SMT 3 Nocturne HD Remaster: Ultimate tweaks and enhancements collection

Are you disappointed by this lazy port of Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster? Fear not! I will be listing every major fix, mod, or otherwise important improvement that the members of the SMT community have created over the years. All that while also explaining how to set things up. If done right, this should grant you the best possible experience to enjoy this absolutely lovely game, in full modern glory.

Introduction

First up, I want to make it clear that I did not create any of these fixes, patches, mods, or anything else. I will be listing credits for each single thing listed in this guide, but if someone still dislikes their work being featured here, let me know and I will promptly remove it.

My goal is to compile every single worthwhile fix for this game into one list so that no one has to look tirelessly throughout the internet for each and every one of these. Hopefully, this will make some people aware of these awesome improvements instead of otherwise not knowing about them.

Also, know that I'm not responsible for any damages, issues or wrong doings that could accure to your system, Steam account, game files or anything else in that regard. Just know that everything presented in this guide works perfectly fine for me and didn't give me any issues, even if that doesn't mean much. I also don't know how future proof this guide is but its done for the 1.04 version of the game. That's the newest version out when this guide was made. Plus, I explained everything as best as I could. If I forgot something or mixed something up, please let me know if you notice. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask down below or consider writing the original mod authors for further support.

Thank you and lets do this!

Graphical Configurator (60 fps, Ultrawide, Speedhack)

Starting off with a big one. If I were to choose one single change that is the most welcomed and impactful, it has to be the Graphical Configurator made by vvdashdash and his testers.

This mod enables you to enjoy SMT 3 Nocturne HD Remaster in beautiful 60 fps, where it was previously locked to 30 fps. It also allows you to use ultrawide aspect ratios and enables you to use speedhack if desired. It's crazy how Atlus didn't add this to the port themselves.

Step by step guide

You will need:
Graphical Configurator: https://gamebanana.com/wips/69935
melonloader: https://github.com/LavaGang/MelonLoader

1.  Follow the instructions of the melonloader installer and install melonloader into your SMT 3 Nocturne installation directory. This will enable you to use the mod. Make sure it is the 0.61 version of melonloader.
2. Now that it's installed, you should see the mods folder inside your game's installation directory.
3. Drag the "Nocturne Framerate Mod.dll" into the mods folder.
4. Start up the game and if you see the melonlauncher in the background as a separate window, perfect!

(It should look similar to this, reminder that my game is already fully modded with every other fix in this guide.)

All done! Its really as simple as that.
If you encounter any issues, be sure to read the creator's, vvdashdash's, gamebanana link to his incredible Graphical Configurator mod that is linked above. Thank you for making this mod.

HD music

Believe it or not, the SMT 3 Nocturne HD Remaster does not include HD music. It uses the same old compressed tracks that were used for the PS2 release due to technical constraints. These days, we don't have these technical constraints, and it just shows plain laziness from Atlus. This amazing mod was made by caimantilla and really brings the incredible soundtrack this game has to offer out in its full glory.

Note: Despite it being a very worthwhile addition that gets my highest recommendation, this awesome mod is only 90% complete. The difference it makes is still enormous and it definitely enhances the overall gameplay experience, but its up for the individual, if you feel like using it. The only alternative would be creating a mod like this yourself, or to go with the compressed vanilla tracks.

Step by step guide

You will need:
HD Audio for HD Ears: https://gamebanana.com/wips/56149

1.  Download the "PC STEAM - SMT3 Nocturne HD Audio for HD Ears v0.6.zip", found on the mods gamebanana link featured above.
2. Unpack everything in a separate, empty folder.
3. Copy the "dlc" and "smt3hd_Data" folders of the mod and replace the original files found in the game's installation directory.

All done! That wasn't too difficult, right?
If you encounter any issues, be sure to read the creators, caimantilla's, gamebanana link to their incredible HD music mod that is linked above. Once again, thank you for making this mod.

Widescreen cutscenes

Another thing that Atlus decided not to touch up for the HD release were the original cutscenes for SMT 3 Nocturne. All of them are in a 4:3 aspect ratio, and this mod right here allows you to view them in full 16:9. This obviously only works for 16:9 screens. Sorry for all you ultrawide-screen gamers out there. This amazing mod was made by ARandomGuy231 who used KaitoDeluxe's touched-up cutscenes and his menu mod featured in this lovely mod. One thing that you should know is that this mod doesn't remove the compression on the cutscenes due to technical constraints, but it's still an incredible mod!

