Skullgirls with SweetFX Shaders

[southpawper]

Add a variety of post process effects to your matches with the SweetFX shader suite created by CeeJay.dk! http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=368880

This is the closest thing to a lighting mod I could find for Skullgirls. It doesn't actually change the lighting but rather adds effects on top of what the game has already rendered. I'm not a programmer so I have no idea how it works but here is a video by youtuber Adipose to help explain what is:

And here is a video on how to install it. It's for Borderlands 2, but the installation process is the same, except that you put the files into your Skullgirls directory (Where the skullgirls.exe file is). This also works for the Endless Beta (Put the files in the Endless Beta directory).

Here are some screenshots I took with the various effects applied:

Spoiler

Vanilla Game (No post process effects added. This is the regular game.)

Cartoon Effect (Thicker outlines that can be adjusted)

Explosion Effect (Similar to viewing the game behind a grainy shower screen. I'm using the standard setting here but weakening the effect gives the game a nice painted look.)

Pseudo High Dynamic Range Lighting (Fake HDR. Really brightens the sky in the outdoor daytime stages)

Sharpening Effect (This tends to add jaggies and more visible noise around darker colors so I just avoid this one)

Vignette (Adds a subtle black area around the edges of the screen). I also added the Cineon DPX color effect, Vibrant effect, and Bloom effect.

Advanced CRT Display (Combination of the older fat TV screen effect, Technicolor setting, and modified Vignette to achieve that classic MvC2 look.)

Here are some side-by-side comparisons of the effect I'm using. The left side is the vanilla game and the right adds a combination of effects to achieve a more vibrant look. (This split-screen setting is also an effect you can adjust in-game.)

Spoiler

Here is a quick written tutorial if you don't want to watch the videos:

1. Buy Skullgirls on Steam. (The shader mod/add-on only works on PC as far as I know)

***BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, BACK UP YOUR SKULLGIRLS FOLDER.
Mine is located here:
Computer > Local Disk (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common

2. Download Ceejay.dk's SweetFX shader suite: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=368880
3. Unpack the archive somewhere like your desktop. You can use it on a number of other PC games too, so save a backup of the SweetFX folder.
4. Open the SweetFX folder that you unpacked, then copy all of the contents into your Skullgirls directory (Where the skullgirls.exe file is).
*Mine is located in Computer > Local Disk (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > Skullgirls
*For the Endless Beta: Computer > Local Disk (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > Skullgirls Beta
5. Run the game.
6. Alt-tab and open SweetFX_settings.txt (This is one of the files you copied into the Skullgirls directory).
7. READ THE DIRECTIONS FIRST before changing any settings.
8. Adjust settings then hit save.
9. Go back into the game and you should see the changes.

Some settings can be mixed and matched, so there are many different combinations that you can adjust to your personal taste. You don't have to quit the game to change things either, but I would hit pause first before you alt-tab out to make the adjustments so your PC doesn't work as hard. If you are already having trouble running Skullgirls on your machine I don't recommend using these shaders because they add more to your computer's workload.


Edit: Some things to note: MSAA and FXAA don't seem to do anything other than add slightly more noise. MikeZ has also said anti-aliasing does not play nice with the Skullgirls engine, so I don't recommend using either of these effects.

 

[southpawper]

So, guess what? I was all, "Man I really want an ENB for this game. I wonder if Boris Vorontsov's ENBseries would work if I just dumped it into the Skullgirls directory like I did with the SweetFX Injector..."

WELL WHADDY'A KNOW?

IT ACTUALLY WORKED! :D


Vanilla Game (ENB effect off):

ENB effect on:

More screens:

Spoiler

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

YAY!<3

There aren't as many unique shaders/filters to apply like SweetFX but I prefer the lighting in this package. I haven't messed around with this one too much so I haven't figured out a way to combine them both, but if anyone else has been able to get both of these shader packages to work together that would be the best thing!

Installation: (There's probably multiple ways to go about installing this, but I'm listing the process I went through)

1. Buy Skullgirls on Steam if you haven't already.
2. Backup your files.
3. Download ENBSeries (Created by Boris Vorontsov) here: http://enbdev.com/mod_generic_v0076.htm
4. Unpack the archive somewhere like your desktop.
5. Open the enbseries folder.
6. IGNORE the InjectorVersion folder and copy the contents of the WrapperVersion folder into your Skullgirls directory.

***If you already have SweetFX installed, you will be asked to overwrite d3d9.dll. DON'T OVERWRITE IT. Instead copy and keep both files so that you have d3d9.dll and d3d9.dll (2). If you don't have SweetFX installed, skip to step 7.
-Rename the old d3d9.dll to something like d3d9(sweetfx).dll
-Then rename d3d9.dll (2) to d3d9.dll
*If in the future you want to switch back to SweetFX, rename the new d3d9.dll to something like d3d9(enbseries).dll and then rename d3d9(sweetfx).dll back to d3d9.dll

7. Run Skullgirls.
8. Alt-tab and open the enbseries.ini file and make your adjustments, making sure to save. (The readme_en.txt file in that same folder contains information on the different settings you can adjust, so make sure to give it a read.)
9. Go back into the game. Hold 'Shift' and then 'F12' to toggle the effect on and off.


Please feel free to post your own screenshots/videos or share new information!^^

 

[southpawper]

So has anyone else tried this yet? Should I add more screenshots?

 

[ashxu]

It's way too bright on anything that's close to or white.

 

[southpawper]

It's way too bright on anything that's close to or white.

If you're using the ENBseries you can adjust the Bloom strength, amount, and/or quality or even turn it off completely in the enbseries.ini file. For the SweetFX, you can lower the contrast in the SweetFX_settings.txt file or just turn off HDR and Bloom. Can you post a screenshot of one of the levels? I might be able to tell you which things to turn off more accurately. It would also help if you copy/pasted your entire settings in a spoilered post, and then I could try to edit it for you.

 

[dama624]

Only one of these actually interest me, and it's the Vignette. Looks pretty nice, for whatever reason.