Eagle 2 and Eagle2 Expansion revisited

nowefg

The Eagle 2 Expansion set says Eagle 2 required.

I bought both, (just now on sale) and find they both have complete obj's and Cr2's, and that Eagle 2 Expansion has all the pose pieces of Eagle 2, with a lot of new content, in terms of morphs and maps for other species.

I do see that Eagle 2 has a map for Bald Eagle only, and Expansion has other species without the Bald Eagle. But I don't see how
that's considered "required".

It looks like Expansion works very fine as a standalone set. No second Eagle 2 required, because Eagle 2 comes with the Expansion set, just sans Bald Eagle map.

The sale prices were great, but I did use the november plat club coupon to buy a product that actually isn't necessary for the Eagle 2 Expansion at all, unless I can't live without the Bald Eagle map, which I can. It was the alternative species I was interested in getting.

Just a heads up. Anyone who has these two know of any reason Eagle 2 really is required for Eagle2 Expansion? Something I'm not seeing?

icprncss

The installer for the Eagle 2 Expansion required the Eagle 2 to be installed before it would install he expansion. If the files are now zips that may no longer be the case. However, the obj that comes with the expansion is not the same obj file as the eagle 2. Also some of the expansion files do an external call for files found in the Eagle 2 expansion.

nowefg

If the files are now zips that may no longer be the case.

Thanks, icprncss

Eagle 2 is a zip, Eagle 2X is both a zip and a dpc.exe. I installed 2X first with no problem, then Eagle 2, and can see that the Eagle 2X obj is a complete model with cr2, and many, many more useful morph options than Eagle 2.

The X version also appears to be updated in it's basic geometry, especially visible around the beak area, which steps away from the 'toon" element in Eagle 2. I don't want a cartoon eagle for my nature renders, I want a realistic eagle. Eagle 2 X delivers that.

The X version poses and species morphs don't appear to depend on Eagle 2, either. What I got in installing both was two sets of poses, identical in form except that X version has one more pose than the stock set. There also seems to be some conflict between the two sets, and they don't function properly in accidental-mix-and-match mode.

Rather than leave that conflict, I removed the Eagle 2 poses as superfluous, and find no issues arising, since the Expansion version is improved over the earlier model. Eagle 2 does have a morph that Eagle 2 X doesn't, for an immature Bald Eagle, slightly smaller, different map. Whether that's worth the cost of buying two almost identical eagles is up to the artist/renderer/collector. The sale price made it attractive enough for me to get both. There's still some exploring to do about applying that immature morph to the X version species morphs, but as the maps won't be accurate for other species' juveniles anyway, not sure that's worth much time either.

My sense is that the X version will perform perfectly well without Eagle 2 installed, because it's already complete, but it's moot, since I have both and am not sure it's worth the fuss to test that theory. One option for a future buyer would be to get the Expansion set first and try it. Given it's already steep price tag, one might find 2X does enough to serve, without adding the cost of Eagle 2.

Incidentally, very nice models, and X has really wonderful species morphs and maps. An excellent addition to a nature catalog, and recommended. The promos don't do justice.

FirstBastion

I was testing the Peregrine from the expansion last night. Nice details. Well worth the investment.