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My biggest fear for Sky on PC is getting banned for something like this by accident or simply just having the wrong app open in the background. We have no info on what kind of anti-cheat Sky has on PC.
I wish TGC was a bit more transparent about this. If you ask on discord since most seem to be ignorant to what ReShade is, you get a lot of backlash and any mention of mods of any kind, even 3rd party that doesn't interact with the game at all (like Reshade which isn't even a mod, it's simply visual) seems to be strictly prohibited.
So be careful, you *should* be fine but me personally, I'm not comfortable using it until an official statement.
There has been cases of ReShade getting people banned in other games, which is why I'm cautious.
Doesn't seemed like they are going to abuse the ban hammer anytime soon on mods or "enhancer" from how they word it, but as they said, be cautious, if you know what you do, go ahead, if you don't and rely on downloaded sources to mod the game, your account security could be at risk as you never know if those mods are safe or injected with keyloggers and malwares.
As for Anti-Cheats detection, any apps that injects itself (a dll) into the game's memory area and is capable of modifying such memory area are often detected by AC as cheats due to that's how memory editors (cheat engines) works. ReShade do inject itself into the game memory and modifies the colors and such there, so it's in the gray zone for some AC and some might have blacklisted or whitelisted it depending on what AC companies are working behind the security of the game.
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/ReShade#Online_games_to_avoid
The main problem here is, if an AC allows it, a hacker can easily hack into the game using ReShade to bypass the security, so do not expect all AC will whitelist it. As far as i am concerned, ReShade isn't allowed by VAC (Valve Anti Cheat) and falls in the gray-zone, so as a Steam users, it's best to stay away from it, because you never know when you will trigger that VAC ban which puts an ugly Banned mark on your profile and forbids you to join all VAC protected games... Note: VAC is provided as free to developers here on Steam, everyone can use it in their games if they wanted to.
If you want a great screenshot app that you can heavily tweak the in-game camera/shades/color before taking a snap, try Nvidia Ansel if you are using a Geforce and above video card.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/geforce-experience/ansel/
Some games have built-in Ansel (it works without GFX installed), and they will let you know if its supported or not when you try to do snapshots using Alt+F2. From AAA titles to Indie games, and most of the well known online games have implemented the Ansel feature as built-in, Sky CotL is a social based game which promotes screenshots, so i am sure they might already consider adding their game to the Ansel supported list: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/geforce-experience/games/
Or any anti-cheat for that matter, is pretty server side checks, people been using cheats on the Android builds for years now.
Read carefully on what others said before replying.
Where did you read that this game uses VAC?
When in fact the few Anti-Cheats that detect Reshade as Cheat, won't even let it run for starters.
Reshade is allowed in VAC games as well, unless you use custom libraries.
Adding insult to injury, Sky doesn't even use anti-cheat, nor have any detection mechanisms client side, is all server side, it only takes 5 seconds to figure that out after looking at the game binaries and libraries (meaning Reshade won't get you banned whasoever).
First of, there are reports of VAC ban from using ReShade, so as a steam user, using that software alone is a risk. It has nothing to do with Sky having VAC or not. And as i mentioned, VAC is given out to devs for free here on Steam, which means, Sky can use it if they wanted to, it's foc anyway... and due to it's foc, there are quite a lot of games here on Steam that uses VAC and some didn't even show up on the VAC game list, so you never know which game will detect ReShade and trigger a VAC ban... but we do know that if it's triggered, ALL VAC protected servers will not let your account log in, the penalty is pretty harsh on that one. And no, ReShade is not whitelisted by VAC, it's in the gray-zone, as long as it's not doing anything fishy, it doesn't get detected as malicious. Even GFX is considered cheating in some games, and ReShade has options that helps cheating (adding advantages) in game, eg, view distance editing... some may say, "I don't use that function at all", but it's there, and it counts as cheating for some games (especially shooting games).
And like i explained, putting it on a whitelist risk security hole as one can then use ReShade to bypass the security check to inject their cheats into the game. That's one big reason ReShade remains Gray... Some AC might let it pass as long as it doesn't inject it's library (dll) directly into the game itself but instead injects into the directx or other graphical area, but there are games that put even directx under protection, and these are the one that will get triggered.
Second, apparently you have trouble reading what others wrote, the OP said IF Sky decided to add AC later, will it be a problem? We all know that it has no AC right now, but that doesn't mean it will not have AC later.
3rd, Nvidia Freestyle/Ansel are good alternatives as these are in most AC's whitelist. And Nvidia hired some of ReShade's devs to help built them, so the functions are pretty similar to each other to start with. We can even add ReShade's shaders to GFX to make it functions just like ReShade. I wouldn't say GFX is risk-free and won't get you banned, like i said so earlier, some games to count GFX as cheats due to the same functions is has as ReShade. But at least, it's Nvidia, the brand name gets it into whitelists easier.
CS do read the threads, but a trained CS/Dev knows not to respond to certain threads because others tend to "interpret" what they wrote by saying "What I think they meant is..." and that caused more rumors and questions flying around than answering them.
The FAQ did a great job at answering it already, "modifications are not officially allowed, use it at your own security risk."
Guess what? I been using Reshade in VAC games, and Flawless Widescreen in GTA Online for years now and never got banned.
Valve even made an option to allow Reshade in CS2, cause by default it doesn't allow any hooks, they have never banned anyone for using Reshade.
2. If the developers were looking to implement any anti-cheat, they would be testing it now, and not after release, not to mention they would need to address the cheaters on mobile first.
3. crosire didn't touch NVidia ANSEL at all, nor was hired by NVidia, if anything he been working on the next major version of ReShade[reshade.me]
NVidia simply using ReShade code to improve the crap that was NVidia ANSEL, cause up until now NVidia ANSEL was a joke at best.
Plus seems you forgot the fact ReShade is also white listed on AC.
Only cheaters go around claiming ReShade gets you banned, to try and justify their bans.
Good Luck with that attitude, seems like you're the type who tried to justify your own actions by going around the forum on all ban/cheat subjects and tried to say stuffs like "no, it won't get you banned, i am using it." and hope that if there's a day that when you did get banned, you have an excuse that "everybody is using it, why me?" and hope that the devs will go soft on you?
Obviously lacks experience in risk management, and wanted to learn stuffs the "hard way", especially when you didn't fully read what others wrote and make claims based on your own point of view ( https://steamcommunity.com/id/kobiblade/posthistory/ ), shows that you're still a bit too young and hot-headed on topics you're interest in and not being able to keep a calm 3rd person view over stuffs you're in discussion with. And your post history shows you're a bit too keen on such subjects, and I guess a good reader can easily guessed why.
I think you should stop this argument. Both of you have a good amount of knowledge, and there is really no need to focus on who is more right. Ultimately this topic is about the game we enjoy and not about us. Both sides made valuable statements. The issue is that accusing each other of things is not good. I wouldn't want for anyone to confuse using ReShade with piracy, or accuse people who use it as being supportive of such things. We all suffered from having some unfair stereotypes applied to us in our lives, so let's not do this here.
Let's keep this discussion calm and friendly.
<><><> Back to the topic
While I agree that it's people's responsibility to use/not use shaders, I don't think this topic is as dark and problematic. I respect your opinions, I'm just asking for a more balanced approach. To not scare away the devs needlessly, as with everything there are good and bad factors, and in this case positives simply outweigh negatives. I feel like many important factors weren't yet mentioned.
I'm not very familiar with the purely technical side, but I'm not sure if you actually used more recent versions of ReShade yourself.
ReShade has two versions, one that only does color space tweaks (like a filter) and doesn't access the depth buffer. Online games usually don't ban for using this version. ReShade automatically blocks the depth buffer for online games. It doesn't modify the game in any way, only adds simple filters such as sharpening or bloom.
ReShade gives a clear warning in its more advanced version (separate download), the one with an add-on part of it. It officially warns not to use this version with online games.
Now, with Sky, having depth buffer access shouldn't be an issue by itself. The issue comes to life mostly with competitive shooter games, where depth shaders can be used to see enemies easily.
From a developer's perspective, it shouldn't be viewed negatively. If you are worried about cheats, ReShade absolutely doesn't do any of it and officially doesn't support similar behaviors. If you state that cheaters might somehow alter it towards negative means, then please be aware that toxic people will abuse the system one way or another, they could ruin any good thing, but it doesn't make ReShade bad. Please don't label ReShade itself as bad or dangerous because by itself it doesn't promote anything negative and is simply a great help to the gaming visuals-oriented community. Its base version creates little to no potential issues, and wouod be enough for most.
If anything, developers should consider supporting it. Why? Because Sky is a beautiful game and it attracts gaming visual enthusiasts. Many of us use ReShade, and limiting its usage would simply lower our interest in the game. It is good if the game becomes popular in ReShade-supporting communities, and with this, the game's popularity raises, both on YouTube and on other media.
Of course, tools such as Photoshop can be used, but they don't work dynamically. They don't work for recording gameplay, and it is just as important to us. Sky is visually beautiful, so showcasing shader presets with it is also desired and offers more popularity to the actual game.
For example, I can go to my social spaces and post images from the game with some simple shaders enabled. I can assure you that I would get a positive reaction, and at least one person would ask about the game's name so they can enjoy the visuals as well.
There is also an argument for helping the game age less. There are some wonderful videos showing older games with a few effects enabled. The Sky will continue to exist, but effects develop dynamically. So a few years from now, there are going to be wonderful new and more advanced effects, which can bring more life to the game itself and attract people to try it again.
If you actually read what i said, you should know that i am not against the enhancement of Sky. Sky Dev is implementing these features directly into the game as we speak so there's no real need for 3rd party stuffs to start with, especially for the screenshot part we can see that the devs have been working hard to bring a better version. And they are keeping an eye shut for those who tried to mod the game or uses an enhancer in the game, leaving words like "Do it at your own security risk". Especially the reason why most like ReShade is the darker color that looks as if it's richer, but it's something we can tune to get the pretty much similar effect, eg, setting gamma to a darker shade. There's a reason why depth setting is limited in some games, especially an online game, for Sky, there's the performance issue, especially with that many creatures flying around in the scenery, so if you set the range too high, the game starts to process stuffs and behaviors for tiny dots in far far distance or even out of screen, which could take up tremendous resource on your device (AND resources on the servers), yes, some do have insane hardware and specs to run such environment, but the average users don't, if the setting is there, the devs will be getting more reports on "my game crashed when i try to go into certain area", which will take up unnecessary man power and time dealing with them, especially when these reports floods the CS department... that's why optimization is needed and limited settings are put in place. Those with powerful device who wanted more can DIY those features with mods or enhancers at their own risk, if something bad happened (eg. someone fried their GPU with crazy setting, shorter gpu lifespan trying to play games in such environment etc etc) the devs or the CS team need not take responsible for those actions.
The main point going against ReShade is the possibility to get yourself banned OUTSIDE Sky, Sky is not the only game on Steam you know? And there are possibility that such bans could lead to an overall ban that forbid your Steam account to access to ALL Valve Anti Cheat protected servers/games. Which is a pretty harsh punishment, especially when you only use it for shading... So it's not worth the risk installing the app, and like i said, there's safer alternatives that does exactly the same thing.
For that same reason, there's no way a responsible Game making Dev on Steam should publicly give greenlight to such app. Users who got their accounts banned will blame them for doing that, and that leaves a black mark on their career.
https://g.co/bard/share/c3387625430e
Dear fellow player,
I can suspect that you might be upset with me for some reason, given your tone and use of all caps / thickened text (I read your text so it isn't needed). Certainly starting with how I don't bother to read isn't friendly, so let's try to have a normal conversation without getting into fights or making remarks. I want to assure you that I am not your enemy, and I'm not here to argue. I am indeed reading everything you write, bothering to both read and write more than necessary, which by no means is easy as I'm a disabled individual (having issues with hands/limbs). Please abstain from making quick negative judgments about someone's efforts, as more often than not it will be unfair.
