Download HERE for Painterly CK2 v4
Download HERE for Painterly CK2 v2 (for patches before Horse Lords [2.4.1])
Current supported patches:
All patches from the most recent [2.6.3] to Charlemagne [2.2.1]
What’s this about?
Painterly CK2 is a Crusader Kings 2 mod project that aims to change the art style of the game’s main map from a realistic ‘google earth’ style to one that matches the dramatic event images and loading screen paintings. The mod has two primary goals:
- Make the map as nice to look at zoomed in as it does zoomed out
- Give the map some real atmosphere and feeling
What’s been changed?
Currently, the mod replaces the existing, mostly photograph-based terrain textures with beautiful original artwork. Most of these textures were hand-painted with a graphics tablet and many hours of work went into them. The mod also provides them all with new normal maps created using professional tools, and each texture is fully-tiled, no nasty seams. I’ve also tried to keep visible repetition to a minimum, or at least at the same level as exists in the vanilla game.
The new textures make the map look a bit nicer in the zoomed-out ‘map’ view, but they really excel when up close. The originals looked rather odd and boring when zoomed-in, but in the new ones you can see every brush-stroke and detail. This makes playing as a count, duke or other small ruler much more interesting, since your realm no longer looks like grassy Teletubby land!
The mod also replaces various other textures with new, tablet-painted versions. The biggest change is to the files that control the lighting and shading of the map. Paradox used a modified satellite image for this, which fits the map’s realistic style. However, in Painterly CK2 these files have been completely repainted. The changes are somewhat subtle, but the result is dramatic. Poland and Lithuania become lands of brooding dark forest, the home of the Old Gods, and the Sahara is now a sandstorm-shrouded, red desert of death. The British isles are divided between the green and pleasant farmlands of England, and the dark crags and hills of the Irish sea, home to Vikings and pirates. By contrast the southern lands of the Mediterranean are light and lush, they really feel like a populated, civilised place compared to the north. I have also re-painted the shading of the ocean. The existing image did use a north-south gradient, but the new painting is considerably darker. The stormy northern seas of the Atlantic feel very different to the less hostile waters of the Mediterranean, but the sea has lost some of its exaggerated blueness and feels more ‘real’. The water also has a new normal map as well, in addition to new reflections and a (possibly unused) diffuse texture.
The version released on 27/09/2014 makes big changes to the above-mentioned colourmap files. The terrain colourmap is no longer entirely hand painted (unfortunately I couldn't get the same kind of feel as the old one), but the new shading and colouration on it is. So there are still red deserts, dark forests and sunny Mediterranean climes. The sea colour-map is more interesting now as well, with lots of different-tinted seas. Muddy rivers, green shallow seas in the north, turquoise tropical waters, black, icy ocean depths and a Red Sea that's actually red (due to wind-blown sand).
In short, rather than mundane green rolling pastures, the map has much more of an ‘Old Gods’ atmosphere. This is set in the dark ages after all, and I want it to feel like that too!
Finally, there are a host of other changes. For example the mod contains new terrain map, which adds a lot more farmland and somewhat alters the positions of hills in some areas. And the mod includes my Better Mountains II mini-mod, which completely re-draws the shape of the mountains, making them lower and somewhat more rugged.
Future changes?
This is a working mod fully ready for release. But it is also an ongoing project and I would like to make some changes in the future.
-Compatibility with other big mods
-Custom font (if I find a nice legible one)
-Better texture for the steppe?
Update: As of 29/09/2016 this project is mostly on-hold and will be focused on patch compatibility at most. I no longer have access to some of the software I use, so sadly it's difficult to do much with this.
How do I install the mod?
Same as any other mod:
1. Download the 7zip file
2. Extract the contents to SteamApps/common/crusader kings 2/mod
3. Tick the box in the CK2 launcher and play!
Is this compatible with other mods?
Currently, it is compatible with mods that don’t change the terrain.bmp or topology.bmp, or any of the files in the /map/terrain folder. However, some of the bigger mods (eg. Lux Invicta, The Prince and the Thane) do change the terrain.bmp file, especially if they change the map itself.
