- description

For mass effect 2 the legendary edition.

Here are some tweaks with 3dmigoto to try
to alleviate the excessive darkness in the game and
some other visual issues.

shader tweaks with 3dmigoto:
- reduce fog height illium also used in other environments urdnot camp, etc
- reduce bloom and dof exterior, planets, citadel, etc
- reduce fog external environments like pragia, etc
- reduce glare in reflections glass
- remove object and character selector hud
- reduce vignette and darkness tonemap
- reduce distance fog
- reduce bloom
- shepard hair less plasticy
- reduce vignette, sepia and slight reduction blue tint

update v1.1 03/03/2023
- added a custom shader for a slight curve
  can be disabled see 'further tweaking'
- added a custom shader with 3dmigoto to do
  tonemapping and lumasharpen replaces reshade
- no longer use smaa by reshade switched to internal aa of game
- added overlooked shepard hair shader tweak (outdoors)
- added black crush reduction in line with old mod see:
  https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffect2/mods/272
- added tweaks to mie / raleigh effect horizon

Note(s):
The  package has a customized shader 'upscale.hlsl' which
does some fullscreen tweaks as sharpening and color modification
it replaces reshade if needed remove old package se updating.

- updating (from v1.0)

if the old package (v1.0) was installed remove the following
folder(s) and file(s) in the folder which contains MassEffect2.exe

reshade
shadercache
shaderfixes

d3d11.dll
d3dcompiler_46.dll
d3dx.ini
dxgi.dll
dxgi.ini
ReShade.ini

Then copy the contents of the zip file to the install folder of
control, the folder which contains MassEffect2.exe.

- install

Copy the contents of the zip file to the install folder of,
mass effect legendary edition\Game\ME2\Binaries\Win64\
the folder which contains MassEffect2.exe.

- optional install

If you do not like using unverified dll's you can:

Download 3dmigoto from:
https://github.com/bo3b/3Dmigoto/releases
download version 1.3.16.0 (64bit) and place
the following dlls in the install dir of me2
d3d11.dll
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
gradually (scene and level dependent) contain the .bin versions:

077e4356de8532a7-ps_replace.txt
0cf16426df02750e-ps_replace.txt
1f199fce5b951116-ps_replace.txt
430b9dccd8d0af45-ps_replace.txt
6bd16e873374354b-ps_replace.txt
6e01c964a62f4abd-ps_replace.txt
97a9343e0692c7a5-ps_replace.txt
a6d7eb431075097b-ps_replace.txt
b1a93cf610017406-ps_replace.txt
c1d5bd599cbd5e5d-ps_replace.txt
c4e568564de0d275-ps_replace.txt
d21115651a93e011-ps_replace.txt
de4ac08d77b6b8d0-ps_replace.txt
f3e7d5df139102d7-ps_replace.txt

of

077e4356de8532a7-ps_replace.txt
0cf16426df02750e-ps_replace.txt
430b9dccd8d0af45-ps_replace.txt
6bd16e873374354b-ps_replace.txt
6e01c964a62f4abd-ps_replace.txt
97a9343e0692c7a5-ps_replace.txt
a6d7eb431075097b-ps_replace.txt
b1a93cf610017406-ps_replace.txt
c1d5bd599cbd5e5d-ps_replace.txt
c4e568564de0d275-ps_replace.txt
d21115651a93e011-ps_replace.txt

This means that the file(s) .txt have been compiled by 3dmigoto (d3d11.dll)

- tested

Tested with version 2.0.0 of me2 on win 10 (1903) / nvidia 1050gtx ti
See screenshot for settings game.

- performance

3dmigoto gpu usage 1080p@~60fps
without - clock 1220Mhz gpu usage ~76%
with       - clock 1220Mhz gpu usage ~78%
approximately 2% increase (1050gtx ti on win 10)
max gpu: 1750Mhz gpu usage 100%

- further tweaking

If you like you can compare the modified shader, ShaderCache contains
the original shader, to alter values.

