User:Rootsrat/TheWitcher3

MODDING GUIDE

This world doesn't need a Hero. It needs a Professional.

GUIDE FORUM THREAD

CURRENTLY SUPPORTED GAME VERSION:
1.06

LATEST UPDATES:

• 26/06/2015
  • Added Full Update Log

• 25/06/2015
  • Added couple of warning messages to the Configuration Files section
  • Added Requirements section

• 24/06/2015
  • Added new user.settings file. Over 6 hours of testing resulted in much better performance without a visible hit to quality. Stuttering fixed. Disappearing grass fixed. Enabled missing DLCs.
  • Added rendering.ini file settings.

• 23/06/2015
  • Changed colour style.
  • Added Support and Feedback section.

• 22/06/2015
  • First draft of the guide. Source code taken from SRB's Fear And Loathing in New Vegas guide.

FULL UPDATE LOG

Introduction

The Witcher 3 was only released a few weeks ago and yet there are already quite a few mods for it, even though the official modding tool, The Red Kit, has not even been released yet. The modding community has already found ways to edit the game files in order to change some in game statistics, adjust difficulty levels and other aspects of the game. There are also a lot of presets available for post processors like ReShade, SweetFX, GemFX etc., which make the game visually better. Additionally, the game allows for modification of the user settings file in order to enhance some graphical aspects beyond the default Ultra/Uber in game settings.

This guide's main aim at this stage is to make the game visuals look better rather than change the gameplay mechanics mainly due to the fact that I still haven't finished the game yet and I want to experience the vanilla mechanics first in order to be able to assess which parts need changing. I may add some gameplay changing mods in due course however.

The guide will be lore friendly, so don't expect silly mods or the ones that doesn't make sense or are not in line with the lore and the books. This part is very important to me, so you can rest assured that if you follow this guide, you'll get The Witcher experience as close to the books as possible.

The modification will come with a cost in FPS, so please be aware of your hardware limitations. If you are struggling to get the game running on Ultra/Uber details, this guide is probably not for you, as it WILL decrease the performance.

Please also bear in mind that these are very early modding days for The Witcher 3 and there are no proper modding tools yet. The guide will be updated with new mods and better tools as they are released, so expect a lot of changes over the coming months. The game itself is also being updated and the developers are working on the bugs, with the updates being released every couple of weeks, so please also bear in mind that the guide is written for the specific version of the game and may not work with the future versions of The Witcher 3. I will make clear indication which game version is the guide for.

Another thing to note is that I am using GOG Galaxy version of The Witcher 3, not the Steam version, so adjust all the file paths accordingly if you use Steam instead of GOG Galaxy.

The guide is listed from top down and it is advised to install the mods in that order to make sure that all directions are followed correctly and no mods are missed.

Without the support of STEP, this guide would not be possible. If you would like to make a donation, that would be awesome! Do so with Paypal.

ALL donations are applied to hosting expenses.

System requirements

The below is taken from The Witcher 3 Support website.

Please note that the game is both graphics- and processor-intensive and it’s the graphics card and the processor not meeting the minimum requirements that will often be responsible for performance problems with the game.

Minimum requirements:

OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1). DirectX 11 is necessary to run the game.
Processor: Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz, AMD CPU Phenom II X4 940
Finding a Gaming CPUs performance chart and comparing one’s CPU with our minimum is suggested.
Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660 or AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870
Please mind that we only officially support full-size desktop graphics cards. Finding a graphics card performance hierarchy chart online and comparing one’s video card with our minimum is suggested.
RAM: 6GB
Disk space: 40 GB

Recommended requirements:

OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1). DirectX 11 is necessary to run the game.
Processor: Intel CPU Core i7 3770 3,4 GHz, AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770 or AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
RAM: 6GB
Disk space: 40 GB

Note that the below guide will be demanding on your system and it's recommended for user that have suitable rigs to ruin it. The settings will be adjusted to go BEYOND the in game Ultra settings, which are very demanding for most of the systems already. Please be cautious and realise that I don't take the responsibility for any damage that your system may take when using the below guide.

You have been warned.

I play on the following system and my modded Witcher 3 is squeezing everything from my PC, but it causes no harm, so if you have similar or better machine, you don't have to worry.

