At E3 2013, CD Projekt RED showed a “gameplay” trailer for The Witcher 3 that looked much better than the final game. Now, more than ten years later, a modder has used REDkit to recreate lighting that comes very close to what we saw in that trailer.
Going into more details, the VGX Lighting Mod aims to modify The Witcher 3’s visual style to match how it looked when it was shown during the VGX 2013 trailer. The modder has used uncompressed screenshots as a reference when making this mod.
Some areas of the game have been reimagined to better match some areas from the trailers. The mod was also made from the ground up, using no other lighting mods as a base. Now, the good news is that VGX Lighting Mod Next Gen can be played with raster graphics (no RT), and on DX11 mode. So, those without a high-end GPU will be able to use it.
To showcase his results, -Crasher- recreated the iconic E3 2013 trailer. This video will give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect from it. So, be sure to watch it. I’ve also included the original E3 2013 trailer so that you can compare them.
From what I can see, the modder was able to come really close to it. There are some areas in which the E3 2013 trailer looks better. Not only that, but you will see that the E3 2013 had a lot more of particles effects that are not present in the final version of the game. That was one of the biggest downgrades we saw with the game when it came out. Still, compared to the vanilla launch version, this modded lighting looks way better.
Those interested can go ahead and download the mod from this link.
Speaking of The Witcher 3 Next-Gen, you can also download some other cool mods for it. For example, there is a really cool first-person mod. The Characters Reworked Project is another interesting mod that improves the quality of over 100 characters. Let’s also not forget this mod that lets you kill most in-game NPCs. Then we have this mod that overhauls the game’s combat with better animations, better targeting, and new dodging mechanics.
In July 2024, we shared mods that restored the boat races and added 15 new quests. A modder has also restored the reputation system that CDPR cut from the game. Plus, there is a cool fan expansion, based on the original book “The Last Wish”.
In December 2023, we shared this mod that restores content that was cut from all previous The Witcher games. Then, in February 2024, we shared a mod that attempted to remove the fake “hero” light from the game’s cut-scenes. There is also this mod that allows you to explore a part of the world from the first The Witcher game in TW3. Oh, and don’t forget this mod that allows you to ride a Griffin. Or how about this Sekiro-inspired combat mod?
We also have some mods for those playing with Ray Tracing. The RTX Mirrors Mod adds proper reflections to the game’s mirrors. Then we have this mod that improves the fire effects via Ray Tracing Global Illumination. Plus, this mod fixes the Ray Tracing bleach issues.
Enjoy and stay tuned for more!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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