Installation
ReShade is a generic post processing injector for games, it allows my shaders to execute and modify the final output of the game before it's displayed to you.
Go to this website and download the ReShade with full add-on support version. If you do not get this version, my shaders will display a black screen.
When installing, ReShade will warn you that this can get you banned from multiplayer games. Do not worry about this as the final fantasy xiv community team has openly stated that ReShade is not a bannable offense. But, if you're a streamer, you may want to tread carefully.
When asked what exe to attach to, choose ffxiv_dx11.exe
Now you need to download the AcerolaFX shaders, presets and textures here of the latest release.
Extract the contents to get three folders Presets, Shaders and Textures.
First you want to navigate to this folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIV Online\game
If you do not play ff14 through steam then your file path will probably look something like C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV Online\game
ReShade has placed two folders into the game folder of Final Fantasy XIV, reshade-presets and reshade-shaders.
The first thing you want to do is place the contents of the AcerolaFX Presets folder into the reshade-presets folder like so:
Then we go back up to the game folder and navigate into reshade-shaders. This folder contains two folders, Shaders and Textures.
You want to place the contents of the AcerolaFX Shaders folder into the reshade-shaders Shaders folder, like so:
Then do the same for the Textures folder, like so:
Next, start the game! You should see a ReShade overlay telling you to press a specific button to bring up the ReShade overlay. Skip or do the tutorial, and then open up the preset dropdown menu to select the AcerolaFX preset you would like to use.
Once you select a preset, the visuals of the game should be much better (or not if you think my shaders look bad I guess).
With the release of Dawntrail and the graphics update, Final Fantasy XIV's depth buffer is now reversed. In order for my shaders to work properly, you must change the global preprocessor definition RESHADE_DEPTH_INPUT_IS_REVERSED from 0 to 1 as shown below:
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The preset did not enable any shaders!!!!!
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- This means that the presets cannot find the shaders to enable, double check that my shaders are in the right spot with the proper file structure and restart the game.
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It's a black screen!!!!! alt. My screen is flickering!!!!!
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- This means you did not download the version of reshade with full add on support. Please go and uninstall reshade and then reinstall with the proper download from their website.
Final Fantasy XIV's graphics settings can interfere with the appearance of AcerolaFX shaders. Make sure you go into the game's System Configuration and underneath Display Settings set Full Screen Mode Gamma Correction to 0 and adjust Character Lighting to personal preference. Lastly, go into Graphics Settings and disable Screen Space Ambient Occlusion so that it doesn't clash with the the XeGTAO AcerolaFX shader.
You're all set to play Final Fantasy XIV with AcerolaFX presets! If you'd like to learn the specifics of each shader effect for gposing, be sure to read the user guide!
You can do amazing things such as this:
