Unofficial Retro Patch

Relive the classic visual style! This Unofficial Retro Patch brings back the beloved pixel art charm to Stronghold: Definitive Edition.

Disclaimer

This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Firefly Studios. The patch does not distribute any original files from Firefly Studios. It only modifies assets already present on the user's system or adds community-created content.

Overview

The Unofficial Retro Patch (URP) is a modification tool designed to selectively pixelate textures in Stronghold: Definitive Edition, bringing back the nostalgic visual style of the original game while maintaining the benefits of the definitive edition.

Features

• Selective Pixelation: Apply pixelation effects only to specific textures using mask files
• Configurable Settings: Adjust pixelation amount and target files via config.ini
• Debug Mode: Optional debug mode to save pixelated textures for verification

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• Pip or Pipenv for dependency management
• Stronghold: Definitive Edition game files

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/BALOTIAS/urp.git
   cd urp
   

2. Install dependencies:

   pipenv install
   

   Or with pip:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Create a .env file in the root directory (optional):

   cp .env.example .env
   

4. Configure the .env file with your game's file paths and pixelation settings.

Usage

1. Make sure your game files are in the correct location as specified in your config.ini

2. Run the patch:

   python main.py
   

3. Launch the game and enjoy the retro visual style!

Configuration

Edit config.ini to customize the patch:

[Stronghold Definitive Edition]
target_folder = downloads/Stronghold Definitive Edition
assets_folder = Stronghold Definitive Edition_Data/resources.assets
masks_folder = assets/masks/Stronghold Definitive Edition
debug_pixelated_folder = downloads/Stronghold Definitive Edition/pixelated
pixel_amount = 2
pixelate_files = resources.assets/texture1.png, resources.assets/texture2.png

• target_folder: Directory containing game files
• assets_folder: Path to game assets relative to target folder
• masks_folder: Directory containing mask files for selective pixelation
• debug_pixelated_folder: Directory to save debug output when debug mode is enabled
• pixel_amount: Level of pixelation (higher values = more pixelated)
• pixelate_files: Comma-separated list of texture files to pixelate

Creating Masks

Masks are grayscale PNG files that control where pixelation is applied:

• White areas (255, 255, 255) will be pixelated
• Black areas (0, 0, 0) will remain unchanged
• Gray areas will be partially pixelated

Place mask files in the masks folder with the same folder structure as the original textures, e.g. masks/Stronghold Definitive Edition/resources.assets/AllTileSprites.png.

License

See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgements

• Uses UnityPy for handling Unity assets
• Special thanks to Firefly Studios for the creation of the Stronghold series ❤️❤️❤️