9 replies to this topic

[Ganon]

So does anyone know just how much the engine was updated from the first BFME when EA made BFME2?

[Nertea]

I'm no expert, but I'll give this a shot... The main changes they made were to the graphics and pathfinding. Pathing stuff included allowing in-horde collision, improved wayfinding and improved the engine's ability to detect horde sizes. Graphics stuff was essentially just an update allowing the game to handle modern DX9 shaders, so allowing things like normal and specular maps. This changed the model format somewhat for things that use new shaders (mainly buildings). It also allowed them to add a new, better way of handling shadows on deformables. For some reason or other they also tweaked the animation format.

Of course, they added some new behaviours and changed the way the file structure is read, but nothing else really spectacular.

In other words, not much, but enough to change a few things for modders .

[Kwen]

They made BFME2 more user friendly for modding, you can mod right from a folder, rather then having to compile the mod into a .big to test each time.

[Nertea]

Mmm, you can mod from a folder, just a couple of the more critical files won't get read.

[Ganon]

Hmm... Interesting stuff, I was just wondering because to me it seems altogether better. I was thinking that sometime down the road, I might make a personal mod of bfme1 using bfme2's engine. Rather than trying to convert BFME2 to be similar to the first one, I would just replace everything. Yes, I know this would be a lot of work.

[Kwen]

Mmm, you can mod from a folder, just a couple of the more critical files won't get read.

Which in the end, makes it pointless.

[Lauri]

Hmm... Interesting stuff, I was just wondering because to me it seems altogether better. I was thinking that sometime down the road, I might make a personal mod of bfme1 using bfme2's engine. Rather than trying to convert BFME2 to be similar to the first one, I would just replace everything. Yes, I know this would be a lot of work.

Good luck on keeping that goal.. There are mods that seek to bring BFME1 into BFME2, but none does, afaik, leave it at that. They always add new heroes, units, factions, what-not..
Well, BFME1 to BFME2 is mostly just the castles and build-plots, so that's what I meant.. Taking that into BFME2 has been done

[Kwen]

Hmm... Interesting stuff, I was just wondering because to me it seems altogether better. I was thinking that sometime down the road, I might make a personal mod of bfme1 using bfme2's engine. Rather than trying to convert BFME2 to be similar to the first one, I would just replace everything. Yes, I know this would be a lot of work.

Good luck on keeping that goal.. There are mods that seek to bring BFME1 into BFME2, but none does, afaik, leave it at that. They always add new heroes, units, factions, what-not..
Well, BFME1 to BFME2 is mostly just the castles and build-plots, so that's what I meant.. Taking that into BFME2 has been done

I tried doing that, 100% vanilla BFME1 in BFME2, no new units or anything. But gave up because there were some things I just couldn't figure out, and decided I was wasting my time...

[Ganon]

It probably would be a waste of time, to do it for the sake of using the updated engine to mod with. I don't think I will keep that goal Lauri.

Edited by Ganon2020, 25 October 2010 - 06:07 PM.

[Lauri]

It wouldn't be worth in really, because of the upgrades to the engine..

Prettier water for example, isn't really needed if you're going to bring BFME1 into 2, because 1 didn't have ships
And the models usually don't need any of the extra stuff you can do to them. Sure, buildings could probably be made prettier, but most units won't.