I love ReShade (and you should too!)

[Metalmucil]

Seriously, it's the best tool in PC gaming and its freaking free. PC is all about options, and Reshade just gives you more of them, especially when the game itself doesn't.

I feel like it gets a bad rap in some places because a lot of the videos you see on Youtube and presets you find for games are done by people just cranking up everything they can and thinking 'more junk = better!' These are probably the kind of people that stretch 4:3 games to 16:9 because 'it should fill the screen' while filtering them until they look like a cheap flash game, or that like those nasty 360 crushed blacks because they 'pop'.

It's so much more than that. And subtlety and careful use goes a long way.

Just look at Stranglehold (stealth Stranglehold is awesome and you should play it thread. It's basically a proto-Vanquish.)

Before:


After:


Don't like TAA? Load up ReShade and use whatever AA you want, combine them to taste.

Muddy old textures got ya down? Sharpen it a little (Judiciously! This is VERY easy to overdo).

Playing some old school games and wish you had a CRT or the CRT effect included is too strong/not strong enough? ReShade has your back with one that lets you adjust everything, including intensity and resolution, to your exact liking.

Ancient piss-filter annoying you? ReShade that sucker out!

And it doesn't have to be a major overhaul either. Take Radien V for example. No standard PC graphics options AT ALL and overblown highlights/bloom. Well … ReShade! Gamma correct a bit, add some AA, a tiny bit of sharpening and viola, cleaned up that image nicely!

Before:

After:



I mean, since Descent Rebirth is Open GL that screen space ray-tracing effect even works on Descent from 1995. How awesome is that?!?!

So, TLDR, after picking up PC gaming again, I also discovered ReShade. It is now an invaluable tool for me and I love it dearly.


Here are the direct image links, should you so wish....
Stranglehold Reshade

New item by Respectful Remasters by Metalmucil

photos.app.goo.gl

Stranglehold Raw

New item by Respectful Remasters by Metalmucil

photos.app.goo.gl

Raiden V Raw

New item by Respectful Remasters by Metalmucil

photos.app.goo.gl

Raidne V Reshade

New item by Respectful Remasters by Metalmucil

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[texhnolyze]

Yeah, I find myself using Reshade 50% of the time, maybe more. People usually complain about how a lot of presets look horrible or over the top. But that's the thing about Reshade, you can tinker it to your own taste.

What I hate the most about games in PS4/XB1 era is the vaseline/fog fiter (as opposed to brown/piss filter from PS3/XB360 era) in most games, and I always get rid of that. It's also super useful when playing older games, like adding AO and other modern shaders.

 

[pswii60]

Is Reshade's CRT filter included in the standard package or is it a separate download? If the latter which one do you recommend?

Would quite like to CRT-up the likes of Cyber Shadow.

 

[Deleted member 16908]

Would this allow me to add anti aliasing to Minecraft Java Edition?

 

[Reinhardt Schneider]

Since I'm reinstalling TDU2 due to the newly released multiplayer mod, i may give this a try

I was curious back then, but it took too much computational power, its impact would be negligible on my actual machine

 

[alphacat]

love reshade!

 

[Ahti]

I use SweetFx or ReShade for a lot of older games. Sometimes for subtle changes, sometimes for significant changes.
Some examples:

MGS V:

Screenshot - E3 2013 3.0 (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

sfx.thelazy.net

Dead Space:

Screenshot - Nexus Node (Dead Space 1)

sfx.thelazy.net

Batman Arkham Asylum:

Screenshot - K-putt'e Config (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

sfx.thelazy.net

Witcher 3:

Screenshot - ♛1.000 Times Better v1.3 (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

sfx.thelazy.net

 

[Zephy]

In games where I want to get a cinematic look, I load up reshade and add some grain, raise black levels a tiny bit and play a little with the color grading.

But I don't use it for heavy effects which often mess up the UI.

 

[Acidote]

I used it to a while ago to inject crt royale into KOFXIII after downsampling it from 4k. Should've taken screenshots.

 

[Darkstorne]

Honestly, I think I have a problem with liking it TOO much.

I finally got around to installing Total War Warhammer 2 yesterday, loaded it up, edited graphics settings, and checked out the benchmark tools. Immediately noticed the game's lighting is flat as fuck. Not a problem, right? ReShade to the rescue! A few very simple tweaks, MXAO to make forests on the overland really pop with depth, edit the curves slightly to make the shadows darker, tonemap adjustments to keep the original colour balance intact, and SMAA because the game's FXAA isn't cutting it and the MSAA options are too expensive. Now I can start a campaign! Only to realize the MXAO shader bizarrely only works while your mouse is hovering over a unit, and is otherwise disabled. Instantly quit the game and haven't loaded it up again yet. I really don't want to miss out on the game over something so stupid, but it bothers me that I know the graphics can look so much better.

