Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction HD Textures V2 [SLUS-20932]

[PsxRestore]

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/PsxRestore
This HD remaster project for Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction overhauls the game's visuals by upscaling uncompressed, undithered HD textures from the developer build that included both Xbox and PS2 textures. Over 9,600 textures and mipmaps were dumped to cover all replacements. I then ported the HD textures to each of them using my own custom-made texture matching and mipmapping tools. These were upscaled through chaiNNer to achieve the highest quality possible. I also created a custom PCSX2 patch that extends LODs and removes frame skipping to further enhance visuals and performance.

If you prefer the original Xbox HD textures over upscales, check out the Restored HD Pack!

For custom patches and cheats, check out Mercenaries Metamod!

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Download Links
Google Drive:

• Remastered HD Pack v2 ( 2.54gb )
• Restored HD Pack ( Quality / 319mb )
• Restored HD Pack ( Performance / 154mb )

Mediafire:

• Remastered HD Pack v2 ( 2.54gb )
• Restored HD Pack ( Quality / 319mb )
• Restored HD Pack ( Performance / 154mb )

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Features

• All HD textures were ported to the PS2 version using a custom-made texture matching tool.
• Upscaled over 9,600 textures using custom chaiNNer workflows for terrain, foliage, skyboxes, buildings, roads, destruction, characters, vehicles, weapons, text, effects, and UI.
• Several textures manually retouched or remade based on source material, such logos, symbols, posters, character portraits, and minimap graphics.
• Generated high quality mipmaps from all dumped PS2 textures using a custom-made mipmapping tool.
• Optional "Restored HD Pack" containing all ported HD textures unscaled.
• Includes my own custom PCSX2 pnach patch:
  • Extended LODs: Increases rendering distance without breaking mipmaps! Doesn't require you to modify the game's ISO. It comes with two settings, HD and balanced.
  • Remove Frame Skipping: This removes the 30fps cap. Instead of setting frame skip to 0, it removes the function to stop excess assembly jumps and memory allocation per frame.

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Installation

• Requires PCSX2 v2.3+: https://pcsx2.net/downloads/
• Extract the "textures" and "patches" folders into PCSX2 folder.
• Extract the "gamesettings" folder into PCSX2 folder ( This will replace your current game configuration for Mercenaries )
• (OPTIONAL):
  • Xbox Controller Buttons: Replaces PS2 button textures with Xbox button textures.

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Notes

• The upscaled textures in this pack are not based on "dumped" Xbox textures. Instead, they're based on the uncompressed, undithered textures from a Xbox/PS2 dev build of Mercenaries: PoD. These are the highest quality textures possible for Mercenaries, surpassing those found in PS2 and Xbox retail releases. All Xbox textures ( Under 700 textures ) were ported to the PS2 version, except for loading screens and Xbox-only effects such as cubemaps and bumpmaps. Other PS2 textures ( about 1,000 textures ) were replaced with their uncompressed, undithered versions.
• PCSX2 hardware mipmaps are disabled in the configuration due to how they interfere with the game's internal LOD system, also producing aliasing mipmaps. Until the issue is addressed, I recommend keeping it disabled.
• More textures will be touched-up or remade by hand in the next version. Will likely update most upscales using improved methods. At the least, there will be a patch for the UI.
• I'm considering releasing my tools on Github for others to use. If I do, I will update my posts with links to their repos. I want to polish them before then.
• If you're interested in using any of my dumps, texture packs, tools, patches, cheats for anything, please ask me for permission first and provide credit properly. Do not redistribute any of the mod files without my permission.

