Posted October 13, 2014
☢ S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl Fixes ☢
Just so everyone knows, I have the STEAM version of Shadow of Chernobyl, but the directory structure *SHOULD* be exactly the same...
if not, please let me know and I will adjust things below accordingly. Thanks!
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1. Large Address Aware Patch
This patch allows Shadow of Chernobyl to utilize more RAM by changing a flag on the executable called "Large Address Aware".
To apply this patch is simple, first you need to download the patcher: <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
Extract the patch to where the "XR_3DA.exe" file is located (inside the "bin" folder).
After the patch is placed in the "bin" folder run the patch and select the "XR_3DA.exe" file and click "Open" to apply the patch.
(NOTE: THE PATCHER ALSO CREATES A BACKUP FOR YOU OF THE "XR_3DA.exe" FILE JUST INCASE YOU WANT TO REVERT)
That's it! Shadow of Chernobyl is now Large Address Aware and may utilize more RAM. =)
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2. 5.1/7.1 Surround Sound Fix
For those of us who have surround sound capabilities you may be surprised to learn there is a fix to get surround sound working in Shadow of Chernobyl.
OpenAL is the audio extension used by Shadow of Chernobyl, sadly the OpenAL32.dll defaults to a "Generic Software" driver instead of whatever else may be available in your system.
Luckily for us, there is a fix! Since OpenAL development has been ceased a third party open-source alternative "OpenAL Soft" has continued the development of OpenAL.
This new open-source alternative is also a type of fix to get surround sound working in Shadow of Chernobyl.
First, you will need to download the .dll files needed to implement this fix: <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
Extract the contents of the .zip archive to your "Desktop".
Inside the archive you will need to navigate to the .dll needed for this fix, which is located in the "bin\Win32" folder.
(NOTE: DO NOT USE THE WIN64 DLL, ONLY THE WIN32 ONE!!)
You should see a .dll named "soft_oal.dll" copy/cut this file and paste it to your Shadow of Chernobyl "bin" folder.
Backup the "OpenAL32.dll" file before you replace it with this alternative one.
Rename the "soft_oal.dll" to "OpenAL32.dll".
That's it! Surround Sound should now work =)
(NOTE: TO SEE IF THIS FIX WORKED YOU CAN LAUNCH SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL AND PRESS THE ` KEY TO OPEN THE CONSOLE AND USE PAGE-UP TO SCROLL UP IN THE CONSOLE HISTORY. LOOK FOR "OPENAL SOFT, SPEC VERSION 1.1 (DEFAULT)" IF YOU SEE THIS, THE .DLL IS LOADED CORRECTLY AND THE FIX SHOULD WORK.)
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3. Subpixel Morphological Antialiasing (SMAA)
NOTE: WHILE THE IN-GAME ANTI-ALIASING SLIDER IS BROKEN YOU CAN STILL FORCE 2X OR 4X IN YOUR VIDEO CARD CONTROL PANEL (CONFIRMED FOR NVIDIA, NOT SURE ABOUT OTHER VENDORS SUCH AS AMD) AND THIS ONLY SEEMS TO WORK ON SOME THINGS AND IS VERY EXPENSIVE FPS-WISE, WHILE SMAA COVERS ALL AND ISN'T ANYWHERE NEAR AS EXPENSIVE FPS-WISE. SMAA ALSO DOESN'T ADD ANY BLUR, UNLIKE FXAA.
By now if you haven't figured out that the "Anti-Aliasing" slider in Shadow of Chernobyl doesn't work don't fret, SMAA does and I will show you how to get it working.
There are many alternatives to inject SMAA into Shadow of Chernobyl, but the most basic without any extras besides SMAA is InjectSMAA by Mr. Haandi.
First, you will need to download the archive that holds the files to get SMAA working: <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
Extract the archive to your "Desktop".
Inside this archive you will notice two folders and a readme.txt file.
We want the "d3d9" folder so navigate to it and inside that folder you should see 4 files "d3d9.dll", "injector.ini", "SMAA.fx", and "SMAA.h".
Copy "SMAA.fx" and "SMAA.h" to your Shadow of Chernobyl folder (not the "bin" folder!).
Copy "d3d9.dll" and "injector.ini" to the "bin" folder.
That's pretty much it, unless you want to change the quality of the SMAA method or change the keys that toggle SMAA, if you do; read on!
To change the quality of the SMAA shader open the "Injector.ini" file and you should see "preset = SMAA_PRESET_HIGH".
You can change this to "SMAA_PRESET_LOW" "SMAA_PRESET_MEDIUM" or "SMAA_PRESET_ULTRA" and the quality will change accordingly.
If you want to change the keys the SMAA shader uses, open the "Injector.ini" file and you will see "key_toggle", "key_reload", and "key_screenshot" with numbers after each.
These numbers each represent a key on your keyboard that, when pressed, do the function they are bound to...
A list of keyboard keys and their corresponding "Key Codes" can be found: <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
Simply find the key you want to use and copy the "Key Code" in the table on the right of the key you want.
(NOTE: YOU WANT THE "KEY CODE" NOT THE "ASCII KEY CODE")
Paste your "Key Code" into the "Injector.ini", replacing the old "Key Code" for the function you want to change.
That's it!
YOU CAN MANUALLY EDIT THE "SMAA.h" FILE TO ALTER THE SHADER QUALITY, BUT THAT'S BEYOND "BEGINNER" FRIENDLY.
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4. Increase Grass Draw Distance
There is a tutorial to patch the games engine to draw as much grass as you want <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
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I hope this provides some help to those who need it, I will probably revise this and add more things as time goes on, I can only type so much at once! =) Enjoy.
*EDIT* For some reason the formatting on my post is all weird, I tried to fix it but it doesn't seem to change.