Windows 8.1 64-bit
Intel Core i5 4590 @ 3.30 GHz	
Corsair Vengeance 8.00 GB @ 1600 MHz (9-9-9-24)
MSI Z87-G45 GAMING (MS-7821)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 ASUS Strix 

The Witcher 3 modding

Overview

As it currently stands, the official modding tool for The Witcher 3 has not been released yet. The release date is unknown for now. If you want to be kept in the loop and get the latest updates on this, please register at The Witcher forums and head over to The Red Kit section.

The way the modding works at the moment is by modifying the so called bundle files of the game and also manually editing the settings files to allow values higher than Ultra/Uber setting.

The bundle files are located in "The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\content" and "The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\DLC*\content" and subsequent folders in these directories. More details and a mod making tutorial can be found on this Nexus mod page.

As for the settings files, there are 2 types. One is called "user.settings" and it's located in "Documents/The Witcher 3" directory. This file stores all your game settings, including HUD, Audio and Video settings, the ones that you can change via the Options menu in game (and many more similar options). The other ones are INI files located in "The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\bin\config" sub-directories.

A few points to note:

1. The Witcher and GOG Galaxy in general should not be installed in the Program Files or Program Files (x86) folder.
2. Make sure The Witcher 3 directory is clean from any other modding previously done.
3. Delete the user.settings file from The Witcher 3 in the Documents folder and start the game so a new one can regenerate. This will allow the config file to revert back to vanilla before starting.
4. Remember to make a backup of every file that you modify. This will save you time reinstalling the game should things go south.

DLC

Navigate to GOG Galaxy and install all the DLC content apart from Alternative Look for Yennefer. The latter is not lore friendly, as Yen has ALWAYS wore black and white clothes. Always.

Configuration files

user.settings

User.settings is the file where The Witcher 3 saves all your settings, including HUD, Audio and Video settings.

Navigate to "Documents\The Witcher 3" folder and make a back up of the "user.settings" file first (IMPORTANT! - you'll most likely need it in about 5 minutes), then right click the file and select Open With. Then select a text editor of your choice (I recommend Notepad++). Then delete all the text inside the file and copy and paste the below contents, skipping the red warning text.

[Gameplay/EntityPool]
SpawnedLimit=300

[Hidden]
HasSeenDLCMessage=true
HasSetup=true
uiVerticalFrameScale=1.065
uiHorizontalFrameScale=1.0375

[Localization]
RequestedSpeechLanguage=
SpeechLanguage=PL WARNING!! I play in Polish, so please change this to the language your game is using! You can take the country code from the back up of your vanilla file settings
RequestedTextLanguage=
TextLanguage=PL WARNING!! Same as above
Subtitles=false

[Viewport]
VSync=true
Resolution="1920x1080" WARNING!! Change to your preferred resolution.
FullScreenMode=2
VSyncThreshold=0
OutputMonitor=-1

[Hud] WARNING!! I prefer to switch nearly all of my HUD off, including the minimap and enemy health bars. If you prefer to have them switched on, please change the relevant settings in this section to "true". Please ask in the support thread if you're not sure what to change.
MinimapRotation=false
Minimap2Module=false
BossFocusModule=false
HudSize=0.5
QuestsModule=false
HorsePanicBarModule=false
EnemyFocusModule=false
HorseStaminaBarModule=false
MinimapTracksWaypoints=false
ControlsFeedbackModule=false
BoatHealthModule=false

[Budget]
cvMaxAllowedLightsShadowTime=3
cvMaxAllowedApexDestroTickedTime=0.2
cvMaxAllowedGrass=5000
cvMaxAllowedDecalsDynamic=10
cvMaxAllowedDynMeshes=104857600
cvMaxAllowedChunksSkinnedTime=3.5
cvMaxAllowedTrianglesSkinned=100000
cvMaxAllowedDecalsSSTime=0.1
cvMaxAllowedLightsShadow=4
TerrainTileMipDataBudget=100
cvMaxAllowedApexTicked=60
cvMaxAllowedActiveEnvProbesTime=0.1
cvMaxAllowedStatTextures=314572800
cvMaxAllowedSpeedTree=6000
cvMaxAllowedLightsNonShadowsTime=0.2
cvMaxAllowedSpeedTreeTime=2.2
cvMaxAllowedChunksStatic=1500
cvMaxAllowedTrianglesStatic=500000
cvMaxAllowedHiresChunks=25
cvMaxAllowedDecalsDynamicTime=0.5
cvMaxAllowedLightsNonShadows=40
cvMaxAllowedChunksStaticTime=1.5
cvMaxAllowedChunksSkinned=400
cvMaxAllowedApexDestroTicked=40
cvMaxAllowedStatMeshes=209715200
TerrainTileMinTimeout=2
cvMaxAllowedHiresChunksTime=0.2
cvMaxAllowedApexTickedTime=0.5
cvMaxAllowedCharTextures=409715200
cvMaxAllowedParticlesCountTime=0.2
cvMaxAllowedParticlesCount=2000
cvMaxAllowedGrassTime=1.5
TerrainTileTimeout=10
OcclusionQueryAdditionalMemory=20
TerrainTileLoadingTimeout=5
cvMaxAllowedDecalsSS=240