Step by step guide

You will need:
Widescreen Cutscenes: https://gamebanana.com/wips/57143
Tsutaya Menu: https://gamebanana.com/mods/301895

1. Once you have everything downloaded, unpack everything in an empty separate folder.
2. Back up all of the files that are going to be replaced from the "smt3hd_Data\StreamingAssets\PC" folder.
3. Replace the modded files with the original files found in the ""smt3hd_Data\StreamingAssets\PC" directory of the game.

Another mod down; not many more are left!
If you encounter any issues, be sure to read the creators, ARandomGuy231 and KaitoDeluxe's gamebanana link to their widescreen cutscene and menu mod, that is linked above. Thank you two for making these mods.

Remove Bloom and other awful lighting effects

This mods link is currently broken as of the 02.23.2024. I will contact the mods author to see if we can get it back up again. If that's out of the question, I will try to find a suitable alternative that will achieve the exact same thing inside the game. I cannot promise a date of when that will accure, or if its even possible with my relatively limited knowledge about those kind of things. If you got spare time on your hands, and are familiar with SpecialK, I recommend you to poke around the game to see if you can remove bloom inside the game yourself. If you are able to do so, please let me know. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience.

Don't tell anyone, but this right here is secretly recorded footage of the Atlus board meeting when they discussed the SMT 3 Nocturne HD Remaster. (real)

I have no idea how Atlus decided that it was a good idea to spit on this beautiful game that heavily relies on its graphical presentation, especially the bleak and dark lighting, to convey its world and its story. Not everything in the graphical department is all bad, they redone lots of textures and models, but this right here isn't a review of mine. This mod will make a huge difference in how good it will look, and it will recapture the original spirit of SMT 3 Nocturne. Be the judge yourself:

left ON, right OFF
 
This incredible tweak was made by Steam user Shadowlet. I found out about this tweak on a Steam discussion page that I'm going to link here, in case you want to read up on it. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1413480/discussions/0/3084382396866101994/

Now, let me tell you how to set this up because this one is a bit more complicated than the other ones.

Step by step guide

You will need:
Special K: https://discourse.differentk.fyi/t/download-special-k/1461
ini tweak: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/778539700981071875/846880538325418034/d3d11_shaders.ini

1. Once you have everything downloaded, place everything in an empty separate folder.
2. Install Special K on your computer. It will allow you to inject the previously downloaded ini file into your game. In other words, it serves as a mod launcher.
3. Now open up Special K and find SMT 3 Nocturne HD Remaster in your list. From there, launch the game. This will inject Special K into your game and allow you to further mod and add the tweak to it. You will know that it worked when a menu pops up at the top of the screen when launching the game. Close the game afterwards.
(it should look something like this.)
4. Now that Special K is injected, go to your documents folder and find the "MyMods" folder. You should be able to find the "SpecialK" folder on the inside. In there you want to go to the profiles folder and drag the "d3d11_shaders.ini" file into it, next to "SpecialK.ini".

That's it. I know this tweak is definitely more sketchy than the other ones, but it will make a huge difference due to restoring the original tone of SMT 3 Nocturne. If you aren't comfortable doing all of this, I totally understand. There might be other ways of doing this, but this is the only way I know. Thank you so much, Shadowlet for creating this awesome fix. Without it, the game would feel just wrong.

Optional: Internal Resolution Increase

It's a bit nitpicky, but something that is definitely bothersome to some people like me or if you use a big screen. Reddit user KappnKyro created an awesome tweak that allows you to increase the interal resolution of SMT 3 Nocturne HD Remaster. If you are unsure what that means, things at a distance look less sharp and more jagged than things closer to the in-game camera.

He already wrote a very detailed guide on how to do this Reddit thread, so I don't see a reason why I should just repeat what he already wrote.

https://www.reddit.com/r/widescreengamingforum/comments/qmzhp1/ultrawide_patch_and_rendering_resolution_increase/

Know that it's somewhat advanced, and the payoff isn't all that much compared to some other tweaks and mods featured in this guide, but it definitely adds some much appreciated visual fidelity to the game.