FAQ
Q: There’s some sort of bug/error, can you resolve it?
A: Just post it here in the thread to discuss it with everyone and we can see what can be done.
Q: I’ve got a significant slowdown with the game, is the mod the problem?
A: No, shouldn’t be. The mod doesn’t increase texture resolutions or do anything that would increase processing time, and I’ve tested it and not noticed any problems.
Q: Such and such is wrong/historically-inaccurate, can you fix it?
A: Depends what it is. Bear in mind that the mod is about improving the atmosphere of the game, not historical/geographical accuracy, so that needs to take a second place compared to what looks ‘good’. And before you ask, moving Sicily would be a very big job.
Q: Can I use your mod in such-and-such?
A: Please PM me the details
Q: I really like your work! Can you work on our mod team/do something for me/marry me?
A: Thanks! Please send details by PM. For the latter, no matrilineal, count ranking or above only, high diplomacy or intrigue skills please.
Q: Does this mod affect gameplay?
A: No, or rather, not really. Changing the terrain.bmp file added a few more patches of hills in some areas, but this means a minor combat penalty there and doesn’t affect the gameplay in a major way at all. Plus I’m sure nobody minds having the Welsh slightly more effective at defending their lands due to the presence of slightly more hills, right?
Q: There are tiny sandy bits near the coast and in some of the rivers when I zoom out! Help!
A: This is due to the Better Mountains II minimod. This mod made the terrain model much flatter outside of the actual hill/mountain areas, meaning that there is less of a gradient up from the sea floor. This in turn means that the LoD (level-of-detail) terrain model that is displayed when zoomed out appears slightly different, with some areas that stick out of the water by about 1 pixel. The Vanilla map has this problem with some of the rivers too, but less visible (due to the sand texture being a darker colour and due to the river sides being steeper). I want to fix this, but it’s not really a priority ATM. If it bothers enough people though I will go after it.
NOTE: This is mostly fixed as of v4.
Download HERE for Painterly CK2 v2 (for patches before Horse Lords [2.4.1])
Current supported patches:
All patches from the most recent [2.6.3] to Charlemagne [2.2.1]
What’s this about?
Painterly CK2 is a Crusader Kings 2 mod project that aims to change the art style of the game’s main map from a realistic ‘google earth’ style to one that matches the dramatic event images and loading screen paintings. The mod has two primary goals:
- Make the map as nice to look at zoomed in as it does zoomed out
- Give the map some real atmosphere and feeling
What’s been changed?
Currently, the mod replaces the existing, mostly photograph-based terrain textures with beautiful original artwork. Most of these textures were hand-painted with a graphics tablet and many hours of work went into them. The mod also provides them all with new normal maps created using professional tools, and each texture is fully-tiled, no nasty seams. I’ve also tried to keep visible repetition to a minimum, or at least at the same level as exists in the vanilla game.
The new textures make the map look a bit nicer in the zoomed-out ‘map’ view, but they really excel when up close. The originals looked rather odd and boring when zoomed-in, but in the new ones you can see every brush-stroke and detail. This makes playing as a count, duke or other small ruler much more interesting, since your realm no longer looks like grassy Teletubby land!
The mod also replaces various other textures with new, tablet-painted versions. The biggest change is to the files that control the lighting and shading of the map. Paradox used a modified satellite image for this, which fits the map’s realistic style. However, in Painterly CK2 these files have been completely repainted. The changes are somewhat subtle, but the result is dramatic. Poland and Lithuania become lands of brooding dark forest, the home of the Old Gods, and the Sahara is now a sandstorm-shrouded, red desert of death. The British isles are divided between the green and pleasant farmlands of England, and the dark crags and hills of the Irish sea, home to Vikings and pirates. By contrast the southern lands of the Mediterranean are light and lush, they really feel like a populated, civilised place compared to the north. I have also re-painted the shading of the ocean. The existing image did use a north-south gradient, but the new painting is considerably darker. The stormy northern seas of the Atlantic feel very different to the less hostile waters of the Mediterranean, but the sea has lost some of its exaggerated blueness and feels more ‘real’. The water also has a new normal map as well, in addition to new reflections and a (possibly unused) diffuse texture.
