Pikmin 2 4K (HD Texture Pack) [1.3.1] 2020-12-01

HenrikoMagnifico

Hello! This is my HD texture pack page for Pikmin 2! Smile

Looking for Pikmin 1 HD textures? I've got you covered, just click this!

Some general info regarding this texture pack which you should read before you download it;

There are ~2136 textures in total in the game (I have tried to dump every single one, however I may have missed a few). Out of these textures a few hundred have been completely re-textured. Many other textures have been been up-scaled using waifu2x-caffe, GigaPixel AI and these instructions by Bighead. Some filtered textures have been modified or changed entirely to look better as well. Some textures have not been upscaled at all until I've had the time to work on them manually, but these are few and far between.

I am completely up for suggestions, changes and submissions. You will of course be fully credited for any work you submit.

The pack is scaled to 8x the default resolution for the 4K version, this means that (if internal resolution is increased in Dolphin) you may be able to view some textures at a staggering 5760x3840 resolution! Taking into account that you are using the widescreen hack of course.

This texture pack is for Pikmin 2 on the GameCube and Wii. The NTSC (USA) version of the GameCube release is the optimal version since it supports both the widescreen and 60 FPS patches!
The texture pack is roughly 90% complete!

This texture pack will work with any custom mods / hacks of Pikmin 2 as long as they aren't adding new textures or changing old ones (in that case, conflicting textures will be overwritten by one another but it will still work).

Ishiiruka-Dolphin is required (and included) to make material maps work and is highly recommended.

It is also highly recommended that you use this 60 FPS patch as it makes the game look a lot smoother. It should be enabled by default in the provided Dolphin emulator fork. If you're on MacOS or Linux, you should be able to just copy and paste it in the patch config file in Dolphin, although I have only tested it with the NTSC-version of the game.

Both the NTSC (USA) and PAL (Europe/Australian) versions are supported, and also support regional textures! The Japanese and Korean versions are not yet natively supported but will still work with the texture pack.

If you are having issues with stuttering and lag, remember to check "Prefetch Custom Textures" in the 'Advanced' tab of the Graphics settings before asking for help. I also recommend enabling V-Sync as it removes screen tearing in full screen mode. These settings should be set by default on Windows if you're using the provided emulator.

Screenshots:

Spoiler: (Show Spoiler)

Change log:

Spoiler: (Show Spoiler)

1.3.1 (2020-12-01):

This update includes many bug fixes and minor improvements. This includes a fix for the infamous "some textures don't load" bug and the game crashing before the first cutscenes ends.
There are now two versions of the texture pack included by default; The Standard Edition and the Post Processing Edition. The Post Processing Edition includes more graphical features, like tone mapping and ambient occlusion, depth of field and more. It's only compatible with Windows 7 and above. However, the Standard Edition has improved stability and compatibility and supports MacOS/Linux and Android as well! Both versions look great, so pick whichever you prefer (or if you're uncertain, use the Standard Edition).
New 4K title screen textures
Now includes 2-Player Co-Op in Story mode by default! Simply enable the cheat code in the game properties and enjoy the full game in 2-player co-op mode.

1.3.0 (2020-08-26):

This update includes [color=#241e12]new 4K versions[/color][color=#241e12] of all the previously updated textures, includes [/color][color=#241e12]nearly 200 new textures,[/color][color=#241e12] and also [/color][color=#241e12]updates some previous ones[/color][color=#241e12] from the previous releases.[/color]
[color=#241e12]New textures include primarily HUD and UI textures. Furthermore, the [/color][color=#241e12]installation has been simplified[/color][color=#241e12] and [/color][color=#241e12]no longer requires almost any manual setup [/color][color=#241e12]from the user [/color][color=#241e12]at all on Windows[/color][color=#241e12]. Simply click "Pikmin 4K.exe" and play![/color]
[color=#241e12]Shaders have been added[/color][color=#241e12] to provide new visual enhancements like[/color][color=#241e12] Rim Lighting[/color][color=#241e12], [/color][color=#241e12]Ambient Occlusion[/color][color=#241e12], [/color][color=#241e12]Global Illumination, Tesselation, Material Maps, Depth of Field[/color][color=#241e12] and much more. It truly makes the game look better than ever seen before! These shaders are enabled by default on Windows, no need to install them manually anymore![/color]
[color=#241e12]There is now also a[/color] [color=#241e12]Resource Pack version[/color][color=#241e12] of the texture pack which can easily be installed into regular Dolphin and works [/color][color=#241e12]for MacOS and Linux [/color][color=#241e12]users. The texture pack [/color][color=#241e12]should[/color][color=#241e12] also work on Android, however I've not tested it on Android myself yet.[/color]
[color=#241e12]European / PAL support has been added as well![/color][color=#241e12] This includes some of the cheat codes and most visual enhancements. I'm working on support for the Japanese version as well however that's not quite ready yet.[/color]
The texture pack now uses the [color=#241e12]DDS BC7 format[/color][color=#241e12] by default, which [/color][color=#241e12]dramatically improves load times and reduces file size[/color][color=#241e12] without any loss in quality on any of the textures.[/color]
[color=#241e12]The textures are now mip-mapped by default[/color][color=#241e12] which reduces the ugly "flickering" of high resolution textures in the distance.[/color]
[color=#241e12]Environment Maps have been added[/color][color=#241e12], which improves the realism of the lighting![/color]
[color=#241e12]And if that's not enough; the texture pack now supports the Wii version "New Play Control" edition of Pikmin 2[/color][color=#241e12]! Both the European and American versions are supported and natively supports the widescreen format (no need for hacks to get widescreen!) The 60 FPS patch is exclusive to the NTSC GameCube version, however.[/color]

