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About this mod
A goofy, but vanilla-friendly attempt at sort of an SVGA look in 3D.
An experiment along the lines of what the SCUMM adventures, or games like Blood or the first Shadow Warrior used to look like.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Donations
This ReShade preset comes with two versions. A 'lite' version, which is the main file, and a sort of 'heavy', optional version.
Use whichever strikes your fancy.
If you are familiar with ReShade, you don't need to follow the instructions below. Just meet the pre-requisities and, ideally, set the game to 1920x1080 and shortcut the preset to something convenient, like, shift+t.
Otherwise, I advise following the instructions below.
1. Install
1.1 Unpack either or both versions of this mod into the game's main directory.
1.2 Get the latest Unofficial Patch here and install it. Install the Restored content on your own volition, but I advise against installing the SDK and Shaders. Not because it's bad, but this mod may not work as intended with those. Feel free to experiment!
1.3. Get the latest ReShade here and install it.
1.3.1 Choose directX 9
1.3.2 On the screen 'Select effects to install', click on 'Browse' next to the 'Choose a preset file...' and locate the mod file in the main game's directory. Click next and let the program download what it needs until you see 'Successfully installed'.
2. Running the preset
2.1 Run the game as usual, skip the demos, etc. and wait until ReShade texts and initializing are done.
2.2 After that, ReShade will introduce some tutorials. Unless you plan to learn from them, skip them and press 'Home' on your keyboard to get out of ReShade menu.
2.3. Go to the game's Options and set the resolution to 1920x1080. (I haven't tested other resolutions, the mod may not work well in those)
2.4 Load your save and press the 'Home' button on your keyboard again. ReShade will pop up. Just to be sure, at the top of the menu, click on the tab 'Home' with your mouse. Right under it should be a line with the name 'ReShadePreset'. Click on it, and then double-click on 'Adventures_of_Old_ReShadePreset.ini' (or the optional version's name) from the list.
2.5 Press 'Home' on your keyboard again to get out of the ReShade settings.
That's it; you should be playing in a new graphics' coat now.
Optional and recommended:
3. Uninstall
There's no need to uninstall this; the file size is tiny. However, if you really need to, just make sure to run the game first and choose ReShadePresent.ini as instructed above. Then end the game as usual, go to the game's main directory, and delete the file Adventures_of_Old_ReShadePreset.ini. After that, run the ReShade program and choose 'uninstall'.
Some afterthoughts
I have found it perplexing about VtM:B that we play as Vampires, but all-but-Auspex-wielding Vampires are blind as bats in pitch-black areas. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a solution to this except for my other mod Toggleable Flashlight because, by raising gamma or brightness too much, the game renders the lit areas unpleasantly overexposed. When some certain atmospheric / lightning conditions happen, you can now see slightly better in very dark areas. It's because the optional 'heavy' version sometimes helps by introducing a colour shift from pure black to a very-dark-grey-and-slightly-purple-yish. I find that fitting because all night visions we know of have always been sort of strange. Either the bright grayness of the black'n'white animals' nocturnal vision or the classical 'green special-ops' kind of thing, etc.
I personally like the 'heavy' version more because I'm an old gamer, and that almost-VGA look instead of that lite's version almost-SVGA look reminds me of the days when PC gaming was freshly out of its craddle, full of new and wonderful ideas, and some amazing, greater-than-time pieces came to grace the world of faming forevermore. However, I completely understand that both reshades, the 'heavy' version especially, may come across as outright ugly to many players nowadays, old or young. There's nothing wrong with that; you are not obliged to like it. My attempt was merely goofing around; please don't consider this work as some objective improvement to the game or anything.
At any rate, have fun and watch out for that humanity!
Use whichever strikes your fancy.
If you are familiar with ReShade, you don't need to follow the instructions below. Just meet the pre-requisities and, ideally, set the game to 1920x1080 and shortcut the preset to something convenient, like, shift+t.
Otherwise, I advise following the instructions below.
1. Install
1.1 Unpack either or both versions of this mod into the game's main directory.
1.2 Get the latest Unofficial Patch here and install it. Install the Restored content on your own volition, but I advise against installing the SDK and Shaders. Not because it's bad, but this mod may not work as intended with those. Feel free to experiment!
1.3. Get the latest ReShade here and install it.
1.3.1 Choose directX 9
1.3.2 On the screen 'Select effects to install', click on 'Browse' next to the 'Choose a preset file...' and locate the mod file in the main game's directory. Click next and let the program download what it needs until you see 'Successfully installed'.
2. Running the preset
2.1 Run the game as usual, skip the demos, etc. and wait until ReShade texts and initializing are done.
2.2 After that, ReShade will introduce some tutorials. Unless you plan to learn from them, skip them and press 'Home' on your keyboard to get out of ReShade menu.
2.3. Go to the game's Options and set the resolution to 1920x1080. (I haven't tested other resolutions, the mod may not work well in those)
2.4 Load your save and press the 'Home' button on your keyboard again. ReShade will pop up. Just to be sure, at the top of the menu, click on the tab 'Home' with your mouse. Right under it should be a line with the name 'ReShadePreset'. Click on it, and then double-click on 'Adventures_of_Old_ReShadePreset.ini' (or the optional version's name) from the list.
2.5 Press 'Home' on your keyboard again to get out of the ReShade settings.
That's it; you should be playing in a new graphics' coat now.
Optional and recommended:
- It's convenient as heck to be able to switch the mod on and off on-the-fly.
To set that up, go to ReShade 'Settings' tab, double-click inside the 'Effect Toggle Key' and press Shift T. That way, you can turn the preset on and off in a blink of time with the said combination of keys. It's especially useful when dealing with some rare, unwanted glitches such as sometimes illegible text during the loading screens. - Play around Gamma settings in the game's Options while staying in a place where you can see both pitch-black and lit areas to see what works the best for you. On most systems, Gamma 1.5 - 2.0 should do fine.
- Install the "Fixed Widescreen Movies 1920x1080p" mod from here for that extra bit of QoL on modern systems.
3. Uninstall
There's no need to uninstall this; the file size is tiny. However, if you really need to, just make sure to run the game first and choose ReShadePresent.ini as instructed above. Then end the game as usual, go to the game's main directory, and delete the file Adventures_of_Old_ReShadePreset.ini. After that, run the ReShade program and choose 'uninstall'.
Some afterthoughts
I have found it perplexing about VtM:B that we play as Vampires, but all-but-Auspex-wielding Vampires are blind as bats in pitch-black areas. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a solution to this except for my other mod Toggleable Flashlight because, by raising gamma or brightness too much, the game renders the lit areas unpleasantly overexposed. When some certain atmospheric / lightning conditions happen, you can now see slightly better in very dark areas. It's because the optional 'heavy' version sometimes helps by introducing a colour shift from pure black to a very-dark-grey-and-slightly-purple-yish. I find that fitting because all night visions we know of have always been sort of strange. Either the bright grayness of the black'n'white animals' nocturnal vision or the classical 'green special-ops' kind of thing, etc.
I personally like the 'heavy' version more because I'm an old gamer, and that almost-VGA look instead of that lite's version almost-SVGA look reminds me of the days when PC gaming was freshly out of its craddle, full of new and wonderful ideas, and some amazing, greater-than-time pieces came to grace the world of faming forevermore. However, I completely understand that both reshades, the 'heavy' version especially, may come across as outright ugly to many players nowadays, old or young. There's nothing wrong with that; you are not obliged to like it. My attempt was merely goofing around; please don't consider this work as some objective improvement to the game or anything.
At any rate, have fun and watch out for that humanity!