Overview
This guide explains how to mod the graphics and gameplay to be the best available at the moment for the game. This guide includes the links and instructions to mod the game successfully for a more immersive experience.
Intro
I thought I would make an updated guide to modding Alien Isolation to more modern 2020 standards including a ReShade that I complied. I also combined all of the fixes and Settings tweaks that can be done to the game here in this guide so that future folk won’t have to look all over for this info like I did.
The other Reshades from [link] that are available are outdated that relied on ReShade 2.0 fx files and configuration values that have changed. So thats a no-go.
And now that ReShade 4.7 is out, I wanted to bring some life back into this gem with a dark, yet modern ReShade that pairs nicely with the other mods included.
I wish to thank other authors here on Steam for showing me how to do certain parts of this guide, and for directing me in how to set these mods up together. Notably jmoyano92 and robsmashed and AngelGraves13.
Graphics Mods and Visual Settings
First, before we do anything let’s find our game file location. On steam right-click the Alien Isolation game in your library, and then hover over manage. You will then see the option to “Browse local files” Click this and a window will open to the game’s root location. Keep this window open as you go through the guide, as we will need to drag some files into here.
Now onto the first mod:
·ALIEN: ISOLATION – SETTINGS MOD: ORIGINAL POST BY ANGELGRAVES13:
Full Level of Detail / 4K Shadow Map Resolution / Horizontal FOV / Alternate Planar Reflections
Click on the link above and follow the dropbox link. You will see “Alien: Isolation – Modded Settings” and download it. Now copy this file: “ENGINE_SETTINGS” and switch to the window you opened at the beginning of the guide. If you need the default steam address again it is C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonAlien IsolationDATA.
Now paste that ENGINE_SETTINGS file here and overwrite the original “ENGINE_SETTINGS” (make a backup first if you want)
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON USING THIS MOD TO SEE CHANGES IN-GAME:
–Change Shadow Map Resolution to the highest setting (now 4096)
-Alternate planar reflections (the pretty reflective floors and surfaces): THIS IS NOT ENABLED BY DEFAULT. To enable, change from “On” setting to “Alternate” IN VIDEO OPTIONS inside the game.
-Field of View values changed to horizontal FOV: Alien: Isolation uses Vertical FOV instead of Horizontal FOV. The values have been renamed to avoid confusion and converted to horizontal values in-game. 85 IS THE RECOMMENDED VALUE.
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-Anisotropic Filtering: Force 16X Anisotropic Filtering in your videocard’s control panel for high quality AF.
-How to force Improved Anisotropic Filtering:
NVIDIA Control Panel
– Open the NVIDIA Control Panel found in in Windows’ Control Panel.
– Proceed to the 3D Settings / Manage 3D Settings tab on the left side bar.
– Select Alien Isolation under ‘Program to customize’. Alternatively, manually select the executable using the ‘Add’ button.
– Change the ‘Anisotropic Filtering’ option to 16x.
– Apply the changes.
AMD Catalyst Control Center
– Open the AMD Catalyst Control Panel found in Windows’ Control Panel.
– Proceed to the Image Quality / Anisotropic Filtering tab.
– Uncheck the ‘Use application settings’ box.
– Set the option to 16x.
– Apply the changes.
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Now for the Second mod:
-ALIAS ISOLATION: Superior AntiAlias for Alien Isolation[github.com]
Alias Isolation is a mod for Alien: Isolation. It adds temporal anti-aliasing into the shipped game, and fixes a few small issues with the rendering.
Follow the link above and then click on aliasIsolation-1.0.6.7z. Unzip the file.
Save the alias isolation mod files in a folder on your desktop or any other location of your choosing. Your destination for these files could be “Program Files”, or “My Documents”, or anything else as long as no special permissions are required to access that directory.
IMPORTANT:
-Step one: Run “aliasIsolationInjectorGui.exe”
Once you press the “Launch Alien: Isolation” button, the mod launches Alien: Isolation and hooks into it.
-Step two: Video Settings with Alias Isolation mod:
·Anti-aliasing must be set to SMAA T1x.
·Chromatic Aberration must be disabled.
·Motion blur must be enabled.
We are going to launch the game through this program from now on, so after you place the files where you would like, make a shortcut to the “aliasIsolationInjectorGui.exe” file.
If you want to see the difference the Runtime toggle is “Ctrl+Delete”. To re-enable it, hit “Ctrl+Insert”.
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Here is a tweak to the graphics of the game at the system level.
Dynamic Super Resolution -Nvidia Control Panel
THIS STEP IS COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. ONLY USE IF YOU HAVE A DOPE GRAPHICS CARD.
Dynamic Super Resolution renders a game at a higher, more detailed resolution and shrinks the result back down to the resolution of your monitor, rendering applications at a higher quality (even 4K-quality graphics) than is normally allowed. It’s a very GPU-expensive solution, so be mindful of the performance costs that come with this trick. I haven’t used an AMD card to do this before, but I am sure there is a similar option on their control panel.
– First open up the NVIDIA control panel and in the “Global Settings” tab enable “DSR – Factors”
– Choose one or more DSR settings of your choice (higher is better, though more resource intensive on your graphics card/performance. I personally use 2.0 when I mess with this setting, but I mostly play with it off
Make sure to Select DSR smoothness below the DSR – Factors setting and set it to 0%. This is so that it does not interfere with the AA mod and produce polygon jaggies.
