Guild Wars 2

http://mrhaandi.blogspot.com/p/injectsmaa.html

It’s a harmless little tool that brings an amazing-looking and very efficient method of anti-aliasing into almost any game simply by placing a couple of files in the game folder. The question is, can it be potentially treated as a hack/cheat by ArenaNet and get my GW2 account banned?

I’ve asked that question in a dozen MMO forums and I’ve never gotten an official response from a developer/moderator. It is highly unusual for them to comment on anything to do with cheat detection as they could unintentionally reveal something critical to cheat developers. If they did actually comment directly it would probably just be a generic reference to a line in the EULA about not modifying game files.

I’ve used it without issue in dozens of games (including several recent MMO). The SMAA “injector” name is a bit of a misnomer as it doesn’t actually “inject” anything in the sense that cheat tools do.

The FXAA shader they are using in GW2 is awful (soooo much blurring) so its well worth the risk to me, personally.

skyler.5368:

The FXAA shader they are using in GW2 is awful (soooo much blurring) so its well worth the risk to me, personally.

I agree the built-in FXAA’s blurring is awful (which is why I’m trying other methods), but I don’t think using the injector is worth the risk, not in an MMO anyway. If we were talking about a multiplayer FPS then sure, I wouldn’t care all that much about getting banned. However, in an MMO that is supposed to last years I don’t want to risk losing my character.

I’m just going to bump this. Seeing many using an injector, especially SweetFX, haven’t heard about any of them being banned. But with the increase in injector usage it would be daft to ban the use of them, even PB for BF3 (Not an MMO I know) has allowed the usage of injectors.

I’ve been using it since the 3 day headstart and if by some chance I get banned for using it, ill fight it. There is nothing in the ToS that forbids using such a tool like the SMAA injector. It only mentions that using third party programs to automate gameplay functions is not allowed. So until that day when something happens, I’ll continue to use it.

Phaze Delta One.2834:

I’ve been using it since the 3 day headstart and if by some chance I get banned for using it, ill fight it. There is nothing in the ToS that forbids using such a tool like the SMAA injector. It only mentions that using third party programs to automate gameplay functions is not allowed. So until that day when something happens, I’ll continue to use it.

Ooh, guinea pig! I love how you’ve already been using it too. You get a gold star.

By the way, maybe it’s in my head but I swear that going to Supersample makes FXAA a little bit better. But it’s not like anybody can use that 24/7. I only use it for screenshots.

That’s because supersample renders the game at a higher resolution and downscales it to fit your monitor. With it enabled, the game looks amazing. But it’s a performamce killer though. There’s a reason why it says"high end video cards only" when you hover your mouse over the tab.

+1 for SMAA, because it’s really much better than FXAA.
It will also be available in CryEngine 3. Complete info @ http://www.iryoku.com/smaa/

Id really love to see some official toughts on this matter aswell Im too coward to use those kinda injectors on FPS games tho I deffly will not use it on an MMO doesnt matter how awful it looks :F

I use SMAA Injector for Battlefield 3. Neither Punkbuster or EA have officially came out and said anything about it. On the other hand, they haven’t banned anyone for using it either. I would guess its one of those grey areas as far as ArenaNet is concerned. I look at it like this, If it works, it works. If it starts causing problems with your game, dont come on the forum complaining about it.

This thread deserves a bump.

Why are people asking to use EVERY third party item associated with the game? This is simply a visual enchanter and doesn’t affect game play what-so-ever. Therefor by logical deduction it’s safe to use.

In addition, somewhere in the forums a thread about auto-clickers has a response from staff. Summation of it was that if it doesn’t give the player an unfair advantage over another then it’s acceptable. Take this with a grain of salt but I for one wouldn’t hesitate to use this.

If you have an ATI card, you can force-enable this in the catalyst settings…

MLAA isn’t even close to SMAA, it’s actually even worse than FXAA.

