More dismal weather WIP

[maurvir]

I am finally getting back to the mod I was working on some time ago that attempts to alter the weather across all of the BG1, SOD, and BG2 areas. I have long felt there wasn't enough rain, snow, or fog in places, and this mod aims to correct that. Mostly by adding fog definitions to BG1 & BG2 maps, but also by altering the weather probabilities elsewhere.

I have organized all of the maps based on their expected climate. So, for instance, any town on a coast or on an island will get more storms with a low chance of fog. Forests vary based on where they are on the map and how dense they are, but generally get more rain and fog. However, what I'm most pleased with is using "fog" to create dust in the air for desert regions. Amkethran, in particular, now feels much more dry and dusty.

I'm also using fog to create effects for magical regions, such as Nyalee's temple hideout and the Firewine bridge regions. Nyalee gets a yellowish green fog, while I went with a Merlot fog in the Firewine. I'm looking at other unique areas as well.

This mod may never be anyone else's cup of tea, but I'm having a blast going through all these areas.

[argent77]

Sounds definitely interesting. But keep in mind to avoid using the FOG_TYPE variable to (re-)define fog, because of this issue:

 

[maurvir]

Good to know. Fortunately, I only plan to alter the fog probabilities rather than script the fog for now. I am mostly using it to add a bit more ambience to the vanilla maps. I was disappointed that it wasn't simply an overlay, as fog+snow or fog+rain would have been cool. However, it seems that the game fully transitions to fog as a weather type of its own.

 

[jmerry]

Fog also looks very odd at night on maps that don't have separate night graphics (the "extended night" flag. The palette shift those areas use instead applies to the fog, which results in some rather reddish fog. (This actually happens in Brynnlaw without mods)