You are free to your opinions, and I have stated that I respect them, please remember this. I only ask that you also respect others. Accusing the other user of supporting cheating and having a hidden agenda is not something I agree with. This is a harmful stereotype. I wouldn't allow him to accuse you of cheating either. Here I would like to ask anyone to go on ReShade's official server - Cheating is prohibited there moderators take care of it. So the association is absolutely unfair. This reminds me of times where people would associate playing games like Doom with being dangerous to others.. Just no.
You have stated your points, and I have stated mine as well. Why don't we just leave them as they are? You don't have to monitor this thread and keep disagreeing with anyone new who asks for ReShade's usage to be tolerated. I am sure you will be heard already, so please allow others to be heard as well. I don't have to repeat my points, and you don't need to repeat yours. Let's allow others to express their wishes too. As this isn't just my topic or just your topic.
I would understand your reaction if I was lying, for example. But as you know, I haven't provided any false information. Let me reiterate my point, and please understand that it is not invalid or negative.
- ReShade has two versions. It does not encourage anyone to use the depth buffer version with any online game. Its developer takes steps to actually prohibit people from using depth buffer effects in online games, as this can cause issues. It automatically disables access to such effects in online games. That being said, using them wouldn't slow down the server. If someone decides to run a ray tracing shader and experiences performance issues, what kind of logic would make them think it's Sky's issue? If they enable a shader and their performance decreases, then they can see that the shader cannot be handled by their system. People who use ReShade have a basic understanding of shaders and their impact on performance. ReShade is used by enthusiasts, and if they know about it and use it, then they have some minimal knowledge of how to use it and how it works. If you are concerned about this, a balanced approach would be to perhaps disallow injectors that inject themselves into the depth buffer, while allowing the rest. ReShade already does this. It blocks the depth buffer for online games. In my case, I only use color shaders, and my complex color grading has no impact on FPS.
2. "There's a reason why depth setting is limited in some games, especially an online game, for Sky, there's the performance issue, especially with that many creatures flying around in the scenery, so if you set the range too high, the game starts to process stuffs and behaviors for tiny dots in far far distance or even out of screen, which could take up tremendous resource on your device (AND resources on the servers)"
This is entirely incorrect. You could say just as much that playing on 4k causes more pixels to be rendered and that this supposedly slows down the servers.. Which makes no sense. I don't believe ReShade slows any server down, since shaders are rendered locally on our own machines. Just like playing in 2k or 4k is rendered entirely on our machines. ReShade blocks depth buffer access for online games, and as an example, my complex color grading costs me exactly 0 FPS. As non depth buffer shaders have very little to no performance cost.
3. Secondly, regarding your statement, "Especially the reason why most people like ReShade is the darker color that looks as if it's richer, but it's something we can tune to get a similar effect, e.g., setting gamma to a darker shade." "So it's not worth the risk of installing the app, and like I said, there are safer alternatives that do exactly the same thing."
Here, you have incorrect information. Of course, we don't need to know everything, but you stated this as a fact, so I can correct it. We are all constantly learning, so I will just say that setting gamma is absolutely not equivalent to real color grading. It is not just a matter of making the image darker or brighter. There are no tools other than ReShade that allow for real color grading or the addition of other safe color space effects. No other tool allows control over highlights, medium tones, shadows, black and white levels, saturation for each hue, vibrance, clarity. Changing gamma in monitor settings actually worsens the image to be incorrect, as it shifts the entire gamma curve and crushes shadows (if you lower it) or blows them out (if you boost it). ReShade allows loading a full Photoshop color grading and enjoying it in real-time in the game. I encourage you to visit ReShade's server on Discord, a friendly place which has nothing to do with cheating (talking it is actually prohibited there ⚠️), and see people's work. It is hardly just making the game darker.
