Not your typical Dark Souls II graphics mod
Even though Dark Souls II didn't turn out the way I expected, I have a lot of love for the sequel. It's an enchanting, beautiful, ugly, rewarding, surprisingly deep and sometimes infuriating video game all at once. A lot of Souls fans don't like it, but the people who dig it are really, really in love with Drangleic.
I always enjoy seeing this passion spill over into fan creations that benefit the wider community. Whether or not you are a fan of Dark Souls II, modding or Dark Souls II, you need to check out this mod being made by a lighting artist and graphics programmer named Stayd. It's so impressive.
Here are some screenshots of the not yet finalized mod working its magic:
And here are some before and after comparisons:
I got it, the problem was I was stupid all the time.
Now I can go back to unmodified files at will, so expect a lot of comparisons in the near future.
Starting with my current favorite, Amana Shrine.
(Left is before, right is after) pic.twitter.com/cgHlUTtP4l
– Stayd (@ Stayd3D) 17 2022
Another quick comparison, this time the Flame Tower of Heide. Easily the brightest level in the game now, closely followed by Dragon Shrine.
I love the look of this place.
(Before <> After) pic.twitter.com/d74gnkLdEf
– Stayd (@ Stayd3D) 20 2022
What's going on under the hood? "This is not a typical Reshade or SweetFX preset, which just adds some post-processing effects, but a proper mod that edits the game's lighting files and adds lots of new dynamic lights to all maps," said explained redditor Katalash. "Character shading, shadow quality, anti-aliasing, ambient occlusion, etc. are all improved with better techniques."
Apart from Twitter, you can also keep an eye out for this mod on Tic, where the creator is streaming his work. The project seems like a painstaking job, but I can already tell that the end result will be worth it.
@ Stay3D (Twitter via ResetEra)
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