On May 22, 1998 the small developer Epic Megagames releases a first person shooter that amazes the gamers and even id legend John Carmack lauds the game: Unreal 1. With revolutionary light effects and extensive outdoor areas the game reaches a visual quality that hasn't been seen before. The impressive graphics are combined with an interesting level design and a halfway interesting story. Unreal 1 is a big success and is followed by several direct and indirect sequels, but the most important fact is that Epic can establish itself as the second big engine supplier besides id.

Even today Unreal 1 looks quite pleasant, especially if you use the ENB Series Mod by Boris Vorontsov. And that's what DrFreaK666 of the 3D Center Forum did. All his screenshots of Unreal 1 with the ENB Series mod have been taken at 1,680 x 1,050 with 16x CSAA and 16:1 AF. The S3TC Texture Patch has not (yet) been installed. Below you can see some comparison pictures with screenshot details. Please note: The ENB Series Mod can cause distortions in Unreal 1, too.

Click to select Unreal version:

  Unreal Default     Unreal ENB  

Click to select Unreal version:

  Unreal Default     Unreal ENB  

Click to select Unreal version:

  Unreal Default     Unreal ENB  

Background: ENB Series Mod
The Russian modder Boris Vorontsov has offered the ENB Series Mods for years. He developed them for several engines respectively games (older ones mainly) and thus improves their graphics.

Boris Vorontsov mainly uses modern effects that he integrates into the games with his mods or he brings the render path to a new level (from DirectX 8 to DirectX 9 for example). Among the effects he uses are diverse Blur filters, SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion) and Indirect Lighting - two technologies that deliver better lighting and shadows. Furthermore his adjustments also affect reflections and water effects.