Looking really great. :up:

I love this, I find everything so nice that I actully go to the bridge every few days just to look, no more camping in the map room for 50 days for me :)

The days of creeping are over. You probably played other environmental mods, can't imagine playing without something other than the stock graphics, they are quite putrid.

Great mod Caustic! The fog is a little much though. Any chance you could get it closer to TMO's settings? Light fog, is very thin, and you can still make out the horizon, although just barely.

Lookouts can still see ships up to about 7000 yards max, and you can see them too, although they are onlt silouettes.

Love the colors for water and atmospherics, and the clouds and patterns.

Almost have to make seperate versions for the different mods though.

Thanks, It's nice to have one centralized mod. Personally, I really love the heavier fog where enemies can sneak up on you. Perhaps you could post some screenshots of the effect you are discussing and I could possibly implement it somewhere. I have not yet began to modify the environmental files due to the work involved and the exceptional results that occured just by focusing on the scene.dat. My knowledge base is also somewhat limited but i'm still learning.

It would be nice to have a completely new environmental mod but there is already tons of variety out there in this mod and other mods alike. I wonder if you can genuinely create something unique, particularly the water mechanics which cannot be made to look more aesthetic than they currently are. However....Lighting, fog, and ocean color are things that can be greatly customized and possibly improved.

Nice work on your mod Caustic. Like you mentioned, I wonder how much further an environment mod could be taken than already exists. Work on such a mod began with the great Leovampire (Dave) and his LBO mod, the files of which are still available. After his untimely passing a few years ago, Kriller took up the torch and continued his work. W Clear began work on another fantastic mod, which I believe is incorporated in TMO. Somewhere down the line as time went by, Kriller and Clear combined efforts, and the result, I believe is what is used in RFB. All the time, actual Pacific seascapes were used as references for water color, and appearence at different times of day. I think at this time we have reached a zenith of environmental development due to game limitations.

I figured out a way to greatly innovate the mod that allows for a unique appearence not featured in other environmental mods. The next update should be bigger than the last two combined as I'm deviating from the stock environment even more by using custom textures(For Ocean,Sky +More!) and sounds. ISE could possibly become a standalone environmental mod but i'm still using the stock sky and ocean colors at this time. Some early screenshots of my work.

Stock SH4 1.5 + Improved Stock Environment v2.1
http://screenshot.xfire.com/s/123241698-3.jpg
http://screenshot.xfire.com/s/123242601-3.jpg

I agree that everything in this mod looks great. I especially like how you've toned down the water colors and kept the cloudy underwater look. My only complaint, just like Hylander, is that the fog is a bit too much. Would it be possible to make a version that matches the fog settings in TMO and one standalone for those who like your new fog settings?

I'd rather make one version with intermediate fog settings, a mixture of both per se. When you mention fog, you mean surface fog? Just to clarify...
I was testing the fog effects earlier and it's possible to see the silhouettes of ships from long distances but if the time of day is perfect, the fog looks less transparent.

Thank you Caustic! I can understand your point about just having one mod.

I asked, because this is what Ducimus has on his TMO page first post,

COMPATIBILITY:

Quote:
Trigger Maru is not compatible with any large modpack, to include enviromental mods.

The reason for envirornmental mod incompatability, has to do with how he has the sensors set for ships, subs, and aircraft.

So I'm guessing, you would have to compare files, and then change the settings in your files to corelate with TMO's settings.

If you get a chance to contrast and compare, and wish to, I would use it for sure! Just to mx things up a bit from the same old, same old.

I know that this mod is compatible with TMO and RFB because it only changes the scene.dat and a few shaders and textures. Try it out at least, the only way to know if there are issues is if someone extensively tests the mod. You will know immediately if the AI sensors are messed up. Sorry to sound harsh but this mod is not designed to be used with TMO so don't expect me to take the time to ensure it is 100% compatible.

That's cool. Yes I did use it, and just am used to what TMO offers is all.

This next version will be better than the TMO environment. Fog improvements on the way aswell.

:arrgh!:

Sadly things are not as easy as that ...

The sensors work in part with the amount of environmental light that the game renders each moment (Specially at night, as mods with pitch black nights require much more sensitive settings to prevent the crew from being "blind"), so making an environment with different light/contrast, etc levels will indeed affect the visual sensors, making them either see better or worser.

We will need to see how nominal the effects are in-game, this mod will work with the stock game and RSRDC for sure as these mods rely on stock lighting conditions, which are featured in the mod.

Sorry, yes I meant surface fog.

That's correct, any install that had not customized sensors (Unlike TMO, RFB, FOTRS, etc) will be perfect for your mod. :up:

I'm still not ready to say it's incompatible with the supermods until someone reports serious problems.

:)

That's why I was asking if you were going to make a supermod campatable version. The fog setting have my deck crew blind as bats day or night unless it's absolutely clear.

Sucks to hear vessels in light haze / fog, and not be able to engage them because you can't see them.

That's what Hitman is pointing out. The sensors for the different supermods, modify how the crews from ships and planes see things. If you stray from their settings, if snafu's the efforts of the modders.

The only thing I can say, is compare your settings to that of the supermods, and make adjustments accordingly, or really, the only ones who will be able to enjoy it are those who strictly play stock, which I haven't done in over 5 years now.

Anyways, I still like your colors and other tweaks, even if it's just for a change of pace.

Stock can be modded alike, the game is especially decent when using RSRDC(As is TMO+RSRDC) among other things but now i'm going off-topic. TMO is alright but it was more enjoyable back in the day, for some reason...mabye it just got old. As for the mod, i'm too lazy and don't want to modify ship files so I'll probably just exclude the supermod people from the next release. Perhaps simply fixing the fog will go a long way in relieving the problem. If someone can point me in the right direction, specifying the settings of TMO and I'll start working on correcting the fog.