Can someone take some screenshots of Guild Wars 2 with this tool enabled and again disabled so I can see the difference?

I use SMAA since day 1, I asked a mod directly but haven’t gotten a response just yet. It looks great and runs well. I don’t really see how using SMAA is any different than having CCC override the game in terms of violating any rules. I will continue using it. The reason I use SMAA is because well 1 it’s good. and 2 forced AA on my card has a known issue of making the game screen black in GW2. And 3 FXAA is too blurry for my tastes.

SweetFX has SMAA built into it and is awesome in GW2, I use it.

http://forum.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=368880

VisceralMonkey.6128:

SweetFX has SMAA built into it and is awesome in GW2, I use it.

http://forum.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=368880

Something that might bear relevance to ANet approval of injector usage:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/external?l=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FGuildwars2%2Fcomments%2F10a0qk%2Fofficial_response_clarifying_the_stance_on_mods%2F

I am using this and it is amazing! No performance impact that I can gauge.

I turned off FXAA in-game and run at highest settings except no super sampling and medium shadows.

Awsome ^-^ I use it in Rift as well. They don’t care.

Agreed the sweetfx is awesome makes this already awesome looking game even more beastn!!!! ;]

Problem is that .dat file is something we cannot change. If the file size is different the game will auto re-update and replace it. Pretty much I think it’s HASH coded.

The SMAA injector doesn’t mess with the .dat file. It uses modified d3d files.

OK just tried this out and yes, I like it! Much better than the in game FXAA. No more aliasing!

I’m using it combined with supersampling 1920×1080, it slightly blurs text but it’s still far better than FXAA, especially in motion (which is one reason SMAA was developed anyway). Doesn’t look as good as driver forced SGSSAA alone (via Nvidia Inspector bits), but I tried that and the performance hit is just too hard (probably because I just had to try bits, maybe there will be better ones one day).

I would like to throw out there I would like official comment too.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=368880

SweetFX is the one I like. Some HD Video of it toggled on and off:

I have made 4 videos, the first one below shows mostly the HDR process. You’ll see a higher contrast in images while still being clear. The ice will be shiny while still showing most its detail. You can also see a higher color saturation in the jeweler station.

The only indication of the toggle will be the change of how it looks. The more washed out image is the default for the game.

Video of a sunny jungle beach with shade. Lots of colors for display here to see how far the saturation can be pushed without being washed out. Also shows a nice contrast of how the shaded parts get darker while the sunny parts stay bright.

Video of a bridge/forest scene with a castle. This will show the enhanced details for rocks on the road, and then show the bloom from the sun bleeding through the castle tower. The sun can also blur out the clouds.

Last Video shows just the map at various zooms. This should show the differences in the color (to see if it changes it too much), difference in dark/light to see if it contrasts too much, and also shows text at various sizes to see if it sharpens them too much.

Hickeroar.9734:

If you have an ATI card, you can force-enable this in the catalyst settings…

No you can’t. It has no affect on it if you try and force it.

Hmm, not sure what I am doing wrong but I treid using SweetFX and the GW2 client will not launch…. no errors…nothing just a slight pause as if its launching…even see the window for a sec or 2 then gone. Remove the SweetFX files from the GW2 directory and GW2 client works fine??

SweetFX just looks totally oversaturated to me, also dark spots become too dark (not that bad in GW2, but in BF3 for example it’s gamebreaking). Also it changes ANet’s art direction, the way they want GW2 to look, which I don’t really like. But if you like that candy look, go for it, in the end it’s just personal preference.

Bump!

An official response to this would be great.

It doesnt >>change<< Anet game files. So its perfectly legal.
It >>adds<<, files to the >>FOLDER<< ..the folder not being somthing Anet owns ..its part of your OS interface.

Its bassicaly the same as using Nvidia control panel or Catalyst control center.

