What is the best mod to improve graphical fidelity?

[lukeman3000]

I want to play through vanilla doom 3 again, but I'd like to do so with improved graphics. I've seen a lot of mods out there but I'm just wondering what the general consensus is of what the "best" one is as far as improving graphics goes.

 

I recently installed Perfected Doom 3 v5.0.0 and it is pretty cool, but there are a few things I don't really like about it (it makes some changes to the gameplay - some good some not so good in my opinion).

 

Also, is TDM still in the "beta" stage at this point, or is it largely finished? I'm just curious. I downloaded it today and am planning on playing it tonight -- looks awesome.

[nbohr1more]

Bar none, the best graphic mod for Doom 3 is Sikkpin's Test-5 shader mod:

 

http://www.doom3worl...pic.php?t=22822

 

But it will make even the mightiest Graphic Card cry for mercy.

 

As for a "sane" Doom 3 graphic mod, the most dramatic improvement will actually be to replace textures, and there are two Texture mods: Rygel's textures and This Project

 

Edit:

 

Oh, how could I forget Denton's Mod!

 

1) Decent graphic upgrade that doesn't ruin playability...

2) Great physics tweaks

3) Game-play otherwise unchanged.

Edited October 28, 2010 by nbohr1more

[Serpentine]

Just remember, some of the doom3 graphics mods will completely break TDM (as in black screen on start etc)

So, go play around and test them, maybe post some pics if things look good, but don't expect them to work or TDM to try fixing/supporting anything... not gonna happen.

 

In the next version there is a good chance (but no guarantee) that we will have HDR and some other things, so the future breakage chance is : amazingly high.

[lukeman3000]

Just remember, some of the doom3 graphics mods will completely break TDM (as in black screen on start etc)

So, go play around and test them, maybe post some pics if things look good, but don't expect them to work or TDM to try fixing/supporting anything... not gonna happen.

 

In the next version there is a good chance (but no guarantee) that we will have HDR and some other things, so the future breakage chance is : amazingly high.

 

So, do you guys have any experience with Perfected Doom? Doesn't it just mesh a bunch of mods together (hi-res textures included)? What are the differences between what it does for the graphics vs. those other ones you mentioned?

[nbohr1more]

From my recollection Perfected Doom uses an amalgam of shader mods, I was not aware that any textures were changed per se (perhaps height maps were added for Parallax Mapping).

 

Since the author keeps changing that mod I am not sure what it's current composition is.

 

As long as you don't apply these mods to the Base Doom 3 directory (or worse, directly to the darkmod directory) but instead have them in their own sub-directories they should not interfere with each other.

 

For example, I have the old Theifs Den demo installed (so I could try "Closemouthed Shadows" ) and changed the description.txt to differentiate it from The Dark Mod.

 

I just launch different Mods from the Mods menu in Doom 3...

Edited October 28, 2010 by nbohr1more

[lukeman3000]

From my recollection Perfected Doom uses an amalgam of shader mods, I was not aware that any textures were changed per se (perhaps height maps were added for Parallax Mapping).

 

Since the author keeps changing that mod I am not sure what it's current composition is.

 

As long as you don't apply these mods to the Base Doom 3 directory (or worse, directly to the darkmod directory) but instead have them in their own sub-directories they should not interfere with each other.

 

For example, I have the old Theifs Den demo installed (so I could try "Closemouthed Shadows" ) and changed the description.txt to differentiate it from The Dark Mod.

 

I just launch different Mods from the Mods menu in Doom 3...

 

Right, that's the same way I do it.

 

Interesting.. I thought that Perfected Doom did feature some sort of improved textures.. It's one of the top 10 most downloaded mods on doom3.filefront.com underneath the "extreme quality" mod which I tried to run but had problems with for some reason. Btw, I think "Rygel's" mod is the extreme quality one.

[nbohr1more]

Yeah, you can grab the textures from "extreme quality" and plunk them into a pk4 then place them in any mod you want from what I understand.

 

(I believe that the textures are named and pathed to directly map to the native definition files).

Edited October 28, 2010 by nbohr1more

[lukeman3000]

Yeah, you can grab the textures from "extreme quality" and plunk them into a pk4 then place them in any mod you want from what I understand.

 

(I believe that the textures are named and pathed to directly map to the native definition files).

 

Really.. would you mind elaborating on this or perhaps linking me to an applicable tutorial?

 

I have questions such as:

 

Where are the textures located in the folder structure?

How do I "plunk them into a pk4" (i assume i need some kind of software to do this?)

And how/where do I place that pk4 into a mod (in relationship to it's folder structure)?

 

I really like a lot of the gameplay changes in Perfected Doom; I wish I could combine the gameplay changes of Perfected Doom with sikkpin's mod and perhaps Rygel's hi-res textures.