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Models/Tools

• PsxRestore's Texture Matching and PCSX2 Mipmap Generator Tools
• chaiNNer - https://github.com/chaiNNer-org/chaiNNer
• Krita - https://krita.org/
• Remacri by Foolhardy - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
• CountryRoads by EzoGaming - WTFPL
• NMKD Typescale by NMKD - WTFPL
• NMKD Superscale by NMKD - WTFPL
• 8x_HugePeeps_v1 by DinJerr - CC BY-NC 4.0
• 8x HugePaint by DinJerr - CC BY-NC 4.0
• Ground by tldr_coder - WTFPL
• 4x-UltraSharp by Kim2091 - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
• 4x_PixelPerfectV4_137000_G by Mutin Choler - WTFPL
• 4xSmoothRealism by Joey - CC BY-NC 4.0
• 4x_xbrz_90k by LyonHrt - CC BY-NC 4.0
• 4xRealWebPhoto_v3_atd by Helaman - CC-BY-4.0
• 4xNomosWebPhoto_atd by Helaman - CC-BY-4.0
• Nomos8kHAT-L_otf by Helaman - CC-BY-4.0
• GFPGANv1.4 - Apache License 2.0
• 4xBSRGAN - Apache License 2.0
• RealisticRescaler by Mutin Choler - WTFPL
• 1x_DeEdge_105000_G by Mutin Choler - WTFPL
• 1x_Plants_400000_G by Muf
• 1x_DeSharpen by Loinne - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
• Arzenal (v1.1) by ComputerK - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
• 4x Real-ESRGAN / RealESRGAN_x4plus - BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License
• 4x_BS_DevianceMIP by systemd-resolved/BlackScout - GNU GPLv3

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Media

Spoiler: In-Game Screenshots

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Version 1 (Obsolete)

This is still in development. Hope to make many improvements in the next update.
Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/3g79p7eanxw46je/MercenariesHDRemaster_Obsolete.rar/file
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PsxRestore

I remastered over 4000 textures using different models and methods. Replayed the game, manually loaded levels to dump all textures possible. This preserved the appropriate details for terrain, foliage, skyboxes, buildings, characters, vehicles, weapons, text, and UI. Few textures were manually retouched or remade based on source material, such logos, symbols, posters and minimap graphics. This HD texture pack includes 60 FPS patch and other visual patches.

Installation

• Requires nightly release of PCSX2: https://pcsx2.net/downloads/
• Extract "textures", "cheats", "gamesettings" folders into PCSX2 folder ( This will replace your current game configuration )

Models/Tools

• chaiNNer - https://github.com/chaiNNer-org/chaiNNer
• Remacri by Foolhardy - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
• 1x_DeSharpen by Loinne - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
• Arzenal (v1.1) by ComputerK - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
• 4xSmoothRealism by Joey - CC BY-NC 4.0
• 8x_HugePeeps_v1 by DinJerr - CC BY-NC 4.0
• 8x HugePaint by DinJerr - CC BY-NC 4.0
• 4x_xbrz_90k by LyonHrt - CC BY-NC 4.0
• GFPGANv1.4 - Apache License 2.0
• 4xBSRGAN - Apache License 2.0
• 4x Real-ESRGAN / RealESRGAN_x4plus - BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License
• 4x_BS_DevianceMIP by systemd-resolved/BlackScout - GNU GPLv3
• Ground by tldr_coder - WTFPL
• 1x_DeEdge_105000_G by Mutin Choler - WTFPL
• 4x_PixelPerfectV4_137000_G by Mutin Choler - WTFPL
• NMKD Typescale by NMKD - WTFPL
• 1x_Plants_400000_G by Muf
• 4x-UltraSharp by Kim2091 - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Media

Spoiler: In-Game Screenshots

 

[PsxRestore]

Version 2 released:

