[GUIDE] How to Improve Elite's Graphics with Mods and Tweaks...

Obsidian Ant · Jul 3, 2015

If you want to improve the graphics in Elite, there are a number of ways you can do this. Some of these tweaks (especially the planet and galaxy textures, go quite a long way to restoring the game to what it once looked like). Most of this information has been pulled from other threads, and I have now collected it all together into a single video along with a short example of the visual improvements.

[video=youtube;iIosivU9uVw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIosivU9uVw[/video]

Here are the additional required instructions:

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SweetFX, ReShade and GemFX
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=87727

Default Game Installation Locations:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Frontier\EDLaunch\Products\FORC-FDEV-D-1001 - The number at the end will vary from game to game.

C:\Program Files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\Frontier\EDLaunch\Products\FORC-FDEV-D-1001

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UI Colour Change Website:
http://arkku.com/elite/hud_editor/

Edit this file to change UI: GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml

Graphic UI Override location
C:\users\name\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Options\Graphics

Place your code between the GraphicsConfig and GraphicsConfigbrackets:

http://arkku.com/elite/hud_editor/#theme_0_0.2_0.8_0_0.6_0_1_0.3_0.18

Replace the sections for MatrixRed MatrixGreen and MatrixBlue with the code you generated on the above website (or just copy my code to get the same blue UI I use)

My UI code is already in the box on the above website.

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If you want to use a 21:9 aspect ratio on a standard 16:9 monitor, you can follow this guide:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49654

DidierDrbois · Jul 3, 2015

Extremely cool. Been googling around like a stung rat for stuff like this as you probably know. A thousand cheers mate!

Alex614 · Jul 3, 2015

I have to ask, are these mods safe? They won't show up as a false alarm for a cheat or anything?

Obsidian Ant · Jul 3, 2015

DidierDrbois said:
Extremely cool. Been googling around like a stung rat for stuff like this as you probably know. A thousand cheers mate!

You're welcome.

Alex614 said:
I have to ask, are these mods safe? They won't show up as a false alarm for a cheat or anything?

Yes, Frontier are perfectly fine with us doing this. Most of the file tweaks have come directly from the developers. The SweetFX mod is linked here on this forum, and is a very old thread. It's all good and safe.

Arjin · Jul 3, 2015

Very cool Granite! thank you for taking the time to do this, Sucks we have to use 3rd party tools to make the game look better instead of ingame options...But maybe that's the plan all along..

+1 as my rep just free'd up

EDIT: One thing too add for the HUD colors, if you use a negative number you can separate out the three colors a bit more. Just insert a minus sign - in front of a number on the little white matrix window.

DidierDrbois · Jul 3, 2015

Guys, I'll shamelessly take the liberty to ask here: there was an XML tweak to force high resolution nebulae. It had some drawbacks I remember (could only display one nebula at a time or something) but the up-close shots looked amazing. I can't find it for the life of me. Could be a nice addition to Obsidian Ant's guide here too. Anybody?

Arjin · Jul 3, 2015

Granite, this maybe a dense question but I'll ask anyways.

I don't run a preset as mine is custom because I change different settings. Is this based of off the texture setting? So if mine is set to high I would change the "high" section in the .xml?

Thanks,

Obsidian Ant · Jul 3, 2015

Arjin said:
Granite, this maybe a dense question but I'll ask anyways. I don't run a preset as mine is custom because I change different settings. Is this based of off the texture setting? So if mine is set to high I would change the "high" section in the .xml?

Thanks,

Yes, as far as I understand it - the low, medium, high block inside the xml file relates to the corresponding low, medium, high setting inside the games graphics menu.

Chann3l · Jul 3, 2015

Granite said:
Yes, as far as I understand it - the low, medium, high block inside the xml file relates to the corresponding low, medium, high setting inside the games graphics menu.

I'm running on ultra with dsr doubling my resolution of 2560 x 1080. Not too concerned as I run way above 100 fps anyway, but what's the perforomance hit like for the texture size tweaks? Gonna give it a go tonight, not a huge fan of sweetfx and the like so I'll probably pass on that portion. Excellent guide though +rep.

Obsidian Ant · Jul 3, 2015

Chann3l said:
I'm running on ultra with dsr doubling my resolution of 2560 x 1080. Not too concerned as I run way above 100 fps anyway, but what's the perforomance hit like for the texture size tweaks? Gonna give it a go tonight, not a huge fan of sweetfx and the like so I'll probably pass on that portion. Excellent guide though +rep.

Thanks.

I didn't see any noticable performance hit for the increased texture size. I have V-Sync on and the frame rate is still locked at 60fps - I didn't switch VSync off to give it a text. I get slightly under 60fps near stations sometimes, and that seems to be purely down to SweetFX as the frame rate goes right back up again when I disable it.

- - - Updated - - -

DidierDrbois said:
Guys, I'll shamelessly take the liberty to ask here: there was an XML tweak to force high resolution nebulae. It had some drawbacks I remember (could only display one nebula at a time or something) but the up-close shots looked amazing. I can't find it for the life of me. Could be a nice addition to Obsidian Ant's guide here too. Anybody?

