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HDR Contrast Shader Override
Submitted by:
Submitted by Symphony on 2018-04-05 13:52.
Last modified:
2020-11-19 12:33
Screenshots:
==========
The first 8 screenshots show areas with a modified version of the HDR Override Shader that only affects the left half of the screen. The right half is the default look.
The other screenshots are normal full screen screenshots with the HDR override installed.
The Beamdog High Contrast Shader has been replaced, and so is not shown in any screenshots. Additionally, the Beamdog Vibrance Shader has been disabled, and the Depth of Field shader has also been overriden in some screenshots with a different type of blur, or disabled in other screenshots.
The Screen Space Ambient Occlusion Shader is enabled for all screenshots.
These screenshots were taken on the Arelith NWN 1.74 Persistant World Server, and none of the areas were made by me. Visit Arelith.com for more information.
Override File:
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This workshop item includes one override .shd file, which replaces the High Contrast Frame Buffer Shader included in the base game, by having the same file name.
The shader file is a GLSL text file that is based on Beamdog's Contrast shader, with some adjustments to the parameters to taper high and low values (lights and darks) logarithmically, based on included reference values, with an overall expansion towards the upper values that decreases as the values approach maximum (full white).
This override was made in consideration of the typical light values contained within the standard assets of Neverwinter Nights. The default contrast shader makes lighter colors lighter, and darker colors darker, but many complained that the shader made the game look too dark. This is because very few of the colors created by the game's assets and lighting engine end up being in the "upper half" of the black to white range, so the stock shader has very few opportunities to brighten the game's appearance.
First impressions may resemble feeling the override brightens the game too much, however, I would suggest leaving it on for a day to see if your mind changes, since you may be accustomed to the previous appearance of the game if you have previous experience playing the game.
The lighter colors resulting from the use of the shader are largely in a domain of a monitor's display potential unused currently by NWN. By utilizing them, you will add more incremental steps between dark and light colors, dull and rich colors, and will accentuate the introduction of specifically dark or light features, such as spell effects, dynamic lighting from torches and spells, and high contrast textures.
Because of the treatment of colors, the larger range of values may provide some extra saturation in midtones, and decreased saturation in highlights. Therefore, it may be worth considering comparing the use of this shader with and without the Vibrance shader, since they both may be doing some of the same work to enhance the game's color (and not just it's dark/light values, since this shader applies adjustments to each Red Green and Blue values individually).
HDR
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High-Dynamic-Range imaging is an industry term for a variety of formats and methods to encode color in such a manner that subtle differences between dark and light colors are more easily rendered during view. It employs a mix of methods, such as logarithmic encoding, and standardized levels for "more than white" data to be recorded or otherwise stored.
This shader does not use these specific methods, but rather aims for similar goals with some similar mathematical techniques. The literal use of HDR technology, as seen in other games, for the use of modifying game imagery with realistic exposure setting adjustments, adaptive visuals, and shifting balance points may require a more complex shader and different texture formats for specifc source files (such as extremely bright objects, like the sun).
The use of the term HDR in the title is representative of the extra color range afforded by the shader override, and some of the similarities of the appearance of the game with HDR technology.
This shader override has also been uploaded to the Steam Workshop. If you'd like to subscribe to the Workshop Item, you can follow the link below:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1353237605
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1353237605
Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below, and I will answer when I am able.
Update: November 19th, 2020
This shader was based on the EE release contrast shader, which had blackpoint and whitepoint values. These values have not been used in the stock contrast shader for more than a year, and the September 8193.15 large patch containing the TOTM expansion materials and new lighting system, along with the "Shader Prototypes" system as the new stock shaders, also removed support for these blackpoint and whitepoint values, which made this shader no longer make sense, which prevented it from compiling correctly, which prevented it from displaying properly (all 3d game rendered as fog colored).
In anticipation of this large patch, I removed these variables from my shader, and re-released the updated version on Steam Workshop, so that all subscribers would automatically get the fixed version. However, I did not update this pack, since I had considered it less helpful, since it is less automatic.
The new shader is now posted, please dispose of the original (you can check the dates by opening the file with a text editor, this shader is updated in August 2020).
Additionally, if you feel the game is too dark even with this shader, and are tempted to adjust your gamma away from 2.2 to make it brighter, please do not do this, and leave the gamma decoding at 2.2. This new version of the shader now has a built in multiplier, currently set to 1.0, that will allow you to change the brightness of the game inside the gamma color space, before the decode step. This will make the numbers make more sense, and the changes will look better in respect to light and dark color values. Theoretically, if you change 1.0 to 2.0, for instance, the game will "look" twice as bright, according to your human eyes.
This number is kept at the end of line 16
vec3 color = texture2D(texUnit0, vVertexTexCoords).rgb * 1.0;
If you change the number, please make sure there is still a semicolon after it.
Files:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 7zipped VS and FS .shd overrides (54) | 614 bytes |
Very interesting work! Based on the screenshots, I'd say I prefer your shader over BD's. Good job! Now to test it out for myself.
I'm still testing this out. Honestly I'm not seeing much of a difference, but then again most of my areas are so darn Grym Dark...!
For those who are curious, I started using Grymlorde(R) for dungeonmaster and Grymwurld(R) for my game world back in 1978 --- decades before the term grimdark even existed!!! And "grimdark" as a genre has been around for centuries (e.g. Norse Sagas, Celtic mythology, original fairy tales, etc.). It wasn't invented in the late 20th century.
The benefits of this override really shine (pun intended) with spellcasting VFX. It makes the spellcasting look... well, more magical. Also with this override, the Advanced Frame Buffer effects are much more noticeable. In most cases, they are unnecessary but when playing in a brightly lit room during the daytime, enabling some of those settings now makes a real difference.
And when using my PnP Vision, Light spells and Torches (HCR) hak, the contrast between pure black and spell VFX can be quite dramatic, especially when shadows are enabled. The combination can produce dramatic shaows much like the old Quake and Hexen II games.
And finally, this override has enabled me to develop my forthcoming Enhanced Edition version of PnP Vison, Light, & Torches which will have true distance light sources. For example candlelight will be 5' radius, torchlight 20' etc.
Great work, Symphony!
Невероятно! Это лучшие шейдеры для этой игры! Спасибо! You are the best!
I liked this override a lot but it seems to have been made obsolete by the latest Beamdog patch. After updating I had a black screen that could only be fixed by removing this file from my override folder. Any possibility to update this file to work with the latest game patch?
Updated as per popular request.
Please read the new notes above.