The version released on 27/09/2014 makes big changes to the above-mentioned colourmap files. The terrain colourmap is no longer entirely hand painted (unfortunately I couldn't get the same kind of feel as the old one), but the new shading and colouration on it is. So there are still red deserts, dark forests and sunny Mediterranean climes. The sea colour-map is more interesting now as well, with lots of different-tinted seas. Muddy rivers, green shallow seas in the north, turquoise tropical waters, black, icy ocean depths and a Red Sea that's actually red (due to wind-blown sand).
In short, rather than mundane green rolling pastures, the map has much more of an ‘Old Gods’ atmosphere. This is set in the dark ages after all, and I want it to feel like that too!
Finally, there are a host of other changes. For example the mod contains new terrain map, which adds a lot more farmland and somewhat alters the positions of hills in some areas. And the mod includes my Better Mountains II mini-mod, which completely re-draws the shape of the mountains, making them lower and somewhat more rugged.
Future changes?
This is a working mod fully ready for release. But it is also an ongoing project and I would like to make some changes in the future.
-Compatibility with other big mods
-Custom font (if I find a nice legible one)
-Better texture for the steppe?
Update: As of 29/09/2016 this project is mostly on-hold and will be focused on patch compatibility at most. I no longer have access to some of the software I use, so sadly it's difficult to do much with this.
How do I install the mod?
Same as any other mod:
1. Download the 7zip file
2. Extract the contents to SteamApps/common/crusader kings 2/mod
3. Tick the box in the CK2 launcher and play!
Is this compatible with other mods?
Currently, it is compatible with mods that don’t change the terrain.bmp or topology.bmp, or any of the files in the /map/terrain folder. However, some of the bigger mods (eg. Lux Invicta, The Prince and the Thane) do change the terrain.bmp file, especially if they change the map itself.
FAQ
Q: There’s some sort of bug/error, can you resolve it?
A: Just post it here in the thread to discuss it with everyone and we can see what can be done.
Q: I’ve got a significant slowdown with the game, is the mod the problem?
A: No, shouldn’t be. The mod doesn’t increase texture resolutions or do anything that would increase processing time, and I’ve tested it and not noticed any problems.
Q: Such and such is wrong/historically-inaccurate, can you fix it?
A: Depends what it is. Bear in mind that the mod is about improving the atmosphere of the game, not historical/geographical accuracy, so that needs to take a second place compared to what looks ‘good’. And before you ask, moving Sicily would be a very big job.
Q: Can I use your mod in such-and-such?
A: Please PM me the details
Q: I really like your work! Can you work on our mod team/do something for me/marry me?
A: Thanks! Please send details by PM. For the latter, no matrilineal, count ranking or above only, high diplomacy or intrigue skills please.
Q: Does this mod affect gameplay?
A: No, or rather, not really. Changing the terrain.bmp file added a few more patches of hills in some areas, but this means a minor combat penalty there and doesn’t affect the gameplay in a major way at all. Plus I’m sure nobody minds having the Welsh slightly more effective at defending their lands due to the presence of slightly more hills, right?
Q: There are tiny sandy bits near the coast and in some of the rivers when I zoom out! Help!
A: This is due to the Better Mountains II minimod. This mod made the terrain model much flatter outside of the actual hill/mountain areas, meaning that there is less of a gradient up from the sea floor. This in turn means that the LoD (level-of-detail) terrain model that is displayed when zoomed out appears slightly different, with some areas that stick out of the water by about 1 pixel. The Vanilla map has this problem with some of the rivers too, but less visible (due to the sand texture being a darker colour and due to the river sides being steeper). I want to fix this, but it’s not really a priority ATM. If it bothers enough people though I will go after it.
NOTE: This is mostly fixed as of v4.
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