GRAPHICAL FIXES/IMPROVEMENTS FOR THIS GAME

[Dante]

INTRODUCTION

Hello cat lovers. I am sharing here some graphical fixes and improvements for this game, which once applied makes a day and night difference to the visual experience. The difference is so great that it made me start the game again because I never knew these fixes on my first playthrough.
Since this is a UE4 game most of the fixes are done by adding just a few lines in the engine.ini file present in this location in your PC:
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Hk_project\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor

First open engine.ini and at the bottom add his line:
[SystemSettings]

This above is a SYSTEMSETTINGS tag and this must added for all the fixes shown below to work. After you add any fixes mentioned below to the the engine.ini file, be sure to save the file after and set it as READ ONLY in properties. Now let us get to the fixes/improvements.

TAA BLURRY GRAPHICAL GLITCHES/ARTIFACTS REMOVAL

TAA in this game is applied very poorly which causes ghosting and poor temporal artifacts specially in a moving object. Properly applying TAA alone is a game changer in Stray.
To do this, add these lines under the SYSTEMSETTINGS tag in engine.ini:

r.DefaultFeature.AntiAliasing=2
r.TemporalAACurrentFrameWeight=0.2
r.TemporalAASamples=32
r.TemporalAASharpness=0.8

To completely remove TAA from game, add just the below line:

r.PostProcessAAQuality=0

Though I will not recommend completely removing TAA from the game.

FULLSCREEN FIX

There are reports from multiple users that the game auto removes the tick from fullscreen in graphics settings.
To force the game to run in exclusive fullscreen, add this line below SYSTEMSETTINGS:

r.FullScreenMode=0

If you want the game to run in borderless fullscreen mode, change the value of 0 to 1

DISABLE VARIOUS UNWANTED GRAPHICAL EFFECTS

To disable Depth of field (DOF) in game, add this line:
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0

To disable Vignette, add this:
r.Tonemapper.Quality=0

To disable Bloom, add this:
r.BloomQuality=0

Here is the engine.ini file that I use, just in case someone needed it:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vh3Be9Jkr00zl_pQ-65ZUOpmDEvVFh0h/view?usp=sharing

FINE TUNING WITH RESHADE

The colors of this game are pretty vibrant but the black levels of this game looks crushed in some areas. For more deeper blacks and brighter whites, first install Reshade for this game. Just google it if you don't know how.
After installing Reshade once you go in game, click the HOME button on keyboard to bring up the Reshade UI. Now only select the COLOURFULNESS, LEVELS and LUMASHARPEN filter for this game.

After that set the BLACK POINT located below to 4 and set the WHITE POINT to 245
This will fix the crushed blacks issue and also give you better brighter whites

Next what you should do is set the SHARPENING STRENGTH to 0.700.
You can increase or decrease this value according to your needs but the above is what i recommend. Yes, there is a sharpening option in graphics setting of this game but that does not show you the live results and also does not let you fine tune it.
This LUMASHARPEN method in combo with the TAA fix makes the picture very clear. I recommended TAA to be kept on above because people complain TAA to be blurry but with LUMASHARPEN you can counter that and adjust sharpness to your liking.

This last Reshade filter COLOURFULNESS is an optional one. I recommend only if you have an ancient monitor with bad colors. I have a 4K 65 inch TV which already have very good colors, so I never needed that.
Just tick the COLOURFULNESS filter and below set the value to 0.10 or 0.20 according to your needs. If you have a good display then just untick COLOURFULNESS to keep the colors as natural as possible.

BONUS

A photomode for this game. Described by me in this thread:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1332010/discussions/0/3467226415485709084/

That is all. Happy Gaming :)

[joridiculous]

borderless could help to keep the heat down.

[r4z0rbl4d3]

Wonderful tips! This game is beautiful and anything that can make it even more beautiful is a massive bonus!

[ThiccBoiPlump]

Here's a better way to get to that folder. Just paste it into your explorer address bar.
%localappdata%\Hk_project\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor

The exe for reshade is Stray-Win64-Shipping.exe in \Hk_project\Binaries\Win64 and not Stray.exe in the main game directory.

You need to select legacy effects in reshade at the bottom for colorfulness to show up.

[Atilla]

Originally posted by Dante:

INTRODUCTION

Hello cat lovers. I am sharing here some graphical fixes and improvements for this game, which once applied makes a day and night difference to the visual experience. The difference is so great that it made me start the game again because I never knew these fixes on my first playthrough.
Since this is a UE4 game most of the fixes are done by adding just a few lines in the engine.ini file present in this location in your PC:
C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Hk_project\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor

First open engine.ini and at the bottom add his line:
[SystemSettings]

This above is a SYSTEMSETTINGS tag and this must added for all the fixes shown below to work. After you add any fixes mentioned below to the the engine.ini file, be sure to save the file after and set it as READ ONLY in properties. Now let us get to the fixes/improvements.

TAA BLURRY GRAPHICAL GLITCHES/ARTIFACTS REMOVAL

TAA in this game is applied very poorly which causes ghosting and poor temporal artifacts specially in a moving object. Properly applying TAA alone is a game changer in Stray.
To do this, add these lines under the SYSTEMSETTINGS tag in engine.ini:

r.DefaultFeature.AntiAliasing=2
r.TemporalAACurrentFrameWeight=0.2
r.TemporalAASamples=32
r.TemporalAASharpness=0.8

To completely remove TAA from game, add just the below line:

r.PostProcessAAQuality=0

Though I will not recommend completely removing TAA from the game.

FULLSCREEN FIX

There are reports from multiple users that the game auto removes the tick from fullscreen in graphics settings.
To force the game to run in exclusive fullscreen, add this line below SYSTEMSETTINGS:

r.FullScreenMode=0

If you want the game to run in borderless fullscreen mode, change the value of 0 to 1

DISABLE VARIOUS UNWANTED GRAPHICAL EFFECTS

To disable Depth of field (DOF) in game, add this line:
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0

To disable Vignette, add this:
r.Tonemapper.Quality=0

To disable Bloom, add this:
r.BloomQuality=0

FINE TUNING WITH RESHADE

The colors of this game are pretty vibrant but the black levels of this game looks crushed in some areas. For more deeper blacks and brighter whites, first install Reshade for this game. Just google it if you don't know how.
After installing Reshade once you go in game, click the HOME button on keyboard to bring up the Reshade UI. Now only select the COLOURFULNESS, LEVELS and LUMASHARPEN filter for this game.

After that set the BLACK POINT located below to 4 and set the WHITE POINT to 245
This will fix the crushed blacks issue and also give you better brighter whites

Next what you should do is set the SHARPENING STRENGTH to 0.700.
You can increase or decrease this value according to your needs but the above is what i recommend. Yes, there is a sharpening option in graphics setting of this game but that does not show you the live results and also does not let you fine tune it.
This LUMASHARPEN method in combo with the TAA fix makes the picture very clear. I recommended TAA to be kept on above because people complain TAA to be blurry but with LUMASHARPEN you can counter that and adjust sharpness to your liking.

This last Reshade filter COLOURFULNESS is an optional one. I recommend only if you have an ancient monitor with bad colors. I have a 4K 65 inch TV which already have very good colors, so I never needed that.
Just tick the COLOURFULNESS filter and below set the value to 0.10 or 0.20 according to your needs. If you have a good display then just untick COLOURFULNESS to keep the colors as natural as possible.

BONUS

A photomode for this game. Described by me in this thread:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1332010/discussions/0/3467226415485709084/

That is all. Happy Gaming :)

Could you please be so kind and post your engine ini file with all the settings.

[ThiccBoiPlump]

Originally posted by Atilla:

Could you please be so kind and post your engine ini file with all the settings.

