Numerous shadertweaks see description relief texture enhancing, color balancing
Permissions and credits
Author's instructions
All files contained in this package can be shared, used and modified without permission with exception of original files from reshade and 3dmigoto, which have their own respective conditions for distribution.
File credits
Special thanks to Crosire for Reshade and bo3b for 3dmigoto!
Donation Points system
This mod is not opted-in to receive Donation Points
Changelogs
Version 1.1
update 07/02/2022 v1.1
- a custom shader upscale.hlsl (3dmigoto) replaces reshade
- no longer use smaa by reshade switched to smaa internal of game
- tested on windows 10 (v1903)
- reworked distance fog, cone now starts futher away from avatar
- reduce outline npcs
- increase presence ambient occlusion for hbao high (formely hbao low)
- tweaked frame based fx global contrast and brightness with fog
- description
Assassins creed black flag received to much acclaim how ever, despite it's charm, it suffers from much of the typical gameplay tropes that where gradually reduced in syndicate and later iterations of the assassins creed franchise so buckle up me mateys when you take the Jack Daw to sea...
The visual tweaks are listed below how ever a word of caution regarding the hbao / ssao the tweak centers around the setting 'hbao high' other settings might give less desirable results see 'further tweaking' for tips on how to disable specific shaders.
3dmigoto shader tweaks: - increase presence ambient occlusion - remove rain bokah - reduce distance fog - reduce vignette when using max speed boat - reduce white clipping of global illumination - increase light globally add a pinch of blue - reduce glow light emitting objects - remove vignette in cave or enclosed spaces - reduce glow and bloom animus - reduce secondary directional bloom - reduce lens flare
update 07/02/2022 v1.1 - a custom shader upscale.hlsl (3dmigoto) replaces reshade - no longer use smaa by reshade switched to smaa internal of game - tested on windows 10 (v1903) - reworked distance fog, cone now starts futher away from avatar - reduce outline npcs - increase presence ambient occlusion for hbao high (formely hbao low) - tweaked frame based fx global contrast and brightness with fog
Note(s): The package has a customized shader 'upscale.hlsl' which does some fullscreen tweaks as sharpening and color modification.
- updating
if the old package was installed remove the following folder(s) and file(s) in the folder which contains ac4bfsp.exe
Then copy the contents of the zip file to the install folder of assassins creed black flag, the folder which contains ac4bfsp.exe.
- install
Copy the contents of the zip file to the install folder of assassins creed black flag, the folder which contains ac4bfsp.exe.
- optional install
The following instructions are only needed If you do not like using unverified dll's you can:
download 3dmigoto from https://github.com/bo3b/3Dmigoto/releases download version 1.3.16 and place the following dlls in the install dir of assassins creed black flag: d3d11.dll (32bits) d3dcompiler_46.dll d3dx.ini then copy ShaderCache and ShaderFixes from the zip file to the same dir aka folder.
note: if you choose to use the d3dx.ini contained in the github package make sure to set (line 248): hunting=0 the default setting is: hunting=1 which sets 3dmigoto to a debug mode.
- verify
After running the game the folder ShaderFixes should contain the .bin versions:
This means that the file(s) .txt have been compiled by 3dmigoto (d3d11.dll)
- tested
Tested with file version 1.06 of assassins creed black flag on win 7 / nvidia 1050gtx ti and windows 10 v1903 See screenshot for settings game.
- performance
3dmigoto gpu usage 1080p@~55.4 fps without - clock 1100Mhz gpu usage ~94% with - clock 1250Mhz gpu usage ~93% approximately 4% increase (1050gtx ti on win 10) max gpu: 1772Mhz gpu usage 100% **clamped frame rate to 55.4 no sync
- further tweaking
If you like you can compare the modified shader, ShaderCache contains the original shader, to alter values.
For the setting hbao low overwrite the shader b00df13796d7d77a-ps_replace.txt in shaderfixes with: ShaderCache\b00df13796d7d77a-ps_replace.txt.hbaolow rename the shader to b00df13796d7d77a-ps_replace.txt
or alter o0.xyz = 1.25f * g_SSAOControl.xxx * r0.xxx + float3(1,1,1); to: o0.xyz = 1.7f * g_SSAOControl.xxx * r0.xxx + float3(1,1,1); in shader b00df13796d7d77a-ps_replace.txt
To disable the hbao (ambient occlusion) tweak please remove the following shader from the folder 'shaderfixes'
b00df13796d7d77a-ps_replace.txt
Has a remark on the top line: // increase presence ambient occlusion
and if compiled remove:
b00df13796d7d77a-ps_replace.bin
then restart the game.
All shaders <shadernumber>ps_replace.txt have a similar descriptive remark.
- tips
Settings used in game (also see screenshot): [Graphics_DX11] AdapterVendorID=4318 AdapterDeviceID=7298 DisplayWidth=1920 DisplayHeight=1080 RefreshRate=60 DisplayableRefreshRate=60 AntiAliasingMode=2 VSync=0 EnvironmentQuality=4 TextureQuality=2 ShadowQuality=2 ReflectionQuality=2 GodRays=1 MotionBlur=0 SSAO=3 UseVolumetricFog=1 ApexParticles=0
reduce startup time of game move the following files in \videos and \videos\en:
abstergo_logo.bik TWIMTBP.bik ubi_logo.bik
to an other location outside the game install folder.