– Finally, open up Alien Isolation and choose the new rendering resolution in the “Video” section of the options menu. You will now see options above your standard resolution. You can select your native resolution or turn this option off if you find it to be too hard on performance.
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Our Final Graphical Mod: disgusting Lens-Flare be gone – Alien Isolation no Lensflare but all lighting effects[www.nexusmods.com]
This mod removes a strange art choice by the developers. There is normally an odd artifact on the screen when looking at bright lights and flares, but this effect is hard to remove on its own without removing all the other lighting effects that the player sees. Thankfully a kind modder named Julia Ripley van Biohazard fixed it for us an absolved the developers of their sins.
Here is a comparison photo from the mod page to show the effect, and its removal.
Installation:
Make a copy/Backup of the original LENS_FLARE_CONFIG.BIN if you wish.
To install simply go to the window we opened at the beginning of the guide, go the DATA folder (usually C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonAlien IsolationDATA), and overwrite the original LENS_FLARE_CONFIG.BIN file with the downloaded mod file.
Simple mod. Big Changes.
ReShade with 2020 Alien Reshade
This is the point where we add a Reshade. For this guide we are going to use my own that I updateted to be compatible with ReShade 4.7
First go here [link] and click the download button at the bottom of the page. It will download an executable which you will then run.
It will scan for games and you should see AI.exe in the list with its red egg icon. Click the icon and then click “Use Selected Application” at the bottom of the program.
Another small window will popup asking what rendering API the program uses. Click the “Direct 3D 10/11/12.
Another window will pop up asking what effect packages to install. Make sure the SweetFX by CeeJa” box is ticked, and then hit OK.
Yet another window will come up with 5 shaders listed and ticked, make sure they are all ticked and then hit ok.
Do the same for the next window asking about which “SweetFX” files to install. Ensure all boxes are ticked and hit ok once again. The program will now bring you back to a smaller window and state that “ReShade Setup was successful!”
Now that we have the base ReShade and Sweetfx shaders installed, We need one more shader file to finish the installation.
Head to this link [link] click the “Download Shaders by Ioxa for ReShade 3.0” You will be taken to a dropbox page and click the download button in the top right corner. Now click “Direct Download” and you will download the file.
Open the zip file and take the “GaussianBloom.fx” file and place it in the “Shaders” folder which will be in the folders created by the Reshade installation that we just did.
In the Shaders folder, you will see a number of other shaders ending in .fx and .fxh. Just copy the GaussianBloom.fx file into the folder next to the rest.
The ReShade folders were created in your Alien Isolation folder, and we need to get to them now. This is the usual path to the folder: C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonAlien Isolationreshade-shadersShaders.
If you are having trouble finding the game folder, follow the first part of the guide where I explain how to locate the game files on steam.
Finally download my 2020 Alien Reshade [www.nexusmods.com]
Once you have copied the the DefaultPreset.ini from my mod link, copy it into the main folder of the game install next to the AI.exe. This located in C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonAlien Isolation
If Windows asks you to overwrite the old DefaultPreset hit yes.
Gameplay Mods
First up we have the infamous Unpredictable Alien Mod .
A Mod so good multiple gaming magazines did features on it while they collectively ♥♥♥♥ their pants in terror. Here is what the creator of the mod (somethingelse666) has to say about its intended effect.
“I wished to try my hand at slightly tweaking the Alien AI to have wider ranges in stalking, patrolling, taking breaks, because it seemed like a good way to at least simulate more unpredictability, of when and where the alien will pop up.”
Basically, beyond changing its behavior, this mod removes a proximity leash that the alien has to the player. Now the Alien can go ahead of you in the level, or often behind to trap you and ambush you in new ways. Most who have played with this mod have said Unpredictable Alien completely changes the game for the better and creates a more intense and dangerous playthrough.
Install Instructions:
Open the downloaded file and Place the DATA folder in root of ..SteamsteamappscommonAlien Isolation
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But now that the big bad is even badder, we need some better equipment.
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If playing with the Unpredictable Alien mod, I highly recommend using a weapon mod, as the alien is more dangerous now. These mods also balance very strong humanoid enemies so that they are no longer bullet sponges and will now take the damage expected from projectile weapons. From here you have two main options:
SOFTCORE[www.nexusmods.com]
or
Life Savers v1.0( ALIEN behavior Mod!)
Install Instructions for Softcore:
Open the downloaded file and Place the DATA folder in root of ..SteamsteamappscommonAlien Isolation
Install of LifeSavers:
– Copy all the files from folder “Tool” into C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonAlien IsolationDATAWEAPON_INFOAMMO (Don’t forget to make copy of your original files)
I personally use Softcore, as it balances carrying capacity for light sources. This carrying capacity upgrade works very well with my new RESHADE that is included in the guide, as the settings in the 2020ALIEN ReShade will make the environments darker.
If using lifesavers with the Unpredictable Alien mod, only copy the “Tools” folder, Leave the “ALIEN.bml” file and the “Advance Behavior Tweak Files (beta)” folder alone and don’t install it.
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No Save Noise[www.nexusmods.com]
A simple mod that stops the droning on of Save Points. Plus this mod makes you look for them instead of following the ear ringing ping.
Install Instructions:
Open the downloaded file and Place the DATA folder in root of ..SteamsteamappscommonAlien Isolation
Accept the overwrite, and you’re good.