How to create Graphic Packs

Graphic packs are like upscaling 3D in emulators but with more features. Anyone can make one (assuming they have the necessary know-how) and users can download and install them. In the options of Cemu, individual graphic packs can then be enabled or disabled. Additionally, multiple graphic packs can be active for the same game as long as they don't interfere with each other, and different games can be activated at the same time. You can mix and match according to your own personal preference.

What graphic packs are able to do:

• Change the game's internal resolution
• Increase the resolution and quality of shadows
• Modify or remove post-processing effects
• Workarounds for graphic bugs until there's a proper solution
• Change lighting related aspects of the game
• Custom Anti-Aliasing
• Better LOD Bias
• Modify game files
• Run 30fps games in 60fps (via Cemuhook)
• Modify aspect ratio (via Cemuhook)
• And much more...

From a technical standpoint, graphic packs allow the following:

• Overwrite certain texture properties (like the resolution)
• Overwrite shaders (very powerful since almost everything that gets drawn on the screen uses shaders)
• Replace game files (such as replacing Link with Zelda)
• Modify game code (via Cemuhook)

Create a graphic pack

A graphic pack is a folder with the the name of the game. This graphic pack repository exclusively uses pascal case, suffixed by the graphic packs function, separated by an underscore. For example: NameOfGame_Resolution. It'll always need to have a rules.txt included with this. Optionally, this folder can also contain custom shaders (files ending with _vs.txt or _ps.txt) or a patches.txt file (which are used by Cemuhook).

Rules

This is the core file of any graphic pack, since rules.txt contains information about the graphic pack, the games it is applied to. Optionally, you can also find presets or texture redefines here that can modify texture properties. Everything after a # character is considered a comment. There's also the singular vsyncFrequency rule, which is used in some graphic packs that deal with framerates.

An example from a section of a resolution pack

[Definition]
titleIds = 00050000101C9300,00050000101C9400,00050000101C9500
name = Resolution
path = "Minecraft: Wii U Edition/Graphics/Resolution"
description = Changes the game's resolution.
version = 3

[Preset]
name = 1280x720 (Default)
$width = 1280
$height = 720
$gameWidth = 1280
$gameHeight = 720

[Preset]
name = 3840x2160
$width = 3840
$height = 2160
$gameWidth = 1280
$gameHeight = 720

# TV Resolution

[TextureRedefine]
width = 1280
height = 720
formats = 0x0000001a,0x00000011,0x00000820
overwriteWidth = ($width/$gameWidth) * 1280
overwriteHeight = ($height/$gameHeight) * 720

There are the four sections: [Definition], [Preset], [Control] and [TextureRedefine]. Let's take a closer look at each one of these.

name	description
titleIds	List of one or multiple titleIds (unique game indentifier) which are used to determine for which games this pack is active.
name	Name which appears in Cemu's "Graphic packs" window. Setting it to a short, identifiable name is recommended. (ex: Resolution)
path	Path which appears in Cemu's "Graphic packs" window. Setting it with the game's name is recommended, followed by it's category and name, all separated by slashes (ex: "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Graphics/Resolution")
description	The description of what the pack does.
version	Version 3 is used since Cemu 1.13.0 and must always be set.

name	description
name	The name of this preset, which appears in this graphic pack's preset dropdown in Cemu's "Graphic packs" window.
$[variable]	A set variable for the preset. Can be width, height, scale multiply, bloom strength, etc. (ex: $width, $height, $multiply, $strength). You can have multiple variables in each preset of course.

name	description
vsyncFrequency	Sets the VSync frequency to any value that you want.

name	description
width	The width of the texture that you want to modify.
height	The height of the texture that you want to modify.
formats	The formats of the textures must match any of these ('0x' prefix denotes hexadecimal format, can contain multiple formats separated by comma).
overwriteLodBias	Overwrites the game's lod bias. Typical valid values are in range -16.0 to 16.0.
overwriteRelativeLodBias	Add value to game's lod bias rather than overwriting it. Typical valid values are in range -16.0 to 16.0.
depth	Unknown usage
tilemodes	Unknown usage
formatsExcluded	If any of the filter settings above are omitted they are not evaluated. This allows you to write a rule that, for example, only filters for the width of a texture but not the height.
tileModesExcluded	Skips CPU-generated textures, generally used by videos (ex. Xenoblade Chronicles X, Bayonetta 2).
overwriteFormat	Replaces all the formats under this resolution (unless included/excluded via formats/excludeFormats) with the one defined here.
overwriteDepth	Unknown usage
overwriteWidth	Like filter settings you can omit individual overwrite settings. This allows to selectively overwrite the width but not the height etc.
overwriteHeight	Like filter settings you can omit individual overwrite settings. This allows to selectively overwrite the height but not the width etc.

Possible formats

Texture Name	Code
R8_UINT	0x101
R8_SNORM	0x201
R8_SINT	0x301
R4_G4_UNORM	0x002
R16_UNORM	0x005
R16_UINT	0x105
R16_SNORM	0x205
R16_SINT	0x305
R16_FLOAT	0x806
R8_G8_UNORM	0x007
R8_G8_UINT	0x107
R8_G8_SNORM	0x207
R8_G8_SINT	0x307
R5_G6_B5_UNORM	0x008
R5_G5_B5_A1_UNORM	0x00a
R4_G4_B4_A4_UNORM	0x00b
A1_B5_G5_R5_UNORM	0x00c
R32_UINT	0x10d
R32_SINT	0x30d
R32_FLOAT	0x80e
R16_G16_UNORM	0x00f
R16_G16_UINT	0x10f
R16_G16_SNORM	0x20f
R16_G16_SINT	0x30f
R16_G16_FLOAT	0x810
D24_S8_UNORM	0x011
X24_G8_UINT	0x111
D24_S8_FLOAT	0x811
R11_G11_B10_FLOAT	0x816
R10_G10_B10_A2_UNORM	0x019
R10_G10_B10_A2_UINT	0x119
R10_G10_B10_A2_SNORM	0x219
R10_G10_B10_A2_SINT	0x319
R10_G10_B10_A2_SRGB	0x419
R8_G8_B8_A8_UNORM	0x01a
R8_G8_B8_A8_UINT	0x11a
R8_G8_B8_A8_SNORM	0x21a
R8_G8_B8_A8_SINT	0x31a
R8_G8_B8_A8_SRGB	0x41a
A2_B10_G10_R10_UNORM	0x01b
A2_B10_G10_R10_UINT	0x11b
D32_FLOAT_S8_UINT_X24	0x81c
X32_G8_UINT_X24	0x11c
R32_G32_UINT	0x11d
R32_G32_SINT	0x31d
R32_G32_FLOAT	0x81e
R16_G16_B16_A16_UNORM	0x01f
R16_G16_B16_A16_UINT	0x11f
R16_G16_B16_A16_SNORM	0x21f
R16_G16_B16_A16_SINT	0x31f
R16_G16_B16_A16_FLOAT	0x820
R32_G32_B32_A32_UINT	0x122
R32_G32_B32_A32_SINT	0x322
R32_G32_B32_A32_FLOAT	0x823
BC1_UNORM	0x031
BC1_SRGB	0x431
BC2_UNORM	0x032
BC2_SRGB	0x432
BC3_UNORM	0x033
BC3_SRGB	0x433
BC4_UNORM	0x034
BC4_SNORM	0x234
BC5_UNORM	0x035
BC5_SNORM	0x235