Assassin's Creed (1, 2, Brotherhood): Workaround for skybox problem
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Your skybox no longer loads correctly for me. Somebody must have "fixed" something /crying.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':'(' />
Your skybox no longer loads correctly for me. Somebody must have "fixed" something /crying.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':'(' />

#16
Posted 09/04/2011 03:02 PM   
[quote name='rowan_u' date='04 September 2011 - 04:02 PM' timestamp='1315148579' post='1288422']
Your skybox no longer loads correctly for me. Somebody must have "fixed" something /crying.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':'(' />
[/quote]
Could You please specify what is exactly the issue (which game? AC1, AC2, ACB?).
[quote name='rowan_u' date='04 September 2011 - 04:02 PM' timestamp='1315148579' post='1288422']

Your skybox no longer loads correctly for me. Somebody must have "fixed" something /crying.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':'(' />



Could You please specify what is exactly the issue (which game? AC1, AC2, ACB?).

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#17
Posted 09/06/2011 02:44 PM   
Hey mate, was just getting back to ACB when I remembered your sky fix posted here.

I am confused about what I am to do to get it to work.

Is it a matter of copy replace files? Or do I need that texture mod program to do something with it first?

Also, is there a revised 'sky' file I need to download?



Cheers
Hey mate, was just getting back to ACB when I remembered your sky fix posted here.



I am confused about what I am to do to get it to work.



Is it a matter of copy replace files? Or do I need that texture mod program to do something with it first?



Also, is there a revised 'sky' file I need to download?







Cheers

#18
Posted 10/07/2011 09:03 PM   
[quote name='CamRaiD' date='07 October 2011 - 10:03 PM' timestamp='1318021436' post='1304851']
I am confused about what I am to do to get it to work.

Is it a matter of copy replace files? Or do I need that texture mod program to do something with it first?

Also, is there a revised 'sky' file I need to download?
[/quote]
Just download the tdf-files attached to my first post. Extract ACB_skies.tdf to a folder where You can find it later. Then search, download and install the program TexMod. Start TexMod, choose "Package Mode" and ACBSP.exe in the game's installation folder as "Target Application". If You can't start the game directly with this exe-file but only with the Ubisoft game launcher then You also need a "special version" of ACB that allows You to do that as the launcher prevents TexMod to work. Then click on the folder icon and browse for the extracted ACB_skies.tdf. With "Run" the game should start and the sky textures should be replaced.
[quote name='CamRaiD' date='07 October 2011 - 10:03 PM' timestamp='1318021436' post='1304851']

I am confused about what I am to do to get it to work.



Is it a matter of copy replace files? Or do I need that texture mod program to do something with it first?



Also, is there a revised 'sky' file I need to download?



Just download the tdf-files attached to my first post. Extract ACB_skies.tdf to a folder where You can find it later. Then search, download and install the program TexMod. Start TexMod, choose "Package Mode" and ACBSP.exe in the game's installation folder as "Target Application". If You can't start the game directly with this exe-file but only with the Ubisoft game launcher then You also need a "special version" of ACB that allows You to do that as the launcher prevents TexMod to work. Then click on the folder icon and browse for the extracted ACB_skies.tdf. With "Run" the game should start and the sky textures should be replaced.

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#19
Posted 10/08/2011 07:08 AM   
[quote name='3d4dd' date='06 September 2011 - 03:44 PM' timestamp='1315320243' post='1289323']
Could You please specify what is exactly the issue (which game? AC1, AC2, ACB?).
[/quote]

It's Brotherhood that isn't working anymore, the clouds are back floating a few inches from my face :( Thanks for all your hard work btw :)
[quote name='3d4dd' date='06 September 2011 - 03:44 PM' timestamp='1315320243' post='1289323']

Could You please specify what is exactly the issue (which game? AC1, AC2, ACB?).





It's Brotherhood that isn't working anymore, the clouds are back floating a few inches from my face :( Thanks for all your hard work btw :)

#20
Posted 10/08/2011 01:09 PM   
[quote name='rowan_u' date='08 October 2011 - 02:09 PM' timestamp='1318079355' post='1305134']
It's Brotherhood that isn't working anymore, the clouds are back floating a few inches from my face :(
[/quote]
Maybe there had been a patch that has changed the textures? I didn't make an update and it still works for me...
[quote name='rowan_u' date='08 October 2011 - 02:09 PM' timestamp='1318079355' post='1305134']

It's Brotherhood that isn't working anymore, the clouds are back floating a few inches from my face :(



Maybe there had been a patch that has changed the textures? I didn't make an update and it still works for me...

