How to use SweetFX

[Ack-Ack]

That link also doesn't work, but I did figure out a fix. The links don't work on Chrome. It works fine in firefox though.... very weird.  

Oh wow! This looks pretty!!   

Glad you got the link working.  I've been spending all weekend making more presets and will upload them probably tomorrow after I've finished with them.  Still have a little bit of fine tweaking to do on some of them and taking screenshots.

ack-ack

[M36]

Hmmm, installed it several times with the same error when I startup AH, "file d3dx9_43.dll not  found".

I was getting the same message and the fix for Latrobe wasn't working.

I found that in the read me file for the program, that file was mentioned. The answer was to update DirectX from Microsoft. I cant find the read me or the link now but it fixed it for me.

And thank you Ack-Ack!

[MADe]

I was getting the same message and the fix for Latrobe wasn't working.

I found that in the read me file for the program, that file was mentioned. The answer was to update DirectX from Microsoft. I cant find the read me or the link now but it fixed it for me.

And thank you Ack-Ack!

Good to know. Direct X being backward compatible supposedly, many assume that all the DX files installed with W7 are there. I chose to use the DX 9 update awhile ago. It did install some files into the W7 install. Did not change the game but obviously outside stuff like Sweet FX need them.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34429

link to MS and DX 9.0c

[jedi25]

I am loving this app guys... This seems to manage the AA much better than AH defaults..


Thanks for sharing.

[Drano]

I figured out the source of another crash problem I was having. I've been running ATI tray tools to configure video settings and it was interfering with SweetFX as I have it starting with Windows. I also launch the game with ATT. I'd get the crash trying to use SweetFX like the others. I tried the other solutions to no avail before I remembered ATT was running. Exited Tray tools--voila--the game started. Started Tray tools back up--crash. I'd imagine other apps like maybe CCC would do it too. If SweetFX is crashing on you try disabling any other video managers running and see if that doesn't clear it up.

BTW I tried a couple of the presets and things look great! I'm gonna play with brightening up the shadows a bit. That's pretty much the only thing that bugs me about the game as I've been seeing it. Always wanted a tool sorta like the levels tool in photoshop for this.
 

[MADe]

The presets are only a starting point really. Your hardware, monitor and home lighting conditions will alter stuff.
All will need to fine tune for their personal likes.

[bustr]

Drano, shhhhhhh.

Now the GVers are going to cry again.

[JimmyD3]

Still having the same problem "application has failed to start because d3dx9_43.dll was not found." Tried your suggestions AkAk, still the same. I am currently running Vista and not Win7. Will trouble shoot more tomorrow, the  debugger log had some interesting comments.

[Ack-Ack]

Still having the same problem "application has failed to start because d3dx9_43.dll was not found." Tried your suggestions AkAk, still the same. I am currently running Vista and not Win7. Will trouble shoot more tomorrow, the  debugger log had some interesting comments.

This is the troubleshooting FAQ found in the SweetFX readme.txt.

The first one is specific to your issue, you'll need to update DirectX to resolve the issue.

When the mod starts it creates a log.log file next to it's own location.
Open the log with a text editor and see what the problem is.

If no log file is created then the mod did not start.
- Maybe you didn't put the files in the right location?
- Or maybe the game doesn't use DirectX?

Most games use DirectX 9, 10 or 11.
Notable games that use OpenGL (which SweetFX doesn't work with) are all games by id software,
and those games based on their 3D engines.


Q: It says d3dx9_43.dll is missing
A: You need the latest DirectX 9 update.
   See step 2) of the installation section.
   
Q: It does not run with the 64bit version of my game exe.
A: SweetFX is not currently compatible with 64bit versions of games - use a 32bit version.
   Boulotaur2024 have released a special version of SweetFX that uses his own proxy dlls that does support 64bit. - find the link for that in the SweetFX thread on Guru3D.
   Support for 64bit games in the offical branch of SweetFX is underway - check the discussion thread for the lastest news on that.
   
Q: My game crashes with SweetFX installed.
A: The log.log file will most likely tell you why.
   
If you have installed SweetFX correctly and have run the game with the log.log file in the same folder
as the game .exe and the d3d9.dll and dxgi.dll files, then it should be overwritten with debug information that might help you understand why it crashed.

If it hasn't then it contains a helpful guide writen by me - which means your game likely crashed because SweetFX couldn't write to the log.log file.

Some steps to resolve this:
  1) Check that the log.log file is in the same folder as the game .exe and the d3d9.dll and dxgi.dll files.
     It's installed there per default so it should be there.

     If you moved the .dll's that came with SweetFX to another folder then check in that folder for the correct log.log,
     that the injector creates when it runs.

  2) Find out if it's a problem with insufficient user permissions in the game folder you installed SweetFX to.
     To do that try running the game with administrator rights by right-clicking it's exe and choosing "Run as administrator"
     If that worked then you have found the problem.

     To solve it, you can either keep running it as administrator everything, which can be a little annoying in the long run.

