Aliens: Colonial Marines was a game that let down a lot of gamers and fans of the franchise. And modder ‘TemplarGFX’ decided to mod it in order to improve it in every possible way. Or at least as best as he could.
TemplarGFX has released the TemplarGFX’s ACM Overhaul that improves the game’s AI, Gun Play, Materials/Lighting and sports a number of bug fixes. Going into more details, this mod reprograms and rebalances Xeno AI, Human AI, Weapon Mechanics, Ballistics, Animations, Shaders, Particles, Decals, Lighting, and engine features to get the best out of the game possible.
Regarding the visual changes, TemplarGFX had this to say:
“Basically there are 3 changes I have made to the game engine itself.
Materials: All materials used by all the objects in the game control how Shiny they are, how reflective they are, how emmissive (glow in the dark) they are, and how bumpy (normal mapping) they are. EVERY one has been reconfigured to not have completely unrealistic settings (like specular power 30 + specular scale 8 + specular contrast 4) so now everything is shiny in a much more realistic way
Shaders: All shaders used by all the objects in the game have been reworked to correctly (shocking stuff) apply normal maps, diffuse maps, specular maps and detail maps to objects. Now that textures are actually used correctly, alot of objects look MUCH better. Normal detail tiling has been increased and reflective surfaces look better through increased reflection map size
Particles: All particle emitters have had the LOD levels for consoles and long distances replaced with the in-your-face uber detail LOD level for each emitter. This means fire a few hundred feet away from is just as detailed as it is when your standing next it. Same with Sparks, Smoke, Steam, Water, Rain, Blood, Acid, Drool, Goop and Fog/Dust.”
Those interested can download the mod from here.
Have fun everyone!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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