UPDATE: Works with ME3 Demo | Mass Effect 2 - ENB & SMAA

[mangosango]

UPDATE 2/19/2012 - Updated for ME3:

Video showing the effects (MP)



This is a WIP version of my Mass Effect 2 ENB config ported to the Mass Effect 3 demo.

This mod is not for everyone! Default ME3 graphics are quite good, but sometimes it's nice to see things from a different perspective. This mod intentionally sacrifices some clarity and IQ in shadowed areas in order to create a more dramatic and cinematic effect. A blue filter is also applied to add a colder, more foreboding atmosphere (remember, this is the galaxy at war!).

This mod is a work-in progress and will be tweaked for the final release of the game.

CURRENTLY, YOU MUST DISABLE THE ORIGIN OVERLAY FOR THIS TO WORK.
To do this, open Origin, click the gear icon in the top-right. Then go Settings > In-Game > Uncheck "Enable Origin In-game". If you do not do this, there is a good chance that ME3 will crash when using this mod.

To Enable/Disable the effect in-game
Press Shift+F10 to disable bloom. Shift+F12 to disable color correction + Bloom. Pause/Break to toggle SMAA.

Downloads:

v0.02 Alpha
- Reduced blue filter
- Reduced contrast to tone down bloom.
- ME3_ENBMod_002.zip [2.5MB]

v0.01 Alpha
- First public release
- ME3_ENBMod.zip [1.2MB]

What does this mod do?

• Tweaked colors to better follow what the human eye perceives IRL.
• Shadows are darker and bluer.
• Overall bloom is toned down, however, intense light sources (such as the sun) have a more focused bloom.
• Colors in shadow are desaturated, whereas highlighted colors are saturated.
• Ditches in-game FXAA for more efficient SMAA algorithm (which also improves IQ, imo).
• EXPERIMENTAL film grain (not very good yet - not really like ME1/2 film grain)

What is the performance cost?

• On my laptop (core i7, nvidia gt 330m), I lose about 10fps - from 50fps to 40fps. You can expect a similar performance cost, however, the game remains perfectly playable.

New Images:

Taken @ 1080p with v0.02 ENB & AO. Click on image for full size (1080p). Also, view theflickr set.













































---------- ORIGINAL POST ----------

Mass Effect 2 - "Return To Darkness" v 0.2

A mod for Mass Effect 2 that has a dark, cinematic style like in Mass Effect 1.

STILL NEED TO DO:
- Motion blur implementation (any help with this would be great). I saw this motion blur algorithm for HLSL in GPU Gems 3: http://http.developer.nvidia.com/GPUGem ... _ch27.html Would this be possible to use with ENB?

From my post over at the bioware forums:
Video: http://youtu.be/o6J-sAiVnK4

Download the mod: ME2_R2DMod.zip [204.1 KB]

My mod now has a name - "Return to Darkness". Hooray! I chose the name because it sounds dramatic, and its a good description of the darker ME1-style blue aesthetic I'm going for.

The mod features:

• Color grading that desaturates dark tones, saturates bright tones, and applies a subtle blue gradient map.
• More defined highlights on shiny objects (and characters, like Thane).
• High-Performance AntiAliasing&nbsp;(<2fps cost) via [s]FXAA[/s] SMAA Algorithm
• Easy install (just copy files to ME2 directory)
• On/Off toggle (have the color mod + AA, or just AA, or just the color mod).
• A dramatic and cinematic aesthetic.

This update (v0.2) brings:

1. Tweaked bloom (reduced brightness of bloom, except when looking at an intense light source, like a star or spotlight).
2. Subpixel Morphological Antialiasing (SMAA) to replace the FXAA, with much better results.

Demonstration of SMAA (click images for higher-resolution):Tested on Core i7 720QM, 4GB DDR3 System RAM, Nvidia GT 330m 1GB VRAM (comparable to desktop 9600 GT).


Notice how rightmost image (mod + SMAA) has much smoother edges compared to the leftmost image (vanilla).



You should open these in a new tab to see the changes better:





Also smooths jagged textures (see the CREW DECK text) and pre-rendered movies!





Thanks to DragonIroh001 for letting me know about the SMAA injector.

[ENBSeries]

Hmm, never thought about it before, but on the screenshot i see metallic surface with fake reflection, so it could be done as reflection from Deus Ex HR. Unfortunately, game is too old for doing that.

[LordMelkor]

Nice, I'd been looking to use ENB with ME2 for some time, but had always been apprehensive of making my own settings since I don't have an eye for these things, lol.

FYI--Not related to ENB, but you may be interested in using this in your ME2 playthrough:

Hi-Res Texture Pack: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic ... /5314761/1

EDIT: Also, doesn't ME2 have it's own Motion Blur built in? (ie, when you sprint, or use the vanguard's "charge"

[vejn]

[EDIT]
There is line in injector.ini file

//
[injector]
;toggle shader keycode
key_toggle = 19
//


Which is that key 19 to reload shader files ?

[john129pats]

I got a black screen using the steam version. Any idea why this is happening?

[vejn]

I got a black screen using the steam version. Any idea why this is happening?

Did you try to put in injector.ini

Code: Select all

weird_steam_hack = 1 

?

[john129pats]

I did. Sadly it didn't work.

[vejn]

I did. Sadly it didn't work.

Copy all files in ME2 return to darkness in ME2 binaries but not d3d9.dll.
Download http://www.mediafire.com/?vhjmg2llkzy and copy in ME2 binaries just d3d9.dll and d3dx9_26.dll. Try it.

[john129pats]

Wow. That worked.

I can't thank you enough.

[Diversant]

Good work man! Waiting for your new releases.