     You can also right click on the folder that contains this file and then choose "Properties"
     From there click "Security", then "Edit", then on your username, and then set "Full Control" to "Allow"
     This should also allow Modify, Execute, List, Read and Write - if it doesn't then also set thoose to "Allow"
     Now "OK" your way out of the dialogs.
     Your user account now has full control for that folder and you don't have to Run as administrator.

     Alternatively you can create a new shortcut to the game and right click that and choose "Properties"
     Under "Shortcut" click Advanced and check "Run as administrator" and "OK" your way out.
     This shortcut will now always run as administrator and the administrator account always has the necessary rights.

  3) Does it still crash?
     Try disabling all game overlays (like Origin), recording software (like Fraps), framerate displaying software (like Fraps),
     GPU overclocking and tweaking software software and other d3d9.dll or dxgi.dll proxy dlls (like ENB, Helix or Umod)


  4) If the above doesn't work and you can't solve the problem yourself or google your way to a solution then try to get support
     online in either the SweetFX thread on Guru3d or your preferred forum.
     Note that I prefer not to get support questions as PM's but I'd rather have you post in the thread so others can help you too.
     I'm not always in the thread but there is usually always other users.


Q: I don't see any change in the image
A: Try turning off anti-aliasing in the game (not in the mod)
   The mod is not compatible with some antialias implementations.
   It might be made compatible by setting compability flags.
   
   If not then you can always use the included SMAA anti-aliasing.

ack-ack

[JimmyD3]

Got It!!!!!

Thought I had upgraded DirectX, but hadn't. Works fine now. I am amazed  at how just a small change makes such a distinct difference.

Thanks for the patience AKAK.

[Ack-Ack]

Got It!!!!!

Thought I had upgraded DirectX, but hadn't. Works fine now. I am amazed  at how just a small change makes such a distinct difference.

Thanks for the patience AKAK.

Glad you got it working.  You'll find it difficult to go back to the regular graphics now, I know I can't go back to playing that way. 

ack-ack

[Drane]

wow! glad you guys are finding out about SweetFX. It is awesome.

However I don't use it with AH because....it can be set up to allow pilots to see gv from very far away? I'm surprised HT let's anybody use it.

Maybe nobody knows about that little trick.

[Ack-Ack]

wow! glad you guys are finding out about SweetFX. It is awesome.

However I don't use it with AH because....it can be set up to allow pilots to see gv from very far away? I'm surprised HT let's anybody use it.

Maybe nobody knows about that little trick.

GVs can be seen far away with the standard graphics as it is now.

ack-ack

[Chalenge]

Can you post screenshots of your Aces High with the settings you recommend? Particularly, I'm interested in how it looks with shadows on and near the ground.

[bustr]

I base everything from High Noon in Aces High when I make changes. The sun at lower angles currently is nicely done. But, at high noon too many buildings, objects, and vehicles\planes have a dark band along the side nearest to the ground. The in game gamma slider is too course for removing it. By the time you get it removed, everything else is to hazed or lumened out to play well. This goes for depth perception over water also.

Below is the injector that controls the darkness or lightness of shadows. It's a balancing act between raising the gain on the RGB pixels used as shadows, to lowering the midrange and increasing the high range to achieve contrast. This balance helps give you back using your tracers to judge lead with from the manned 37mm at high noon. The game is a tad low on the blue input which helps eliminate the haze while supporting brighter tracers.

One player's custom numbers may be horrible to another player's game perceptions. I'm including my numbers to show the contrast for adjusting shadows. The adjustment took me a while by single tenths and hundredths number changes over an evening to test looking for GV at high noon through foliage and watching 37mm tracer streams. Another test was watching the shore battery 8inch tracer and water explosion to 20k yards for clarity. Last night I sank a CV by accident, because I was really targeting fighters on the deck. I was trying to land 10 fighter kills from my shore battery position. Only got 6 before the CV sank.

These adjustments make the game much more fun to play now. I can turn off icons and watch fighters as silhouettes with wings until they vanish as they pass through 11k from me without using zoom in the 88. I'm using a 24 inch HD TV\LCD Monitor.

Oh, and the injectors are doing an admirable job of faking terrain bump mapping, building bump mapping, and raising rivets and panel lines since I keep those off due to the FPS hit. Not sure yet what will happen with clouds. The explosion injector above (.2) starts to create speckling of lines and a slight redraw delay when you change your view direction. But, exposes a larger area of explosion and smoke.

 
   /*-----------------------------------------------------------.
  /                      Lift Gamma Gain settings               /
  '-----------------------------------------------------------*/
#define RGB_Lift               float3(1.301, 1.301, 1.301) // [0.000 to 2.000] Adjust shadows for Red, Green and Blue.
#define RGB_Gamma              float3(.989, .989, .989) // [0.000 to 2.000] Adjust midtones for Red, Green and Blue
#define RGB_Gain               float3(1.030, 1.030, 1.032) // [0.000 to 2.000] Adjust highlights for Red, Green and Blue