[Audio]
MusicVolume=75
Subtitles=false

[LoadingScreen/TCR]
ShowProgress=true

[Game]
DoNotPauseWhileStopped=false

[PostProcess]
AllowChromaticAberration=false
SharpenAmount=1
MotionBlurPositionTreshold=0.05
AllowVignette=false
MotionBlurRotationTreshold=1
AllowAntialias=false
SSAOSolution=2

[Input]
PadVibrationEnabled=true
KeyboardCooldownSpeed=0.1
InvertCameraXOnMouse=false
InvertCameraYOnMouse=false
CameraAutoRotX=true
InvertCameraX=false
UIMouseSensitivity=1
CameraAutoRotY=true
RightStickCameraSensitivity=1
InvertCameraY=false
RightStickAimSensitivity=1
MouseSensitivity=1

[DLC]
DlcEnabled_dlc_001_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_002_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_003_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_005_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_006_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_007_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_008_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_010_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_012_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_013_001=1
DlcEnabled_dlc_014_001=1

[Gameplay]
Difficulty=3

[LevelOfDetail]
SwarmHideDistance=800
DecalsHideDistance=400
DimmerHideDistance=400
DynamicDecalsHideDistance=400
StripeHideDistance=400

[General]
ConfigVersion=1

[LoadingScreen/Editor]
Disabled=false

[LoadingOverlay/TCR]
FadeOutCooldownExtraTime=1
FadeInSpinnerTime=1
NoninteractiveSpinnerTime=3
FadeOutSpinnerTime=1
NoninteractiveEndCooldown=1

[Visuals]
InventoryBgColorScaleB=0.036
InventoryFixedLuminance=0.25
InventoryBgColorScaleG=0.034
MovieFramerate=60
GammaValue=1
InventoryBgColorScaleR=0.02

[Rendering]
GrassDensity=3600
WaterGeometryQuality=10
DecalsSpawnDistanceCutoff=40
TextureStreamingHeadsDistanceLimit=20.0
GlobalOceanTesselationFactor=128
TextureStreamingCharacterDistanceLimit=100.0
CascadeShadowFadeTreshold=1
CascadeShadowDistanceScale2=1.2
MaxTextureAnizotropy=8
TextureStreamingDistanceLimit=70000.0
TextureMemoryBudget=1600
CascadeShadowDistanceScale3=1.2
MeshLODDistanceScale=2.0
ScaleformTextureUnstreamDelay=2.5
DecalsChance=2.0
TerrainReadAheadDistance=1000.0
HairWorksLevel=2
MaxTextureAnisotropy=16
TerrainScreenSpaceErrorThreshold=1.6
MaxTerrainShadowAtlasCount=4
TextureMipBias=-0.7
HardwareCursor=true
TextureInFlightCountBudget=12
TerrainErrorMetricMultiplier=6
CascadeShadowmapSize=2048
CascadeShadowDistanceScale0=1
MeshRenderingDistanceScale=2.0
CascadeShadowQuality=1
CascadeShadowDistanceScale1=1

[Input/Gestures]
EnableSwipe=true
EnablePan=true
EnableGestures=true
EnablePinch=true

[LoadingScreen]
FadeInTime=3
SkipShowWithAnyKey=true
GameRevealTime=3
SkipHideDelay=3
SkipInputDelay=0.25
FadeOutTime=1.5
SkipAutoshow=false

[Engine]
LimitFPS=60

[Rendering/SpeedTree]
GrassGenerationEfficiency=0.06
GrassDistanceScale=1
FoliageDistanceScale=2
FoliageShadowDistanceScale=16
GrassRingSize=4194304

[Save]
ShowCompatWarning=false

[Kinect]
Kinect=true

[Foliage]
MaxVisibilityDepth=24

These settings will improve the visuals of the game greatly, including LOD, drawing distances, shadows, water quality etc. without sacrificing too much performance.