I adore it in ESO though. All this talk about an upcoming next-gen update for the game, and I feel like I've already had it for years now =P

 

[lightchris]

Not a big fan in general. There are a very few instances I've used it, especially for CRT shaders in retro/retro style games.

Other than that I feel like most of the time I see image comparisons between vanilla and "enhanced" versions I prefer the vanilla one. That doesn't mean it isn't possible to get better results with ReShade, but for me personally it isn't worth the hassle trying to find them.
It's just a personal preference of me that for the most part I want to experience games the way intended by the developers, which is also why I seldom use other mods.

 

[Blade30]

Yeah I love it too. I haven't played with it a lot but my go to filters are some sharpening filters, FakeHDR, DPX and AmbientLight (legacy). You'll have to tweak the settings a bit but it's worth it.

 

[Hassansan]

I don't fuck with anime games without it, you don't even have to fiddle a lot before the game starts to look better.

 

[KillLaCam]

Yeah I use reshade on pretty much every game that allows it

 

[Bonfires Down]

I'm too lazy. I do use Nvidia Freestyle but pretty much only for sharpening. Most modern games get color balance and contrast correct anyway imo.

CRT filters could be pretty cool in certain games though.

 

[Metalmucil]

Is Reshade's CRT filter included in the standard package or is it a separate download? If the latter which one do you recommend?
Would quite like to CRT-up the likes of Cyber Shadow.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, as far as I know. There's a prompt when you first put it on a game about what parts you want to install, and I usually just go basic unless I'm looking for something specific. It has a bunch of adjustments, res, intensity, bloom, you can even curve the edges like an old screen if you want. I love a tiny bit of CRT on pretty much anything older than PS2 era.

*Snip*

Click to shrink...

That MGS one looks great. The black crush on the Dead Space pic bugs me though. I want to try Dead Space 2 with the RTX mod now, gonna have to download that again!

I used it to a while ago to inject crt royale into KOFXIII after downsampling it from 4k. Should've taken screenshots.

Click to shrink...

I bet that looked awesome!

Honestly, I think I have a problem with liking it TOO much.
*snip*

Click to shrink...

For sure. Been there. It's one of those things where, once you know it COULD look better, you see the problems all the time! I do that with music all the time too. I hate bad mastering EQ.

 

[Kami]

A little bit of Clarity and Lumasharpen completely transformed AC Valhalla. I didn't realize how blurry the game was by default.

 

[TheDutchSlayer]

I have tried it in the past but I have no clue how to use it, I don't know what the commands are or what any of the terms they use mean.

 

[Tortahegesztő]

Removing piss-filters and injecting SMAA into older titles is a gamechanger.
You can also use more nuanced and subtle sharpening against the TAA blur, than AMD FidelityFX CAS (usually just an ON/OFF in the game options and for my eyes it's always way overdone) or the Nvidia Control Panel sharpening.

 

[Skyebaron]

I always use my Reshade by default. My go to's are

CAS
Clarity
Lumasharpen
Vibrance

Those 4 can bring out so much detail and best thing its up to you how much you wanna apply.

Also, you can bring Ray Tracing with: McFly's RTGI 0.17.0.2 Shader

https://www.patreon.com/mcflypg Its patreon only so linking a googable pirate link would be illegal.

 

[zeomax]

I use SweetFx or ReShade for a lot of older games. Sometimes for subtle changes, sometimes for significant changes.
Some examples:

MGS V:

Screenshot - E3 2013 3.0 (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

sfx.thelazy.net

Dead Space:

Screenshot - Nexus Node (Dead Space 1)

sfx.thelazy.net

Batman Arkham Asylum:

Screenshot - K-putt'e Config (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

sfx.thelazy.net

Witcher 3:

Screenshot - ♛1.000 Times Better v1.3 (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)

sfx.thelazy.net

Click to shrink...

The Dead Space example is very bad. You loose a lot of details in dark spaces.

 

[Einherjer]

Removing piss-filters and injecting SMAA into old games is a gamechanger.
You can also use more nuanced and subtle sharpening against the TAA blur, than AMD FidelityFX CAS (usually just an ON/OFF in the game options and for my eyes it's always way too overdone) or the Nvidia Control Panel sharpening.

