This guide aims to show fans and newcomers of the game how to get the very best experience with Arkham Asylum. Players are free to tailor the game to their tastes. There are three key ways to improve visuals:

• For newcomers who want to experience the game as intended while still benefiting from graphical upgrades, install just the Advanced Launcher & HD Texture Pack. Leave Depth Of Field enabled in the Advanced Launcher settings.
  
• Navigate with the sections list on the right. All downloads are kept in the Downloads section.
  
• This guide is focused on the Steam version of the game, but all mods work with the EGS version.
  
• Take note of the game's install directory. Steam users can do this by right-clicking the game in the Steam library: Select 'Properties' > 'Local Files' > 'Browse...'
  The game's directory should be revealed in File Explorer.

Our Arkham City Update has dropped!

HD Texture Packs improve surface quality on objects and characters throughout a video-game.

This tutorial video by VeryThickBoy covers how to install the mods on this page. Please refer to the video if experiencing issues during the installation process.



Backing up CookedPC folder will take 5gb, and Texture Pack installation requires an extra 3.5gb to install. CookedPC back up is not required, but is still suggested.

For anyone who intends to play the Joker or Prey In The Darkness DLC, install it first. Make sure the DLC runs properly before proceeding with texture pack installation.

Extract Asylum Reborn contents to the game directory
\Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY\

Steam users can navigate to the game's install directory by right-clicking the game on Steam, selecting Properties > Local Files > Browse.


Back Up "CookedPC" folder before proceeding with Texture Pack installation.


Run the installation batch file in the game directory

Texmod relies on specific codes to know what textures to replace, but the codes for many character textures change when the texture pack is installed due to those textures being changed.

Texmod mods either have to be ported to work with the texture pack (ideally by the modder themselves), or the textures they mod should be removed from the texture pack files so the Texmod codes remain the same.

If it's a Batman skin mod, Batman's textures should be removed from the HD Texture Pack folder before installing the texture pack. The CookedPC folder should be reverted to vanilla before doing so. If the right files have been removed, then the skin mods will still work through Texmod.


Porting the textures from the mod so they can be installed directly to the game is ideal, but the modder responsible for the mod will have to share the original texture files and rename them accordingly. The texture format has to be .dds when porting and the settings are usually BC1/DXT1 with auto-generated mipmaps. Up to 4k resolution is supported for character diffuse and normal map textures. Ported textures have to be placed in the HD Texture Pack folder before installation.

Texture installation tools used available here for any modders who want to port their textures:
https://www.nexusmods.com/batmanarkhamasylum/mods/105

Locating the new Texmod codes to replace the texture pack textures isn't suggested, as the codes can change randomly.

Designed by Neato. Adds more launch options.
- HD Texture Pack support, improved graphical adjustments, FoV hotkeys, increase FPS cap etc.

Refer to the Downloads section for Batman Arkham Asylum - Advanced Launcher - download BmLauncher.zip in the downloads link of the page.

Hovering the mouse cursor over any setting will provide context.

Extract BmLauncher.zip - BmLauncher.exe & NLog.dll should appear.

Go to the game directory: Right click the game on Steam, and select Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files. This will open the game directory in File Explorer. Open the "Binaries" folder.



"BmLauncher.exe" is inside this folder - back it up if preferred. Transfer the downloaded files (BmLauncher.exe and NLog.dll) to this folder. Overwrite if prompted.

NLog.dll is used to help with troubleshooting any issues by creating a log document. - It's required for BmLauncher.exe to run.



The game can now be started directly from Steam, and will prompt the new launcher automatically.

Advanced BmLauncher - Source Code[github.com]
Advanced BmLauncher - Read Me[github.com]
Advanced BmLauncher - Report Issues[github.com]

The rest of the display settings are self-explanatory.

Use one of the preset options if overwhelmed by the number of settings. Tooltips appear when hovering over each setting.

After choosing preferred settings, select the Texture Pack fix. This will edit the necessary texture group values, allowing the HD Texture Pack to run properly.
"START GAME" will automatically apply selected settings.

The Advanced Launcher will automatically enable HUD & FoV toggling.

Reshade[reshade.me] is a post-processing injector developed by Crosire for use in almost any game. It allows users to write and add custom post-processing shaders to adjust a game's visuals.

The Reshade presets designed for this game are very carefully tuned to improve visuals. No over the top contrast-y or reflection heavy presets.

Anti-Aliasing and Ambient Occlusion must be disabled in the launcher if using Reshade presets beyond "Light Mode". Different Anti-Aliasing solution is included with Reshade. Disabling Depth Of Field is suggested if using LUTs. HBAO+ can be used in conjunction with Reshade.

Extract the Reshade presets file (from the Downloads section), and copy the contents to the "Binaries" folder (where the game is located)

Launch the game. Reshade is now installed and ready. Initial load may be slow.

NOTE: Hotkeys can be configured in the settings tab of the Reshade window.

Shaders can be individually toggled with the checkbox in the Reshade window. Presets names are at the top of the window (4 - Regular).

All comparisons are with DoF disabled, which removes the vanilla colour tints. Leave DoF enabled if preferred.

MultiLUT for colour grading:
The MultiLUT shader is used to rotate between multiple LUTs (Look Up Tables) - This is a colour reference chart used for professional colour grading. It's the definitive grading method in Reshade because it's light on performance. Adobe Premiere is the main software used when designing these LUTs.

Reshade shaders used to improve graphics

Scroll through the presets using "Page Up" and "Page Down". MultiLUT/Colour Grading changes will have to be made on a per preset basis.

Presets are ordered by performance impact, from the lightest preset to the heaviest.

