Graphic issue fix and improvments!

This is a Graphics Guide for two things:

First, it's a guide to fix the Gameprefs.pref issue where graphic settings would change on log out and where you couldn't have antialiasing on while having high qualiy bloom, ambient occlusion, comic book line and such on at the same time.

Second, it's a guide to improve the quality of graphics in Champions Online beyond what they normally could do without breaking any ELUAs or editing game files.

Please help other people see this by rating. Thank you!

Fixing the graphics changing on log out/Gameprefs.pref file issue

If you don't have this issue or don't want to mess with it you can skip this section.

Here's where I address the biggest issue I've had with Champions Online graphics and that's where my graphic settings would change on thier own after log out. I can't guarantee that this will work for you but doing this fixed it for me.

Every time I would log out and then log in, Champions online would change my graphic settings and then I couldn't have Antialiasing and other options such as Bloom quality: High, Screen-space ambient occlusion, etc, on at the same time. The only way i used to be able to fix this was to exit champions, delete the Game Prefs file, come back in, redo all my graphics for this play session, then exit and repeat for the next session. It was a pain in the butt!

Here's what I did that fixed it for me:

Deleted the Gameprefs.pref file in the steam/ steamapps/ common/ champions online/ champions online/ live/ local data folder (Deleting this will reset your game settings to default as if it's your first time loading up the game and I think it clears out binds too although i'm not sure so do at your own discretion)
Loaded up the game and I have my settings at Full screen (Windowed, and Windowed Max seems to work too), 1920x1080@ 60 hz, 60hz, aspect ratio: auto, Monitor vertical sync: on, Half Resolution: off.



Under advanced video settings do not put Antialiasing higher than 8x, have everything maxed out and turned on except bloom intensity which I left default at 100.

With these settings I've been able to keep playing without having to reset my graphic settings and it looks about as good as the game can get. I haven't figured out a way to have 16x antialiasing on without having to reset everything on every log in and I can't seem to have a higher resolution than 1920x1080 but at least the main issue is fixed!

Making Champions Online look even better!

Now here's where we improve on that to make champions look even better! (Make sure you're computer is good enough to handle champions at the settings above before doing the next steps because it'll use a bit more computing and graphic power)

We'll be using a free program called Reshade which is a post processing injector that can be used to really make almost any game look much nicer than it normally could. As far as I'm aware using it breaks no ELUA and it doesn't edit or make changes to any of the games files.

The chances that this program could cause any issues is very slim but to avoid people trying to blame me for anything I'm letting you know that you're doing this at your own discretion and I'm in no way responsible for anything.

Unless you feel comfortable messing around with the program make sure to follow the directions. If you mess things up and make your game look like a fuzzy, red block covered in purple dots that's on you. I'll help as best as I can, the program is very easy to uninstall, and It would be hard to cause that to happen but it could happen if you go off and just click random stuff.

The link to the site is www.reshade.me

Using the program is very simple and I'll walk you through how I did it. I don't use this program to it's full potential but I wanted to offer what I know so far.

First you download it from that website and then run the program. You'll get a small box pop up that asks you to select a game. Make sure to select the actual GameClient.exe under Steam \steamapps \common \Champions Online \Champions Online \Live and not ChampionsOnline.exe.


Then make sure you select Direct3D 9 as the rendering API.


It'll ask if you want to download a collection of standard effect and click yes. It'll then download the effects and ask which ones you want. You can download them all to mess with if you want but right now I'm only using AdaptiveSharpen.fx, Clarity.fx, HDR.fx, and Vibrance.fx so if you want you can un-select all and then only select those four.


After those are selected and you click 'OK' you're done with installation! Now you can click the little 'X' in the top right corner of the window and exit it.

Go ahead and load up the game. It'll load a little bit slower at first since it's loading the effects but not much longer.

Once the game is loaded up press Shift+F2. The program will walk you through a small tutorial and then once that is done select the four settings I mentioned above AdaptiveSharpen.fx, Clarity.fx, HDR.fx, and Vibrance.fx by clicking the gray boxes on the left side of the window.


After that go to the top of the window and click on the settings tab, then go to the drop down bar that says Configuration and change it to Performance.


After that you're all done! Press shift+f2, load up a character, and go check out your refined Champions Online view!

Scroll to the next section to see screenshots showing off the differences! It's awesome!

If at some point you feel the need to uninstall this just delete the d3d9.dll file it put in the game folder at Steam \steamapps \common \Champions Online \Champions Online \Live

Screenshot show!

Here's some screens shots to show the differences! There all have the same graphical settings in game one has reshade turned off, the other turned on.

[KniteJax]

Glad you liked it Melphyx! Hope you get more enjoyment out of CO!

[Melphyx]

Very detailed info, ty for your support.
@melphyx2
ChampionsWiki's Admin, Collaborator

[KniteJax]

You're very welcome Ironwolf! I hope more people try this and get more enjoyment out of this game :D

[Ironwolf]

This really works, thanks for sharing!

[KniteJax]

Canada actaully looks cold now haha

[KniteJax]

Thanks Kawaii! I'll be adding a couple more screen shots to show it off a bit more.

[The Safe and Sterile Bread-Tan]

Hot damn I might need to get Reshad that looks fucking beautiful