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#21
Posted 10/09/2011 12:38 PM   
Just picked this up as its now on sale at Amazon for $12 for the digital download version: http://www.amazon.com/Ubisoft-40589Brotherhood1-Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood/dp/B004NSVDCO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1318350065&sr=8-4

The skybox issue is there but not as troublesome as games like DA2 where you get double-image, so I probably won't replace the textures. I did notice that the dynamic self-shadows are messed up however. All in all reducing shadows to the lowest setting and turning off post-processing seems to fix most shadowing issues except for maybe blob-shadows, is anyone else able to get the shadows working at higher detail settings?
Just picked this up as its now on sale at Amazon for $12 for the digital download version: http://www.amazon.com/Ubisoft-40589Brotherhood1-Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood/dp/B004NSVDCO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1318350065&sr=8-4



The skybox issue is there but not as troublesome as games like DA2 where you get double-image, so I probably won't replace the textures. I did notice that the dynamic self-shadows are messed up however. All in all reducing shadows to the lowest setting and turning off post-processing seems to fix most shadowing issues except for maybe blob-shadows, is anyone else able to get the shadows working at higher detail settings?

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#22
Posted 10/11/2011 04:23 PM   
[size="6"]Assassin's Creed Revelations[/size]
The game suffers (at the moment?) from the same (and even more) issues like it's antecessors.
I was lucky to discover with uMod a software that allows You to replace textures also in games You have to start with a game launcher (this wasn't possible with TexMod). It is easy to handle and You can find download and instructions here: http://code.google.com/p/texmod/wiki/uMod
I used method 1 (global hook) for my attached texture mod ACR.zip with effort. It is important that You switch to uMod and update (reload) ACR.zip during the start screen (message "press enter" or "press start"). If the ACR savegame is already loaded and You load ACR.zip afterwards then some textures aren't replaced any more. I recommend to save the settings for ACR as a template and choose it standard template. So ACR.zip is automatically loaded when You start uMod and then the game.

My mod offers an hotfix for the following issues (see my comparison images here http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/3d4dd/album/4ed7ea03378501ad200000d1/):
- the special sky for 3DVision is still at the wrong deph. So I removed the cloud textures as the wrong depth is not as noticable if You have a cloudless sky. You still have atmospheric effects like dust or dawn. I also left the sun's halo as it looks like a lens flare effect and doesn't disturb when it is placed at screen depth. If You don't have problems with the sky here is a special version of the mod that doesn't replace the cloud textures:[attachment=30249:Dust_Occlusion.zip]
- removed the dense layer of smother that covers almost every scenery and is rendered in 2D at screen depth. I didn't remove smoke and dust effects that are rendered correctly in S3D. I also left the textures for the smoke bombs although they are 2D - but they are important for the gameplay.
- removed the irritating dark spots on the ground that likely represent ambiant occlusion of the characters and the grime produced by exploding bombs

As a side effect of the mod the contrast in the loading screens is reduced but I couldn't notice this effect in gameplay scenes. IMPORTANT: turn off post effects in the graphic settings! Otherwise You will get artefacts in the cut scenes. I also used maximum settings for texture quality.
uMod is still beta and I had 2-3 accidental crashes of the game but I don't know if it was the fault of uMod or the game itself.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to remove the stars with uMod and .dds textures. If You can't ignore them during night time then You can hide them using the function described in "Save textures from a game" ([url="http://code.google.com/p/texmod/wiki/uMod"]see[/url]). Turn on "save single texture", choose 0 0 0 for font and texture RGB colour, the desired hotkeys and a save path (as You actually don't want to save textures it doesn't matter which path You choose). Then switch back to the game and hold the hotkey for "next". Now You can see that different textures are replaced with black colour. Hold the hotkey until the stars disappear. If You hold the hotkey too long press the hotkey for back to catch the stars. It's a kind of reaction test - so another minigame in ACR /wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

uMod can also be used to remove the ambiant occlusion blobs in AC2 and ACB. See the updated post above!

If You have direct comments or questions about my texture mod post them here.
The general discussion about ACR You can find here: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=217120

Update: Attachment removed as a patch fixed the issues!
Assassin's Creed Revelations

The game suffers (at the moment?) from the same (and even more) issues like it's antecessors.

I was lucky to discover with uMod a software that allows You to replace textures also in games You have to start with a game launcher (this wasn't possible with TexMod). It is easy to handle and You can find download and instructions here: http://code.google.com/p/texmod/wiki/uMod

I used method 1 (global hook) for my attached texture mod ACR.zip with effort. It is important that You switch to uMod and update (reload) ACR.zip during the start screen (message "press enter" or "press start"). If the ACR savegame is already loaded and You load ACR.zip afterwards then some textures aren't replaced any more. I recommend to save the settings for ACR as a template and choose it standard template. So ACR.zip is automatically loaded when You start uMod and then the game.



