With the game being on sale on Amazon for $7.49, I figured a lot of people may have picked it up, or maybe there are just people who have had it for a while but are unaware of the mods out there. This might help. Click the bolded words for links.
1.9 patch - DX11 and Hi-Res Texture pack
These are official releases by Crytek, and are the first things you should get. Even if you don't intend to use DX11, it's recommended you download the patch anyway because it also adds features to DX9.
Maldo's HD Texture Pack v3 or
Maldo's a modder that's gone out of his way to really make Crysis 2 a better experience. By replacing nearly 1000 textures, rearranging level geometry, optimizing tessellation and adding POM, and creating a configuration utility that allows you to completely customize your performance level, it's a must-have in my book.
AMD users would also do well to notice the Reduced Tessellation option in his configuration utility as it greatly improves performance while still allowing you to see those tessellated bricks everyone loves so much.
Some comparison shots:
Also note that Maldo's back at it again and a new version of his mod will be out sometime in the future. Check his blog for regular updates.
C Mod
This mod changes several things in the single-player campaign, some major, others minor. Among the major ones of note are:
A full list of changes, and the mod's progress, can be found here.
Thanks to bhlaab for the following:
Particle FX mod
Watch this.
Info on how to install it and future versions here.
----------------------------
Other notable mods (click for info)
Blackfire's Mod 2
This one changes the time of day and other things. I'm not a huge fan of how it looks, but some might like it. He's nice enough to cross-promote other mods, and explains how to get them working in conjunction with his own.
The Realness 2.0
Another time of day mod. It also affects depth of field and vegetation apparently. I've not tried it yet.
Quality Mod 1.8
This one lets you do several things like play around with dynamic depth of field -- which basically brings things in the background in and out of focus depending on where you look, a quick-save function, toggle slow motion, and other things.
----------------------------
Making a custom config
If you're in the need of tweaking anything in the console, but don't feel like typing the commands in each time you start the game. Just like with the first game, you can make an "autoexec.cfg" file in Notepad and place it in the game's root directory. (If you use Maldo's config utility, it will automatically create one for you.) A couple of lines I always add to mine are:
Also, if you don't like the game's bloom. Try these, thanks to XOMTOR.
Particle and LOD tweaking thanks also to XOMTOR:
If anyone's having trouble with SLI:
To mess around with the game's AA options.
And lastly, speaking of AA, the game doesn't support proper MSAA at all, only SGSSAA can be used for NVidia users, I believe, and AMD users are stuck using either in-game options or injecting post-AA of their own.
If you have the power, though, downsampling is an option, and that's where this tool comes in handy.
SSAA Tool v1.0 (click for info)
I personally disable all in-game AA and downsample from 2880x1620 and maintain ~30fps with tessellation off and injected FXAA of my own to clean up the rest of the aliasing.
NVidia users can downsample through drivers. Here's a guide.
Ex.
That's a good starting point, I think. If anyone else has anything they'd like to add as far as tweaks or mods. Feel free.
1.9 patch - DX11 and Hi-Res Texture pack
These are official releases by Crytek, and are the first things you should get. Even if you don't intend to use DX11, it's recommended you download the patch anyway because it also adds features to DX9.
Maldo's HD Texture Pack v3 or
Maldo's a modder that's gone out of his way to really make Crysis 2 a better experience. By replacing nearly 1000 textures, rearranging level geometry, optimizing tessellation and adding POM, and creating a configuration utility that allows you to completely customize your performance level, it's a must-have in my book.
AMD users would also do well to notice the Reduced Tessellation option in his configuration utility as it greatly improves performance while still allowing you to see those tessellated bricks everyone loves so much.
Some comparison shots:
Also note that Maldo's back at it again and a new version of his mod will be out sometime in the future. Check his blog for regular updates.
C Mod
This mod changes several things in the single-player campaign, some major, others minor. Among the major ones of note are:
- Increasing the speed boost to match that of the first game (the only problem being that your suit energy doesn't run out any faster, thus allowing you to boost for a LONG time -- some may not like that)
- Muting the suit voice when changing modes (no more "Cloak engaged", etc.)
- Repositioning the weapons to match that of the first game (guns no longer take up half the screen)
A full list of changes, and the mod's progress, can be found here.
Thanks to bhlaab for the following:
Particle FX mod
Watch this.
Info on how to install it and future versions here.
----------------------------
Other notable mods (click for info)
Blackfire's Mod 2
This one changes the time of day and other things. I'm not a huge fan of how it looks, but some might like it. He's nice enough to cross-promote other mods, and explains how to get them working in conjunction with his own.
The Realness 2.0
Another time of day mod. It also affects depth of field and vegetation apparently. I've not tried it yet.
Quality Mod 1.8
This one lets you do several things like play around with dynamic depth of field -- which basically brings things in the background in and out of focus depending on where you look, a quick-save function, toggle slow motion, and other things.
----------------------------
Making a custom config
If you're in the need of tweaking anything in the console, but don't feel like typing the commands in each time you start the game. Just like with the first game, you can make an "autoexec.cfg" file in Notepad and place it in the game's root directory. (If you use Maldo's config utility, it will automatically create one for you.) A couple of lines I always add to mine are:
Code:
r_ShadowJittering = 6
r_texmaxanisotropy = 16
hud_hide = 1Also, if you don't like the game's bloom. Try these, thanks to XOMTOR.
Particle and LOD tweaking thanks also to XOMTOR:
If anyone's having trouble with SLI:
XOMTOR said:
To mess around with the game's AA options.
Code:
r_postmsaa = 0, 1, or 2
r_postmsaaedgefilternv = 0, 1, 2, or 3
r_useedgeaa = 0, 1, or 2And lastly, speaking of AA, the game doesn't support proper MSAA at all, only SGSSAA can be used for NVidia users, I believe, and AMD users are stuck using either in-game options or injecting post-AA of their own.
If you have the power, though, downsampling is an option, and that's where this tool comes in handy.
SSAA Tool v1.0 (click for info)
I personally disable all in-game AA and downsample from 2880x1620 and maintain ~30fps with tessellation off and injected FXAA of my own to clean up the rest of the aliasing.
NVidia users can downsample through drivers. Here's a guide.
Ex.
That's a good starting point, I think. If anyone else has anything they'd like to add as far as tweaks or mods. Feel free.
