At a glance, it's DNTS+specularity for the hills. I think it woudl have been a bit cool if base texture color variation responded to the craters on a larger scale but still, looks way better.

Dunno if people will accept though. It's slightly darker, and people's reactions to ccr reduxes have historically been very conservative.

More variation is great, especially if it interacts with terrain features like on IoG, or describes roads or other immersive elements.

More brightness is not great, and is instead extra awful since ZK has dynlights.

And that's with people having already made things like /luaui darkening to explicitly
workaround high brightness maps before dynlights.

I think ccr2 is near the top threshold of brightness to be not awful. This version is closer to middle.

Astroturf style behe maps are very uneven, lots of cliffs and slopes. Their visuals come from that. This, CCR cannot be.

As per overrated, i don't see the map have any ratings yet at all :P

quote: Dunno if people will accept though. It's slightly darker, and people's reactions to ccr reduxes have historically been very conservative.

The reason I - and I assume others - disliked CCR2 is because textures lie. They show craters around metal spots when there aren't any. It's also very brown and has a bit of a distracting texture in general.

This map doesn't seem to have these problems. I've yet to try CCR3 ingame, but from the screenshots it looks like a good mix and middle ground between CCR and CCR2.

I suspect that what you're showing there is texture. DNTS is basically the cliffsides. Also I think you're underestimating the heightmap resolution. Don't forget that everything on sands of time is pure heightmap.

quote: I suspect that what you're showing there is texture

Technically correct - the best kind of correct!

But now observe that it has subpixel resolution compared to diffuse map; that this patterning goes over different colors; that there are only a few of types of this patterning; that it affects surface normals (judging from how it glints) and how it blends into only 2 other types of similar patterning (i guess fourth is also present, on cliffs).

quote: Yeah and the same heightmap fucks up placing structures. I would rather use DNTS thank you very much.

This is some serious ignorant shit. Only the macro height variations on SoT prevent building placement, and to a lesser extent the mex indentations which were not perfectly consistent since SME didn't have a stamp heightmode at the time. The microdunes have no effect on building placement or pathing whatsoever.

As CCR is apparently a must-have for any map pool, it's nice to see it being reworked.

Just for comparison, the previous redux and the OTA version.




I like how this new version has much more appealing textures, thanks to specularity and splatters. But I don't understand why the colors had to be darkened compared to the previous version? Keep in mind that most of the map will be outside LOS, so it will be even darker.

The OTA version still seems to feel a lot more coherent than these two remakes. The craters are a part of the terrain, not something that is put on top of it. They should smoothly transform into the flat areas and are made of the same rock. There could be some more tiny, visual only craters around the map to help sell the big craters.

I see that besides brightness every slightest change has its opposition, which is why I'd rather see a fully new map. Anyway good job at making it look better within these limitations.