PLEASE do not ask for alternative / sub-patches. I will not maintain variations of this patch, no matter how much you ask.
I am not a graphics person, nor a WoW mod creator. What I am, however, is a savvy user who can tinker with things to get them to deliver desirable results. What you see right now is a mostly working version of a Turtle WoW compatible conversion of the HD mod for Vanilla WoW servers, that I have painstakingly poured over to get into a state free of crashes and (mostly) free of graphical issues with player models. There are still a few fringe cases that makes this not quite perfect, primarily with Turtle custom mounts and player character skins.
This patch successfully replaces all playable races with their Legion HD models, except for Male Goblins. This patch updates all NPCs and creatures in the world with their Legion HD versions where available. This patch replaces several spell effects and sounds with future variations which are more impactful or otherwise improved. This patch replaces all world textures with higher resolution, redrawn textures that use vanilla as a base and aims to update without desecrating the old aesthetic. This patch adds Cataclysm music for zones to the existing Vanilla playlist for more ambience.
Known Issues:
- Strange lightshafts on Undead character creation screen. A corruption in converting the background UI M2 from Warlords to Vanilla caused the ground fog effect to behave this way. Work in progress to fix this.
- Goblin Male faces: We could not port the head model from the Cataclysm models let alone the Legion models, and would require extensive knowledge of 3D modeling tools to begin to address. Work in progress to fix this
- Mounts that do not yet have HD textures, and so wrap vanilla textures around HD models:
- Flaxen Riding Saber (Striped Dawnsaber)
- Lovely Pink Furline
- Riding Aqua Saber (Tamed Rak'Shiri)
- Swift Brewfest Ram (Armored Brewfest Ram)
- Swift Red Ram (Armored Ironforge Ram)
- Ivory War Raptor (Armored Ivory Raptor)
- Swift Blue Riding Raptor (Armored Darkspear Raptor)
- Armored Brewfest Kodo
- Great Chieftain's Kodo (Chieftain's Kodo)
- Swift Blood Kodo (Armored Thunder Bluff Kodo)
- Swift Grey Worg (Armored Orgrimmar Wolf)
- Swift Horde Worg (Armored Horde Wolf)
- Crimson Deathcharger (Armored Crimson Deathcharger)
- Ebon Deathcharger (Armored Ebon Deathcharger)
- Emerald Deathcharger (Armored Emerald Deathcharger)
- Ivory Deathcharger (Armored Ivory Deathcharger)
- Swift Crimson Skeletal Steed (Armored Vermilion Deathcharger)
- Swift Alliance Steed currently uses a placeholder texture borrowed from Swift Palomino, and needs its own Alliance-emblazoned textures
Tools Used: DBCutil, Ladik's MPQ Editor v4.0.0.872
In order to make and test changes, you will need to use the MPQ Editor to open patch-W.MPQ (the mod) or patch-V.MPQ (the latest Turtle patch in load order) and find the file under DBClientFiles which handles the particular files you wish to work with. Extract it, then drag and drop the DBC onto DBCutil to spit out a CSV file which can be perused with Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet viewing application. Make the necessary changes, drag and drop the CSV back onto DBCutil and it will spit out a new DBC file, which can then be put in a new test patch at the end of load order, like patch-Y.MPQ or patch-Z.MPQ. Use MPQ Editor to make a new World of Warcraft MPQ, and use that as your testing patch.
File Downloads
TURTLE HD PATCH UPDATED 2023-07-11
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patch-A.MPQ - Legion Character + World Models / Music Pack / Spell Effects
patch-B.MPQ - Environment HD Retexture (reTEXTURE, not a reMESH or reMODEL, only replaces flat textures)
patch-C.MPQ - Optional weapon/attack sound replacement patch (all credit to Astricon)
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To install, simply navigate to your Turtle WoW install folder, open the /Data/ folder, and drop these MPQs in. Simple as that!
FAQ
"Spirit Healers have a strange white bubble around them with this patch. How do I fix this?"
Answer: Be sure that Smooth Shading is enabled in your Video Options.
"Sheathing animations don't work properly. Can you fix this?"
Answer: Unfortunately, there is no known way to fix skeleton rigging of animations when downporting from Warlords to Vanilla M2 files.
Credits
- Astricon - Primary active texture and spell FX downporting developer; new spell sounds, new spell effects, fixing broken textures for NPCs and donation shop skins, etc
- Crestian - Texture work; HD black Night Elf hair, HD custom Tauren horns
- Samsam - Texture work; HD Male Orc facepaint skins
- Tonky - Major contributions to texture work; fixing broken textures for NPCs and fine-tuning HD skins