1.2.0b (2018-12-02):

Removed unnecessary / unaltered textures from the download version to reduce file size.
Vastly improved texture quality with the imrpoved BC7 DDS image format!
You can now install this texture pack to any region version of Pikmin 2 GCN without having to rename the texture pack folder.
All textures are now in labeled folders to make updating easier for me and potential texture contributors.

1.2.0a (2018-03-14):

Over 50 brand new textures!
162 brand new shining material maps, specular maps and bump maps. Everything looks way better!
.PNG version has been removed, as it took up way more space and ram, it lagged a lot more and didn't even look that much better than the .DDS version
Minor tweaks and changes
Screenshots!

1.1.1c (2017-09-13):

Finally made some new textures for multiple types of ledges
New textures for tree stumps
Fixed an issue where black spots would appear on some textures
New material maps for some textures

1.1.1b (2017-09-13):

Added more textures in Valley of Repose
Fixed an issue where sometimes large textures would appear black

1.1.1a (2017-09-12):

Added a few more material maps
Added a texture for the brick wall in Awakening Wood
Fixed some textures all over the place

1.1.1 (2017-09-11):

Added more material maps
Added a couple more textures
Actually added a download for the .png version

1.1 (2017-09-10):

Added over 150 new textures
All the Piklopedia textures are now finished
A lot of terrain textures have been added / changed
New Mip Maps have been created for various textures
The file size of the texture pack has been lowered thanks to OptiPNG
A try at Material Mapping has been made, however it is not working in this version
The .PNG version is now available to everyone! (Although it requires at least 16Gb of system RAM!)

1.0:

Initial release

Video preview

(Please watch in 1440p, 60 FPS for the best experience!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oWx1Pg8ALs&feature=youtu.be

Comparison images:

Spoiler: (Show Spoiler)

Installation

Spoiler: (Show Spoiler)

If you encounter any issues with the texture pack please post them in the comments of this post, or PM them to me.

Enjoy!

Download (v1.3.1)

If you want, become a Patron and get access to the 4K version of all my texture packs and all my texture pack updates two week early!

https://www.patreon.com/henrikomagnifico

09-13-2017, 01:55 AM #2

Oh woah I didn't think there were any good textures for Pikmin 2! Big Grin

Happy I'm wrong tho! How many areas have you done this far?

HenrikoMagnifico · (This post was last modified: 10-14-2017, 07:46 PM by HenrikoMagnifico.)

(09-13-2017, 01:55 AM)DarukChampignon Wrote: Oh woah I didn't think there were any good textures for Pikmin 2! Happy I'm wrong tho! How many areas have you done this far?

I've done a bit in every area but no area is 100% finished. If I had to say one area that is the closest to being finished I would probably say awakening wood

Techie Android · 09-13-2017, 07:49 AM #4

@HenrikoMagnifico
You say "completely re-textured by hand" where are those? I see a lot of filtered textures (I don't like the filtered ones). What program and method do you draw them in?

I'm still going to do my own version texture pack of this game (very soon too), I won't be using realistic textures or filtered ones in mine, I'm going to use a different approach.

HenrikoMagnifico · (This post was last modified: 09-14-2017, 01:48 AM by HenrikoMagnifico.)

(09-13-2017, 07:49 AM)Techie Android Wrote: @HenrikoMagnifico
You say "completely re-textured by hand" where are those? I see a lot of filtered textures (I don't like the filtered ones). What program and method do you draw them in?

I'm still going to do my own version texture pack of this game (very soon too), I won't be using realistic textures or filtered ones in mine, I'm going to use a different approach.

Ah well that was my fault. I phrased it a bit wrong as only a few textures have been remade by hand from scratch. I will edit the post so that it states that more clearly.