If they state otherwise is just a BS public statement that they have to say to protect themselves. If they start saying you can use this and this but you cant do this. Then it leave holes for possible cheats and such. So dont expect a statement …and if you do get a statement ..dont epxect them to say yes its fine.

Their rules basicaly states you cant alter any game files or use any program that gives you an ingame advantage.
Well graphics tweeks dont give you an advantage ..atleast in a game like this. You could possibly argue that making a night time FPS shooter look brighter and thus make it easier to see other players ..gives you an advantage.. but this isnt a proper skill bassed pvp game ..its a MMORPG. The required amount of precise character control, twitch bassed movement, and such, required to make the visuals important enough to keep as stock , do not exist in this game.

draylore.2837:

Hmm, not sure what I am doing wrong but I treid using SweetFX and the GW2 client will not launch…. no errors…nothing just a slight pause as if its launching…even see the window for a sec or 2 then gone. Remove the SweetFX files from the GW2 directory and GW2 client works fine??

Same exact issue

Same here. Things were working perfectly yesterday and then this morning after the patch, the client begin to crash after trying to launch it. As soon as i remove sweetfx files it work just fine. Anyone got any idea. Im beginning to wonder if it is not a change iv made in the setting .txt .. Anyone resolve that issue yet ?

I decided to try it out aswell and my god..the difference is crazy with sweetfx,if only for the increase in sharpness to fight the blur FXAA creates,and just to darken the screen a bit makes a huge difference,the game looks alot better.

well apparently Nvidia are recommending their members to us SMAA injector for other games such as Borderlands 2. This is an interesting discussion indeed.

source

AshleySegovia.3948:

In regards to third-party application use for Guild Wars 2, please refer to Gaile Gray’s thread:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Policy-Third-Party-Programs/first#post354869

The best way for a player to assess whether a specific third-party program could have any impact on another player or a PvP opponent is to ask:
• “Does this program allow someone to play faster, better, longer, or more accurately than someone who doesn’t use it?”
• “Does this program allow someone to ‘play’ when he/she is not at the computer?”
• “Does this program allow the user to gain undeserved rewards?”

The SMAA injector does none of the following, so there for yes it is safe. Instead of making players feel threatened by your policies, perhaps the developers could give us real AA within the game.

Nitro.4732:

well apparently Nvidia are recommending their members to us SMAA injector for other games such as Borderlands 2. This is an interesting discussion indeed.

source

That’s due to the fact Nvidia has given up on 2x, 4x and 8x AA. Their future is TXAA and FXAA. ATI/AMD will be the way of the future for true AA.

@Crawford: No. It is not that Nvidia or ATI/AMD has given up on 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x, xxx AA.

The issue is MSAA and games increasingly using deferred renderers. In case you didn’t know it yet, deferred renderers do not work with MSAA. So how does that affect your 2x, 4x, 8x, etc AA methods?

The problem is your understanding of what a 2x, 4x, 8x AA is. When someone says 4x AA, what do they really mean? Is it 4x MSAA? Is it 4x SSAA? The method is not specified at all, and that is what you are losing valuable information in communicating the anti aliasing method.

So take the fanboy bias out and look at the problem objectively. This game uses a deferred renderer. Deferred renderers do not work with MSAA. All the 2x, 4x, 8x, etc AA methods you are referring to are MSAA methods. They don’t work.

FXAA works with deferred renderers, therefore FXAA is the method provided.

Based on the response by the tech support representative and the link he/she has given its 100% safe to use the SMAA injector as it alters no file what so ever on the game client and it does not provide any unfair advantage or anything that breaks the game mechanics.

Does anybody else experience crashes when using the injector when the game should be closed? The launcher crashes for me then. Not a big deal though since the game should be closed anyway of course. The error message is always related to the injected d3d9.dll.

florence.1674:

The issue is MSAA and games increasingly using deferred renderers. In case you didn’t know it yet, deferred renderers do not work with MSAA.

Under Direct3D9, this is true

Under Direct3D 10.1 and 11, not so much.