Download HERE for Better Mountains II v3
Download HERE for Better Mountains II v1 (for pre-Charlemagne patches)
Current supported patches:
All patches from the most recent [2.6.3] to Rajas of India [2.1.1]
This mod alters CKII's topology file to reduce the overall height of the land and make the mountains more aesthetically-pleasing. In the base game the mountains are based on an actual Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and although the land height is realistic, it doesn't look nice. The mountain ranges appear as big, sort of ugly humps and many provinces are difficult to see due to strange elevation quirks (eg. the north coast of Spain is obscured by Cantarbia).
In the mod I have redrawn by hand the entire topology.bmp file to make most of the land flat or nearly flat. In the foothills the land rises slightly, and then gives way to dramatic snowy mountains which are somewhat shorter than the big humpy mountains of vanilla CKII. Crucially, these mountains are also jagged and 'high-res', turning the rolling hills of vanilla into forbidding and rugged landscapes. Many of the mountains are incised with deep valleys and canyons, pockets of flat land surrounded by high slopes. These are quite prominent in the Atlas mountains and in Iran.
This mod DOES NOT attempt to move the mountains or add new ones in more realistic places. The new topology.bmp file is based on the existing terrain.bmp file (the land height and the amount of snow/grass/rock are governed by different files). So if you notice that a mountain range is missing in X province or there's too much snow in Y, that problem's on the base game's end, not mine.
The effect is rather difficult to see in screenshots, because it's 3D of course. I've created a diagram to explain...
COMPATIBILITY:
This mod changes the following files:
This means that the mod does not affect gameplay at all, and should be compatible with the vast majority of mods that do not change any files in the /map/ folder. In addition, this mod is included in Painterly CK2 v3 and is definitely compatible with all other mods of mine.
CK2 PATCHES:
This mod was designed for CK2 with the Charlemagne patch (version 2.2) and should be compatible with any future patch as long as the map topology isn't changed dramatically (I hope they don't do Crusader Mings!).
Owing to the new snow gimmick, I've had to make a slight alteration the mod. None of the terrain is changed, but the normal map is more intense and steeper. If you don't like the change, you can still download the old version.
Goats not included in this mod either.
Version History:
Download HERE for Better Mountains II v1 (for pre-Charlemagne patches)
Current supported patches:
All patches from the most recent [2.6.3] to Rajas of India [2.1.1]
This mod alters CKII's topology file to reduce the overall height of the land and make the mountains more aesthetically-pleasing. In the base game the mountains are based on an actual Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and although the land height is realistic, it doesn't look nice. The mountain ranges appear as big, sort of ugly humps and many provinces are difficult to see due to strange elevation quirks (eg. the north coast of Spain is obscured by Cantarbia).
In the mod I have redrawn by hand the entire topology.bmp file to make most of the land flat or nearly flat. In the foothills the land rises slightly, and then gives way to dramatic snowy mountains which are somewhat shorter than the big humpy mountains of vanilla CKII. Crucially, these mountains are also jagged and 'high-res', turning the rolling hills of vanilla into forbidding and rugged landscapes. Many of the mountains are incised with deep valleys and canyons, pockets of flat land surrounded by high slopes. These are quite prominent in the Atlas mountains and in Iran.
This mod DOES NOT attempt to move the mountains or add new ones in more realistic places. The new topology.bmp file is based on the existing terrain.bmp file (the land height and the amount of snow/grass/rock are governed by different files). So if you notice that a mountain range is missing in X province or there's too much snow in Y, that problem's on the base game's end, not mine.
The effect is rather difficult to see in screenshots, because it's 3D of course. I've created a diagram to explain...
COMPATIBILITY:
This mod changes the following files:
- topology.bmp
- world_normal_height.bmp
This means that the mod does not affect gameplay at all, and should be compatible with the vast majority of mods that do not change any files in the /map/ folder. In addition, this mod is included in Painterly CK2 v3 and is definitely compatible with all other mods of mine.
CK2 PATCHES:
This mod was designed for CK2 with the Charlemagne patch (version 2.2) and should be compatible with any future patch as long as the map topology isn't changed dramatically (I hope they don't do Crusader Mings!).
Owing to the new snow gimmick, I've had to make a slight alteration the mod. None of the terrain is changed, but the normal map is more intense and steeper. If you don't like the change, you can still download the old version.
Goats not included in this mod either.
Version History:
Code:
v3 (29/09/16)
- Re-uploaded for the sake of consistency, not sure whether there are any changes
v2 (21/10/14)
- Updated for Charlemagne
v1 (26/09/14)
- Initial release
Last edited:
