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Blockbuster Warhammer - READ DESCRIPTION

Some gorgeus screenshots from Crustypenut on Reddit that really exemplifies what I want these settings to achieve (great use of Magic Depth of Field, tick the effect to have that real cinematic effect but it only works for screenshots, NOT normal gameplay):
https://imgur.com/gallery/CKk3L
https://imgur.com/gallery/XtW9V

If you like this, subscribe to it, but you don't need it activated, so it won't affect your mod limit. If you subscribe, it'll make more people be able to see it and have a better looking game for it, and you'll be able to see if I update the file or add new styles, I'll edit the title.

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ABOUT

In my line of work, I sometimes color grade everything from films to music videos and commercials. I almost never like the grading on video games (way too gamey, and they're usually not even colored in the first place), so I came up with this for one of the best games that could benefit from it in my opinion. To that end, I colored the game to have a grim, fantasy war movie vibe where certain features important to the ambiance really pop.

This preset came from a grade I made on Shadow of War, taking heavy inspiration from the Lord of the Rings films, modified to fit in the Total War engine. I love criticism, so tear my s*** apart! Let me know if you find anything that looks off/could be better, or if you would like to see alternate styles you can provide a film or any video for reference, and I'll see what I can do if I dig it. Tbh I can't play the game without this, it just makes it look so much better and not cartoony, but I'm totally open to making different vibes.

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REQUIRED MODS

I designed the color grade around these so they're pretty much necessary to see my vision and are only a direct improvement

Alternative Lighting - Edorn
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1266710724&searchtext=alternative+lighting

Darker Grand Campaigns - Kelstr
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1160480923&searchtext=darker

See my Graphical Overhaul Collection for a list of recommended mods. I take a less-is-more approach alongside picking superior retextures and feature improvements.

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PERFORMANCE

It can have a small performance impact, which is from Luma Sharpen, Gaussian Blur, and Magic Bloom. If you absolutely need the extra frames, you can turn these effects off, but I would not recommend it. Luma Sharpen is the best sharpening method in this application, and very finely improves detail (very minor fps impact). Gaussian Blur adds a very slight blur bringing the textures together more realistically, you need Luma Sharpen on if you use this. I use Magic Bloom to lighten any overly-dark areas from Alternative Lighting, while not brightening very light environments. If you absolutely must turn it off, you must also change the value of the Curves effect to -500 contrast, but you will lose the ability to dynamically adjust brightness (in exchange for a fps or a few).

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INSTALLATION

- Download and install ReShade, point to your Warhammer exe folder and download all available effects when it asks you.

- Pick on of my files (cold or light dependant, I use cold and it fits the Warhammer world's vibe more) and place it in your Warhammer exe folder. Download here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zI5MlJfvhgJRWhW4zqsAPfQAVcxGbpFo?usp=sharing OR on the SweetFX Database

- Make sure your game is running on DirectX 11 or Reshade won't work

- If it does not work and your game is set on DirectX 11, you must rename "dxgi.dll" to "d3d11.dll" and "dxgi.ini" to "d3d11.ini" in your game folder.

- Hit shift+f2, click through the tutorial, and then select "Blockbuster" from the drop down menu.

- Click the settings tab (in reshade), change Configuration Mode to Performance Mode (you won't be able to make any edits to the effects in Performance, so switch back if you want to tweak). You can also set an effect toggle key directly above the mode, if you'd like. Flick the effect toggle on/off to see the difference.

- Set Gamma to 16 and Brightness to 18 in settings (May vary based on your screen but start here)

That's it! Enjoy! I would highly recommend pairing this with at least FXAA anti-aliasing in settings. Obviously cranking the graphics settings to max makes the game look phenomenal with this reshade. Makes me really happy actually that the game is rather future-proof for the next few years at least. Wouldn't be surpriesed if it still looks great a decade from now (maybe except the campaign map). We're getting there!

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EFFECT EXPLANATIONS

I would not recommend messing with these values as they are fine-tuned to the image with the required mods, except were I say you can.

Ambient Light - Enables the main light source to dictate how the scene is lit. Adds much more realism. It's set to either cold or light-dependet, but I prefer cold for the Warhammer setting (cold is just a color temperature, see it as the feeling of the image. I feel like the Warhammer World does well with a cold palette, the firey, desert, or tropical etc regions don't look off because of it). Change in AL_Adaptive if you want. Also adds slight flares in certain situations you can disable these in AL_Lens.

Curves - Affects the RGBL spline curves, giving more film-grade ratios between highlights/midtones/shadows. If you disable magic bloom this must be set to -500 contrast.

HDR - More luminance range dynamically. So less under/overexposure. The game is either very flat or has big problems with overexposure and many areas are way too dark due to a very poor lighting setup vastly improved by Alternative Lighting.

Film Grain - Adds a very slight grain (you won't notice it) which brings a nice organic texture to the image.

Filmic Pass - The real color correction is here.

Gaussian Blur - Very slight blur makes the texture of the image more realistic and reduces the pop of models which leads to gamey-ness. You can disable this for more fps.

Luma Sharpen - A fine sharpening mask dependant on luminance. Much better than other methods. You can disable this for more fps, but you need it if you have Gaussian Blur on.

Magic Bloom - A variety of uses, I use it to add light adaptation for a variety of environments. You can disable this for more fps but you lose adaptive brightness and some areas may be too dark.

Vibrance - A little pop to the red line that goes hand-in-hand with my Filmic Pass and improves blood/fire. Bump the main vibrance value if you want more color.

Cheers!