Firespite's Weather Mod *NEW*

Without any ado, I present what I've been working on quite a lot recently (don't hate on the weird conglomerate picture. I hope it gets the point across):
Weather_Mod_Vanilla_Compare.png
New Pic(s):
This picture is purely experimental- it no longer looks quite like this. Too much yellow and the blue was too high in the sky, and too pale.
I'm super happy with how it's turning out. Realistic but slightly stylized lighting is my goal.

Some may remember me from that show with the robot, or as Firespite, a modding time traveler from many years ago who brought a plethora of experimental mods aimed entirely at making myself happier with Saints Row 2 (skin colors, car colors ((TRUE BLACK)), a million clothing VID fixes (strapped boot straps no longer disappear with certain pants, glove cuffs play nice with long shirts) which got implemented into the GotR. I like to think back then we all made the game better, more playable, and more fun, for our efforts.

My personal favorite creation, and the mod I worked on the longest, was the Weather Mod. It took a million hours of glitches and fails and tweaks and tests to get it just right, and as it turns out, I'm still totally not happy with it. So here comes this new mod I've been working on despite persistent technical issues I can't beat (crashes and multiplayer desync on modern systems), yet Saints Row 2 remains my favorite game of all time, it's one of the greatest coop games of all time, and it is single-handedly the best Saints Row game of all time by far. No argument. Don't try it, it won't work on me. :)

Anyway! This mod is not complete. This is the result of my recently earnest work on the project, and it is _simply_ ... I have trouble doing simple anything. Deep breath.

-All Times of Day Altered
-Weather Has Not Yet Been Touched
-Mod Guaranteed To Blow Your Socks Off
-Get A Jetski And Tour The Waterways (BE AMAZED)
-I'm serious.

You have to see this to believe it. In motion. I'm super stoked about what I've made, and I hope to get some constructive criticism. All weather types will be based on the color templates I've made here, so they kind of have to be perfect before I go ahead.

I have several giant undertakings left in this mod, and a lot of issues you may see I am already aware of and stem from either 1.) things I have yet to change, or 2.) preexisting problems in SR2 which I have yet to address. I'm making a list. :)

I don't know how many people still know how to install mods or use a standalone .xtbl file, but here it is. Please let me know what you think! Hopefully I'm doing this download link right.

EDIT: I ALMOST FORGOT. Weather is NOT done yet. You need to use the Clear Skies cheat, #78669 on your phone, to see the mod as it is intended. Otherwise, the old weather types will blend into my clear skies presets and over-saturate and otherwise ruin the game. It's horrible. I've seen it.
 

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Looks beautiful gonna give it a test run. I remember, you've done the original weather mod for GotR back in the day. You and I have something in common, we both do weather mods ;) .
 
Looks beautiful gonna give it a test run. I remember, you've done the original weather mod for GotR back in the day. You and I have something in common, we both do weather mods ;) .

We do!? Link me! I want to see.

There are things I haven't done yet in the mod. Like the moon isn't visible at night (old SR2 problem), the sun size. Almost ready to start working on weather. So excited!

Remember, the mod will occasionally be ruined by the weather changing from clear skies. You need to reset it with the Clear Skies cheat to see it as it's intended.

Edit: Morning is still the most incomplete. I feel confident in the night, noon, afternoon, sunset, but morning is... not quite right. I think I need to make it more like evening, since in reality there's no difference between sunrise and sunset, but I want it to remain at least somewhat stylized.

I was going to say something else but I forgot. /sad

Edit to the edit: I remembered. I added a new Time Of Day segment I called Twilight (it isn't really twilight any more since I modified it), and the game recognized it. I thought sunset needed more definition, so now the game has an extra time period. Awesome! The new pic I posted up there is of that time frame. I could, and may, add more time periods to further flesh out the day/night cycle.

Vanilla:
It's not bad as the vanilla game goes. But still. Needs more cowbell. This time of day is now more similar to the new Afternoon bit which precedes it. Since I added a new time period, I pushed back the previous 5PM time to 3PM, which is when afternoon looks really afternoon-y in real life, and 5PM is the beginning of the sunset, 6:30 (new time period) is when the sun is fast disappearing, 7:00 is when it actually crosses the horizon, and then twilight, then end night, then night, then early morning, etc.
 
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We do!? Link me! I want to see.

I made 6 Time of Day mods so far and with new clouds for the sky I think versions 3 or 4 is the best. I even made a custom Time of Day for my SR1 Texture Pack for SR2 but it mimics SR1 weather.
Try all of them if you want...https://www.saintsrowmods.com/forum/threads/sr2-alternate-time-of-day-v6.13390/
Some versions of the mod comes with textures for the skybox you'll need the SR2 Texture Tool by Masamaru to extract the skybox files....https://www.saintsrowmods.com/forum/threads/sr2-texture-tool.8687/

NOTE: Just remember to make backups of the sr2_skybox.peg_pc and sr2_skybox.g_peg_pc files if you plan on modifying them that way you'll have something to fall back to if something goes wrong.

Also:
Here are my skybox rebuild textures, this is from version 3 , it looked better than version 4, I tried version 4 with your Time of Day mod it didn't look right to me. Just put them 2 files into your "optional_mod_stuff\1-MODDERS_-_PUT_YOUR_OWN_PERSONAL_MODS_HERE" folder then rebuild patch.
 

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  • sr2_skybox_rebuild.zip
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"...your Time of Day mod [...] didn't look right to me."

I can't believe you just said that! Offended!

Kidding. :) Are these new cloud textures? I kind of like the look of the new clouds, but it's almost like they and the new mountain textures are a little too hi-fi for the game. SR2 is a little cartoony, which kind of suits it. I'll check it out anyway, though.
 
Lol. Yep they're new clouds and in one of the mods the same clouds were darkened so they could fit my custom time_of_day.xtbl file which I had the <Level_Ambient_Light_Color> setting set high.
Edit:: I forgot to mention, I also have done a separate mod called Psychedelic Time of Day, lol, it's full of strange colors with the sky and clouds and plus the skies and weather changes each game hour. Go check it out!
https://www.saintsrowmods.com/forum/threads/psychedelic-time-of-day-v2.14173/
 
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Only the coolest. Near the top, choose the denim color between the periwinkle and the sky blue for the main color, the [EDIT: Periwinkle color next to the denim one] for the pockets and accents, and plain white for the wear and tear.

I've heavily modified the current iteration of the mod. I've been looking at the sky a lot lately, just like Knight Solaire. I've kept the *lighting* mostly the same but the sky has changed, particularly evening and morning. Midday got lesser changes. So excite! I've got to get this right before I do the weather types.

Having trouble darkening the morning clouds to where I want them (they look like white bands around the sky).

If you're still around (I know this was a few days ago [HAPPY 4TH OF JULY BY THE WAY]):

And hey, your quote idea is a fantastic way to reduce the size of these images. Thanks!
 
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Only the coolest. Near the top, choose the denim color between the periwinkle and the sky blue for the main color, the [EDIT: Periwinkle color next to the denim one] for the pockets and accents, and plain white for the wear and tear.

I've heavily modified the current iteration of the mod. I've been looking at the sky a lot lately, just like Knight Solaire. I've kept the *lighting* mostly the same but the sky has changed, particularly evening and morning. Midday got lesser changes. So excite! I've got to get this right before I do the weather types.

Having trouble darkening the morning clouds to where I want them (they look like white bands around the sky).

If you're still around (I know this was a few days ago [HAPPY 4TH OF JULY BY THE WAY]):


And hey, your quote idea is a fantastic way to reduce the size of these images. Thanks!
Thank you ;)
 
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