INTRODUCTION
Since many "photorealistic" Reshade presets here tend to overdo it with a fake HDR/LEVELS etc. to deepen the shadows/scene exposition, in result - everything becomes too dark. It makes details of all the surfaces, clothes and such often disappear in darkness. Black point goes up to the ridiculous levels as well so the whole picture gets darker like hell. No one wants that. A dark-hole style black does not exist in real life nor in drawing/painting/rendering. Natural darkness is more like a dark graphite color darkness so a fake HDR has a tendency of darkening everything too much. This preset aims at not crossing the line with darkening while still making shadows and colors much deeper with a better temperature & saturation.
CHANGE-LOG
v 1.1 - changed the optional ADAPTIVE FOG color, density and coverage distance so it matches the original game's one as close as possible
* it seems that adaptive fog may be responsible for an increased CTD frequency. Needs more testing but if you encounter any issue, just turn it
completely off. I have around 60 mods installed and everything seemed fine before I tuned the adaptive fog settings.
v.1.0 - initial
WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES IN DETAILS
- sharpen everything (heavy sharpen) [YOU MUST TURN THE FILM GRAIN OFF - OTHERWISE IT'S GONNA LOOK BAD, TRUST ME]
- green filter reduction (many people do not like it, it's not realistic either)
- color saturation and temperature boost (most people enjoy full, colorful images but without green/blue/red noise filter like a green one that vanilla game has)
- shadows deepening (without darkening everything, which 1000 presets using a fake HDR/LEVELS etc. do here and I hate it - natural darkness is more like a dark graphite color, which I have already mentioned)
- "HDR" feeling without making everything too dark
- adaptive fog (read below - important)
ADAPTIVE FOG
Basically, many Reshade presets here destroy the fog in the horizon. Vanilla game displays it in DoF on the buildings, in the skies, anywhere on the horizon where fog/vapor blur makes sense. My Reshade recreates the fog as close to vanilla as possible so the buildings in distance are visible better than normally but without artificial sharpening that comes from other presets.
HOWEVER, IT HAS A DRAWBACK - THE GAME MENUS BECOME "MILKY" - like being behind a fog. You may decide to turn the fog off by pressing a hotkey (DEL by default) anytime you enter your EQ, settings etc. or if it frustrates you - just turn it off completely and forget it. Then you have to cope up with a bit too sharp buildings on the horizon/in the distance. Many people do not see it but I am quite allergic to that so the adaptive fog appeared on this preset and turning it off while entering the menus does not bother me that much - graphic quality remains more important but this is subjective.
WHERE IT LOOKS BEST
- on the surfaces - roads, pavements, walls
- on red, blue, green materials - makes those colors deeper (don't worry, the general green filter is off so it's not gonna reactivate it)
- on distant buildings in perspective (two options here: a) with adaptive fog - makes buildings sharp and colorful but naturally covered by fog & vapor but the menu screens are also covered in fog :-P; b) without adaptive fog - buildings crispy sharp in distance but no menu fog pollution - you may simply turn it on/off with a single button)
KEY CONFIGURATION (MINE, FEEL FREE TO CHANGE THEM IN RESHADE)
PG-DWN = UNSHARP (boosts the colors temperature & saturation)
DEL = ADAPTIVE FOG (turned off by default but it seems that the game may start with it turned on - adds fog to all the distant buildings/horizon or allows you turning it off while using a menus; alternatively, you may just turn it off completely the way it is now)
END = FINAL SHARPENING (turn it off if you find the picture too sharp or too grainy)
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--> RAY TRACING ON / OFF (looks great regardless)
--> DLSS ON (if you're using it, then it removes the irritating blurriness - as much as possible)
--> 2-3 FPS LOSS (at least, on my RTX 3070 Ti - for you it may be more or less but I think it's totally worth it)
--> PERSONAL OPINION: MAKES THE GAME LOOK BETTER THAN JUST TURNING THE RAY TRACING ON EVEN IF YOU'RE PLAYING WITH RAY TRACING OFF (see the screenshots). WITH BOTH A RAY TRACING & THIS PRESET ON IT GETS EVEN BETTER. HOWEVER - TO ME - IT STILL MAKES THE GAME MORE ATTRACTIVE IF YOU APPLY IT WITHOUT USING RAY TRACING THAN IT LOOKS AFTER JUST TURNING THE RAY TRACING ON WITHOUT A RESHADE.
IN OTHER WORDS:
RAY TRACING ON + RESHADE = BEST
RAY TRACING OFF + RESHADE = GREAT
RAY TRACING ON - RESHADE OFF = MEH, NOT WORTH THE FPS LOSS
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