New Reshade version works with Vulkan

[boogieman335]

For those who are interested the new version of Reshade, version 4.51 works with the Vulkan API. I have been playing with it in game.

[linolafett]

Good to know, thanks

[tomchk]

How much does it reduce FPS for you?

[boogieman335]

How much does it reduce FPS for you?

Depends on what shaders you load. I can say that the SMAA shaders in it have less impact than the built in SMAA.
The layers fx shaders are nice, they add a lot of depth to the shadows without a lot of frame cost. I also like the Filmic lighting shaders for a more gritty less saturated look.
The settings I am using right now cost me about 2 -3 frames and my video card is only a 1050ti. It just barely even meets the specs. But I am still fiddling with combinations of shaders right now. I have not really settled on one certain look yet.

[boogieman335]

Good to know, thanks

Your Welcome. The version just previous to this one had Vulkan support but had bugs. The new version seems to have them sorted out. And as a bonus it even looks better in some of my older direct x9 games. It finally gave me some decent shadows in my Silent Hunter 5 Wolves of Steel install.

[kmunoz]

I also like the Filmic lighting shaders for a more gritty less saturated look.

How does that compare to the built-in desaturated modes?

[kmunoz]

I've gotten reshade to work on other games but it seems not to be loading for X4. Is the correct executable in another location than the x4 exe in the main directory?

At least for me it doesn't appear to be putting a Vulkan DLL in the directory, which is what I would expect it to do given that Reshade for DX3D and OpenGL puts DLLs in the game directory.

[Angsaar]

Use something like the RivaTuner overlay and disable shaders one by one to find what hurts your FPS the most (or GPU usage %). Performance cost also rises sharply with resolution, but if you are playing at 1080p performance costs on a modern GPU are usually negligible on most shaders.

A few I tend to go for, ones with links are not packed with Reshade,

Relatively light on performance:


Uncharted2 -> Wonderful tonemapping tool, extremely powerful curve control for blacks/shadows/mids/highlights/whites.
ACESNarkowicz -> Another interesting tonemapping tool from same author.
https://github.com/Zackin5/Filmic-Tonemapping-ReShade

Lightroom -> Very powerful tonemapping/HSL/saturation/vignette tool by Marty McFly.
https://github.com/martymcmodding/qUINT

FilmicPass -> Very neat tonemapping/color tool.

HSLShift -> HSL color tool for when LIghtroom is too much.
Technicolor/Technicolor2 -> Simple contrast and color controls.
DPX -> Simple contrast and color controls.

Some of the above I'll consolidate into a LUT if more performance friendly.


FilmicAnamorphSharpen -> One of the few available sharpeners with a depth component, if depth buffer access is working, no real drawbacks vs others.

FilmGrain2 -> Great to add subtle texture to the less detailed or stretched textures, also helps deal with banding more than a dither.

DiffuseGlow -> Very curious tool, a lighting curve with threshold, saturation and very soft blur, with integrated optional grain. With low blur radius almost has almost the same performance as FilmGrain2, but less grain options.


If you have GPU power to spare:

Clarity -> great contrast based detail enhancer, with very precise control over what to enhance.
MagicBloom -> wide, smooth, dreamy bloom.
AmbientLight -> *very* taxing on more than 1080p but on low strength is a nice bloom based fake global illumination. Integrated optional lens effects.

[Angsaar]

I've gotten reshade to work on other games but it seems not to be loading for X4. Is the correct executable in another location than the x4 exe in the main directory?

At least for me it doesn't appear to be putting a Vulkan DLL in the directory, which is what I would expect it to do given that Reshade for DX3D and OpenGL puts DLLs in the game directory.

I haven't updated yet so I'm not sure it's still needed, but 4.4.1 worked for me with the included .bat workaround. But had to launch it before Steam, then it would inject.

The dll installed correctly for me, ReShade64.dll

[kmunoz]

The dll installed correctly for me, ReShade64.dll

Hmm. I'm using 4.5.2 and it's not installing ReShade64.dll. It only installs the INI and the reshade folder. What is the .bat workaround? Is that something that came packaged with 4.4.1? The only thing that downloads from the site now is the 4.5.2 installer.

[Angsaar]

Hmm. I'm using 4.5.2 and it's not installing ReShade64.dll. It only installs the INI and the reshade folder. What is the .bat workaround? Is that something that came packaged with 4.4.1? The only thing that downloads from the site now is the 4.5.2 installer.

From what I understand up until 4.4.1 at least Vulkan required an external command from Windows setting up conditions for Reshade to be injected, and the install provided a shortcut to run that command in the form of a .bat which would conflict with Steam if it was already open. Running the .bat with steam closed would set things up properly, call the game .exe, Steam would pop up, and the game would launch with Reshade injected.

I'll update and check if it installs here, are you sure the installer wasn't blocked by security software?

Edit: Just tried, didn't put a .dll in the game folder but injects on X4, the .dll must be going into somewhere else, no .bat needed anymore

[boogieman335]

I also like the Filmic lighting shaders for a more gritty less saturated look.

How does that compare to the built-in desaturated modes?

It is similar but looks better to me. Combined with the layers.fx shader it gives some nice dark shadows.

For those using version 4.4 of resade the new version 4.5 no longer needs a batch file to load it will install directly and can be opened and edited as usual using the Home key.
Be sure to check the box that enables on screen fps count as ypu edit to see how each shader in use affects your count. Also the screen shot folder that reshade makes is a handy tool for comparison of different presets. The presets are stored in the rsm folder that reshade creates.

[kmunoz]

Hmm. I'm using 4.5.2 and it's not installing ReShade64.dll. It only installs the INI and the reshade folder. What is the .bat workaround? Is that something that came packaged with 4.4.1? The only thing that downloads from the site now is the 4.5.2 installer.

From what I understand up until 4.4.1 at least Vulkan required an external command from Windows setting up conditions for Reshade to be injected, and the install provided a shortcut to run that command in the form of a .bat which would conflict with Steam if it was already open. Running the .bat with steam closed would set things up properly, call the game .exe, Steam would pop up, and the game would launch with Reshade injected.

I'll update and check if it installs here, are you sure the installer wasn't blocked by security software?

Edit: Just tried, didn't put a .dll in the game folder but injects on X4, the .dll must be going into somewhere else, no .bat needed anymore

When I get home tonight I'll try closing Steam, running the ReShade exe and checking to see if the injection worked. I don't have any security software that would interfere, and I tried running ReShade with admin privileges as well.

[kmunoz]

Ok, tested ReShade 4.5.2 with X4 3.0 beta. I shut down Steam, ran ReShade on the X4 executable, then loaded X4 (which opened Steam, as usual).

It didn't work. Nothing appeared to load, the FPS counter didn't show and the HOME button has no effect.

[boogieman335]

Ok, tested ReShade 4.5.2 with X4 3.0 beta. I shut down Steam, ran ReShade on the X4 executable, then loaded X4 (which opened Steam, as usual).

It didn't work. Nothing appeared to load, the FPS counter didn't show and the HOME button has no effect.

Make sure when you run the reshade.exe that you check the little box at the bottom to make sure it runs in game. If not then it will not load on a Vulkan game, without reshade running in the background. Also how do you launch your game? I launch mine from a desktop shortcut, not through the Steam link.

[kmunoz]

Make sure when you run the reshade.exe that you check the little box at the bottom to make sure it runs in game. If not then it will not load on a Vulkan game, without reshade running in the background. Also how do you launch your game? I launch mine from a desktop shortcut, not through the Steam link.

Yes, I made sure to have the box checked. For these tests I've been launching the game straight from the .exe (which opens steam before running X4).

[boogieman335]

Make sure when you run the reshade.exe that you check the little box at the bottom to make sure it runs in game. If not then it will not load on a Vulkan game, without reshade running in the background. Also how do you launch your game? I launch mine from a desktop shortcut, not through the Steam link.

Yes, I made sure to have the box checked. For these tests I've been launching the game straight from the .exe (which opens steam before running X4).

https://reshademanager.com/dl/ReShade%2 ... 00.4.5.zip
Try using this manager to see if it will install Reshade for you. I know when I installed it Windows 10 gives me the old are you sure you want to run this file box, if your not seeing that then maybe windows is somwhow blocking your install.

[kmunoz]

Unfortunately, this didn't work, either. It installed a slightly older version (4.4.2) and did actually put a DLL into the folder, but didn't add the shaders directory and didn't inject when I started the game.

Windows doesn't appear to be preventing anything - I am running these programs with admin privileges.

[Mr.Freud]

Unfortunately, this didn't work, either. It installed a slightly older version (4.4.2) and did actually put a DLL into the folder, but didn't add the shaders directory and didn't inject when I started the game.

Windows doesn't appear to be preventing anything - I am running these programs with admin privileges.

Don't use 4.4.x. use 4.5.x or above. 4.4 has performance bug in Vulkan games.
I too couldn't launch the game with ReShade at first. I fixed it by completely uninstalling drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller first, then I installed latest drivers without GeForce Experience (I have Nvidia btw) and then the game launched with reshade with the x4_with_reshade.exe. I think Reshade conflicts with Nvidia Ansel. Give it a try.

[kmunoz]

Unfortunately, this didn't work, either. It installed a slightly older version (4.4.2) and did actually put a DLL into the folder, but didn't add the shaders directory and didn't inject when I started the game.

Windows doesn't appear to be preventing anything - I am running these programs with admin privileges.

Don't use 4.4.x. use 4.5.x or above. 4.4 has performance bug in Vulkan games.
I too couldn't launch the game with ReShade at first. I fixed it by completely uninstalling drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller first, then I installed latest drivers without GeForce Experience (I have Nvidia btw) and then the game launched with reshade with the x4_with_reshade.exe. I think Reshade conflicts with Nvidia Ansel. Give it a try.

I do want to say I appreciate all the suggestions even if they aren't my solution!

I was attempting to use 4.5.2 up until the suggestion to use the manager (which only installs 4.4.2). I haven't had luck with any version.

I'm using an AMD graphics card running its regular, non-experimental driver. I'm wary of nuking my display driver just to test this.

But now I have a question:

What is the x4_with_reshade.exe? I've never seen that.