All done! That wasn't too difficult, right?
All the credits go to KappnKyro on Reddit. Thank you for making this tweak.

Troubleshooting

Known issues that can occure and their solutions.
If you encounter an issue and maybe even a trick to solve the issue, please be sure to let me know.

infinite loading screen on start-up:
- Switching to MelonLoader version 0.6.0 instead of 0.6.1 can fix it. Otherwise a clean install can also help. Be sure to backup your save files.

Collective Credits

Be sure to give those legends some love or even support their works in some way or another. Thank you so much for making these. Contact me if you want anything removed.

Graphical Configurator made by vvdashdash
https://gamebanana.com/wips/69935
https://gamebanana.com/members/2214459
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

HD Audio for HD Ears made by caimantilla
https://gamebanana.com/wips/56149
https://gamebanana.com/members/1784733
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Widescreen Cutscenes made by ARandomGuy231
https://gamebanana.com/wips/57143
https://gamebanana.com/members/1742788
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Tsutaya Menu made by KaitoDeluxe
https://gamebanana.com/mods/301895
https://gamebanana.com/members/1910210
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Remove Bloom made by Shadowlet
https://steamcommunity.com/id/Shadowlet

Internal Resolution Increase made by KappnKyro
https://www.reddit.com/user/KappnKyro/

Epilogue

That's all I have for this guide! I hope you will now be able to enjoy SMT 3 Nocturne HD Remaster in all its glory. HUGE shoutouts to every single one of the creators of those mods and tweaks. I want to state again that I did not create anything featured in this guide. All I merely did was collect all the information I gathered and present it here in somewhat orderly fashion. Once again, if someone wants their work removed from this guide, let me know, and I will do it asap without questioning it.

Have fun!

[Willow]

genuinely essential guide thank you so much :))

[Tael]

@Bow Toes were you able to run Special K alongside MelonLoader? I installed all of the MelonLoader mods successfully, but then I was going to try the Special K workaround but I couldn't get it to inject into the game correctly.
I think it has to do with MelonLoader because I opened other games through Special K and it was able to inject.

[träume werden wahr]

thanksssss save my life bro

[Danto]

@Bow Toes That is some huge amount of progress so thank you for sharing this with us. I will try to test it myself and see if its working as intended on my rig as well. If so, I'll add it as an alternative/new way of getting rid of that pesky bloom and the other weird lighting effects. Unfortunately I am relatively busy as of late, but I'll try to make time for it. Thank you very much and feel free to keep me posted about your progress!

[Bow Toes]

I was looking at the screenshots in the crossed-out Special K section and tried to recreate the state of the shaders that was shown.

The resulting "d3d11_shaders.ini" file is small enough to paste here:

[DrawState.Pixel]
36085c95=HUD
6b77b3fc=HUD
8e1d022a=HUD
8e435ea2=Disable
96421b64=Disable
ff6dce40=Disable

I figure it's better to put it here than some arbitrary pastebin that may or may not delete it in future.

I don't know if this is all that the original .ini file had, but this is a start.
If you'd like to see what I changed, I have a screenshot:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3412727243

With Special K you can also edit this changes by opening to render mod tool menu.

I've only just started with this game, so I haven't even gotten properly in game to check if it looks right, but I will update this if it's not right.

[blain636]

I've turned off bloom in the graphics config and I'm not seeing a difference, I'm not sure if the bloom is not working on the config or it's something on my end

[Fanthir]

I just tried it with the latest melonloader 0.6.6 and the fps fix worked and booted, although, with minimal testing

[cort]

I've tried quite a few fixes to get the graphics configurator working but no luck. Every time the game launches, melonloader runs and gives the error "Failed to download UnityDependencies". Made sure I'm running 0.6.1 and tried a fresh install of both melonloader and SMT 3.

[sorenb]

@wsob I've had the same issue but I resolved it by extracting the files using 7zip and that allowed me read the "read me" and also copy and paste the required files into the game lmk if you still having problems ;)

[willpower]

If anyone could correct me or find a solution please lmk asap, ngl it's a big deal breaker for me if im hearing crummy game audio bc atlus is lazy :/