My mod offers an hotfix for the following issues (see my comparison images here http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/3d4dd/album/4ed7ea03378501ad200000d1/):

- the special sky for 3DVision is still at the wrong deph. So I removed the cloud textures as the wrong depth is not as noticable if You have a cloudless sky. You still have atmospheric effects like dust or dawn. I also left the sun's halo as it looks like a lens flare effect and doesn't disturb when it is placed at screen depth. If You don't have problems with the sky here is a special version of the mod that doesn't replace the cloud textures:[attachment=30249:Dust_Occlusion.zip]

- removed the dense layer of smother that covers almost every scenery and is rendered in 2D at screen depth. I didn't remove smoke and dust effects that are rendered correctly in S3D. I also left the textures for the smoke bombs although they are 2D - but they are important for the gameplay.

- removed the irritating dark spots on the ground that likely represent ambiant occlusion of the characters and the grime produced by exploding bombs



As a side effect of the mod the contrast in the loading screens is reduced but I couldn't notice this effect in gameplay scenes. IMPORTANT: turn off post effects in the graphic settings! Otherwise You will get artefacts in the cut scenes. I also used maximum settings for texture quality.

uMod is still beta and I had 2-3 accidental crashes of the game but I don't know if it was the fault of uMod or the game itself.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to remove the stars with uMod and .dds textures. If You can't ignore them during night time then You can hide them using the function described in "Save textures from a game" (see). Turn on "save single texture", choose 0 0 0 for font and texture RGB colour, the desired hotkeys and a save path (as You actually don't want to save textures it doesn't matter which path You choose). Then switch back to the game and hold the hotkey for "next". Now You can see that different textures are replaced with black colour. Hold the hotkey until the stars disappear. If You hold the hotkey too long press the hotkey for back to catch the stars. It's a kind of reaction test - so another minigame in ACR /wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />



uMod can also be used to remove the ambiant occlusion blobs in AC2 and ACB. See the updated post above!



If You have direct comments or questions about my texture mod post them here.

The general discussion about ACR You can find here: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=217120



Update: Attachment removed as a patch fixed the issues!

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#23
Posted 12/02/2011 10:53 AM   
Awsome work!!

looks really good now with a clear blue sky and all the "fuzzy" sand is gone.... but... i still get the damn annoying blobs under all the characters??

I loaded as u described with uMod and followed u by the letter - but still the blobs are there.

Any suggestions?

(Im talking about AC revelations ofc)
Awsome work!!



looks really good now with a clear blue sky and all the "fuzzy" sand is gone.... but... i still get the damn annoying blobs under all the characters??



I loaded as u described with uMod and followed u by the letter - but still the blobs are there.



Any suggestions?



(Im talking about AC revelations ofc)

#24
Posted 12/02/2011 04:27 PM   
Thank You for Your feedback!
I realised why removing the blobs worked for my (compare these images: [url="http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/3d4dd/image/4ed7eac737850117570000ce/"]blobs[/url] and [url="http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/3d4dd/image/4ed7eb023785017237000071/"]no blobs[/url] ) but not for some of You. The reason is the fact that the "texture" responsible for the blobs is not a normal texture like the textures for clothing, buildings, clouds etc. but a kind of an effect filter that covers the whole screen. So the size and checksum of this "texture" determined by uMod depends on the actual resolution You use. With 1680x1050 the responsible texture is called ACRSP_T_0XF3585EF3.dds, with 800x600 it is called ACRSP_T_0X35842F2C.dds. This means: You have to identify the "texture" responsible for the blobs depending on Your game settings by Yourself.
To do this follow the instructions for "Save textures from a game"/ "save single texture" on this page: http://code.google.com/p/texmod/wiki/uMod
I recommend to place Ezio near to a group of people where You can see very obviously the blobs on the ground. Then press the chosen hotkey for next or back until the blobs disappear (You will need some patience as there are at about 500 textures You have to switch trough). Be sure that only the blobs disappear. Everything else should look normal. So if the ground itself turns green You don't have marked the right texture. If You have catched the blobs press the save hotkey and have a look at the folder You have set as save path. There should be a large dds file that causes irfanview to crash with a decoding error when You want to open it. If the file contains normal ground textures like cobbles etc. then You have catched the wrong texture and go on searching. If You have found the right texture note the name of the file (e.g. ACRSP_T_0X3684262C.dds). Extract from the attached zip file blob_fix.dds and rename the file blob_fix.dds to the name You have noted (e.g. ACRSP_T_0X3684262C.dds). Then copy this file into my zip-folder ACR.zip You used for uMod. Now this texture is loaded with the other modded texture files and should remove the blobs aslo in Your game.

For AC2 and ACB it is the same procedure. Place Your dds file in AC2_shadow_fix.zip or ACB_shadow_fix.zip.
Thank You for Your feedback!

