Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is finally on PC, and you all know what that means...mods!
I've always loved the anniversary edition of Halo, it's a remaster of my favorite game after all, but there were a few instances where the lighting in certain levels of the game didn't quite sit right with me. The swamp and the interior of the mission "343 Guilty Spark" in particular. I made this ReShade preset in an attempt to channel some of that lost atmosphere that I felt from the original games version of this beloved mission, and to bring that dark foreboding sense of dread back to those murky swamps and spooky rooms.
Before we jump into the nitty gritty of it all, you should know that this ReShade preset was SPECIFICALLY designed for the mission "343 Guilty Spark", NOT for a full campaign playthrough. This is mostly (as far as I'm aware) due to the limitations of ReShade, as well as what I was trying to accomplish when creating this preset. You can of course use it in other missions, or hell even multiplayer if you wish, but I do not recommend it.
Now, let's get started.
Guilty Spark ReShade's visual enhancements: Lighting: Textures:
Lightroom Reflective Bumpmapping
HDR DELC_Sharpen
PPFX Bloom
AmbientLight
EyeAdaption
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Nothing too crazy right? I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. One of my main goals was to correct the extremely bright outdoor lighting in the default version of the Anniversary graphics, as well as tone down the deep blue colored fog. The interior section of the level has been enhanced as well, and I believe I managed to strike a good balance between the two. Take a look at the130 images I've uploaded to see the differences compared to default anniversary graphics, as well as the original 2003 graphics!
You like what you've seen? Good. Installation instruction time.
How to install ReShade:
1. First, head on over toreshade.me and download the latest version of ReShade. As of 3/11/2020 the latest version is 4.5.4, this is also the version I used when creating this preset.
2. Once downloaded, run ReShade_Setup.
3. Click the big button that says "Click here to select a game and manage its ReShade installation".
4. Wait for the list of games/applications to load.
Once its done loading, scroll through the list until you find "Halo: The Master Chief Collection (MCC-Win64-Shipping.exe)" select it, and then click "Use selected application".
5. Next, you'll see a new window that says "Which rendering API does Halo: The Master Chief Collection use?" as well as 4 different choices beneath it.
Click "Direct3D 10/11/12".
6. A new window will pop up that says "Select effects to install", by default they should all be selected. Once they're all selected, click "OK".
7. ReShade should now be installed! But we're not done yet, we need to install additional shaders for Guilty Spark ReShade to function correctly.
8. Go tohttps://github.com/martymcmodding/qUINT. Once there, click the green "Clone or download" button, then click "Download ZIP".
9. Once the ZIP is downloaded, open it up with your preferred .zip/.rar program (I recommend 7-Zip), inside you'll see a folder named "qUINT-master", double click it to open it.
10. Inside qUINT-master, you'll see a "Shaders" folder, that's the one we need. But before we do anything with it, we need to open the location where we need to install it.
11. Open up your Steam library and select Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Right click it and select "Properties", then click the "local files" tab on the top.
Once there, click "browse local files".
12. A new folder should have opened up, this folder is where your Halo is installed. Open up the "MCC" folder, then open up the "Binaries" folder, and then the "Win64" folder. We're finally here! You should see the "reshade-shaders" folder in here. Open it up and you should be greeted with two folders, "Shaders" and "Textures". Remember the "Shaders" folder from step 10? Drag it over into where the other "Shaders" folder is, and that's it! We're almost done, now we just gotta install the Guilty Spark ReShade preset.
How to install the Guilty Spark ReShade preset:1. First, download Guilty Spark ReShade preset.
2. Next, open it with your preferred .zip/.rar program.
3. There should only be one file, GuiltySparkReShade.ini. Drag that file into your "Steam\steamapps\common\Halo The Master Chief Collection\MCC\Binaries\Win64" folder. You'll know you're in the right place if you see the "reshade-shaders" folder, as well as "MCC-Win64-Shipping".
4. Launch Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Once in the menu, press the Home key on your keyboard, that should open up the ReShade menu. If this is your first time using ReShade, it will attempt to teach you the basics. After you're done with the tutorial, click the drop down menu near the top and select GuiltySparkReshade. Make sure to check the "Performance Mode" box on the bottom right of the menu if its not already checked, and you're all set.
5. Have fun!
