[Mayhem 3] Backgrounds Pack - 50 new Skyboxes
Home Page: https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=432009
Terracorp Outer Border Expansion Cycle No.42 - Final Report:
"Aborted 1,327% of all cycle 42 terraforming missions. Exploration Zones are now designated as reservation for Commonwealth species. Terran law code 871 enacted. Active and inactive terraforming assets still in the area."
Summary:
- Adds 50 new backgrounds for Mayhem 3's galaxy generation
- includes seamless panoramic views and full 360° nebula formations which enclose entire sectors top to bottom
- re-enabled 8 IEX backgrounds which were present in Mayhem 2, but did not make it into Mayhem 3
- new concept of weighted background usage during galaxy generation. Certain backgrounds are rare.
- customizable
The download archive contains:- the TEZ.cat/.dat X3 game files
- a "custom_backgrounds.txt", which is the sector ID list for Mayhem 3's procedural galaxy generator
- a "template_TBackgrounds.txt", which is required since Mayhem 3.9 and it's Mayhem graphics pack version 2 (customizable fog and dust particles)
Installation:
- extract the archive into your main game folder (x3 terran conflict), NOT the addon folder
- go to x3 terran conflict/addon and rename "TEZ.cat" and "TEZ.dat" files so that both get the highest cat/dat number (fake patch method).
- create your Galaxy like normal
!!! Each Mayhem update will override "custom_backgrounds.txt" and "template_TBackgrounds.txt". After updating Mayhem 3 you have to replace both with my custom files again before creating a new galaxy. You don't have to do this if you update and then continue playing in a galaxy which has already been created using my file.
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Mayhem 3 uses skyboxes from LU and the IEX project. But there is not much variation. A lot of LU's backgrounds are just recolored variants. This lead to certain background styles getting spammed during galaxy generation. IEX backgrounds are still part of the original Mayhem 3 graphics pack, but most are not used by the Galaxy Generator.
If you don't count all colored variants, then Mayhem 3 actually only uses 29 unique background styles. Which is not very much for a galaxy with 200 or more sectors. This mod aims to touch that up a bit. Now there is a fair chance that specific backgrounds don't appear even once during a single game.
The idea is to increase visual variety and that you can occasionally stumble across a really unique looking sector. I generally opted for a certain fantasy vibe over realism. These are the Outer Border Galaxies after all. But this style might not be for those of you who like X3 especially for it's more subtle space scenes. If you're unsure i recommend that you check some of the new backgrounds out before starting a new game (see below).
Potential issues:
- Suns: I didn't touch suns at all. Some dark themed sectors may get very bright suns. Bright looking sectors could get low sun intensity. Suns could be placed in locations which just look wrong or similar lighting issues. Nothing i can do about it. Mayhem 3 galaxies are random.
How to check the backgrounds out:
- launch X3, start a new game with the galaxy editor, create a new galaxy
- open your sector map and click on the arrows to scroll through all background ID's. You can also hover your mouse over the ID number to simply type a new one and hit enter.
- 0-81 are standart Mayhem backgrounds from LU and IEX (not all are used). 82-131 are new backgrounds from this pack (all used)
How to disable certain backgrounds:
- Mayhem 3's Galaxy Generator simply looks at the background ID list in mayhem_data/custom_backgrounds.txt and picks a random number. These are the ID's from the galaxy editor.
- i rebuilt this textfile from scratch. It now uses a weighted background selection. Some backgrounds have duplicate ID entries, which makes them more common than others.
- you can increase spawn chances or even disable backgrounds you don't like by adding or removing their ID entries in mayhem_data/custom_backgrounds.txt
- right now unique original Mayhem backgrounds without recolored variants got 4 ID entries (high chance to appear during galaxy generation).
- Mayhem backgrounds with recolored variants got 1 or 2 entries for each color variant. So the overall background style is still very common, but it doesn't get spammed in different colors as much as before.
- reenabled IEX backgrounds (ID: 2, 3, 12, 17, 18, 21, 26 and 28). Most of them are rare with only 1 entry each. A few are uncommon with 2 entries.
- new backgrounds from this pack without color variants are mostly rare with 1 ID entry. A few are uncommon with 2 entries.
- new backgrounds from this pack with color variants got 1 entry (generally up to 3 color variants).
Credits:
Special thanks to XenonArchitect07 for helping me to create a new skybox sphere object with equirectangular texture.
Thanks to Joubarbe for providing the template file which is required since Mayhem 3.9
Permissions:
Feel free to reuse or change any part of this mod. The download only includes content which was created from scratch.
Этот мод уже интегрирован в пакете X3 ModPack
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