Remember to click [Save] before exiting the program. After exiting, right click the file, select Properties and set it to Read Only. This will ensure that the game won't change the settings back.

rendering.ini

Another file with settings is called "rendering.ini" and it's located in "\The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\bin\config\base" directory. While the game reads most of the settings from user.settings file, some of them are read from this file instead. Navigate to the above folder, edit "rendering.ini" file and replace it's contents with the below ones. This includes the lower the anti aliasing settings for the hair of the characters in game (both player and NPCs) when using Nvidia Hairworks. The lower settings have no visible effect in game whatsoever and they slightly increase the performance.

[PostProcess]
AllowBloom=true
AllowShafts=true
AllowAntialias=false
AllowMSAA=false
AllowBlur=true
AllowDOF=true
AllowVignette=false
SharpenAmount=1
AllowRain=true
AllowSSAO=true
AllowMotionBlur=true
AllowCutsceneDOF=true
AllowBillboards=true
AllowSoftLight=true
AllowFog=true
AllowUnderwater=true
AllowChromaticAberration=false

[Rendering]
MaxTextureSize=2048
MaxAtlasTextureSize=2048
MaxCubeShadowSize=512
MaxSpotShadowSize=512
TextureDownscale=0
DetailTextureDownscale=0
AtlasTextureDownscale=0
TextureMemoryBudget=1600
TextureMemoryGUIBudget=80
TextureTimeBudget=10
TextureInFlightBudget=128	
DecalsChance=2.0f
DecalsSpawnDistanceCutoff=20.0f
TextureStreamingDistanceLimit=70000.0f
TextureStreamingCharacterDistanceLimit=100.0f
TextureStreamingHeadsDistanceLimit=20.0f
TextureStreamingReduceGameplayLOD=true
UberSampling=1
TextureMipBias=-0.7f
MsaaLevel=4
DynamicDecalsLimit=60
MeshRenderingDistanceScale=2.0f
MeshLODDistanceScale=2.0f
TerrainScreenSpaceErrorThreshold=2.0f
TerrainErrorMetricMultiplier=10
ForceInstantAdaptation=false
ForceInstantEnvProbeUpdate=false
EnableTemporalAA=true
CascadeShadowFadeTreshold=1.0f
CascadeShadowmapSize=1024
CascadeShadowQuality=1
MaxCascadeCount=4
MaxTerrainShadowAtlasCount=3
GlobalOceanTesselationFactor=10
UseDynamicWaterSimulation=true
UseHairWorks=true
HairWorksAALevel=4
TerrainReadAheadDistance=1000.0f
ForcedDebugPreviewIndex=-1
HardwareCursor=false

[TextureStreaming]
MaxResidentMipMap=6

[LevelOfDetail]
MeshLodGameplayDownscale=0
CharacterLodGameplayDownscale=0
DecalsHideDistance=80
StripeHideDistance=300
SwarmHideDistance=300
DimmerHideDistance=300

[Budget]
DecalBudget=100

[Scaleform/GlyphCache/1]
NumTextures=2
TextureHeight=2048
TextureWidth=2048
MaxSlotHeight=48
SlotPadding=2

Save the file and exit.

Tools and Utilisties

Debug Console Enabler Updated

• Author: Skomski
• Version: 1.06
• Installation: Download "debug-console-enabler-default" file. Follow these instructions:

Navigate to your game installation folder: \The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\bin\x64
Unzip and copy everything to that folder 

This mod adds a developers' console (similar to the one in Skyrim) and also enables the free camera.

Debug Console Enabler Updated

• Author: Skomski
• Version: 1.06
• Installation: Download "debug-console-enabler-default" file. Follow these instructions:

Navigate to your game installation folder: \The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\bin\x64
Unzip and copy everything to that folder 

This mod adds a developers' console (similar to the one in Skyrim) and also enables the free camera.

Enable free camera ingame with "F1". Enable debug console ingame with "~" or "F2".

