Thanks for voting, everyone! It's become clear to me that opinion is split almost right down the middle with (at the time of writing), 55% for AI Upscaling and 45% for brand new textures. So here's what's going to happen:
I'm going to do both.
Since AI Upscaling is technically in the lead, I'll be starting with that. Once it is complete, I'll introduce brand new textures for all major and select, outlying cities. Once that is complete, I'll start moving zone-by-zone again with new texture mods.
Here's a few things that are happening:
1) I'll be releasing AI Upscaled mods in batches of 10. The first will drop by or before this weekend.
2) There will be NO batch-processing of textures. Each texture is getting upscaled by hand to ensure the correct settings are used for each.
3) I am capping each texture at 4x Scale to ensure no one texture becomes too large. This should help with load times and black-screen issues.
4) New Bump Maps will not be included in the initial release (originals will be used). This may become an optional download at a later date.
5) Original Foliage will be used for AI Upscale mods, with minor exceptions. The Alpha-Channels for foliage will also be upscaled in the majority of cases.
6) Weather will not be upscaled for initial release. This will be revisited at a later date.
7) All textures get a final touch-up in Photoshop to repair glitches and to apply additional detail where necessary.
8) Praise Altana.
Thanks for your support everyone, and to all those who have donated to this project.
~Amelila Gainsborough