The curve shader can be disabled by opening d3dx.ini
in a text editor and altering line 20 from:
include = ShaderFixes\curve.ini
to:
;include = ShaderFixes\curve.ini

To disable specific tweaks open the shader from
the folder 'shaderfixes' with a text editor example:
C4E568564DE0D275-PS_REPLACE.TXT

Has a remark on the top line:
// remove object and character selector hud

So if you do not want that to happen
remove the shader from the folder 'shaderfixes'

C4E568564DE0D275-PS_REPLACE.TXT

and if compiled remove:

C4E568564DE0D275-PS_REPLACE.BIN

then restart the game.

All shaders <shadernumber>ps_replace.txt have
a similar descriptive remark (see shader list).

- tips

See articles
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_Legendary_Edition

- shader list

---------- 077E4356DE8532A7-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce fog height illium also used in other enviroments urdnot camp, etc
// fix canalus geth base mission excessive fog
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Mon Jul 12 11:58:32 2021
    // reduce fog density

---------- 0CF16426DF02750E-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce bloom and dof exterior, planets, citadel, etc
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Tue Jun 29 11:25:44 2021
// 3Dmigoto declarations
  o0.w = 0.001; // reduce dof

---------- 1F199FCE5B951116-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// shepard hair less plasticy B outdoors
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Feb 23 10:55:36 2023
// 3Dmigoto declarations
  // reduce plastic hair

---------- 430B9DCCD8D0AF45-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce fog B external enviroments like pragia
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Mon Jul 12 10:56:59 2021
  r0.xyz = r0.yzw * 0.2f * r0.xxx; // reduce fog nearby

---------- 6BD16E873374354B-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce glare in reflections glass possibly effects other surfaces as well
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Mon Jun 28 00:11:41 2021
  r0.xyz = TextureCube_1.Sample(TextureCube_1Sampler_s, r0.xyz).xyz * 0.1f; // reduce glare glass reflection
  r2.xyz = TextureCube_0.Sample(TextureCube_0Sampler_s, r2.xyz).xyz * 0.1f; // reduce glare glass reflection

---------- 6E01C964A62F4ABD-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// remove object and character selector hud B
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Mon Jun 28 00:04:16 2021

---------- 97A9343E0692C7A5-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce vignette and darkness tonemap B
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sun Jun 27 23:59:02 2021
  // reduce black crush
  // fix and set to bt709
  // reduce darkness plus red and green
  //r0.xyz = float3(0.0916082214,0.0916082214,0.0916082214) * r0.xyz;
  //r0.xyz = float3(0.0916082214,0.0996082214,0.1016082214) * r0.xyz;
  //r0.w = 200 * r0.w;  // reduce vignette

---------- A6D7EB431075097B-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce distance fog
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Tue Jun 29 11:27:55 2021

---------- B1A93CF610017406-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce bloom
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sun Jun 27 23:22:55 2021
  // reduce bloom

---------- C1D5BD599CBD5E5D-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// shepard hair less plasticy
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sun Jun 27 23:16:19 2021
  // reduce plastic hair

---------- C4E568564DE0D275-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// remove object and character selector hud
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sun Jun 27 23:14:19 2021

---------- D21115651A93E011-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce vignette, sepia and slight reduction blue tint
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Sun Jun 27 23:08:26 2021
  // reduce red and green
  r0.w = dot(r1.yzx, float3(0.2126f, 0.7152f, 0.0722f)); // bt 709
  r1.xyz = 0.5f * float3(0.400000006,0.400000006,0.400000006) * r0.xyz; // reduce sepia
  //r0.w = 200 * r0.w; // reduce vignette
  // increase blue and green
  //r1.xyz = float3(0.0103630004,5000.75000013e-006,0.1130924946) + r0.www;

---------- DE4AC08D77B6B8D0-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// reduce black crush korlus, okeer mission, only?
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Feb 23 10:29:03 2023

---------- F3E7D5DF139102D7-PS_REPLACE.TXT
// restore mie or raleigh fx on horizon (planet) only?
// ---- Created with 3Dmigoto v1.3.16 on Thu Feb 23 10:46:07 2023
  // restore mie or raleigh fx

---------- SHADERLIST.TXT