I have heard about this, but never tried it. Hopefully someone will be able to give us an answer on how to do this...

- - - Updated - - -

Arjin said:
Very cool Granite! thank you for taking the time to do this, Sucks we have to use 3rd party tools to make the game look better instead of ingame options...But maybe that's the plan all along..

+1 as my rep just free'd up

EDIT: One thing too add for the HUD colors, if you use a negative number you can separate out the three colors a bit more. Just insert a minus sign - in front of a number on the little white matrix window.

Thanks.

And nice tip about the negative numbers - I will give that one a try.

xiani · Jul 3, 2015

Chann3l said:
I'm running on ultra with dsr doubling my resolution of 2560 x 1080. Not too concerned as I run way above 100 fps anyway, but what's the perforomance hit like for the texture size tweaks? Gonna give it a go tonight, not a huge fan of sweetfx and the like so I'll probably pass on that portion. Excellent guide though +rep.

5120x2160 @ 100FPS+? Blimey! What are you running?

I tried 1.5 DSR with 2560x1440 - it works fine, is a *bit* smoother looking, and keeps over 100 FPS on an overclocked 980Ti, but I'm in the UK & it's ridiculously hot here right now, and the last thing I need is the PC becoming a room heater...

That sure looks pretty though. I'll check it out once the inevitable thunderstorm hits and things cool down.

Arjin · Jul 3, 2015

Granite said:
Thanks. And nice tip about the negative numbers - I will give that one a try.

The least I can do, since you have done so much for us..

Nexien · Jul 3, 2015

Can't wait to try it out! +rep

Obsidian Ant · Jul 4, 2015

xiani said:
5120x2160 @ 100FPS+? Blimey! What are you running?

I tried 1.5 DSR with 2560x1440 - it works fine, is a *bit* smoother looking, and keeps over 100 FPS on an overclocked 980Ti, but I'm in the UK & it's ridiculously hot here right now, and the last thing I need is the PC becoming a room heater...

That sure looks pretty though. I'll check it out once the inevitable thunderstorm hits and things cool down.

Sounds like the thunderstorm is here - at least in this part of the country!

Islata · Jul 4, 2015

Hi there,

Thanks for the summary of tweeks.

I'm still having problems with alias jagged lines.

What are the steps and changes you do to get your stations to look so clean and crisp?

Islata

Obsidian Ant · Jul 4, 2015

Islata said:
Hi there,

Thanks for the summary of tweeks.

I'm still having problems with alias jagged lines.

What are the steps and changes you do to get your stations to look so clean and crisp?

Islata

I do still get jaggies, although they only show up on the docking grill. They don't seem to show in the screenshots, but that is possibly because I have downsized the images a little bit.

Have you tried the Supersampling / DSR option in the graphics menu?

Spanksh · Jul 4, 2015

Thanks a lot for this! Especially the planet "upgrade" makes exploring a bit more rewarding again, after all that has happened recently.

I just have one completely off topic question: What music did you use at the start of the video?

It sounds really nice (and I can't comment on YouTube).

Islata · Jul 5, 2015

Hi Granite,

I am using one version of super sampling, maybe around the 2k level. If my memory is right, I did not notice any improvement at 4k.

Trouble is, even though my system is beyond bleeding edge and frame rates are not an issue, I am using a 55 inch screen. The jaggies are really pretty bad.

I am wondering if I just do not have the right combination of graphics card settings and game settings.

GPU is a Black Titan.

Are there any tutorials about optimum set up to remove aliasing?

Islata

passey · Jul 5, 2015

tried sweetfx and gemfx but as soon as I put any of the files into the elite folder when I press play nothing happens?

if I remove the sweetfx files and click play it works.

any ideas?

Installed through steam

Obsidian Ant · Jul 5, 2015

Islata said:
Hi Granite,

I am using one version of super sampling, maybe around the 2k level. If my memory is right, I did not notice any improvement at 4k.

Trouble is, even though my system is beyond bleeding edge and frame rates are not an issue, I am using a 55 inch screen. The jaggies are really pretty bad.

I am wondering if I just do not have the right combination of graphics card settings and game settings.

GPU is a Black Titan.

Are there any tutorials about optimum set up to remove aliasing?

Islata

I haven't really done anything addiational with anti-aliasing yet, but have you tried modifiying it through the Nvidia control panel? This guide looks like it should cover what you need: http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_6.html

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passey said:
tried sweetfx and gemfx but as soon as I put any of the files into the elite folder when I press play nothing happens?

if I remove the sweetfx files and click play it works.

any ideas?

Installed through steam

Since patch 1.3 some people are having problems with SweetFX. Have you tried ReShade?

If that doesn't work either, you can always try EDFX: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/149/?

- - - Updated - - -

Spanksh said:
Thanks a lot for this! Especially the planet "upgrade" makes exploring a bit more rewarding again, after all that has happened recently.

I just have one completely off topic question: What music did you use at the start of the video? It sounds really nice (and I can't comment on YouTube).

The music is "Digital Goddess" from Sonicfire.