Finally complete after six years. Full DirectX 11 compatibility and a simplified install process. Offers improved textures and graphics settings. Compatible with Steam, GOG & EGS versions.

Discord Server[discord.gg]

Users should leave the Texture Pack Plus option in the Advanced Launcher disabled, unless Texture Pack Plus has been installed. Enabling it without the right texture pack will cause objects to render a black texture up close.

Refer to the Troubleshooting section before requesting help.


Ascension Overhaul - Optional Difficulty Mod

The Arkham City Redux Installer is a powerful installation tool, built with simplicity in mind.
It automatically creates a backup of relevant files and allows the user to restore those files with the click of a button.

The installer is optimized for 100-150% DPI scaling. It's recommended to change DPI settings at least for the duration of the installation to 150% max or enable High DPI scaling override. People who don't know what DPI scaling is can safely ignore this.

The recommended experience. Updates over a thousand textures. Each texture has been manually inspected and individually treated with care.

Loses most environment texture upgrades (as a result of the game's LOD setup). Much smaller download size, and is not representative of the full experience. Maintains character and UI-related upgrades.

Users can upgrade from Lite to Plus by restoring the game files in the Redux Installer, then installing the Plus version.

Optional download, and can be installed on top of the HD Texture Pack. Allows users to customize certain textures to their liking. Includes multiple cape styles, and a black suit version of Batman.

The main "Installation" section provides guides to locate the game's install path for every supported version.



The manual method does not create backups or automatically install the Advanced Launcher.

After completing either the automatic or manual setup, a command window will open and the actual installation starts.

Requirements
- PC needed for the installation process of the Texture Pack.
- Dock to transfer files directly from PC to Steam Deck.

Important
- The method of changing settings will stop the game launcher from working correctly. To revert changes, delete the replaced BmEngine.ini file.

- Follow the Texture Pack installation procedure on a Windows or Linux PC.
- After installation has completed, navigate to the game folder '\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Batman Arkham City GOTY\BmGame'.
- Copy 'CookedPC' folder to Steam Deck via USB, and replace SteamDeck's CookedPC folder.
Steam Deck Arkham City directory '/home/deck/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Batman Arkham City GOTY/BmGame'.

Installing the settings file is necessary to support and render the Texture Pack correctly and increase graphics quality beyond vanilla.

- Download the Steam Deck Graphics Settings file and extract the zip file
- Navigate to '/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/200260/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/WB Games/Batman Arkham City GOTY/BmGame/Config'.
- Copy BmEngine variant of your choice from downloaded contents, and rename the file to 'BmEngine.ini'.
- Replacing the existing BmEngine.ini file in the config directory. In the properties setting, set permissions to 'Can Only View' for all categories.

For any other settings changes such as FOV keybinds, refer to the PCGW[www.pcgamingwiki.com] page on how to set up miscellaneous options.

Thanks to RyanReeks for extensive testing on Steam Deck.

Similarly to Arkham Asylum, an Advanced Launcher has been developed for Arkham City[neatodev.github.io].
Built from the ground up in C# for .NET 6, the Advanced Launcher removes the need for any manual file configuration and intuitively delivers features such as:

• Support for higher tier graphics options
  
• Option to toggle Startup Movies
  
• High customizability
  
• Adjustable color settings (including pre-made presets)
  
• Two profiles for improved HDR injection
  
• Keybind option for Catwoman's “Quickfire Disarm”[www.pcgamingwiki.com]
  
• DirectX11 Lighting Bug Fix (automatically applied in the background)
  
• Customizable Field of View Hotkeys
  
• Compatibility Fixes for City Redux
  
• Extensive Logging Functionality
  
• … and more

Tooltips are provided for every configuration option. The Advanced Launcher is included with City Redux and will overwrite the game's default launcher during installation. A stand-alone and a dependency free version of the launcher can be downloaded separately.

The HD Texture Pack requires certain settings to be changed in the launcher, depending on the installed version.

The Advanced Launcher offers higher tier graphics settings not available in the vanilla game. Check Redux Comparison to see improvements.

Most notable of these improvements are in the Tessellation Quality and Shadow Quality settings. "Balanced" is a new and suggested Tessellation Quality setting for most systems, delivering a more optimized experience.

Three graphics presets are available, covering a wide range of systems.

Vanilla - The maximum available settings provided by the original launcher. Use this as a reference point or for benchmarking against the vanilla version of the game.
Optimized - Pushes graphics further beyond the original game, while keeping performance in mind.
Ultra - Very demanding. A higher-end GPU is recommended.