Although a very large amount of textures have been completely re-textured from scratch in Photoshop (but I admit it can be slightly challenging to notice a change from the default textures sometimes, as I've stayed very faithful to the original textures in a lot of places and it can be tough to notice any change if you don't open up and view the texture, especially the Piklopedia ones), but I don't really see where you're coming from? Are you using the latest version of the texture pack? Have you played using it? The changes are a lot more apparent in game. I'll make a new preview video showcasing the large changes that have happened since the very old version present in the old video, to make the changes a bit more clear.

And the reason there seems to be a lot of filtered textures is because there are. I state quite clearly in the beginning of the post that every other texture in the game that hasn't been re-textured manually by me has been filtered to make it blend in at least a little bit more than default.

Anyways it's nice to hear you're doing your own version! I'm definitely going to check it out when it's ready Smile

Techie Android · 09-14-2017, 03:57 AM #6

(09-14-2017, 01:47 AM)HenrikoMagnifico Wrote: Ah well that was my fault. I phrased it a bit wrong as only a few textures have been remade by hand from scratch. I will edit the post so that it states that more clearly.

Although a very large amount of textures have been completely re-textured from scratch in Photoshop (but I admit it can be slightly challenging to notice a change from the default textures sometimes, as I've stayed very faithful to the original textures in a lot of places and it can be tough to notice any change if you don't open up and view the texture, especially the Piklopedia ones), but I don't really see where you're coming from? Are you using the latest version of the texture pack? Have you played using it? The changes are a lot more apparent in game. I'll make a new preview video showcasing the large changes that have happened since the very old version present in the old video, to make the changes a bit more clear.

And the reason there seems to be a lot of filtered textures is because there are. I state quite clearly in the beginning of the post that every other texture in the game that hasn't been re-textured manually by me has been filtered to make it blend in at least a little bit more than default.

Anyways it's nice to hear you're doing your own version! I'm definitely going to check it out when it's ready

Ah, okay.
Just be careful using filtered textures too much because it's frowned upon mostly here (since it's a program "improving" the textures, and not really your work since anyone can do it).
There are exceptions but I won't get into all that. You can ask a mod or admin about that.

I'm going to break into it all today since I've finally got some free time on my hands. I'll keep you updated on the project and what I come up with.
Hey, who knows maybe all three of us (you me and matthewclad) will join together on this and contribute to it equally, it would definitely look better with a team working on it and get done faster.

JonZom · 09-14-2017, 04:06 AM #7

Thanks very much.

HenrikoMagnifico · 09-14-2017, 11:52 PM #8

(09-14-2017, 03:57 AM)Techie Android Wrote: Ah, okay.
Just be careful using filtered textures too much because it's frowned upon mostly here (since it's a program "improving" the textures, and not really your work since anyone can do it).
There are exceptions but I won't get into all that. You can ask a mod or admin about that.

I'm going to break into it all today since I've finally got some free time on my hands. I'll keep you updated on the project and what I come up with.
Hey, who knows maybe all three of us (you me and matthewclad) will join together on this and contribute to it equally, it would definitely look better with a team working on it and get done faster.

Yeah, will be! Also I would love to collaborate on a project like this. Just DM me and we'll be in touch Wink

HenrikoMagnifico · 09-18-2017, 02:03 AM #9

Update: New showcase video is up. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oWx1Pg8ALs&feature=youtu.be Smile

Techie Android · 09-20-2017, 12:52 AM **#10**

Okay so I haven't had much time until right now. I wanted to mention something I was doing the other day with your textures (the filtered ones). I was applying as much HSV noise as possible (this breaks up the blobby look Waifux2 gives) this makes it look better than the original and the Waifu2x. I suggest you run the textures through with some settings in Waifu2x (these are tips, I'll explain in a second) 16bit, PNG, UpRGB and as little noise reduction as possible (I think that value would be 1, since you need it but not any more than possible, I get back to that soon).

Okay here's what each does.

PNG is lossless so it's going to look the best, plus you can compress it with it still being lossless. I don't know if you knew to that you can batch convert within the Waifu2x program with these settings applied to everything,s o that helps.
16bit is just another further quality improvement.
UpRGB is one of the algorithm options (I believe I'm correct here). It's the best option to use when working with textures, the "Up" just means it's better quality than the normal RGB option.

And the low noise reduction will do two things, improve the original by, well reducing the noise that occurs when upscaling it, and setting this option as low as it will go (but not off) will ensure that it's not destroying the quality, which is very important because we only want it just a little better than the original (there's a balance between this, blobby look and having some noise, you don't want too much of either) so what you do with this image now is load it in GIMP and apply the most HSV noise as possible (we need the most it gives because of the way that it scales, it'll be just enough noise) now export that as another PNG file.

Now compare these three textures, the original to the Waifu2x one with PNG, 16bit, UpRGB and lowest noise options, to the one the same as before with added noise.

I'm going to add some pictures here in a second.