I was just wondering if it is at all possible to add more post processing for people that have good computers and don't mind the performance hit. This is good, but I would download that in a minute.

You can do that with ENB or SweetFX, and it will be exaggerated in this mod. I would really like to avoid editing 6000+ files by hand again to tweak a little bit more out of it (and run the risk of people complaining that the textures look bad and don't fit the meshes).

What I may do is retex the first open world area (tundra) and the first dungeon block (catacombs) that pops from the first open world questgiver after town, and see what people have to say about just that part. If the response is overwhelmingly good, then I will start working on the entire game again.

Just what I've done so far is about 40 hours (maybe more) of work, and it would take that much to redo everything from scratch. Obviously, I'd like to pilot that on a smaller scale first, and then see what people think before re-doing everything.

I have uploaded a test file with an additional pass of processing. It's only good for about the first hour of the game (and only for the main world building textures) and excludes armor, character models, etc, but if there's interest in it, I may pursue it futher over time.

I think the best way to go may be to gradually go through and modify the files that get the most from being pushed through another round of processing because some of them start to look bad fairly quickly (mostly the small items). But, test the "overcooked" version, and give me some feedback, and I'll take it into consideration on how to move forward.

Whats the right order to load the textures A and B?? coz some textures dont load i guess... alot of same faces on character creation and paladin pet have no hands... mine mod is set like this

SynergiesMOD
Ench retex A
Ench retex B
Trochlight Essencials
Apocalypse MOD
Kikus addcional Fun

I actually have my load order inverted with the last on the list being the last loaded. This is anecdotal, as I believe the instructions actually say to put them in order of priority (highest to lowest) or something of that nature, but I noticed, through usage, that loading with the first (lowest priority) to last (highest priority) to be the way to do it. So, in your case, I'd put Kikus a the top and reverse them all to have Retex B, then A, then Synergies.

Let me know if that helps.

I think its work thx

Originally posted by Thoughtcrime:

I actually have my load order inverted with the last on the list being the last loaded. This is anecdotal, as I believe the instructions actually say to put them in order of priority (highest to lowest) or something of that nature, but I noticed, through usage, that loading with the first (lowest priority) to last (highest priority) to be the way to do it. So, in your case, I'd put Kikus a the top and reverse them all to have Retex B, then A, then Synergies.

Let me know if that helps.

Thoughtcrime....thanks for all the work you've put in. I'm relatively new to using TL2 mods, let alone understanding how they work so please excuse me if this sounds like a total noob question. I've used your mods A & B and they look fantastic. My questions are obliquely related to Thurok's above....and this is it:

When loading your texture mods and others (e.g. synergies, or mamba's core/extended, or whatever) mods how does one know which mods take priority (or where can I find clear, definitive guidlines)?

I know this isn't really your problem (and apologise if this breaks the discussion guidlines) but I'm having difficulty understanding some of the suggestions I find in the discussions (or more accurately the reasons why certain orders are suggested). They assume so much knowledge or simply don't even touch on issues such as load order and the reasons why......is it one of those things that one needs to actually be a dev/mod expert to get?

Any explanation or even a pointer to the right places to look would be appreciated.

Thanks for your efforts.

Honestly, Newman, I think you just have to guess sometimes. When I was actively playing TL2, my load order had the least important mod (to me) at the top, and the most important (like total conversions) at the bottom. I found that to be the most consistent way to avoid problems. It seems to me that the game starts at the top mod, loads it, and then goes down to the next mod, and loads it - overwriting files from the first mod if the next mod changed them.

That doesn't really make sense if you think of the load order as a priority system where the top mod is the highest priority and gets loaded last (which is what I think is implied, at least, by the instructions. But, I figured it out through trial and error when I noticed things changing and not working like they should by doing it the "right way".

I can't be 100% certain that I'm right, though. Maybe I was lucky, or maybe just oblivious to the fact that what I thought was working actually wasn't.

I know that's a pretty vague and confusing explanation, but it's the best that I could come up with. Searching for an answer didn't really help either - so I can only give you what works for me.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Your answer does elucidate the issue for me significantly. I had a feeling that what you say would be the case and to have someone knowledgeable confirm this helps.

I have just been playing your mods plus some of the others I mentioned (using orders along the lines you suggest just now, and everything seems to be working - and looking fantastic too BTW). It's funny you say "trial and error"....that was the name of the character I just made to test your stated load order!! (Trial Nerror) LOL!

Awesome work once again. Very pretty. I'll be sure to fav your mods immediately. Your work deserves recognition.

I didn't answer your question very well, Newman, after re-reading it. The way you set your load order is in the Launcher. When you select the "Gear + >" (play with mods) button on the launcher, you get to select your mods that you're going to play with. You can have up to 10 selected. Once you select them, they move to the list on the right side of the launcher window, and that's where the order comes in to play. On that right side window, you order the mods, and I put the most important mods (the ones that I want to override other mods) to me on the bottom of that list, and the least important (the ones that I want to use if nothing else does) on the top.