• Over 16,000 PS2 textures and mipmaps redumped by exploring every corner of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.
• All uncompressed, undithered textures from the dev build ( including all Xbox textures ) were ported to the PS2 version using a custom-made tool implemented with multiple image matching techinques.
• Over 9,600 textures and mipmaps upscaled and replaced. Improved upscaling workflows for characters, vehicles, weapons, buildings, roads, props, destruction, terrain, vegetation, sky, fog, effects, text, and UI. Done through chaiNNer v0.24.1.
• Remade more UI textures by hand through Krita, instead of upscaling them! More in-game textures were touched up, such as Xbox textures for terrain, roads, and vegetation, mostly to blend in better with the rest. Fixed visible seams in skybox, fog, and minimap UI textures.
• Generated high quality mipmaps for upscaled textures, rather than using ugly upscaled mipmaps, using a custom-made tool designed for PCSX2 texture replacements. This also fixes missing or broken mipmaps!
• Updated to support PCSX2 v2.3+ due to an incompatibility with older texture replacements (https://gbatemp.net/threads/after-update-2-0-on-pcsx2-custom-textures-dont-work.658360/).
• An alt version, "Restored HD Texture Pack", that has all HD textures ( including every Xbox texture ) unscaled with mipmap support.
• Created a custom PCSX2 pnach patch:
  • Extended LODs: Increases rendering distance without breaking mipmaps! Doesn't require you to modify the game's ISO. It comes with two settings, HD and balanced.
  • Remove Frame Skipping: This removes the 30fps cap. Instead of setting frame skip to 0, it removes the function to stop excess assembly jumps and memory allocation per frame.

 

[evanft]

Bro came back two years later just to dunk on everyone again. Damn.

 

[PsxRestore]

Added Google Drive download links!

 

[yoshinatsu]

What's the difference between the remastered pack and the restored pack?

 

[PsxRestore]

What's the difference between the remastered pack and the restored pack?

The Restored HD Pack is a port of the uncompressed, undithered textures from the Mercenaries: PoD dev build, which included the HD Xbox textures. While the Remastered HD Pack is an upscaled/touched-up version of the Restored HD Pack as shown in the screenshots.

 

[PsxRestore]

Made a video showcase!

 

[dorkasaurusrex]

thanks for amazing texture of this important and historic game, precursor of a lot of modern gameplay formulas

 

[Xjiro]

Thanks a lot for your impressively nerdy efforts on this.

With how gaming is today.. to have good people like you and the rest of the modding scene on top of this stuff.. it's just awesome. Thank you.

 

[PsxRestore]

Added "Quality" version of Restored HD Pack:

• Exported textures as PNG, rather than DDS, to retain all detail.
• If you're experiencing stuttering, use the "Performance" version.
• If on Android, and you're experiencing graphic issues with the "Performance" version, use the "Quality" version.

 

[AndorfRequissa]

amazing work. i havent played this game in a decade and am glad i can replay it with some modern graphics. thanks so much.

ps2 hd texture packs are more fun than more modern games being released.

 

[PsxRestore]

Working on an update for the custom PCSX2 patch for Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction! I've made progress by increasing the LOD for civilians, which is separate from other LODs. Hope to finish this soon.

Before:


After:

 

[PsxRestore]

Going to keep this thread on track, will share only progress from now on.

 

[PsxRestore]

Finishing up the updated patch for Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. Civilians are now able to spawn and render from further distances!

 

[Zyute]

Is this going to be included in a later release or already implemented into the current link? It gives the game world a more lived in feeling when able to see others moving around further out. Great job .

 

[PsxRestore]

It's going to be in the next update, which will be the full download and patch. I'll also make the PCSX2 patch available separately, and that might happen first.

 

[evanft]

This dude can't be stopped.

 

[PsxRestore]

I'm also fixing the loading screen icons when upscaled. (Left: Vanilla, Right: Patch )

 

[PsxRestore]

Created 2 new cheats for Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction that forces Han Solo or Indiana Jones in existing saves. Since it works for existing saves, I might add 3 more to force Jacobs, Mui, or Nilsson. This will be included in HD Textures v3.

Update:

 

[Zyute]

You know who would fit great into this is Snake from Metal Gear. I don't know if that is possible but sounds cool. Nice job on the additional recruits so when v3 comes out count me in on trying it out .