The 'Play as Joker' DLC was originally an exclusive for PS3. When Arkham Asylum eventually released for Mac OS, it was packaged with the PS3 DLC. The necessary files were ported over (by Catspaw & Floobagop) for the Windows version. The game executable also has to be configured in the process. Additionally, the Prey In The Darkness challenge maps were ported over, which include areas not available in the campaign.

Extract and copy the contents to the game directory: \Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY\
Overwrite when requested. For anyone who intends to use this DLC, install it before installing the HD Texture Pack to avoid potential file conflicts. Test the DLC is installed correctly before proceeding with Texture Pack installation.

With the power of machine learning, pre-rendered cutscenes have been improved and elevated in quality. More info and download here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1976626676

Optional mod for players looking for a more difficult experience. Should be installed before Asylum Reborn. Check Knightfall Overhaul Readme if Asylum Reborn is already installed.

Advantages:
Rain
More shadows

Disadvantages:
Changed art style
Limited to 1080p rendering (even on Xbox One X)
Still uses original 720p cutscenes in some cases to save budget
Some graphical bugs
Inconsistent frame rates

Advantages:
Much higher resolution
HBAO+
4k cutscenes
60fps and beyond
Physx
Updated textures sometimes higher in resolution
Console Commands
Any controller or K+M

Disadvantages:
Low quality distant island objects
No rain

* These are the minimum requirements that will let you enjoy this mod to its fullest extent.
The values we determined are very safe and you might still be able to run the mod without issues with lower specifications.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1188257825
Alien: Isolation Tweaker[www.nexusmods.com]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2566111310
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1156086818

"Subscribe to my Youtube Channel for more graphics mods."

We have started a Discord server focused on graphics modding[discord.gg]

The game has a hard resolution cap for certain textures (particularly environment textures), meaning the quality can't be pushed for some of them. This is something we haven't been able to solve. If anyone knows a solution, please reach out to us on our Discord server.[discord.gg]

Since Texmod injects by external means, it doesn't have to worry about this resolution cap and so we've relied on it for a few textures where it makes sense to, and have kept the file extremely small to keep loading times minimal.

We're not sure how to and we've mostly moved away from Arkham Asylum to focus on Arkham City. It may be possible to add rain with the help of UE Explorer. If anyone wants to give it a try or has some modding knowledge, get in touch with us on Discord.[discord.gg]

Only Nvidia cards can enable HBAO+ since it's on the driver level. Enabling both is fine, and some will want to as HBAO+ only applies to environments.

If you've installed the Reshade presets, you can toggle Reshade's AO shaders with the "End" key. If you're using Launcher Anti-Aliasing, then stick to HBAO+, as the game's AA solution can interfere with Reshade's depth based shaders.

Troubleshooting:

"S**t happened, d'oh!" error when using Texmod

This is likely because of your anti-virus. Texmod is completely safe to use.

Dark Cutscenes with Reshade:

This is a side effect of the MXAO shader. You can reduce the impact by lowering the MXAO ambient occlusion intensity (in the Reshade window) - or you can use Nvidia HBAO+ and disable MXAO.

Texmod failing to load the game automatically from the Launcher

Adjusting the WinWaitDelay in the default.ini file in the Binaries folder may solve this. Higher values are better for slower computers.

The second way to fix this is to right-click your desktop after launch. This should resume the script if it's paused.

Alternatively, remove "texmod_autoload" in the Binaries folder. Rename "Texmod.exe" to "texmod_autoload.exe". This will remove the script, and force the Advanced Launcher to launch regular Texmod instead. This means having to manually select the .tpf file every time.

Shadow banding/artifacts on character models

Lower the shadow coverage settings in the launcher.

Advanced Launcher:

"Unhandled Exception: NVAPI_ACCESS_DENIED" when using BmLauncher, how do I fix this?

This may come from a faulty driver install or outdated drivers for Nvidia cards. Please update your drivers to the latest version.

For anything Advanced Launcher specific, please contact the tool creator directly.

Report issues here[github.com].

Donate to GPUnity's Paypal[www.paypal.com]

Evergreen[www.nexusmods.com] - Covered some environment textures, and general assistance with other textures. Config experimenting and shared Unreal Engine 3 knowledge.
F4lc0[www.nexusmods.com] - General testing and feedback. Handled communications between servers and other modders.
GPUnity - Covered character textures and numerous others.
Hecusoldier - Updated some environment textures such as dirt, clouds and skyline textures. Did a long play test of the HD Texture Pack. Check out their Assassin's Creed Series Texture Packs!
Neato - Created the Advanced Launcher and processed 4k cutscenes which are featured in the Asylum Reborn trailer. Assisted and provided feedback with project.
VeryThickBoy - General testing and feedback. Created the extensive tutorial video.
Wastelander[www.nexusmods.com] - Engine researching and experimenting. Heavy testing and documenting findings.
Wasteland Ghost[www.nexusmods.com] - Created texture tools and made it possible to install HD textures directly to the game files. Check out their many amazing mods!

Special thanks to MrJAG for their many useful findings and community support.

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Reshade Shader Developers: BlueSkyDefender, Jacob Maximilian Fober, Luluco250, Martins Upitis, Otis_Inf, Pascal Gilcher, PirateKitty & Prod80

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Additional:
Catspaw & Floobagop - for the Play As Joker mod (quote taken from forum) "Special thanks to catspaw for his outstanding modding work and to Floobagop for researching and documenting the Mac version of the game."
ChaotcelV3 - For noting compatibility with GOG version.
Crosire - Reshade lead developer

Thanks to the Arkham modding community and thanks to everyone for waiting patiently for this update!