How to Enable High-Quality Graphics in Watch Dogs

[Guest]

Disappointed in how the video game 'Watch Dogs' looks on your PC? Use this mod to activate the game's buried high-quality graphics.

How to Enable High-Quality Graphics in Watch Dogs : Read more

 

[lostgamer_03]

I would advise you not to download the mod, there are strange graphical bugs (DoF turns off when at a lift or in a car) and the graphics aren't really that much better. All I really noticed in my 2 hours of play time with the mod was actually only the introduction of buggy DoF.

 

[13thmonkey]

some image comparisons would have helped.

 

[skit75]

Looks like a lot of steps the developer should have included in the GUI, to be quite honest.

 

[brucek2]

Apparently there's a game patch incoming soon, many users might want to save themselves some back and forth by waiting for that patch and then the mod to be adjusted for that patch.

 

[soldier44]

Don't need this since I already have it maxed out at 2560 x 1600 doesn't get any better short of 4K which is doesn't support anyway.

 

[Arls]

Don't need this since I already have it maxed out at 2560 x 1600 doesn't get any better short of 4K which is doesn't support anyway.

They are clearly not talking about resolution.

 

[RazberyBandit]

I've used the mod, and I noticed some increased detail, especially when it's raining in-game, and even moreso when it's raining at night. The mod's downfall is its Depth of Field, though. When using this mod, DoF is just INSANE! Everything 50-feet away starts to blur, and the further away an object is, the more blurry that object becomes. It's like playing a game while forcing yourself to somehow become near-sighted, in desperate need of Coke-bottle glasses.

Lastly, I hate Bloom, DoF, and Motion Blur. I disable those settings in games ALL the time. To me, each of these settings completely removes game details (at least temporarily), which in turn makes a game seem far less realistic than realistic.

 

[ferooxidan]

This is Watch Dogs, a hacking-themed game, you have to hack it first to unlock E3 level of visual quality. nuff said

 

[Tai Man Chan]

So, this is what nvidia's evilworks have done...screw up everything.
I suspect the source code was been deviated from original orientation after nvidia has made the dirty works towards AMD cards.

 

[sam80jr]

MAJOR CORRECTION....PLEASE BE ADVISED AUTHOR AND READERS!!!!

The reason you didnt notice that big of a difference is because you didnt enable the mod correctly...if you are noticeing a difference is purely placebo effect. In the instructions it clearly states which value to change. In the guide, you set quality to ultra, which is just the regular in-game setting for texture quality.

The correct way is to scroll down under the "quality" section, and change the part that says "id=_runtime" to "id=ultra". All you did was switch the in-game texture quality from medium to ultra, so the mod is not enabled.

 

[OnkelCannabia]

To people complaining about DOF: Just turn it off in the menu after you have started the game. Unfortunately it will reset your xml file, so you will have to change that one value every time you start it. Kinda annoying, but the difference in visuals is more than worth it.

For me it looks amazing, runs BETTER (no micro-stutters anymore) and has had absolutely zero bugs so far.

 

[demonhorde665]

I've used the mod, and I noticed some increased detail, especially when it's raining in-game, and even moreso when it's raining at night. The mod's downfall is its Depth of Field, though. When using this mod, DoF is just INSANE! Everything 50-feet away starts to blur, and the further away an object is, the more blurry that object becomes. It's like playing a game while forcing yourself to somehow become near-sighted, in desperate need of Coke-bottle glasses.

Lastly, I hate Bloom, DoF, and Motion Blur. I disable those settings in games ALL the time. To me, each of these settings completely removes game details (at least temporarily), which in turn makes a game seem far less realistic than realistic.

really it all depends on the game a low amount of bloom , DoF ,and motion blur can make a game look gorgeous. But far too often devs slather these effects on their game to hide ugly texture work. or they over do it just to say "look what our engine can do". but seriously if the game gives you the options to adjust these effects i highly recommend you give all three a try at lower settings.

 

[jasonelmore]

I bet ubisoft turned these visuals down because console makers didn't want to be compared to PC so early out of the gate.

 

[rantoc]

As usually, another example of where the PC get to suffer due to weaker hardware in the consoles. jasonelmore is probably right, the console makers would hate to allow the customers to see the truth in VS videos where the PC get to show its insane gfx powe that runs smooth and their product simply cant!

 

[cats_Paw]

I bet ubisoft turned these visuals down because console makers didn't want to be compared to PC so early out of the gate.

They dont really have a choice. Modders work fast, and something like sweetFX will already work when the game comes out.

 

[rokit]

Blurry dogs != improved dogs, i haven't seen soo much blur in any modern game? In the old games such option was called fog. Too sharp asphalt != improved dogs.

So yeah, there is a reason why Ubi didn't enable those "improvements" by default. Its likely they're still working on those.

 

[FunSurfer]

So how much vram usage with this mod? 16GB?