WHAT?

High performance ReShade/SweetFX Preset for use with ReShade 2.0.3 with SweetFX 2.0.7 (download here). and the STLM Mod by Essenthy.

WHY?

To improve overall lighting of things like fire and sunlight and to make the colors way more realistic and not cinematic like many other presets and mods. Also, I don't have a beast PC so this has been made specifically for mid range PC's and doesn't have extra features like AO which are already pretty good in game even on low settings.

I have a screen which enhances yellows a lot so I made this mod with my screen in mind. I've seen a lot of mods and presets out there and none of them did it for me since I just wanted the most realistic sunlight I could get instead of the oversaturated yellow and green wash of colors on everything. Even though STLM fixes that a LOT, it still wasn't good enough for me. So I spent days experimenting with SweetFX until I finally unlocked the perfect look, for me at least.

HOW?

1. Sunlight has been vastly improved and looks like a real sunny day outside would look and is really accurate with the use of HDR.

2. Shadows have been rebalanced to get the most realistic look.

3. Fire colors have been improved to make them more realistic and less washed with yellow.

4. Colors have been tweaked to get more of the E3 2014 look along with more realism at the same time thanks to a bit of desaturation. Removed the yellowish-green that washes everything in the vanilla game or even with STLM on (on my screen at least).

5. Is made specifically to be used with STLM (Super Turbo Lighting Mod). It is made to ENHANCE STLM and not overhaul it.

6. Uses SMAA for an amazing AA effect, which is WAY better than the game's in-built AA and also has just 1 FPS performance drop.

7. Also gives slightly darker nights for better immersion. So brighter days and darker nights = more realistic. :)

8. The trade off is extra glare in the sky and clouds but that is realistic since when you look at the sky on a sunny day IRL, it does give off a lot of glare that our eyes can't take, so think of it as simulating that.

FEATURES ACTIVATED:

1. SMAA (Medium Performance Cost - 1 to 1.5 FPS max)
2. HDR (Heavy Performance Cost - 2 to 3 FPS max)
3. Technicolor 2 (Low Performance Cost ~0.5 FPS max)
4. Tonemapping (No Performance Cost, absolutely zero)
5. Curves (No Performance Cost, absolutely zero)

Total Performance Cost = 3 to 4 FPS max
On my rig, I usually get a 3 to 4 FPS drop.

INSTALLATION:
Just place the Preset file under your ReShade/SweetFX Folder found at:

DIR:....\steam\steamapps\common\The Witcher 3\bin\x64\SweetFX

and replace your current 'SweetFX_settings' file. I strongly recommend backing up your original one in case something goes wrong.

In game: Turn off AA and Vignette under Postprocessing and keep the Gamma at around 60% to 75% of the way up, depending on your screen. My screen has a lot of contrast so I keep my gamma at around 70%.

PRESET TWEAKING:

In case you want to reduce the brightness of the sunlight, lower the HDR setting "#define radius2" down to 0.88 from 0.90. If you decrease it further, it will lose the intended effect. If you want MOAR sunlight, turn it up to 0.92 but I don't recommend going beyond that.

If you are using your own AA injection outside of the game, turn off SMAA by setting the value to 0. You can also turn it off in case you want to get that 1 FPS more. :)

If you want less contrast, you can set Curves to 0 or reduce the values.

If you need any help tweaking the preset to your specific monitor's colors or contrast, just ask me in the comments section. :)

**SCREENSHOTS:**I have added a lot of comparison screenshots and I recommend you go to the 'Images' tab and check out their names to understand the context such as 'ON/OFF', 'Exterior/Interior' or 'Morning/Noon/Evening/Night' etc. I have also added many images to compare 'Fire' colors and some 'Extra' random images with the Mod on. Don't forget to check the new Velen screenshots that have been added on request! :) Lot of new screenshots after the settings image.

New screenshots added -

Oxenfurt
Velen
Novigrad Wilderness
Novigrad City

Find these screenshots towards the end of the list.

I would also like to add that the screenshots, although representative of what you will see, DO NOT do full justice to the enhancements added by this preset. I would highly recommend trying it out in motion in the game, before deciding if you like it or not. :)

CHANGELOG:

1. Changed the Curves value from 0.25 to 0.34.

**MY RIG:**I have a laptop with the following specs -

Dell Precision 7510
Windows 10 Pro
32 GB RAM
4 GB NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (equivalent to a GTX 960M)
Intel Core i7 - 6820HQ @ 2.7 GHz (8 CPU's)
15.6" FHD (1920x1080) Anti-Glare LED-backlit (45% color gamut)

My rig runs the game with the STLM mod and this Preset with most Postprocessing settings activated and with other settings on High @ an average of 30 FPS sometimes hitting 40. You can find my exact settings under screenshots.

MODS USED IN SCREENSHOTS:
Super Turbo Lighting Mod
The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project
Realistic Weather
[Absolute Camera

DISCLAIMER:](http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/856/?)Results will vary depending on your screen. This was made for my screen which is an LED screen with high contrast and strong colors, and more yellows by default. It seems that Realistic Weather also might affect the lighting a bit in some areas of the map, so I recommend trying this mod with that one too. Not like it is essential but it might make it look exactly like my screenshots then.