Just so everyone knows, I have the STEAM version of Shadow of Chernobyl, but the directory structure *SHOULD* be exactly the same...
if not, please let me know and I will adjust things below accordingly. Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Large Address Aware Patch
This patch allows Shadow of Chernobyl to utilize more RAM by changing a flag on the executable called "Large Address Aware".
To apply this patch is simple, first you need to download the patcher: <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
Extract the patch to where the "XR_3DA.exe" file is located (inside the "bin" folder).
After the patch is placed in the "bin" folder run the patch and select the "XR_3DA.exe" file and click "Open" to apply the patch.
(NOTE: THE PATCHER ALSO CREATES A BACKUP FOR YOU OF THE "XR_3DA.exe" FILE JUST INCASE YOU WANT TO REVERT)
That's it! Shadow of Chernobyl is now Large Address Aware and may utilize more RAM. =)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. 5.1/7.1 Surround Sound Fix
For those of us who have surround sound capabilities you may be surprised to learn there is a fix to get surround sound working in Shadow of Chernobyl.
OpenAL is the audio extension used by Shadow of Chernobyl, sadly the OpenAL32.dll defaults to a "Generic Software" driver instead of whatever else may be available in your system.
Luckily for us, there is a fix! Since OpenAL development has been ceased a third party open-source alternative "OpenAL Soft" has continued the development of OpenAL.
This new open-source alternative is also a type of fix to get surround sound working in Shadow of Chernobyl.
First, you will need to download the .dll files needed to implement this fix: <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
Extract the contents of the .zip archive to your "Desktop".
Inside the archive you will need to navigate to the .dll needed for this fix, which is located in the "bin\Win32" folder.
(NOTE: DO NOT USE THE WIN64 DLL, ONLY THE WIN32 ONE!!)
You should see a .dll named "soft_oal.dll" copy/cut this file and paste it to your Shadow of Chernobyl "bin" folder.
Backup the "OpenAL32.dll" file before you replace it with this alternative one.
Rename the "soft_oal.dll" to "OpenAL32.dll".
That's it! Surround Sound should now work =)
(NOTE: TO SEE IF THIS FIX WORKED YOU CAN LAUNCH SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL AND PRESS THE ` KEY TO OPEN THE CONSOLE AND USE PAGE-UP TO SCROLL UP IN THE CONSOLE HISTORY. LOOK FOR "OPENAL SOFT, SPEC VERSION 1.1 (DEFAULT)" IF YOU SEE THIS, THE .DLL IS LOADED CORRECTLY AND THE FIX SHOULD WORK.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Subpixel Morphological Antialiasing (SMAA)
NOTE: WHILE THE IN-GAME ANTI-ALIASING SLIDER IS BROKEN YOU CAN STILL FORCE 2X OR 4X IN YOUR VIDEO CARD CONTROL PANEL (CONFIRMED FOR NVIDIA, NOT SURE ABOUT OTHER VENDORS SUCH AS AMD) AND THIS ONLY SEEMS TO WORK ON SOME THINGS AND IS VERY EXPENSIVE FPS-WISE, WHILE SMAA COVERS ALL AND ISN'T ANYWHERE NEAR AS EXPENSIVE FPS-WISE. SMAA ALSO DOESN'T ADD ANY BLUR, UNLIKE FXAA.
By now if you haven't figured out that the "Anti-Aliasing" slider in Shadow of Chernobyl doesn't work don't fret, SMAA does and I will show you how to get it working.
There are many alternatives to inject SMAA into Shadow of Chernobyl, but the most basic without any extras besides SMAA is InjectSMAA by Mr. Haandi.
First, you will need to download the archive that holds the files to get SMAA working: <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
Extract the archive to your "Desktop".
Inside this archive you will notice two folders and a readme.txt file.
We want the "d3d9" folder so navigate to it and inside that folder you should see 4 files "d3d9.dll", "injector.ini", "SMAA.fx", and "SMAA.h".
Copy "SMAA.fx" and "SMAA.h" to your Shadow of Chernobyl folder (not the "bin" folder!).
Copy "d3d9.dll" and "injector.ini" to the "bin" folder.
That's pretty much it, unless you want to change the quality of the SMAA method or change the keys that toggle SMAA, if you do; read on!
To change the quality of the SMAA shader open the "Injector.ini" file and you should see "preset = SMAA_PRESET_HIGH".
You can change this to "SMAA_PRESET_LOW" "SMAA_PRESET_MEDIUM" or "SMAA_PRESET_ULTRA" and the quality will change accordingly.
If you want to change the keys the SMAA shader uses, open the "Injector.ini" file and you will see "key_toggle", "key_reload", and "key_screenshot" with numbers after each.
These numbers each represent a key on your keyboard that, when pressed, do the function they are bound to...
A list of keyboard keys and their corresponding "Key Codes" can be found: <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
Simply find the key you want to use and copy the "Key Code" in the table on the right of the key you want.
(NOTE: YOU WANT THE "KEY CODE" NOT THE "ASCII KEY CODE")
Paste your "Key Code" into the "Injector.ini", replacing the old "Key Code" for the function you want to change.
That's it!
YOU CAN MANUALLY EDIT THE "SMAA.h" FILE TO ALTER THE SHADER QUALITY, BUT THAT'S BEYOND "BEGINNER" FRIENDLY.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Increase Grass Draw Distance
There is a tutorial to patch the games engine to draw as much grass as you want <span class="bold">*HERE*</span>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope this provides some help to those who need it, I will probably revise this and add more things as time goes on, I can only type so much at once! =) Enjoy.
*EDIT* For some reason the formatting on my post is all weird, I tried to fix it but it doesn't seem to change.
Post edited July 01, 2015 by YellowAries