Console commands guide Full commands dump

Models and Textures

Naked Ciri is Naked

• Author: HartXIII
• Version: 1.0
• Installation: Download "Naked Ciri is Naked v1.0" file. Follow these instructions:

Navigate to your game installation folder: \The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\content\content0\bundles
Make a backup copy of the "blob.bundle" file just in case
Unzip and copy everything to the folder "bundles"
Run the "Install.bat" file

This mod will ensure that Ciri naked model is used in one of the relevant scenes in game, where Ciri should be naked. The naked model was already in the game, however the developers never used it. This mod fixes that.

Triss DLC appearance for masquerade only

• Author: Sarcen
• Version: v1
• Installation: Download "triss_dlc_dressonly.rar" file. Follow these instructions:

Download and install the "Alternative Look for Triss" DLC from GOG 
Backup "The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\DLC\DLC6\content\bundles\blob.bundle" in case you want to revert
Extract "blob.bundle" to "The Witcher 3\DLC\DLC6\content\bundles\" and overwrite the existing one.

This mod makes Triss wear the dress from Alternate Look For Triss DLC content only during the masquerade ball, which makes perfect sense, rather than her wearing it all the time. She's supposed to be in hiding and this dress ain't very discreet...

Post Processing

There is no ENB for Witcher 3 (and Boris said he wouldn't make one for that game, I have actually asked...), however there are some alternatives in the shape of post processors such as ReShade, SweetFX, GemFX etc. These post processors are a great alternative to ENB and some really good effects can be achieved with them, including sophisticated AA, bloom, sharpening, DoF and many more similar effects.

For The Witcher 3 we'll be using ReShade with Frameworks and also E3FX preset created by Sarcen.

ReShade

• Author: Crosire
• Version: v0.18.7 + Framework
• Installation: Download "ReShade v0.18.7 + Framework" file. Follow these instructions:

Navigate to your game installation folder: \The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\bin\x64
Unzip Reshade + Frameworks to that directory (ignore the setup.exe)
Rename Reshade64.dll to d3d11.dll, overwrite if necessary

Crosire's ReShade is an advanced, fully generic post-processing injector for games or alike. Imagine your favorite game with ambient occlusion, real high quality bokeh depth of field, color correction and more ... No more waiting: ReShade provides a generic way to access both color and depth information (latter is automatically disabled during multiplayer to prevent exploitation) and all the tools to make your dreams come true.

The possibilities are endless! Advanced depth-edge-detection-driven SMAA antialiasing, screen space ambient occlusion, depth of field, chromatic aberration, dynamic filmgrain, automatic saturation and color correction, cross processing, multi-pass blurring ... you name it.

ReShade supports all of Direct3D8 (which is converted to Direct3D9 to allow for more advanced effects using later shadermodels), Direct3D9, Direct3D9Ex, Direct3D10.X, Direct3D11.X and OpenGL and requires Windows Vista or higher.

E3FX

• Author: Drogean
• Version: v9.5
• Installation: Download "E3FX V9.5 Gritty Edition" file. Follow these instructions:

Navigate to your game installation folder: \The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt\bin\x64
Unzip and copy everything to that folder, overwriting if necessary

This preset aims to recreate the visual style of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Debut Gameplay Trailer presented at E3 2013. It's toned down, more realistic and a bit colder than the one in vanilla game. It also introduces SMAA, texture sharpening, bloom and other effects. Full features list:

• SMAA
• Texture Sharpening
• Plants shimmer in sunlight
• Bloom Effects
• Brighter light sources
• Removes yellow hue for colder more realistic feel
• Better contrast to improve the default crushed blacks
• Less than 10 FPS performance impact

Required in-game settings:

Gamma = 1
Full Screen Mode
HBAO 
AA Disabled
Sharpening Low
Chromatic Aberration Off
Vignette Off
Sun Shafts On
Bloom On

NOTE: If you have used my user.settings file above you don't have to worry, as these settings are already as they should be. HOWEVER there is a known bug in game that causes it to randomly switch from Full Screen to Borderless mode sometimes. When this happens, you need to go to the options and change the display mode back to Full Screen. Remember to set your user.settings file to read only, otherwise you will lose all the custom settings!

Support and Feedback

Support is provided via a forum thread on STEP Community forums, so if you have any questions, suggestions or any feedback in general please post there and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Credits

rootsrat aka Elenear - Master Witcher
EssArrBee and Neovalen - the guide style sheet.
STEP for being one the best communities on the internet, gaming or not
A.l.e.x. for the configuration files guide
The Nexus for hosting all the mods
The Modders for making their excellent contributions, this one goes without saying, we wouldn't be here if not for them!
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