Posts from Mod that replaces textures.

I present to your attention my first texture mod.

A huge thank you to zahar0z for the file organization structure he developed, to L'Garold for LAA, and to Griffin Eternal HD for his textures
(in some cases, my knowledge of upscaling was not sufficient, and his works were used as a basis for future textures, in particular this one).
I also can't fail to mention black-hat and his mod for "uncanning" the Inquisitor from the tin can. In my opinion, the bald head looks better.
A separate thank you to psatkha for the guide on creating icons.

What has been done?

• The textures of all units in the game, as well as the default heroes, have been upscaled to 2048x2048.

• All textures have been repainted manually.

• The faces of the units were honestly "stolen" from a well-known MMORPG based on another well-known series of strategy games.

• For some units, the camera angle on the creature hiring screen has been changed.

• Orcs are now green; I don't know if anyone likes it more, but it's important to me.

• The hero's color scheme changes depending on the player's color; the changes affect not only the flag.

What is planned?

First of all, I plan to perform similar manipulations with the campaign heroes. Then I will move on to static objects and landscapes.

Screenshots

Mod + LAA patch

Cool, I need to check this out.

Excellent work! I really like it, but in my opinion, 2048x2048 textures for units are excessive; smaller textures with a good balance between size and quality would be sufficient.

Excellent work! I really like it, but in my opinion, 2048x2048 textures for units are unnecessarily large; you could use smaller ones, but with a balance between size and quality.

Well, a 2K texture with DXT3 compression weighs 4MB. That's not that much. The problem lies elsewhere. Textures that are too sharp, like chainmail, for example, start to flicker at a distance. So, there's still plenty of room for optimization and improvement.

Well, a 2k texture with DXT3 compression weighs 4MB. That's not that much. The problem lies elsewhere. Textures that are too sharp, like chainmail, for example, start to flicker at a distance. So, there's still plenty of room for optimization/improvement.

Are mipmaps used? They usually prevent flickering.

Are there mip-maps available? They usually prevent visual artifacts.

And here's the answer, by the way. I'll need to generate them for the next release.

Are there mip-maps available?

I also thought about that, but I foolishly assumed that mip-maps only affect grass and similar textures. I think that if we compress it to 1204 or a little less, and the 8888 compression format allows this without any problems, then we will achieve a golden balance.

The beginning seems decent, but in my opinion, the decision to redesign the Orcs to resemble those from World of Warcraft is not a good one. Also, the change to the Titans seems questionable; they now strangely resemble water elementals...

titans, which for some reason now resemble water elementals...

The idea was to run lightning through their texture. Maybe I overdid it with the blue.
And with the orcs - I just can't see the guys from the original as having cirrhosis. As one of the users aptly called them on the Russian wiki, "they're not orcs, they're mutants").

This mod is for those who use LA. Otherwise, you will experience frequent crashes.

A mod for those who use LA. Otherwise, you will experience frequent game crashes.

Yes, unfortunately, it's impossible without it. That's why I included it directly in the link.

Judging by the screenshots, there are some interesting ideas 😊👍. However, I suggest paying attention to the following points: 1. Many details are blurred. In this case, the point of using high-resolution textures is lost; you could create a more detailed image even with 1k textures and mipmaps. 2. The color saturation is too high, and it looks unnatural. In reality, the most vibrant colors do not exceed 80% saturation, unless they are luminous materials or "acidic" types of plastic/synthetics. If this helps with color selection, I can share a palette that I created for myself to avoid overthinking it.

The idea was to apply a lightning texture to them. Maybe I overdid it with the blue. 
And regarding the orcs – I just can't see the original guys as having cirrhosis. As one user aptly described them on the Russian wiki, "they're not orcs, they're mutants.")

In the fifth game, orcs are indeed mutants. Designed in the style of Mongolian nomads, they fit perfectly into the medieval setting for the location of steppes and semi-deserts.

In Warcraft, the orcs look unique, but here they would stand out like sore thumbs. More precisely, green ones.

If we don't delve too deep into the lore, the color doesn't really matter. But personally, I like darker green orcs, like in Heroes of Might and Magic III, or yellowish-green ones like in Battle Brothers.

In the fifth installment, Orcs are essentially mutants. Designed in the style of Mongolian nomads, they fit perfectly into the medieval setting for the steppes and semi-deserts.

Moreover, there is no consensus on the portrayal of Orcs across different settings. In Warcraft and The Elder Scrolls, they are depicted as ordinary green brutes. In Warhammer, they look like the Orcs mentioned above, but are actually fungi (!). Tolkien's (i.e., the original) Orcs are creations of Melkor, elves corrupted by dark magic, as Melkor himself could not create anything. They are also Goblins. "They (were or are) short, broad, with flat noses, yellowish skin, wide mouths, and slanted eyes," meaning they are definitely not green. In Might & Magic (before the games by Ubisoft), they are half-human, half-boar, characterized by their pig-like snouts. This image was very popular with the Japanese, and I constantly encounter it in anime and manga. In general, they are depicted differently, and there is no reason to adhere specifically to the Warcraft image, as it is not canon. In Ashan, as already mentioned, they are half-human, half-demons... In this regard, it is logical to depict something transitional – and the red (celestial) upgrade in the original Castle, in my opinion, fits perfectly into this image, something with spikes, clearly touched by chaos, but not as hideous as the creatures of Urgash. The other upgrades can also be explained, considering both the ongoing transformation and the original description of Orcs by Tolkien, which is surprisingly accurate.