2020.09.22
I had a playthough of Operation Matriarchy with the graphics enhancement mod applied ...
In the early stages of the game, which take place on-board human spacecraft and space stations, the mod yields a noticeable improvement to the environment through increased use of bump and specular maps.
The enemies are re-coloured which makes some considerably less odd-ball yet has a slight opposite effect on others.
One big improvement were the textures of the player weapons and the interiors of the spacesuits.
Later on, the mod seemed to struggle, figuring out what to do with the alien environments.
Some chambers that were dark and forboding were lit more strongly which altered the atmosphere in places. Meanwhile, some impressive, highlighted structures were made darker and more obscure.
Certain vibrant colours were toned down, which made certain environments a little less impressive. There was also a tendency to turn alien environments more pink or red, which, to me, didn't gel with what I'd seen of the Velian aliens from my first playthrough, or in the Echelon games.
Meanwhile, the surface of the Velian planet was improved and the textures on the dropship that gets you there looked fantastic through bump mapping etc. The removal of the beautiful pink/blue sky seemed like a slight own-goal.
While the mod made alterations, that mightn't have been my first choice, it did provide some big graphical improvements in many areas and made for an intriguing replay.