 

Bear in mind these questions are coming from someone who has never touched modding in general much less Doom 3 modding. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

Edit: After browsing over the Perfected Doom 3 v5.0.0 changelog, it looks like what was done to the textures is that the heightmap values were raised (it does make a very noticeable difference). But it may infact not include high-res textures at least not for the majority of the textures in the game. I think there are a couple different textures here and there like for the shotgun and maybe an enemy or two, but nothing like what rygel is doing I believe.

 

I just want the best possible graphic experience that I can get out of Doom 3, so what would be the best mod, or best combination of mods to install?

Edited October 28, 2010 by lukeman3000

[nbohr1more]

A pk4 is really just a zip file renamed with a different extension.

 

The mods are really just mirrors of the folder structure of Doom 3 base.

 

If you extract the native Pk4's you'll see more detail about all the folders and hierarchy .

 

To make your own pk4 just create the folders that you want to override with custom stuff and place your content in them then "Send-To" a zip file and rename it pk4. Doom 3 reads the pk4's alphabetically so if you want to ensure that your files override the native ones make sure to name the pk4 something that starts with z. (like zzz_custom_textures.pk4).

[lukeman3000]

A pk4 is really just a zip file renamed with a different extension.

 

The mods are really just mirrors of the folder structure of Doom 3 base.

 

If you extract the native Pk4's you'll see more detail about all the folders and hierarchy .

 

To make your own pk4 just create the folders that you want to override with custom stuff and place your content in them then "Send-To" a zip file and rename it pk4. Doom 3 reads the pk4's alphabetically so if you want to ensure that your files override the native ones make sure to name the pk4 something that starts with z. (like zzz_custom_textures.pk4).

 

Ok, cool.

 

However, check this out:

 

Hi, I'm newly registered here(been downloading since ever). I just wanted to know, how to make it so i can use this mod with another mod that has a different gamex86.dll like maybe dentons enhanced doom 3. I really want to know cause i really wanna see the two mods being combined for like ultra glorious graphics with all those nice particle/decal/other enhancements. btw this mod is amazing when used with the ashikhmin/shirley interaction. I love using the HDR with the glare set to 9(either verticle or horizontal with spectral glare, dont remember). anyways let me know when you get the chance.

 

The only way is to merge the source codes together. So unless you are familiar with C++ it's not going to be easy. Just so you know, when I an finished and ready for an official release, there will be a bunch of other visual/gameplay enhancements along with the stuff I release in these tests. And, welcome to the board.

 

So it sounds like to me that what I am not wanting to do cannot be done, but it also sounds like sikkpin's official release is going to be off the chain.. Guess I'll just wait : )

Edited October 28, 2010 by lukeman3000

[lukeman3000]

Edit: Wow, sorry for the double post. That is pretty rookie of me

Edited October 28, 2010 by lukeman3000

[nbohr1more]

Mods with different DLL files cannot be usually be combined. One of DLL's must be deleted.

 

For example:

 

A Graphic mod that has a generic DLL that just contains minor game-play tweaks could be combined with another more significant Game-play mod by removing the DLL from the former.

 

A Graphic mod that is highly dependent on game code for certain effects could not be combined with another similar mod or a significant game-play mod.

 

Surprisingly, I was able to combine the Raccoon City mod with JC Denton's mod. This is probably because Raccoon City didn't play with physics or graphic tweaks too much.

 

Textures, Materials, Models, even GLProgs (vfp) can usually be mixed as long as there is no direct dependency on the DLL. Obviously if two mods call the same material definition for two different materials then one might override or conflict. But you would be surprised to find how modular these components are and how much can be mixed and matched.

Edited October 28, 2010 by nbohr1more

[lukeman3000]

Mods with different DLL files cannot be usually be combined. One of DLL's must be deleted.

 

For example:

 

A Graphic mod that has a generic DLL that just contains minor game-play tweaks could be combined with another more significant Game-play mod by removing the DLL from the former.

 

A Graphic mod that is highly dependent on game code for certain effects could not be combined with another similar mod or a significant game-play mod.

 

Surprisingly, I was able to combine the Raccoon City mod with JC Denton's mod. This is probably because Raccoon City didn't play with physics or graphic tweaks too much.

 

Textures, Materials, Models, even GLProgs (vfp) can usually be mixed as long as there is no direct dependency on the DLL. Obviously if two mods call the same material definition for two different materials then one might override or conflict. But you would be surprised to find how modular these components are and how much can be mixed and matched.

 

Yeah actually it appears as though you can combine the hi-res textures with sikkpin's hdr mod as I've been reading through the entire thread for the past couple hours and someone said it was possible..

 

Edit: The HDR mod by sikkpin is freaking awesome. Even without hi-res textures, it makes the game look INCREDIBLE

Edited October 29, 2010 by lukeman3000