Cinematic effects
Wind in the trees, soft shadows, bloom, sun rays, lens flares, depth of field and a real night sky – and how to tune all of it.
Madrigal looks more alive on Orelia: trees sway in the wind, shadows soften in the distance, the sun dazzles and stars twinkle at night. You can switch every one of these effects on or off or adjust how strong it is.
What is new
- Windtrees lean from their base, gusts roll across meadows and forests as waves, and only the leaves flutter
- Shadowscrisp right at your feet, soft further away; the cool sky light stays visible inside shadows
- Cloud shadowslarge, soft patches of shade drift across the land with the wind
- Lampsup to 32 lamps, torches and fires light the scene at once, with the light sitting at the lamp head
- Bloombright areas such as sky, clouds, pale walls and glinting water glow gently
- Sun rays and lens flaresshafts of light and flares from the sun that fade when something blocks it
- Depth of fieldthe background goes soft while your character stays sharp
- Night skytwo layers of stars, the Milky Way and a moon with craters
The “Effects” tab
Open it with /postfx or through the options. At the top you pick a style:
- Original – the classic look of the game
- Cinematic – the default
- Ultra – everything turned up
Below that you switch individual effects on or off: bloom, ambient occlusion (SSAO), screen-space reflections (SSR), sun rays, lens flares, anti-aliasing (FXAA), sharpening, vignette and film grain. Post quality (Performance, Balanced, Quality) sets the resolution these effects are calculated at; Performance roughly halves their cost.
Strength sliders
| Slider | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Depth of Field | 0–100 % | 60 % |
| Bloom | 0–2 | 1.00 |
| Lens Flares | 0–2 | 1.00 |
| Sun Rays | 0–2 | 1.00 |
| Color Saturation | 0–2 | 1.00 |
| Sharpening | 0–1 | 0.35 |
| Vignette | 0–2 | 1.00 |
| Shadow Strength | 0–100 % | 92 % |
| Shadow Softness | 0–3 | 1.00 |
The switch decides whether an effect runs, the slider decides how strong it is. Set Shadow Softness to 0 for the hard shadows of the old days.
Names stay sharp
Names, HP bars and speech bubbles are drawn after the effects, so neither depth of field nor haze will ever blur them.
Wind, sky and clouds
These sliders live in the World tab:
- Wind – how much trees and grass move (0 = still)
- Night sky – stars and the Milky Way, only at night and only in open sky
- Soft clouds – an extra soft cloud layer drifting with the wind (off by default)
- Moon rays – cool-toned light shafts from the moon
- Moon size – how big the moon appears
- Cloud shadow and Cloud size – strength and scale of the cloud shadows
If the picture feels too soft
Depth of field only touches the background on purpose. If things still look blurry to you:
- Lower Depth of Field – at 0 % it is switched off completely.
- Check the haze – with No fog in the World tab, a haze covers the distance; turn Haze down.
- Raise Sharpening – a little more sharpening brings back detail.
Suggested settings
For the full look: style Cinematic, Post quality Balanced, Wind 1.0. If your PC is at its limit, use Performance post quality – it roughly halves the cost of the effects, at the price of slight halos around edges. For a calm, open view into the distance, combine No fog with a bit of depth of field.