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

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WizzyThing

W
I assumed

And you Wizzi thing, do you notice anything different? And which file are you modifying exactly?
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Was directed at the snippet I posted, which belongs in the GraphicsConfigurationOverride.xml file which was mentioned by Obsidian in his video.
 

CharlusMagnus

C
Thank you for this precious information, Wizzy ! I'll try that this evening and check if that work. Have you noticed an increase in planets' textures by any chances?

@wasp0 : try to check in this thread for more information. Someone said the following:

Can someone help me. I don't have a products tab so where do I install sweetFX at? I bought the game when if first came out. Could that be why?
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Try to launch ED, then go to task manager, find ED application(not launcher) then right click on it and Open file location.
There is where your ED installed.
Click to expand...

Do you think that might help you?
 

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE
CharlusMagnus said:
I've noticed changes in the galaxy background as well but the planets textures look the same as before, exactly as you said, Main Sequence
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So I compared screenshots of the same planets, one set with texture size set to 8192 and the other with the default texture size (for Ultra) of 2560. Graphics setting was set to Ultra in both cases with no amendments. AMD Radeon Settings at defaults. I could spot no difference whatsoever. And tellingly, the FPS did not drop with the hi-res textures. Perhaps with Horizons they have now set a maximum texture size limit in the rendering code to help with performance? Can post screenshots if anyone is interested.

On a related note, does everyone else think that planets look slightly blurry when viewed at a distance of around 10-30km? I find it especially obvious when you look at craters or other distinct features which you expect to be 'sharp'.
 

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
MAIN SEQUENCE said:
So I compared screenshots of the same planets, one set with texture size set to 8192 and the other with the default texture size (for Ultra) of 2560. Graphics setting was set to Ultra in both cases with no amendments. AMD Radeon Settings at defaults. I could spot no difference whatsoever. And tellingly, the FPS did not drop with the hi-res textures. Perhaps with Horizons they have now set a maximum texture size limit in the rendering code to help with performance? Can post screenshots if anyone is interested.

On a related note, does everyone else think that planets look slightly blurry when viewed at a distance of around 10-30km? I find it especially obvious when you look at craters or other distinct features which you expect to be 'sharp'.
Click to expand...

Thanks for investigating, I've only just seen the OP video and was about to try those changes myself. How about the GalaxyBackground texture size and quality settings discussed. Do they still make a difference post Horizons or are they equally ineffective now?
 
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KING5TON

KING5TON
It tried EDFX recently and I think I've tried one of the others previously.
I don't know if I'm missing a trick but I found EDFX specifically to look like crap. Just washed out with a bit of colour tweaking and a bit of blur around the edges. Played with it on for about an hour and removed it. Thought the proper game looked miles better.

I've used ENBs and injectors in a few games and 9 times out of 10 they get removed sharpish as they never look good to my eyes.
I think the only one i remember keeping was one for Xcom:EU/EW

If it makes a difference I run the game at 1440p with everything maxed out.
 
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Wasp0

Wasp0
CharlusMagnus said:
Thank you for this precious information, Wizzy ! I'll try that this evening and check if that work. Have you noticed an increase in planets' textures by any chances?

@wasp0 : try to check in this thread for more information. Someone said the following:



Do you think that might help you?
Click to expand...

Thanks Charlus, i will give it a try when at home tonight. Repped for taking the time to look up a link for me. Thank you Sir!
 

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE
Alec Turner said:
Thanks for investigating, I've only just seen the OP video and was about to try those changes myself. How about the GalaxyBackground texture size and quality settings discussed. Do they still make a difference post Horizons or are they equally ineffective now?
Click to expand...

Nope, can't see any difference there either.
 

Islata

I
Hello,

Is there a SweetFX 64 bit? '

Or do the other to shader apps accommodate the 64 bit Horizons?

Or do we have to play the 32 bit Main Game if we want to uswe Sweet FX?

Thanks
 

Wavey

W
Where did you get the 64 bit version as shown in your vid @Granite ?

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Islata said:
Hello,

Is there a SweetFX 64 bit? '

Or do the other to shader apps accommodate the 64 bit Horizons?

Or do we have to play the 32 bit Main Game if we want to uswe Sweet FX?

Thanks
Click to expand...

This is from the sweetfx blurb
Compatibility
It works with all graphics cards as long as they support at least shader model 3. That's all cards produced after 2002 (give or take).
It does not work with 64bit game executables yet, however 64bit support should be coming in the near future - so far use the 32bit version of your game if it gives you a choice between 32 and 64bit.

It should work on Windows 2000 and newer, both 32bit and 64bit. So far tested working on WinXP , Vista , Win7 and Windows 8.
It may work on Linux using Wine - please report your findings.

It does not work well with most programs that overlay an image onto the game. It has a workaround for the Steam overlay so that will work, and you can make overlays based on Rivatuner OSD work as well with a compability setting in those overlays , but other overlays may prevent SweetFX from making changes to the image or outright crash the game - turn those off.

Version 1.5
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CharlusMagnus

C
So, dudes !

I tried to modify the files like stated in the video and I can clearly see a massive change in the galaxy background, the definition and details are MUCH higher.

However, regarding the planets I cannot see ANY Differences, no matter if I put 8192 or 4096 in the texture tab of the graphic file. Sorry I didn't make any screenshots to let you see by yourselves. But if anyone has tried on his/her own, feel free to say it here as well!

I assume it isn't possible to change planets textures since Horizons anymore. I hope we'll have more info about that soon or a possibility to increase that again in a future update.
 

777Driver

777Driver
Alec Turner said:
Interesting, meanwhile MAIN SEQUENCE reports ...



Guess I need to test this one for myself.
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It definitely makes a difference on the Galaxy background. It also worked on planet textures too - Since horizons I haven't bothered changing the planet textures, using a 980TI in VR with Horizons is pretty much maxing out performance for me on Ultra, tweaking it even higher would push my rig over the edge.. It should still be nice extra boost in visuals for non VR guy's with high end rigs
 
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CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE

CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE
You guys that see a difference in the galaxy background - do you mean the view towards the core, the starfield or the nebula or all of these? And what sort of difference, sharper?

I'm pretty sure I've done it right, unless something in AMD Radeon Settings is overriding. It's worth noting also that I've not seen any performance drop which would suggest the hi-res textures are not active. Below are the lines I've changed in GraphicsConfiguration.xml

Code: 
<Planets>
    <Ultra>    
      <TextureSize>8192</TextureSize>

<GalaxyBackground>
    <High>
      <TextureSize>4096</TextureSize>   [also tried 8192]

<Environment>
    <Ultra>
          <Feature>GalaxyBackground</Feature>
          <QualitySetting>3</QualitySetting>

          <Feature>SurfaceRocks</Feature>
          <QualitySetting>3</QualitySetting>

<Envmap>
    <High>
        <TextureSize>512</TextureSize>

The last two are trial and error - they are not mentioned in OA's video but I went through the file and these are the only other ones where high and ultra were the same value. I can't see any difference in the surface rocks (i.e. textures still lack detail when up close).
 

CharlusMagnus

C
Hey Main Sequence,

thanks for your quick message.

I have exactly the same lines on my graphic configuration file (regarding Environment, Galaxybackground and planets) and what I saw is an increase in the starfield + core background. It looks brighter, with more stars and sharper (more defined I mean). I'll post a screenshot later on so that you can check.

I hope I didn't hallucinate (you never know).

For the planets, I didn't see any difference at all. Unfortunately.
 
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