See for details: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Assassin's_Creed_IV:_Black_Flag
- shader list
---------- 15313B493FDB6D04-PS_REPLACE.TXT // remove rain bokah // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Dec 17 14:52:58 2020
---------- 1AD8ED0CE390E845-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce distance fog // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Dec 17 14:18:41 2020 r0.z = (g_FogParams.y + -g_FogParams.x) * 1.8f; // reduce mist landmass layer
---------- 1F3BEEE49966CF1B-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce vignette when using max speed boat // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sat Dec 19 16:26:40 2020
---------- 25DFD82393D9E604-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce white clipping of global illumination daytime // increase blue and artifical light sources // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Dec 17 14:42:35 2020 r8.x = r7.x * 0.2126f + r7.y * 0.7152f + r7.z * 0.0722f; // bt709
---------- 2BCA216301BE0891-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce white clipping of global illumination under water // increase blue and artifical light sources // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sat Dec 19 16:31:34 2020 r13.x = r9.x * 0.2126f + r9.y * 0.7152f + r9.z * 0.0722f; // bt709
---------- 463BF3CC28E3F82E-PS_REPLACE.TXT // frame based fx global contrast and brightness with fog // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Feb 24 20:23:52 2022 r0.x = saturate(r0.x / g_VolumetricFogConstants.m_Distance) * 0.70f; // increase start fog cone //r0.x = 0.833333313 * r0.x; //r0.x = 1.333333313 * r0.x; //r0.xyz = r0.xyz * float3(0.993749976,0.98888886,0.984375) + float3(0.00312500005,0.00555555569,0.0078125); //r1.xyz = float3(2.20000005,2.20000005,2.20000005) * r1.xyz; r1.xyz = float3(2.04400005,2.04400005,2.04400005) * r1.xyz; // reduce darkness lower part screen r0.xyz = log2(1.30f + (1.0f - r0.y) * 0.030f)* r0.xyz; // decrease brightness nearby
---------- 4E7B7FB7796AEA82-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce glow light emitting objects // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sun Dec 20 19:48:16 2020
---------- 532AE9331F2C1A61-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce white clipping of global illumination daytime B // increase blue and artifical light sources // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Fri Dec 18 11:26:34 2020 r7.x = r6.x * 0.2126f + r6.y * 0.7152f + r6.z * 0.0722f; // bt709
---------- 58B171626D80833F-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce white clipping of global illumination ships cabine // increase blue and artifical light sources // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sat Dec 19 17:06:52 2020 r6.x = r5.x * 0.2126f + r5.y * 0.7152f + r5.z * 0.0722f; // bt709
---------- 5FC7C89F0F8E3FDC-PS_REPLACE.TXT // remove vignette in cave or enclosed spaces // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Fri Dec 18 17:39:34 2020
---------- 70FCFB0D18B602BA-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce white clipping of global illumination night // increase blue and artifical light sources // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Fri Dec 18 11:33:17 2020 r10.x = r8.x * 0.2126f + r8.y * 0.7152f + r8.z * 0.0722f; // bt709
---------- 7A1ACF8C7F73C1A6-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce glow and bloom animus // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sun Dec 20 20:06:01 2020
---------- 7A2B49590E1CFE05-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce white clipping of global illumination enclosed spaces // increase blue and artifical light sources // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Tue Dec 22 10:46:54 2020 r9.x = r7.x * 0.2126f + r7.y * 0.7152f + r7.z * 0.0722f; // bt709
---------- 81023EAA74516E51-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce outline npcs // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Fri Feb 25 10:19:27 2022 o0.w = r0.x * 0.35f; // reduce outline
---------- 96512D44F6CBF1E3-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce secondary directional bloom // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sun Dec 20 20:13:13 2020
---------- 9B556F0EC7071AAA-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce lens flare B // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Dec 17 15:38:45 2020
---------- A4EA7467062A9A4D-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce white clipping of global illumination caves and interiors // increase blue and artifical light sources // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Fri Dec 18 12:32:08 2020 r9.x = r8.x * 0.2126f + r8.y * 0.7152f + r8.z * 0.0722f; // bt709
---------- B00DF13796D7D77A-PS_REPLACE.TXT // increase presence ambient occlusion for hbao high // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Dec 17 14:35:36 2020
---------- DDF12C6C54DB6ACC-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce lens flare // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Dec 17 14:30:47 2020
---------- F0A898CD26F5E8AB-PS_REPLACE.TXT // reduce white clipping of global illumination caves etc B // increase blue and artifical light sources // ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Fri Dec 18 17:41:16 2020 r11.x = r9.x * 0.2126f + r9.y * 0.7152f + r9.z * 0.0722f; // bt709