[Core.System]
Paths=../../../Engine/Content
Paths=%GAMEDIR%Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Runtime/HoudiniEngine/Content
Paths=../../../Hk_project/Plugins/UE_ScreenLogger/Content
Paths=../../../Hk_project/Plugins/JoyLibrary/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Runtime/SoundUtilities/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Runtime/Synthesis/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Runtime/AudioSynesthesia/Content
Paths=../../../Hk_project/Plugins/GFurPRO/Content
Paths=../../../Hk_project/Plugins/PrefabTool/Content
Paths=../../../Hk_project/Plugins/MeshTool/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/GeometryProcessing/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/PythonScriptPlugin/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Developer/AnimationSharing/Content
Paths=../../../Hk_project/Plugins/ToyoTool/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Editor/GeometryMode/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Editor/SpeedTreeImporter/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Enterprise/DatasmithContent/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/ChaosClothEditor/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/GeometryCollectionPlugin/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/ChaosSolverPlugin/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/ChaosNiagara/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/FX/Niagara/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/MotoSynth/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/MagicLeap/MagicLeapPassableWorld/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Media/MediaCompositing/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Runtime/OpenXREyeTracker/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Runtime/OpenXR/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Runtime/OpenXRHandTracking/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/VirtualProduction/Takes/Content
[SystemSettings]
r.DefaultFeature.AntiAliasing=2
r.TemporalAACurrentFrameWeight=0.2
r.TemporalAASamples=32
r.TemporalAASharpness=0.8
r.FullScreenMode=1

[Dante]

Originally posted by Atilla:

Could you please be so kind and post your engine ini file with all the settings.

Updated in the main first post below the DISABLE VARIOUS UNWANTED GRAPHICAL EFFECTS section :)

[SparkyLab]

Which one should I be clicking on the Reshade setup?
I have 2 game/application
Stray.exe
or
Stray-Win64-shipping.exe

[Suntorias]

Just want to make sure I find this thread again. Thx for the settings.

Meow

[Melodious]

Thanks so much, now I have to play it again lol

[Kyo (小k)]

i have a guy on my post "Grr. [SG CMD] Majah Lazah" saying that edit .ini is useless cuz it fetch the files from pak directly and it will overwrite everything. i had war with him. now we all can prove him wrong.... muhahahaha LOL

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1332010/discussions/0/3467226415485149203/

[Grr. [SG CMD] Majah Lazah]

Originally posted by Oishi:

i have a guy on my post "Grr. [SG CMD] Majah Lazah" saying that edit .ini is useless cuz it fetch the files from pak directly and it will overwrite everything. i had war with him. now we all can prove him wrong.... muhahahaha LOL

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1332010/discussions/0/3467226415485149203/

Except you can't. Anything present in the default hkgameuser.ini will override any settings in engine, because engine isn't used to determine settings. The only settings you can change are ones that are present that b12 didn't use in the shipping build.

[Dante]

Originally posted by SparkyLab:

Which one should I be clicking on the Reshade setup?
I have 2 game/application
Stray.exe
or
Stray-Win64-shipping.exe

Stray-Win64-shipping.exe

[sorenbjerg]

Originally posted by Dante:

[...]

FULLSCREEN FIX

There are reports from multiple users that the game auto removes the tick from fullscreen in graphics settings.
To force the game to run in exclusive fullscreen, add this line below SYSTEMSETTINGS:

r.FullScreenMode=0

If you want the game to run in borderless fullscreen mode, change the value of 0 to 1
[...]

For clarity, will this allow playing at e.g. 1080p fullscreen with 2160p desktop or is it for a separate issue?

[Dante]

Originally posted by sorenbjerg:

Originally posted by Dante:

[...]

FULLSCREEN FIX

There are reports from multiple users that the game auto removes the tick from fullscreen in graphics settings.
To force the game to run in exclusive fullscreen, add this line below SYSTEMSETTINGS:

r.FullScreenMode=0

If you want the game to run in borderless fullscreen mode, change the value of 0 to 1
[...]

For clarity, will this allow playing at e.g. 1080p fullscreen with 2160p desktop or is it for a separate issue?

I am guessing you are stuck on 4K because your monitor is 4K but u wanna play at 1080p. Here are a few things you can do:
1- Try setting your windows resolution to 1080p.
2- Just let the resolution be 4K and set the in game render resolution in graphics settings to 50%, which will give exactly 1080p.....or add this line below SYSTEM SETTINGS in engine.ini file:
r.ScreenPercentage=50
3- There is an app called Fullscreenizer or maybe Fullscreeniser. Set in game res to 1080p in windowed mode and apply Fullscreenizer on it.

[SparkyLab]

Originally posted by Dante:

Stray-Win64-shipping.exe

Just want to say thank you. I adjusted to make it less orange, and image sharper, now I feel much better. Thou at certain point when the cat disappeared due to the camera angle might still trigger my MS, overall it does help using the reshade :)