HD Textures are "possibly" NOT enabled at default (PATCHED)

[jorimt]

What do you know, I just picked this game up (owned the original), and I noticed near the beginning of the game that the texture detail was nowhere near as good as I remember the original being.

On a whim, I opened up the DisplaySettings.xml in the install file and set "<TextureDetailLevel>1</TextureDetailLevel>" from the default "1" to "2," and it actual enabled the high-res textures, to my surprise. Not sure if anyone else knew this or not.

I posted a comparison on screenshotcomparison.com for proof:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/95266

I did try to set it to "3," but it had no further effect, and defaulted back to the original textures. While I didn't, you may or may not need to set the file to read-only for it to stick.

Easy fix. How in the heck did they miss this?

EDIT #1: added "possibly" to thread title for clarification.

EDIT #2: Turns out this fix only works for some; others' config file already has it set to "2" at default.

EDIT #3: Adding detailed instructions for those who need it below:

1. Right click on "Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition" in Steam library
2. Click "Properties," then "Local Files" tab, then "Browse local files..." button
3. Click "data" folder, locate "DisplaySettings.xml" file, then open with preferred text editor
4. Locate "<TextureDetailLevel>(your number here)</TextureDetailLevel>." If yours is set between 0-1, set to "2"

EDIT #4: It looks like this issue is caused when the player bypasses the default graphics preset (which has textures set to "1") and manually adjusts settings in the advanced options. Since there is no texture toggle in this version's menus, the textures stay at "1." Setting the graphics preset to "Extreme" before modifying the advanced options looks to amend this issue. Credit goes to David Kolář for the find.

EDIT #5: This issue has been patched by the developers, thanks to Sleeping Dogs Community Manager GDArcan :)

[MadBoy the Merciless]

It started out at a 2 in MY settings. Don't know what was up with yours.

[jorimt]

Originally posted by SyntheticPhylum:

It started out at a 2 in MY settings. Don't know what was up with yours.

I had a suspicion someone might say this. Entirely possible. At least people can check and make sure. All I can say is mine was set to "1" at default. May be an isolated problem. If I end up being wrong, safer than sorry ;)

[Fire in the bowl!]

Originally posted by SyntheticPhylum:

It started out at a 2 in MY settings. Don't know what was up with yours.

you mean something up with his and mine and more then likely 100's of others....i was @ 1 by default

but keep in mind SyntheticPhylum seems like a troll level 0 private steam account.....you cannot trust him.


Thanks for the heads up jorimt.

[Himitsu]

Mine was on 0, and I took a screen shot, changed it to 2, took another screenshot (similar to yours) and there is a definite improvement. I'm not sure how many textures it upgrades but everything looks good. Is this definitely enabling the HD texture pack from the DLC?

I didn't change anything in game (everything is basically maxed apart from the AA settings which are on high).

0 setting -

http://oi58.tinypic.com/jt32mb.jpg

2 setting -

http://oi62.tinypic.com/2ywisfo.jpg



Edit - I almost forgot to say, thank you and nice find!!

Edit 2 - more screens

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=325123859

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=325123982

[jorimt]

Originally posted by MoNoXiDe:

Originally posted by SyntheticPhylum:

It started out at a 2 in MY settings. Don't know what was up with yours.

you mean something up with his and mine and more then likely 100's of others....i was @ 1 by default

but keep in mind SyntheticPhylum seems like a troll level 0 private steam account.....you cannot trust him.


Thanks for the heads up jorimt.

No problem, glad I found it. Maybe it's tied to other settings, perhaps the SSAA? That might be why it differs; I have mine off currently.

Guess we'll find out as more post their findings...

[jorimt]

Originally posted by Himitsu:

Mine was on 0, and I took a screen shot, changed it to 2, took another screenshot (similar to yours) and there is a definite improvement. I'm not sure how many textures it upgrades but everything looks good. Is this definitely enabling the HD texture pack from the DLC?

I didn't change anything in game (everything is basically maxed apart from the AA settings which are on high).

0 setting -

http://oi58.tinypic.com/jt32mb.jpg

2 setting -

http://oi62.tinypic.com/2ywisfo.jpg

:D:

Edit - I almost forgot to say, thank you and nice find!!

Glad it helped, strange yours was at "0." I'm going to do some more testing. Hope they ultimately fix this with a patch. It would be nice to have a texture option in the menus anyway.

[DustyBronco]

Related question - is there a FoV fix? It feels like my eyes are dying.

[jorimt]

Originally posted by Genital Thunderstorm:

Related question - is there a FoV fix? It feels like my eyes are dying.

http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs

Looks like there's a link to a fix under Video Settings > Field of View (FOV) on that page.

Haven't tried it myself.

[Ꝙ Ghosthunter Ꝙ]

Mine was at 2 too.

[DustyBronco]

Originally posted by jorimt:

Originally posted by Genital Thunderstorm:

Related question - is there a FoV fix? It feels like my eyes are dying.

http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs

Looks like there's a link to a fix under Video Settings > Field of View (FOV) on that page.

Haven't tried it myself.

Thanks for the link! Upon further investigation it's some kind of tweak that allows you to control the camera on your own. Would be really neat, but I have one of the few keyboards on the market without a numpad.

I appreciate it anyway, though!

[GSPOTxJESUS]

If you go to the display options in the game menu you can change the texture detail to extreme which is the same thing as setting it to 2 in the xml file.

[jorimt]

Originally posted by ­­Δ👽 Louna 👽Δ­­:

Mine was at 2 too.

Strange, wonder what makes the difference? Again, I assume it's a certain combination of in-game graphics settings. I tried different configurations of SSAA, thinking that might be tied to textures in some way, but nope.

All I know is mine was maxed out, with SSAA set to off, and my texture setting was "1" at default.

I also checked the original, and it only had a 0-1 setting in the config file, it didn't go up to "2."

[jorimt]

Originally posted by Genital Thunderstorm:

Originally posted by jorimt:

http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs

Looks like there's a link to a fix under Video Settings > Field of View (FOV) on that page.

Haven't tried it myself.

Thanks for the link! Upon further investigation it's some kind of tweak that allows you to control the camera on your own. Would be really neat, but I have one of the few keyboards on the market without a numpad.

I appreciate it anyway, though!

Ha, ironic.

If all else fails, you could always use the on-screen windows keyboard to configure settings with the game in windowed mode.

[jorimt]

Originally posted by Elliot Rodgers:

If you go to the display options in the game menu you can change the texture detail to extreme which is the same thing as setting it to 2 in the xml file.

I do remember that it was in the original, but it is not present in the Definitive version. Just checked.

[Dreambox]

i think this is set by the game on default the first time you start the game (you have a message like the game is looking for the best graphics option on defaut) and we all know that some games just put ♥♥♥♥♥♥ options on defauts even if you have a beast (i have a r9 290 and skyrim put eveything on low on the first launch) so i think the HD pack is installed on the game, but you just can't change it with the game main menu


this is just what im thinking trought , may be wrong