished that new project i won't update ACG anymore. Compatibility with other mods may be outdated at the moment. You will have to try and test it yourself at the moment.

I will provide a complete compatibility list again for the new mod once i finished working on it :)

@A_BloodyVanguard
ACG and ASB rework graphics differently. ACG is a much bigger mod and is more like a whole overhaul for everything regarding graphics and spacebattles. ACG also included some parts of ASB (+ reworked them with permissions). So there are some similarities but also some very significant differences f.e. ACG also rescales a lot of assets, ACG uses more subtle and less saturated colors, ACG edited also other graphics than ASB etc.

I would recommend to try ASB or ACG separately and look what you prefer.

Regarding Epic Explosions: there are custom explosions in ASB and ACG (ACG included ASB death animations). Hence i would not use Epic Explosions with either ASB or ACG

The Mod "Amazing Space Battles" (by Chickenhunt) is not in the (Non-) Compatibility Thread. I think they don't work together because both improves the Battlegraphics!? And the Mod "Epic Explosions" (by Chondrite) works together too?

***Information: ACG and ACG Submods won't be updated anymore. I am working on a new mod that will be released after the "Federations DLC and Update" which should be released late 2019***

Hey man! Stick in there, we're all waiting patiently for your next update and looking forward to it.

@Ajey ok, take your time. :)

@nbirkelbach it's still a work in progress and some things i still have to develop or think of in more details. hence some things and ideas may be changed until the release, so i don't want to tell too much. once i am in a later stage of development i will share more information. so far i only want to tell that the new overhaul project will be based and build upon the graphical ACG gameplay experience and i am trying to add more content/variation and flavor to the game :)

@Ajey Thanks for your work, and good luck with the new project :) Maybe you can tell us already something about us?

@nbirkelbach thank you for this comment.

I am currently working on a new mod for stellaris which will replace all ACG and related mods. Until i release this new mod, i will keep this mod online as long as it's working for you guys :)

As i only can say for me: so far everything is working with this mod and the new luncher

Hi! i am currently looking for some motivated modders to work on a bigger stellaris overhaul project with me. My goal is to add much more flavor and content to ship components, new technologies incl. individual graphics. F.e. giving pirates their own weapon graphics and animations. Same for FE and other crisis. Expand components and tech further in late game and doing all of that by building on the Aesthetic Cinematic Graphics experience. I want to create a consistent, bug free, balanced and high quality gameplay experience.

I am basically looking for anyone who would like to join such a project and is willing to help me. Especially helpful would be someone who already tried and liked Aesthetic Cinematic Graphics and who likes to design new >>> icons <<< for new ship components and technologies but everyone else is also welcome to help me. If you are interested PM me at discord or Steam - thank you :)

@Ajey
I appreciate the response, I downscaled to 2.3, so, I'll let you know if my game blows up. I just desperately wanted to finish my long game, but if that's not feasible; It is what it is. Just sucks. But, none of this is your fault, so keep up the good work my man.

@Nerull
i am afraid ACG is not compatible with 2.3.* anymore since i had to implement some 2.4.* specific adjustments to the mod that will probably cause bugs if you don't use the current 2.4.* version of stellaris.

Sorry, if this has already been asked or hashed out. But, is this 2.3 Friendly? Thanks for all your hardwork man

*** News (for Real Space users):
Real Space has separated their system rescaling from the main mod. Therefore Real Space 3.4 is now fully compatible with ACG. I have removed the old ACG RS Comp patch from the workshop. You do NOT need to use any compatibility patch anymore for ACG + RS to be compatible with each other!

BUT if you use Real Space System Scale mod please use this new compatibility patch for RS + RS System Scale + ACG ***

@Revenant_Duck

Thank you so much for the positive feedback! It's always a pleasure to read if someone likes Aesthetic Cinematic Graphics! Although i want to mention that Chickenhunt (author of ASB) did a great job with his mod(s) and i am super happy that Chickenhunt allowed me to implement and modify a lot of his assets for and into ACG. So you will basically find some of his work here as well - just combined with a lot of other modders great works included some of my own :)

@Gm_Kaiser (part 2)

2. In my opinion scaling is not absolute but mostly relative to your zoom level. I added more than 25! zooming steps compared to only a few steps in vanilla. Of course if you zoom out, ships get tiny. But on the other hand at the highest zoom level of ACG you can make even a corvette big enough to fill your whole screen. In my opinion that's necessary if you want to keep immersion.