4. ReShade does not get anyone banned. If you have heard about it, it was most likely in the context of a competitive shooter, where someone used the depth buffer to see enemies more clearly. That's literally it. I checked the link you provided... And it also mentions only competitive shooter games. Nvidia has its Freestyle fork based on ReShade, and both ReShade and Freestyle are allowed when not touching the depth buffer, which their developers already take care of. People don't get banned for them unless it's a competitive shooter which tries to remove any shooting related advantage. Being officially tolerant of the non depth buffer version (base ReShade) is neither dangerous for players, nor dangerous for anyone's career. This sounds just wrong and aims at scaring the developer away by using their suspected personal fears. Which makes no sense, as it is enough to state 'ReShade with depth buffer access aren't allowed in an online game' - What all ReShade users already know as it's stated to use during the installation. So please stop this. Let people think for themselves (including the developer).
If you care for the developer: Simply support a balanced stance of tolerance towards base ReShade (with no depth buffer), and suggest an official statement 'ReShade with depth buffer access is not allowed in online game'. This way we don't lower their potential player base (us shader and graphics enthusiasts, a ton of people, including many famous YouTuber influencers) while taking care of doing this safely. The end. This is not the year 2005 when modding any game would be considered as cheating. Time passes and progress comes, if anything developers may want to try to keep up with the time and present demands (popularity of ReShade'a community) while staying safe. Like what I proposed.
This is all. We have both shared our feedback, and I don't think there is a need for us to continue discussing this topic further. We have been heard, and let's allow others to be heard as well. If you want to talk with me for longer then maybe we can discuss this topic in depth somewhere else? Or we can really just leave it as everything was already said, and we should leave the space for other players.
Lastly please respect my effort. I have a muscle condition and if I put effort to write more to some then it means that I care. If I disliked you I would write a short pointless message, which is not the case as you can see. I do brother a lot for you, so please respect my effort and time.
Have a nice day / evening / night and take care. Let's make friends online not enemies.
Most of those you tried to mention are interpreted by you in the wrong way round (either you tried to ignore some words or you really didn't understand what i said), so all i can say is read again. Really, don't twist other people words without really understand what they meant.
As for the depth part, no, even if you use 4k or above, if there's no changes in the depth setting, your PC will not be requesting information from the server that's far away from your current x,y,z position in game (what we normally see in a depth limited game in higher resolution or wider screen setting is certain landscape are bare until we get close enough for the objects to be rendered). eg, object/creatures position, players position etc etc needs to be constantly updated between your PC and the Server so you can see them moves, depth setting ignores certain objects and players that's too far from you ( which usually means, anything out of the depth settings range will not get rendered nor need to be rendered). So the lower the depth, the least information you will be requesting from the server, which is good for both sides, you wouldn't want to play an online game that cost you large data usage anyway and the game company wouldn't need to pay extra bandwidth for something the majority of users won't be needed. QoL stuffs are only good when advantages out weights the disadvantages in using them, especially in the eye of business management, a bad decisions and waste of resources could lead less income, or worse, bankruptcy.
And for modding and forced enhancing, only those players doing it will effect the servers, so in short, it's only a minority of the total players population doing it. But if it's a built in setting by default, everyone will be requesting the same amount of data traffic and yes, it will cause lag on the server when everyone's requesting more information than they needed. The same reason behind why player's counts are limited in an instance and characters don't get rendered until certain conditions are met. Optimization.
For Depth being cheat in shooting game, well, needless to say, for games with zoom in to shoot or even auto-targeting, the higher your depth setting the better your shooting accuracy becomes, you see your enemy but they don't see you... the game can easily set a built-in depth range on the develop side so everyone in the game can enjoy the same thing, thus it's fair to everyone, but you should by now know why they set a limit to it if you read what i said. And those using 3rd party tools to change the depth gives them advantages over other users who have less depth view (I see you but you can't see me in PvP, Get to target and shoot down monsters outside their AI range, etc...), thus these modifications are not allowed in games and tools with these options are listed as illegal in their games.