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THE WITCHER 3: GRAPHICS ULTRA+
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This mod adds "Ultra+" graphical settings to the classic version of The Witcher 3.

Mod ID: 7412

Created by Zelos83


Revision history:
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- Revision 0.1 - 24.12.2022
Initial revision


Compatibility:
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The Witcher 3 "classic" (e.g. patch 1.32).
This mod is not intended to be used with the next-gen update (e.g. patch 4.0).


Target audience:
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Players who do not want to migrate to the next-gen update but are interested nonetheless to improve the visual quality of the game.


About this mod:
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- The "Ultra+" settings are naturally more demanding than the "Ultra" settings and so you will experience a drop in framerate (close to the drop going from "High" to "Ultra")
- The "Ultra+" settings from this mod are not an exact replica of the equivalent settings from the next-gen update as the foundations for this mods have been laid down prior to the next-gen update.
In both cases the visual experience is enhanced by improving the grass density, the draw distance, shadow casting... and so the end result is expected to look fairly similar although it may differ in some aspects.
- This mod does not modify the "Medium", "High" and "Ultra" groups (unlike the next-gen update that seems to affect them)
- This mod is intended to be as easy as possible to use. Players who require to access to in depth settings (at the risk of introducing confusion) are invited to use another mods such as Tweaks by TookaFace.
- This mod also adds an "Ultra" post-processing setting simply to set the ambient occlusion to HBAO+ (it was previously not linked to any existing group of settings while it is often considered as the superior choice).
- The motivation for creating this mod came from the article "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Graphics, Performance & Tweaking Guide" by Andrew Burnes published in 2015 on NVIDIA's website.
The article presents tweaks to go beyond the "Ultra" settings provided that the player would be willing to dig into configuration files and would use a hardware from the future or unreasonably expensive.
Reading this article in 2022 when the said hardware "from the future" is more commonly available, the intention became to make such tweaks conveniently available to the player.
- This mod was initially created for my own use and I simply decided to share it the hope that it may be useful to others. It was developed while not having any other mod installed. It is provided without warranty of any kind.


Hardware recommendations:
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- The usage of this mod is not recommended on systems that are unable to comfortably handle the pre-existing "Ultra" settings.
Each player has his/her own opinion about acceptable framerates and visual quality. Use the "Ultra+" settings if there is margin on the framerate at "Ultra" settings.
- The default settings for the new "Ultra+" Texture Quality require to use a graphics card with 8GB of video memory.
This can be adjusted to accommodate graphics cards with less video memory provided that the user is aware of the constraints on using mods with HD textures.
See below for more information.


Installation:
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1. Extract the content of the archive directly into the main installation folder.
Hint: the main installation folder typically contains the bin, content, dlc... subfolders.
2. After launching the game, navigate to the "Video" settings and then further into "Postprocessing" and "Graphics":
- in "Postprocessing" you will now find "Ultra" settings
- in "Graphics" you will now find "Ultra+" settings

For the users of The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project, please install this mod after it.
The HD mod adds a custom preset value for the Texture Quality called "Halk Ultra HD" or "##preset_value_Halk Ultra HD" to allow the loading of larger textures in the video memory.
The "Ultra+" preset already takes this into account. If you install this mod after the HD mod (recommended), simply select "Ultra+" as Texture Quality.
If you would install the HD mod after this mod, you won't have access to the "Ultra+" settings in "Graphics".


Uninstallation:
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1. Extract the archive containing the original files (separate download) or your own backup files into the game's main installation folder.
This restores the original INI / XML files (from patch 1.32).
Be somewhat careful if you expect that some other mods have further changed the content of those files (only replace the two XML files in case of doubt).
2. Starting from the game's main installation folder, remove .\mods\modGraphicsUltraPlus and all its content


More details on modified files:
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.\bin\config\base\rendering.ini
To correct some shadow pop-in for NPC held objects, the following line has been added in [Rendering]: "CharacterShadowsFallbackDistance=40".
Revert to the game default by changing the value to 8.

.\bin\config\r4game\user_config_matrix\pc\postprocess.xml
Added "Ultra" group of settings. The only change compared to "High" is to set the Ambient Occlusion to HBAO+.

.\bin\config\r4game\user_config_matrix\pc\rendering.xml
- Removed "Low" group of settings for clarity (otherwise the user needs to scroll to see the group "Ultra+")
- Added "Ultra+" group of settings...
* FPS limits: added values 75, 90, 120 and 144
* Number of Background Characters: added "Ultra+" (experimental, revert to "Ultra" in case of problem or perform the adjustment described just below)
SpawnedLimit is tentatively set to "160" instead of initially planned "200" because this last value seem to cause issues in some cases.
The next-gen update uses "160" and so it was ported here as tentative. Revert to "150" (same as "Ultra") in case of issues.
* Shadow Quality: added "Ultra+"
* Terrain Quality: added "Ultra+"
* Water Quality: added "Ultra+"
* Grass Density: added "Ultra+"
* Texture Quality: added "Ultra+"
The memory budget for the textures is greatly increased compared to the "Ultra" settings. This is necessary for HD mods such as The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project.
The increased budget requires a graphics card with 8GB of video memory or more (although more would not bring any benefit due to limitations on the game side).
The "TextureMemoryBudget" can be adjusted to be, at most, 50% of the video memory of the player's graphics card (up to a maximum of "4084") provided that it fits the requirements of the mods used (if any).
* Foliage Visibility Range: added "Ultra+"
* Detail Level: added "Ultra+" (experimental, revert to "Ultra" in case of problem or perform the adjustments described just below)
MeshLODDistanceScale and MeshRenderingDistanceScale are tentatively set to "2". If this value causes issues, revert to "1".


More details on added files:
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.\mods\modGraphicsUltraPlus\config_original.zip
The original INI / XML files (from patch 1.32)

.\mods\modGraphicsUltraPlus\README.txt
This file

.\mods\modGraphicsUltraPlus\content\*.w3strings
Those files contain the translation of the new presets and values from the XML files into properly readable strings


Permissions:
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- Other user's assets: all the assets in this file belong to the author or are from free-to-use modder's resources
- Upload permission: you can upload this file to other sites but you must credit the original creator
- Modification permission: you are allowed to modify the files and release bug fixes or improve on the features so long as you credit the original creator
- Conversion permission: you can convert the files to work with other games as long as you credit the original creator
- Asset use permission: you are allowed to use the assets in this file without permission as long as you credit the original creator
- Asset use permission in mods/files that are being sold: you are not allowed to use assets from this file in any mods/files that are being sold
- Asset use permission in mods/files that earn donation points: you are not allowed to earn Donation Points for your mods if they use my assets


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