A couple of days ago, we informed you about a mod for Aliens: Colonial Marines that was supposedly enabling a DX10 renderer for it. Despite the fact that this mod was featured in most places, it seems that it is not what most of you were hoping for. According to modder MaLDo (the one behind the amazing Texture Pack for Crysis 2) this mod is a big scam and believes that this – alongside ACM Custom Settings – is ‘the bigger fake I can remember in gaming.’
MaLDo has provided a lot of information about the infamous crash error that was introduced in some versions of the AliensDX10 (and now 11) mod. According to MaLDo, this was due to the LOD value and the fact that the game could not load the inexistent files that were indicated via this method:
“The crash when using game menu after ini editing is clear, you can change how the game see the options but you CAN’T use those options. Selecting LOD 0 for world textures crash the game because those files are not in the final game. That’s why the game is only a few GB. You can define standard preset as LOD 0, but the game can’t find files and then set game options to lower quality LOD 1 (that is maximum) in game menu. If you raise texture settings in game menu, game force to load those inexistent files and crashes.”
To his credit, MaLDo has a point as we’ve encountered a number of crashes with some versions of this mod, right after tweaking the in-game graphics. We’re pretty sure that a lot of PC gamers have encountered this very same thing, and MaLDo’s explaination is spot on.
Not only that, but even though the AliensDX10 mod claims to be running via a DX10 renderer, it does not. EVGA’s Precision clearly states that the game is running via a DX9 renderer. In addition, FRAPS also shows that Aliens: Colonial Marines runs in DX9 mode, despite this mod’s attempts to enable the DX10 renderer. Yes, the game’s description is changed to DX10 when you Alt+Tab but that does not mean anything at all as both FRAPS and Precision state that the game runs in DX9 mode.
Until we get a version of this mod that actually runs in DX10 or DX11, we strongly suggest avoiding using it. Of course some will claim that there is a difference, however that can be a placebo effect and nothing more. For example; even though this mod states that the flashlight casts dynamic shadows, we got the same pre-baked shadows while using it.
But what about the other mods that are featured on Steam’s forum? MaLDo believes that these .ini tweaks will only help those that suffer from a bug where the game uses the lowest texture settings (compatibility level bucket 0). For those few people, .ini tweaking can make a difference but for all others, this is as fake as it can possibly get.
MaLDo concluded that a feature that is supported in the 1.4 version of the second most popular mod (shared on Steam’s forum) is actually for low-end graphics. As MaLDo said, ‘drop particle distorsion is an effect for low quality configs‘ and concluded:
“This is the bigger fake I can remember in gaming. Bigger than Aliens Colonial Marines launch. Is it a liar battle between Pitchford and this modder?”
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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