Crysis®, modding and content creation

When    Crysis©    was    released    in    November    2007,    after    its installation   I   thought   „Wow,   this   is   the   game   and   graphics   I’ve always   wanted“.   And   to   be   honest…   I   must   say…   until   today this   game   doesn´t   lose   its   fascination.   The   story   is   no   highlight but    when    you    land    on    the    island,    you    are    still    fascinated. Crytek©     knows     graphics.     Unfortunately     the     game     was technically   ahead   of   its   time   in   2007.   Not   very   many   people were   able   to   play   it   in   high   quality,   in   full-HD,   with   acceptable frame rates. Nevertheless, the modding started. Not   until   later,   in   2010,   the   PCs   became   strong   enough,   to handle   Crysis©   well.   Justifiably   the   game   remained   „state   of the art“ for long time. „Just   in   time“   with   the   release   of   Crysis©   started   its   modding. The    main    reason    behind    it    was    that    Crytek©    released    the game     allegedly     with     „DX10“-features,     usable     only     with Windows   Vista©.   But   the   community   was   quick   and   noticed some   possible   workarounds,   inside   Crysis©   CVar-files.   These first   tweaks   opened   the   possibility   of   using   the   „DX10“-features (that   in   reality   were   apparently   DX9   ones),   for   the   Windows

XP©    users.    The    amazing    side    effect    of    the    My    Crysis(R) version     (US-version     1.0):     This     bypass     runs     faster     with Windows   XP©,   than   with   Windows   Vista©.   Later,   Crytek©   have made this feature official in a patch. Not   long   after   these   first   modifications,   many   people   wanted   to have   the   „ragdoll“-effect   back.   We   had   seen   those   effects   in the   convention   videos,   before   the   Crysis©   release,   but   the   final version   did   not   include   it.   The   first   „reality-mod“   was   born   and   I was   a   member   in   the   team   behind   it.   Below   I   will   show   you   my part of work for it. Inside   version   1.0   of   the   game   it   was   easily   possible   to   get   the ragdoll-effect   back,   by   editing   a   few   files,   located   in   different *.pak   files   of   the   game.   The   reason   behind   this   modification was   to   make   the   game   more   realistic,   but   ragdoll   and   visible blood-decals   are   only   one   part   of   it.   The   first   mod   contains many    other    „reality“-things,    like    lightning    and    environment work,   too.   With   the   first   patch,   Crytek©   patched   off   the   possible   ragdoll-workaround   and   all   future methods   were   illegal   because   its   reactivation   then   required   code   editing   and   hacks.   Our   team   broke up   and   continued   only   the   work   on   environmental   content.   I   have   nothing   to   do   with   any   later released „reality-mods“ or any illegal back-compiling of files or hacks! Please note, that this workaround is only legal and usable with Crysis© v 1.0! The first step is to unpack the original „gamedata.pak“ and find & edit the files below: .xml (steers the „blood splatter“ at bullet hits) .lua (steers the ragdoll itself) .xml (steers lifetime of shot- and bood-decals) .lua (steers ragdoll at hits) _fx.xml (steers the lifetime of shells) If you want to get more shiny shells after shooting, you can edit the „objects.pak“ the file: „*_5,56.mtl“

After   editing   these   files,   it   is   necessary   to   pack the     file     with     winzip©.     Most     of     us     used „uncompressed“,   for   later   faster   loading   ingame. Last but not least, just rename the „ZIP“ to „pak“.

The   next   „reality-features“   I   did   were   more   realistic   grass,   shells   and   some   additional   environment stuff. A few things I wrote into a tutorial which you can download on my website.

Shortly   after   the   shells   I   worked   on   different   grass-models,   because   the   original   grass   in   Crysis©   was one of the things that weren’t looking good.

After   the   grass   I   created   some   bamboo-trees,   because   Crysis©   doesn´t   contain   any   of   these   and   I liked   them   in   Far   Cry©.   With   the   bamboo   I   created   not   just   touch-   and   detail-bending   content,   it   was breakable too.

Last but not least, I tested my first coral-models for a reef.

Shortly   after   the   beginning   of   reef   models,   my   work   was   interrupted   by   a   newly   founded   German Jurassic Park© mod and I was highly interested to work in it. This was in January 2010. I    now    concentrated    my    work    on    the    „Return    to    Jurassic    Park©“-mod    and    started    a    very    huge collection of information. Later   down   the   road,   I   wrote   another   very   huge   tutorial,   about   the   complex   rigging   and   the   animation for   the   CryEngine©   Free   SDK,   the   new   tool   by   Crytek©.   This   was   exactly   on   17.   Oct   2011.   The   test inside   the   new   SDK   and   the   tutorial   itself   took   me   about   a   year.   By   the   way,   you   can   download   it   on my website too. And please take the time for 120 pages!

When   the   tutorial   was   finished   and   the   engine-tests   done,   the   mod   was   broken   up   and   as   result   I   had wasted   the   last   year   of   intensive   work   for   the   online-documentation   and   the   huge   tutorial.   To   be honest, it was frustrating! It was January 2012 when this was happened. Because   of   the   broken   up   mod   I   wanted   to   start   my   own   modification,   in   my   beloved   theme   „the   age of   sail“.   Since   the   first   second   of   Crysis©   in   2007,   I   tested   some   simple   ship   modifications   but   lost   my „mental fight“ for the reality mod and the rise of the visual quality. In   the   years   from   2007   to   2012,   I   did   much   more   than   I   have   posted   here.   Most   of   the   work   is   not worth   presentation.   It   was   mainly   texture-   and   material-optimizations   or   the   creation   of   new   ones,   as replacement for the original ones. Or simply in-engine-settings of the „time of day“-lightning. I    spent    a    little    time    modding    the    first    Crysis©-map    „island“.    I    tested    around    with    „flowgraph“, expanded the vegetation, accessible areas and much more. After   the   last   5   years   of   experience   in   Cryengine©,   I   decided   to   start   my   own   modification.   Please read the next period, to read more.

Till   today   the   game   Crysis©   by   Crytek© is   a   real   great   game,   with   an   amazing graphical   experience.   Convince   yourself and    look    at    the    pictures    on    this    site below    or    on    my    next    section    „Crysis Modification Drake´s Legacy“ . But    attention:    Please    note    absolutely the    relevant    Amazon    product    pages: The   game   is   suitable   for   people   aged 18   years   and   older!   Rated   in   Germany by USK and in the UK by  BBFC. In    the    USA    the    game    were    rated    by ESRB with „M“ as Mature (17+). Buy this game at Amazon.de (Germany) Buy this game at Amazon.co.uk (UK) Buy this game at Amazon.com (USA)