3. I am sorry if you don't like my rescaling but i prefer it that way and i simply want to share how i like to play stellaris myself. I use a mouse with a mousewheel to quickly switch between zooming levels and so far this is working great for me. Did you try that? :)

@Gm_Kaiser (part 1)

thank you for your feedback. I know some people prefer bigger scaling and maybe some time in the future i will provide a different scaled version of ACG but that's no simple task cause it would require to modify almost all my files and require basically to work on two mods at the same time once i did it.

Although frankly i have no plans of doing that anytime soon also for other reasons than the amount of work that would be needed for doing so:

1. Ships as big as planets or stations simply doesnt feel immersive or cinematic to me. And if you want to have some level of immersion and watch a really cinematic space battle, i think some rescaling is needed. Consequently zooming becomes important.

@Ajey, yea, I'm running this with a save and ships still look really tiny. I just like the effects but don't like how small even the battleships get.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/id/Gmer_freak/screenshot/780737616251879254

I understand I can zoom in to look at specific ships, but I don't want to have to always mess around with that just to watch a battle. Your effects are great, which is why I wish there was a part of this mod that didn't re-scale stuff.

I just tried Amazing Space Battle and this mod back to back to compare, and man I gotta say: I really do prefer this mod's more subdued, less cartooney aesthetic. Plus the integration of Downscaled ships makes my life easier.

Just thought I'd show some appreciation. Keep up the good work!

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IMPORTANT: LOAD ORDER
the new launcher has messed up the load order of mods. In order for ACG to work as intended make sure to use the following load order system by dragging mods into the right position :

1. Z Other mods from workshop
2. Y Other mods from workshop
3. X Other mods from workshop
4. .. W-A Other mods from workshop
5. Aesthetic Cinematic Graphics
6. !Aesthetic Cinematic Graphics Expansion
7. !ACG ... Compatibility Patches and Submods
8. !!ACG AI

=> ACG and ACG Submods should be at the lowest mod position of your launcher's mod list!

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***Fixed bugs due to 2.4 update***

***NSC 2 Compatibility Patches have been abandoned and deleted. ACG was always optimized and made for SCX (Ship Combat Expanded) and no other mods that add new ship classes.

I am sorry but i don't have time to provide compatibility patches for NSC2 anymore => NSC2 was added to the incompatible mods list***

***Updated for 2.4 + new launcher***

@Gm_kaiser (part 2)

Apart from that i implemented far more advanced camera zoom levels. So even though ships are generally smaller you can zoom in way more and with far more different zoom steps to make the zooming experience smoother than in vanilla. So thanks to the new zoom levels you can basically enlarge each ship up to the point where it takes the full screen :)

@Gm_Kaiser (part 1)

no there is not. Rescaling for better immersion is a key part of the mod and includes rescaling of a lot of graphical assets and effects beyond ships. In my opinion ships should not be almost as big as planets or stations. Besides i can not simply exclude some scaling effects, too many assets are connected to each other.

I know ships appear especially tiny when you only look at corvettes and destroyers at the beginning. But once you get cruisers/battleships and Carriers/Dreadnoughts (if you use SCX) ships are getting bigger as well. That's why i always recommend to test the mod with a save game prior to a space battle to see how it really looks in mid/late game.

Is there a version of this mod that doesn't make the ships so small?

@Ajey Haha np, always happy to help the community :)

*** Update: added new ship explosion effects when ships die

Full credit goes to: Chickenhunt's new "Amazing Space Battles" mod. Thank you @Chickenhunt for letting me use those assets for ACG and thank you for all your great work, kindness and help you are always willing to provide! If you guys want to support his mod or ACG, consider donating to him (i do not take donations) :)

Note: like i wrote before ACG is not compatible with "Amazing Space Battles"-mod but i implemented some of Chickenhunt's work into ACG. For further compatibility please check the compatibility thread***

i've assumed as such, just wanted to double check since his update. when i found your mod, i found the package more appealing months ago and turned all those off in favor of this! even though i barely understand everything- it's a much better workaround then my former setup

@Sorypsi (part 2)

If you got more questions regarding compatibility i would ask you to post into the compatibility thread and i also recommend to read the compatibility thread and the features thread first before posting questions (i provided a lot of information there).

