Overview
Step by step guide that will show you how to enable UW resolutions (1080p, 1440p) for GRIS.
Introduction
Hiya!
This is my first guide on Steam and I hope it’s useful to you, somehow.
To get UW resolutions working for GRIS, you’ll need a software that edits hexadecimal values, meaning its binary strings. It’s fairly simple and will get the job done. More on it below.
ATTENTION! If you follow the steps of this guide, do so at your own risk. I do not take responsibility for whatever happens to your game. If anything goes wrong, though, verifying the cache files might as well fix the issue.
Backup!
Before following ANYTHING on this guide, go to ‘Your Drive’/ProgramFiles (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/GRIS (or wherever you install your Steam games) and make a backup of your UnityPlayer.dll file.
In my case, I copied the original file to a backup folder and then added the .bak extension to the original one’s name, in order to prevent the engine from reading it. It ends up looking like this:
HEX Editor
You’ll need a HEX Editor in order to enable the resolutions in your game. If you’ve never heard of them before, here[en.wikipedia.org]‘s a short introduction.
I personally used HxD[mh-nexus.de], but you can use whatever software you prefer. Bear in mind that the tutorial pics will show HxD’s interface, though. Other suggestions are: Hex Editor Neo, UltraEdit, wxHexEditor, Frhed etc.
1. Download, install and run the editor;
2. Once it starts, go to File > Open and find your GRIS folder inside steamapps;
3. Select UnityPlayer.dll (the original, not the backup!) and open it; You’ll be greeted by this beauty:
Binary Strings
We will need to replace both instances of the 39 8E E3 3F binary string with the editor.
This is what’s responsible for allowing you to change the res. If you’re here just for this, you can grab the code below and go do your thing ♥ If not, then I bid you to keep on reading. 🙂
2560×1080: 26 B4 17 40
3440×1440: 8E E3 18 40
ATTENTION! You can only choose ONE resolution, not both!
1. On HxD, press CTRL F in order to pop up the Find window;
2. Click on the “Hex-values” tab;
3. Paste into the blank space the binary string we want to change. It should look like this:
4. Click on Search All;
5. The string will be highlighted – now it’s time to change it.
I prefer to manually edit other than pasting the new string. To do so, highlight the first chunk of the code and replace it with the values of the resolution you want. They have been written on the start of this topic! I chose 2560×1080 because that’s the resolution I play in.
Since there are TWO strings we need to change, you’ll need to go through steps 1-5 again, but this time ensure to check the “all” box under Search Direction.
If the software tells you that it can’t find the hex value, try it a couple more times, changing the search direction. If it still cannot find it, then it’s all done and you can just save.
Once you’re done tweaking both strings, go to File > Save.
Is It Working? Known Issues
Now it’s time to check wether it’s working or not!
Upon launching GRIS after first tweaking its hex values, I was still greeted by the 16:9 letterboxes. However, once the game started it was entirely set in a beautiful, flawless 21:9 bliss. RViN noted that it *is* required to go into options and change the resolution manually for it to work. I can’t remember whether I did it (since am used to just double checking everytime I change the HEX values of games) or if the game just simply started like that for me.
Anyway! Double check, manually set the resolution to the one you just created and enjoy. 🙂
So, once ingame, start a new save OR resume an old one aaand… voilà!
So far, I was only able to notice a couple of issues:
1) The videos can have both their top and bottom areas cut;
2) The white loading intro shifted to the left;
3) Hidden because it’s a spoiler, duh > During the strong winds from chapter 2, the screen gets a crimson tint added to it – it remains locked in a 16:9 aspect ratio, while the area that once was the black letterbox keeps the game’s natural colors, without the effect.
Aside from those three details, which aren’t game breaking at all, everything works as it should.
Credits
That’s it!
I hope this guide was useful (and not confusing, heh). Do share your screenshots with the community! GRIS is an exquisitely beautiful game and it deserves all of the attention it can get.
A shout out to creature for posting the hex values and their corresponding resolutions under the discussions.
A big thank you to Nomada Studios for creating this absolute gem, as well as to Devolver Digital for publishing it.