Click to shrink...

There is a new FidelityFX CAS shader for reshade which allows to fine tune the sharpening, i use it in my FFXIV gameplay preset it's pretty awesome. It's included in Gshade which is a modified Reshade for FFXIV.

 

[Metalmucil]

I made a quick album for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed with the RTGI mod. Spoiler, it looks awesome.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MvPvv1d7YNF6yu637

 

[BeI]

I've tried reshade SMAA in one game, but it seemed like it made it feel more stuttery and ghosty, so I think I'm a bit put off using it.

 

[Pargon]

Removing piss-filters and injecting SMAA into older titles is a gamechanger.

Click to shrink...

For what it's worth, Special K can actually disable those shaders in the first place, rather than running a ReShade shader on top of the game's output to counteract what it's doing.
These might not be the best comparison shots, but I always hated the filter they added to the Final Fantasy XII remaster, which gave it a slight green tint and a washed-out, hazy look.

EDIT: I've been requested to update this post. The correct shader to disable is a403e28f
If you create a d3d11_shaders.ini file next to SpecialK's profile for this game with the following code, it will be disabled automatically.

[DrawState.Pixel]
a403e28f=Disable

 

[Metalmucil]

For what it's worth, Special K can actually disable those shaders in the first place, rather than running a ReShade shader on top of the game's output to counteract what it's doing.
These might not be the best comparison shots, but I always hated the filter they added to the Final Fantasy XII remaster, which gave it a slight green tint and a washed-out, hazy look.

Click to shrink...

I haven't checked out Special K yet. Is it as easy to use as ReShade? You can use it disable stuff like DoF and whatnot, tight?

 

[Pargon]

I haven't checked out Special K yet. Is it as easy to use as ReShade? You can use it disable stuff like DoF and whatnot, tight?

Click to shrink...

It's a lot easier now with global injection, which tends to fix most of the compatibility issues with games crashing at launch etc.
But for things like disabling shaders/effects, you basically go into the list of active shaders and toggle them one-by-one until you find the effect you're looking for (if you are unfamiliar with the shader code itself).

 

[nded]

Reshade is fun.

 

[dadoes]

Doesn't it introduce latency and lower fps?

 

[Oreoleo]

I've never used Reshade but Nvidia added similar features into its driver suite like a year ago. Being able to sharpen a game at will to counter TAA blur is nice!

 

[BobLoblaw]

I use Reshade for every single game that I play and feel bad/sorry for anyone who doesn't. You're playing an inferior version of a game and don't even know it. :(

 

[DaciaJC]

I love ReShade. Don't use it in every single game, but in those I do it makes a huge difference in turning an artistically drab game into one with more vibrant, expressive colors. For example, Dark Souls III:

 

[Moose]

Love reshade and ENB (shame ENB guy is a complete asshole), only problem is finding presets that are minimalistic where you get the benefits without the oversaturation or overuse of bloom, etc.

 

[texhnolyze]

Doesn't it introduce latency and lower fps?

Click to shrink...

Latency, no. Lower fps, depends on the kind and amount of shaders you activated. But generally, simple shaders like correcting colors and/or removing filters usually don't make a hit to fps. ENB is a totally different beast though, some presets will eat half of your fps.

 

[Gimdrek]

yeah reshade is great!

I use it for World of Warcraft to sharpen and add a little more color to the picture. I tried many presets that made the game have too much bloom or overly colorful. Though some presets made duskwood zone ingame look amazing. Is there a reshade preset sharing thread for era?

 

[Finaika]

I don't use ReShade.

 

[TheMadTitan]

I haven't bothered with reshade yet since I have enough shit running simultaneously already. Is there a way to only get it to load when a game loads? Same issue I have with SpecialK right now, but I don't think Reshade will cause games to crash.

 

[Jedi2016]

I tend to avoid options that change the art style of the game's designers. So many people that think they know better than the professional artists who designed it in the first place. I only make exceptions for egregious offenses like chromatic aberration.

I also avoid pretty much any kind of injector these days, and stick to mods that actually rewrite game files, not change them around in RAM on the fly. Something about that always seemed fishy to me.

While we're on the subject, does anyone else wish that Nexus would make separate categories for ReShade presets? I'm tired of seeing a game pop up with "20 mods" only to find that 18 of them are just ReShade, or having to scroll through page after page of presets to find actual mods.