Finally i would recommend to try ACG alone for a testrun and load a save game with a battle. You will see how comprehensive ACG already is and that you probably dont need many other graphical mods for space battles anymore. You can also compare ACG to other graphical mods by running such a test run and decide what you like best. I hope that helps :)

@Sorypsi (part 1)

ACG is a comprehensive graphical overhaul that adds some of the features that Chickenhunt used in his mods (incl. his new "Amazing Space Battles" mod) plus a lot of my own reworks and additions. The difference is that i did not add all his assets and that i also added my own assets and reworked some of his assets.

Both mods are not compatible since there would be overlapping and also the size of his assets in game doesn't fit into the resizing of ACG for better immersion.

Regarding "More Particles" and "More Particles Lite" you won't need those mods and they are not compatible with ACG since in ACG all particles are already made visible.

so is this compatible with Amazing Space Battles, formerly known as "Improved Projectile Graphics?" and thinks like More Particles Lite

@Golinth
no, there is not. But
1. i implemented higher zoom levels. Hence in space battles you can zoom in way more far than in vanilla. You can basically enlarge a ship to the extent to fill your whole screen if you zoom in far enough.
2. ships will get larger later on, when you start building Cruisers/Battleships and/or Dreadnoughts/Carriers (if you use SCX f.e.)

Is there any way to increase the ship size? I love all the other changes, I just want to see my ships without zooming in a ton!

@I_RuBiiX_I Have you tried zooming in?

@ I_RuBiiX_I
i am sorry if you don't like it. Nevertheless thank you for your opinion and feedback :)

@Sacri

I just tried to explain how things are connected to each other for better understanding. I am always happy to read feedback and comments! So don't worry, i didn't think of your comment as negative. Nonetheless thank you for clearing things up and thank you for your feedback in general! ;)

@Ajey Thanks for explaining, I appreciate it. Also, I just want to make sure you know my comment was in no way meant to be negative about your mod. If anything, I love seeing mods such as this. It's just a personal thing that I don't want balance changes in my game for the sake of graphics. ;)

@Sacri (part 2)

If on the other hand i would forbid myself any changes that go beyond the gfx part then battles would mainly look like vanilla with some minor changes. Battles would never look the way they do now. In my opinion you have to get the full picture.

If you prefer a mod that does purely graphical changes, try other graphical mods and watch the difference in battles. I don't know any other mod or combination of mods that makes battles look like ACG does and i need to touch some values beyond gfx to get this result :)

@Sacri (part 1)
thank you for your comment. I understand that you think that way. Although in my opinion it's not reasonable nor possible to split the graphical and balancing part from each other for such a graphical overhaul project as ACG.

F.e. if you want to see some shield hit effects, i have to touch some values for shields. If you want to see cinematic and immersive battles, i have to adjust the range, scale, speed and behavior of ships. And if i do the previously stated changes i have to take account for their consequences in order to keep the game balanced. I only tried to improve the balance of the game for the consequences of changes that i made on the graphical side of things. All other changes on stats are purely done for graphical purposes.

Love the work you put into it, but I was expecting a purely graphical mod. You call this a 'graphical overhaul', but in reality it rebalances combat mechanics pretty significantly as well. Even outside combat, balancing changes are made.

Would love to see a clear separation between graphical changes and balancing changes, because I really don't want any balance changes in my game. But that might be a bit much to ask. Haha. Anyway, keep up the amazing work for the modding community :)

@明明灭灭

1. Please use the Bug Report Thread to continue the conversation

2. the sav file is located in "Documents/Paradox Interactive/Stellaris/save games" and i need it to load your save game and see what you see i.e. your issues. You can send this sav file by uploading it on any free uploading website on the internet f.e. " www. mediafire .com"

3. in order to avoid any misunderstandings regarding mods you use, i would ask you to provide a list of mods you use with links to the mods on the steam workshop. You can create a collection of mods f.e.

Thank you :)

Forgive me for not being very good at English. I usually check mod's introduction through translation software.
You said it was an archive, right? How to send it to you?
Regarding mod I use, can I copy and paste their title names for you?

@明明灭灭
thank you for your comment! I didn't run into such issues that you mentioned. So in order for me to take a look into your issues, i would ask you to post your sav. file (save game file) with a download link into the Bug Report Thread .
Please also attach a list of all mods you used for this sav. file. So i can take a look in game into your file and see what's causing issues for you. I will try my best to help you. Thank you :)

When I click on a galaxy, the focus always jumps to the middle of the galaxy, and it's very close.
I hope to click on a galaxy to see the galaxy's global perspective.

With this mod, I opened the previous game archive and found that there was a transparent sphere above some planets, like a planetary shield, but it was separated and located directly above the planet instead of enclosing the planet.