So for example, if I had a mod that changed the drop rate of items from monsters and I also had synergies (which increases drop rates and adds some new items into the game), then I would put the drop rate mod higher in the mod list than synergies.

If I put it AFTER synergies, then the new items that were added in synergies might not drop, becasuse drop rates and loot lists are generated by pools of items that are flagged with certain categories. The lists that synergies uses have new items in them, so I want to make sure those lists are the last added to the game files.

What will happen with my game is that for any loot list that synergies DIDN'T change, then the Drop Rate mod's rules will apply. If synergies modified that list, then the rules from synergies will apply.

Let me give you a practical example:
In game, there is are two chests. Chest A, and Chest B. In chest A, there are 3 items from DROPRATE_LIST_1. These items can be any weapon, armor, or potion. There's a 30% chance to drop a Legendary Weapon.

In chest B, there can be up to 5 items, of any type, we'll call it VANILLA_LIST_1. (droprate mod didn't change this list).

Synergies mod has added an item to VANILLA_LIST_1 in their mod (NEW_ITEM_GEM). Anywhere that Vanilla_List_1 appears in game (in any chest that has been assigned that loot list), the Synergies NEW_ITEM_GEM can drop, but it cannot drop from Chest A, because Droprate's list is being used there.

Now, if you put syergies AFTER droprate mod in your load order, then syergies will overwrite Chest A's loot rules (if we assume that the synergies developer made his mod change ALL chests to VANILLA_LIST_1 to make sure that his item might be in any chest in the game).

I know that is very confusing explanation (and not exactly correct because there are lots of variations and precautions that modders can make,etc) to make sure that mods are compatible, but I'm trying to give a straightforward - even if sloppy explanation to the how & why.

I'd recommend watching some tutorials about Skyrim or Oblivion modding, (especially load order videos) because that community has some really in depth tutorials about mods and mod compatibility. Torchlight 2 works in a similar way.

Wow Thoughtcrime!

I know these things can be a bit more complex than a layman like myself can grasp immediately; I was raised in an IT programmer/business family and frequently had to listen to gripes about 'techies'/'coders' having poor written and verbal communication skills but if that's what you call a "sloppy" explanation then you're well on your way to a very high income bracket (if you're not already there). "Crystal clear" would have been closer to the mark!

That's given me more than enough insight into the mechanics of how these mods are used and loaded to tinker around with it myself. If that text was simply cut and pasted into a thread high up on the list of mod related discussions and put in caps, then I wouldn't have had to bother you.

Once again, thank-you very much for your creative efforts and thoroughnes. Best of luck to you!

I think your logic might be flawed in regards to Load Order / Priorities. I am pretty confident that it has been confirmed numerous times that the top mods have the highest priorities and the lower mods do not.

The way it works, to my understanding, is as in Top mod adds files, subsequent mods that are loaded after this mod and have the same files have those files ignored (not overwriting top one).

A good example is Salan and his mods. He advises to run SynergiesHIGHLOOT as a mod loaded (prioritized) *ABOVE* SynergiesMOD in the load order so that GLOBALS.dat from SynergiesHIGHLOOT with the higher drop rate values in the file is loaded first and then the one from Synergies that has the lower drop rate values within GLOBALS.dat is loaded after and therefore has that file ignored since the game has already loaded it from a previously-loaded mod (SynergiesHIGHLOOT).

@Roalith, that is a good logical answer to what, in my case, was a practical observation - if I put certain mods lower in the load order (assuming those had a lower priority), then the files edited by that mod wouldn't load. Either way, what I found to work was to put mods I cared less about higher in the order. I've tried it the other way (to prioritize higher in the order with putting syergies first), but then I found that many other mods wouldn't affect my gameplay environment. This may be due to how comprehensive Salan's edits are, or how the load order works, but, in the end, if I put synergies last (with highloot and retex right above it), it would work. If I didn't, it wouldn't. The goal was for it to work, as intended by the modders, so I went with what worked. Directions unclear...game stuck in the loading screen.

I have been doing the exact opposite for a year now....For example my load order would be Combine Them All > SynergiesHIGHLOOT > SynergiesMOD > others to make sure that nothing can overwrite those 3, and that those 3 get loaded in that order so as to get the full benefit from each. Your take on this is interesting to me because I am sure that there is a FAQ or Runic post in a modding tutorial or forum post that fully explains that you want your more important mods first. Will edit in a link if I can find it shortly!

@Roalith, I know I've seen it the way you say because I initially started doing it that way (I think it might be on the GUTS Wiki), but after some experimentation, I just found that some mods would NOT work that way - especially when using max # of mods, so I just did some whack-a-mole trial and error stuff, and got it to work my way. Now, it's probably wrong, but it works, which is why I suggested it in the case of the person who couldn't get their textures to display properly.

I certainly wasn't offering a "correct way of doing things" solution, but a workaround that might work if the normal way wasn't.

:D. That's one of the things I love about modding. Usually get unintended side effects.