I realised why removing the blobs worked for my (compare these images: blobs and no blobs ) but not for some of You. The reason is the fact that the "texture" responsible for the blobs is not a normal texture like the textures for clothing, buildings, clouds etc. but a kind of an effect filter that covers the whole screen. So the size and checksum of this "texture" determined by uMod depends on the actual resolution You use. With 1680x1050 the responsible texture is called ACRSP_T_0XF3585EF3.dds, with 800x600 it is called ACRSP_T_0X35842F2C.dds. This means: You have to identify the "texture" responsible for the blobs depending on Your game settings by Yourself.

To do this follow the instructions for "Save textures from a game"/ "save single texture" on this page: http://code.google.com/p/texmod/wiki/uMod

I recommend to place Ezio near to a group of people where You can see very obviously the blobs on the ground. Then press the chosen hotkey for next or back until the blobs disappear (You will need some patience as there are at about 500 textures You have to switch trough). Be sure that only the blobs disappear. Everything else should look normal. So if the ground itself turns green You don't have marked the right texture. If You have catched the blobs press the save hotkey and have a look at the folder You have set as save path. There should be a large dds file that causes irfanview to crash with a decoding error when You want to open it. If the file contains normal ground textures like cobbles etc. then You have catched the wrong texture and go on searching. If You have found the right texture note the name of the file (e.g. ACRSP_T_0X3684262C.dds). Extract from the attached zip file blob_fix.dds and rename the file blob_fix.dds to the name You have noted (e.g. ACRSP_T_0X3684262C.dds). Then copy this file into my zip-folder ACR.zip You used for uMod. Now this texture is loaded with the other modded texture files and should remove the blobs aslo in Your game.



For AC2 and ACB it is the same procedure. Place Your dds file in AC2_shadow_fix.zip or ACB_shadow_fix.zip.

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#25
Posted 12/03/2011 10:52 AM   
Works perfect now - all blobs gone:))

Thx 3d4dd!
Works perfect now - all blobs gone:))



Thx 3d4dd!

#26
Posted 12/03/2011 12:12 PM   
Eerrr... umod is hard when you cant window the game!(managed though)
But the blobs are now greyish coloured....is that normal?
My main issue though is the shadows during cutscenes - turned off post effects (didn't notice difference) but shadows on characters look glitchy and squared!

Any help?

ps thanks for the effort - you beat ubisoft and nvidia hands down!
Eerrr... umod is hard when you cant window the game!(managed though)

But the blobs are now greyish coloured....is that normal?

My main issue though is the shadows during cutscenes - turned off post effects (didn't notice difference) but shadows on characters look glitchy and squared!



Any help?



ps thanks for the effort - you beat ubisoft and nvidia hands down!

#27
Posted 12/06/2011 02:25 AM   
Thanks 3d4dd! I kept the clouds, as they don't bother me, but removed the blobs as per your instructions. For the most part the game looks great now! Unfortunately I have had a good amount of crashes since /thumbsdown.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':thumbsdown:' /> I really wish Ubi would get their act together and help the s3d community out a bit.
Thanks 3d4dd! I kept the clouds, as they don't bother me, but removed the blobs as per your instructions. For the most part the game looks great now! Unfortunately I have had a good amount of crashes since /thumbsdown.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':thumbsdown:' /> I really wish Ubi would get their act together and help the s3d community out a bit.

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#28
Posted 12/06/2011 05:39 PM   
'But the blobs are now greyish coloured....is that normal?'
'shadows during cutscenes '

Any help redcube ? Anyone? Are the blobs completely off? And why does umod say hashtag bla.. when I update files?
'But the blobs are now greyish coloured....is that normal?'

'shadows during cutscenes '



Any help redcube ? Anyone? Are the blobs completely off? And why does umod say hashtag bla.. when I update files?

#29
Posted 12/06/2011 05:58 PM   
@deathorb:
The blobs should be completely off. Are You sure You catched the right texture? If You select the blobs with uMod to detect the appropriate filename for Your screen settings the blobs should already become completely invisible.
If You get an error message from uMod when You update the textures then there seems to be something wrong. Usually there is no message. Perhaps You should ask the developer of uMod for support.
The self-shadowing in the cutscenes isn't based on textures so it can't be removed using uMod. I simply turn off S3D during the cutscenes. As they are only at about 5% of gameplay time it doesn't bother me too much.
@deathorb:

The blobs should be completely off. Are You sure You catched the right texture? If You select the blobs with uMod to detect the appropriate filename for Your screen settings the blobs should already become completely invisible.

If You get an error message from uMod when You update the textures then there seems to be something wrong. Usually there is no message. Perhaps You should ask the developer of uMod for support.

The self-shadowing in the cutscenes isn't based on textures so it can't be removed using uMod. I simply turn off S3D during the cutscenes. As they are only at about 5% of gameplay time it doesn't bother me too much.

My original display name is 3d4dd - for some reason Nvidia changed it..?!

#30
Posted 12/07/2011 08:47 AM   
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