My love letter to Cryptic

[Deathfather]

Dear Cryptic Studios,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you not just for the incredible worlds you've built — Champions Online, Star Trek Online, Neverwinter — but for something even rarer: the trust you've shown in your community by allowing us the freedom to explore, mod, and enhance your games.

That freedom inspired me to embark on one of the most challenging and rewarding projects I've ever tackled: a full texture remaster of Champions Online. I didn't simply upscale — I dug deep into the very foundations you built, honoring the original artistry while enhancing it with modern clarity and fidelity.

I say this with no ego: I'm an expert at what I do. I have a deep background in texture enhancement, optimization, and format engineering, and a proven ability to work at the technical level very few ever touch. But even with all that experience, I was genuinely impressed by the depth and structure of the systems you created. Your proprietary formats — from .wtex wrappers to .hed verification — demanded serious reverse engineering, patience, and a lot of respect. Every challenge I overcame only deepened my appreciation for the craftsmanship that went into building your games.

It wasn’t just a project. It was something that had to be earned — and it made the work feel real, meaningful.

Of course, the original assets and worlds are yours. Everything I've done — every texture enhancement, every improvement — I freely offer back to you. If what I've built can help your vision in any way, you have my full blessing to use it however you see fit.

And I’m not stopping here. Star Trek Online and Neverwinter are next. I want to honor them the same way — carefully, respectfully, and with the same relentless dedication your teams showed when you first brought these worlds to life.

Thank you for building something worth putting everything into. Thank you for trusting players enough to explore your creations. Thank you for making worlds that inspire us to aim higher.

With deep respect and gratitude,

— Xzandiel on Nexus, Deathfather on Steam

https://www.nexusmods.com/championsonline/mods/4

Here is my full remaster of Champions Online

[Michael]

This sounds like an incredible undertaking! I'm so glad that people haven't given up on this game, and I thank you so much for making this. I'm downloading the 4k version now to see how it runs on my rather dated machine. :-)

[Deathfather]

Originally posted by Michael:

This sounds like an incredible undertaking! I'm so glad that people haven't given up on this game, and I thank you so much for making this. I'm downloading the 4k version now to see how it runs on my rather dated machine. :-)

How did it work? 😀