Magically Oilified Valheim – A ReShade Preset for Valheim

Play Valheim as if you were in a magical oil painting by using this ReShade preset.
This documentation is based on Windows 10 and ReShade 4.9.1.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Step 1  – Download and Install ReShade Including Different Shaders

1. Download ReShade from https://reshade.me. (The name of the downloadable file is “ReShade_Setup_4.9.1.exe”.)
2. Execute the downloaded file and click on “Click here to select a game and manage its ReShade installation”.
3. Locate and select “valheim (valheim.exe)” – then click on “Use selected application”. If the game doesn’t appear in the “Select a game or application” list, you will have to browse and select the “valheim.exe” file manually. For Steam users it is located in “\steamapps\common\Valheim”.
4. For the rendering API select “Direct3D 10/11/12”.
5. Select “SweetFX by CeeJay.dk”, “AstrayFX by BlueSkyDefender” and “Insane-Shaders by Lord of Lunacy”. Click each checkbox until you see a square and not a check mark. Click “OK”. (“Standard effects” is mandatory and can’t be unselected.)
6. For “Select ‘SweetFX’ files to install” click “Uncheck all” – then select “ColorMatrix.fx” and “Levels.fx” and click “OK”.
7. For “Select ‘AstrayFX’ files to install” click “Uncheck all” – then select “NFAA.fx” and click “OK”.
8. For “Select ‘Insane-Shaders’ files to install” click “Uncheck all” – then select “Oilify.fx” and click “OK”.
9. Wait until installation is complete. Then click on the “X” in the upper right corner. (To update or uninstall ReShade, launch this tool and select the game and rendering API again. An option to update and an option to uninstall will pop up then.)
10. Copy the ReShade preset “ReShadePreset_MagicallyOilifiedValheim.ini”, which you can download here, into your Valheim root directory.

Step 2 – Setup and Use ReShade In-game

1. Start Valheim and wait until you see the start menu.
2. Press the Home key. (The naming of this key depends on the country you live in – click here for a graphic showing the position of the Home key on a keyboard.)
3. Click on “Skip Tutorial”.
4. Click on the select box where you can read “ReShadePreset” – it’s located right below the menu bar of the ReShade tool and next to the plus in the upper right corner of the ReShade tool.
5. Select “ReShadePreset_MagicallyOilifiedValheim” and click on “Select”.
6. Click on “Settings” in the menu bar of the ReShade tool. Then click on the the “Effect toggle key” field. Hold down the left Shift key and press F. Afterwards click somewhere outside the ReShade tool. Now you can easily turn on and off the shader effects by pressing left Shift and F together.
7. For better performance, click on “Performance Mode” in the lower right corner of the ReShade tool.
8. Press the Home key again to close the ReShade GUI. That’s it. Feel free to play around with the values!

Additional Notes

• Important: Since ReShade basically acts as a filter on top of the “game window”, the shaders used also affect UI elements, which in this case means that the UI elements (including fonts) also get the “oilified” touch. If you don’t like that, here are a few suggestions that might help.
• Important: If you find it too dark in-game, especially in the dungeons or at night, just disable “Levels.fx” in the shader list. (Press the Home key to open the ReShade GUI – then click on “Home” in the menu bar of the ReShade tool to see the shader list.)
• Here are useful tips for taking screenshots in Valheim.

Credits

• ReShade team for the great post-processing injector
• CeeJay.dk for the SweetFX shaders
• BlueSkyDefender for the AstrayFX shaders
• Lord of Lunacy for the Insane-Shaders shaders