Miscellaneous features are stored In the "Extra" tab of the launcher, delivering Quality of Life tweaks amongst other options.


The Advanced Launcher offers two field of view[en.wikipedia.org] options. The hotkeys and sliders are fully customizable and offer field of view options in a safe range (75-150).


The presets and sliders in the configuration section adds control over the colors and brightness of the game without affecting UI elements. This setting can be used for improved input before injecting HDR, and for capturing cinematic screenshots. Six presets are offered with image tooltips to convey how the setting looks in-game.

A special workaround is required for Wine/Proton users. Wine does not fully support .NET 6, and Mono does not successfully translate the code.

With the help of ThisNekoGuy[github.com], a working fix has been found and is available on the official Advanced Launcher Github Page.[neatodev.github.io]

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1159691355
Alien: Isolation Tweaker[www.nexusmods.com]
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2566111310

(Neato)
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1976626676
(GPUnity)

Neato: You can certainly extract and upscale them, even repack them into USM[amicitia.miraheze.org] files (Arkham City, Origins and Knight use this format), but getting the game to accept the modified files is tricky. We have not yet found a way to address this.

NexusMods has a download points system, which allows us to earn a bit of revenue for what are free mods. Donations are also surprisingly rare (maybe 1 in 10,000 users will donate).

GPUnity: I'm done with texture packs and i don't have any plans for other Arkham games (do not ask for an arkham origins texture pack). I want to fully focus on my career.

Texmod skins should be ported using the same texture tools used for the HD Texture Pack, as it allows for full DirectX 11 compatibility and keeps the textures installed in the game. https://www.nexusmods.com/batmanarkhamcity/mods/411

Troubleshooting:

Black textures when near an object

If you installed Texture Pack Lite, please keep the Texture Pack Plus checkbox disabled in the Advanced Launcher.

Widgets debug alert when installing textures

If you downloaded Texture Pack Plus, make sure all three parts are downloaded, with each file manually extracted in the same directory. Use the "restore back up" option in the installer and install the texture pack again.

Redux Installer doesn't see the executable

This is usually down to a pirated copy of the game. We do not support pirated versions.

If you have a legit copy of the game, make sure you locate the main game folder and not a subfolder.

The game crashes upon launch

This can be a result of incomplete installation. It's very important to let the texture pack installation process finish.

To fix this, first restore the original files. This can be done with the installer's "restore back-up" option. Run the game after restoring files to verify stability, and make sure there is at least 20gb of space available on the drive the game's installed on. Run the texture pack installation again and make sure it reaches 100% completion.

Crashes loading levels in-game

Disable Physx. This is a GPU driver issue and you may need to reinstall the drivers to fix Physx compatibility.

Black screen on launch

Disable MSI Afterburner/Rivatuner or Steam FPS overlay.

Colors look off

Likely down to NvInspector. Disable DirectX 11 features in the Advanced Launcher or disable Nvinspector super-sampling.

Installer not responding

During the back-up process, the installer will seem unresponsive if you click the window. This is normal, let the installer finish backing up the files and it will be responsive again.

Advanced Launcher says it's using a weaker GPU

The Advanced Launcher doesn't change what GPU gets used, but it may indicate a different GPU on your system (usually the integrated graphics chip). The game will still use your main GPU.

My performance drops with the Advanced Launcher

If you push the settings further over the original version, it will. You can go back to the original settings by choosing the vanilla preset.

Physx is also a key setting which significantly lowers performance, and you may have had it disabled in the original launcher.

My issue is not listed

Please keep in mind all the contents of the mod are important and should not be interfered with in any way unless you are a very advanced user. The internal setup is extremely complicated. Other mods could also conflict with this mod.

Main
GPUnity - HD Texture Pack. Configuration file findings and testing,
Neato - Advanced Launcher and Redux Installer. Tested HD Texture Pack and helped manage the project.

Wasteland Ghost - Developed the texture tools (UPKUtils) which enabled importing custom textures into the game.

Additional (alphabetical)
Hybris - Auto-HDR tests.
Icemage - Color adjustments finding and Advanced Launcher testing.
Leebaldz5332 - Advanced Launcher performance testing.
Neko-san - Advanced Launcher testing on Linux.
RyanReeks - Steam Deck testing.
TrumpetMonkey - HD Texture Pack installation and stability tests.
VeryThickBoy - General mod testing.
Wastelander - Advanced Launcher testing.