 

[Dreamboum]

Resonance of Fate

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I just use nVidia CP and adjust contrast/gamma/brightness globally

 

[TheRyzzl]

I like messing around with it in Final Fantasy XIV.

 

[lucebuce]

Reshade is fun.

Click to shrink...

 

[nded]

Click to shrink...

Oh hey, I blocked that from my mind.

 

[texhnolyze]

yeah reshade is great!

I use it for World of Warcraft to sharpen and add a little more color to the picture. I tried many presets that made the game have too much bloom or overly colorful. Though some presets made duskwood zone ingame look amazing. Is there a reshade preset sharing thread for era?

Click to shrink...

Reshade is just another form of modding. And just like modding, it's a very niche activity here in Era. Even with Bethesda allowing modding for Skyrim and Fallout 4 on consoles, it never get big here as it is in other sites.

I haven't bothered with reshade yet since I have enough shit running simultaneously already. Is there a way to only get it to load when a game loads? Same issue I have with SpecialK right now, but I don't think Reshade will cause games to crash.

Click to shrink...

That's exactly how Reshade work. It won't load if you don't run games that you have Reshade installed. It doesn't automatically install system-wide and running all the time, or installed for all games. It'll only be installed for the specific games you choose.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

I like it at times. Hardly ever use it these days though.

 

[TheMadTitan]

Reshade is just another form of modding. And just like modding, it's a very niche activity here in Era. Even with Bethesda allowing modding for Skyrim and Fallout 4 on consoles, it never get big here as it is in other sites.


That's exactly how Reshade work. It won't load if you don't run games that you have Reshade installed. It doesn't automatically install system-wide and running all the time, or installed for all games. It'll only be installed for the specific games you choose.

Click to shrink...

Then I might have to dabble.

 

[Rickenslacker]

Is there any form of ReShare or other injectors that can add a simple bilinear/bicubic filter to 2D games? I don't care about getting picky over the visuals on all the games I play, but I'd have use for something that can put a bandaid on 2D games with shitty scaling options and leave me with some nearest neighbour non-integer scaled mess.

 

[Arebours]

9 times of 10 whenever I see reshade screenshots they look like crap because there's too much contrast and saturation. That's actually what I'm seeing in this thread. Almost every "after" here looks worse than the "before". I don't know what it is about gamers but unless shadows are pitch black it's like they think the image is wrong or washed out. And the boosting of saturation reminds me of the horrid demo tvs in electronics stores that use ridiculous settings to have the image "pop" and look more "vibrant". That said, whatever floats your boat...

 

[Metalmucil]

9 times of 10 whenever I see reshade screenshots they look like crap because there's too much contrast and saturation. That's actually what I'm seeing in this thread. Almost every "after" here looks worse than the "before". I don't know what it is about gamers but unless shadows are pitch black it's like they think the image is wrong or washed out. And the boosting of saturation reminds me of the horrid demo tvs in electronics stores that use ridiculous settings to have the image "pop" and look more "vibrant". That said, whatever floats your boat...

Click to shrink...

This is a wierd long-shot, but here is a possible issue:
Lots of people use Nvidia cards. If you output via HDMI on Nvida, it defaults to Limited RGB, making everything looking washed out on a computer monitor because you are in the wrong color space. I can assume lots of people don't know to change that. You know, many people, especially those into tech stuff, have more dollars than sense.

As an aside, none of the screen caps I've posted mess with contrast and saturation, and only the Raiden one did any color grading at all, because it that game has overdone bloom and clipping whites all over. Seriously, if you are in the clouds the screen just becomes a white nothingness. That's not OK.
And yeah, I agree with you, 9 out of 10 "Reshade" presets suck because people overdo it. I touch on that in the OP.

 

[Arebours]

This is a wierd long-shot, but here is a possible issue:
Lots of people use Nvidia cards. If you output via HDMI on Nvida, it defaults to Limited RGB, making everything looking washed out on a computer monitor because you are in the wrong color space. I can assume lots of people don't know to change that.

Click to shrink...

That might be a small part of it, but there a bigger general issue with people being prone to smash the contrast. I see it all the time on home tvs, computer screens, when people edit photos and so on. It's the equivalent of having a sound system with completely overpowered bass response. I'm hearing tons of booming resonance that masks the entire mid band but for them the music pops and is more vibrant or something. It's one of those things where if you train your eyes and learn a bit of photography or drawing/painting/shading you tend to do the opposite - dial back the contrast and saturation and bring forward nuance and subtlety.