The vast majority of Graphic quality (hereinafter GFX) options can be set directly at SpringLobby, by clicking on Edit/Spring settings:
which is actually a GUI to tweak options at springsettings.cfg file. Those options are common to all Spring engine games, and therefore we are not documenting them herein. Conversely, we are just commenting those specific options that should be tweaked to enable some Spring-1944 GFX boosters.
An advanced shader has been implemented to improve the visual aspects of the units by means of:
- Specular maps
- Normal maps
- Microfacets Cook-Torrance specularity
You can appreciate the effects of the advanced shader in the following snapshots (left: Safe-mode, Right: Advanced shaders enabled).
Advanced shaders are automatically enabled when LUA Shaders support has been switched on in the springsettings.cfg file (they can be enabled with the Springlobby GUI described above).
Several color-correction post-processing filters has been implemented as well, namely:
Color correction post-processing filters requires LUA Shaders support as well. However, conversely to advanced shaders, it can be enabled and disabled by pressing F11 key during in-game battle, and switching on/off the "Color Correction" widget.
You can notice the effect of the color correction filters in the following snapshots (left: Color correction disabled, right: Color correction enabled):
Also, as it is shown in the right snapshot, color correction can be controlled by means of the upper-left widget called "Color Correction". When clicked, it is expanding a set of options to control the amount of effect of each filter.
Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) is a shading technique to produce images with a better 3D impression by a simulation of the ambient radiation occlusion. In Spring:1944 this effect is applied as an image post-processing filter, instead of incorporating it to the advanced shaders. In the following image you can notice the effect of SSAO:
Indeed, SSAO is effective at the time of enhancing the 3D impression.
This GFX booster can be enabled/disabled as well pressing F11 key and switching on/off the "Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion" widget. However, this GFX booster requires deferred shading (see springsettings.cfg), which cannot be directly enabled by means of the Springlobby GUI discussed above. To workaround this problem, "Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion" widget will automatically enable deferred shading, requiring to restart the game after the first time it is switched on. If you eventually notice a significant drop on the game performance, you can disable this filter. Unfortunately, deferred shading will remain enabled. You can disable it by conveniently tweaking "AllowDeferredMapRendering" and "AllowDeferredModelRendering" options at springsettings.cfg file.