> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.refined.frotty27.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Refined - Graphics

> Better light, shadows, water and sky for 7 Days To Die, while keeping the game's own look.

<Info>
  Still in development. There is no release to download yet.
</Info>

Refined Graphics reworks how the game draws light, shadows, ambient occlusion, reflections, water, weather, the sky and post-processing. It fixes what holds the game's look back, such as shimmering edges, flat lighting and pop-in, and it wins back frames the game spends for nothing.

Every effect has its own switch, and the menu shows what each one costs in frames.

## What it covers

* **Ambient occlusion:** Ambient Only, Clarity AO and Tuned AO.
* **Shadows:** near and far shadows, crisp edges, contact shadows, grass shadows and cloud shadows.
* **Lighting:** lamp glow, light distance, fire flicker, bright bulbs, the flashlight beam and darker nights.
* **Reflections:** HDR reflections and reflections by angle.
* **Water:** natural and flowing water, soft shores, caustics, rain rings, wind on water, water color and an underwater look.
* **Weather and sky:** wet surfaces, snow cover, soft drifts, rain light, lightning, lens droplets, height fog, volumetric light, the moon and the sun disc.
* **Textures and surfaces:** sharper texture loading, trilinear filtering, steady highlights, glass in shade and depth on blocks, props, terrain and held items.
* **Trees and plants:** fuller foliage, natural wind, living grass, trees that keep their detail further away and forests that reach the horizon.
* **Pop-in:** props, trees and vehicles fade in and out instead of appearing suddenly.
* **Your hands:** the screen's ambient occlusion and reflections stay off your arms and gun, and they are lit where they really are.
* **Color:** tonemapping, color styles and a colorblind mode.
* **Frames:** limits and shortcuts that win back frames, such as the screen shadow limit and half-resolution reflections.

The [roadmap](/roadmap) shows what is done, what we are working on and what comes later.

## Choose how much you want

Under **Options > Refined - Graphics** you pick a preset, or switch single effects on and off. Each row shows what the effect costs in frames. Hold the compare key in a world to see the game's own look next to ours.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Install" icon="download" href="/graphics/install">
    Put the mod in the game and turn off EasyAntiCheat.
  </Card>

  <Card title="The options page" icon="sliders" href="/graphics/options-page">
    Presets, the compare key and the live preview.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Settings reference" icon="book-open" href="/graphics/settings">
    Every setting, with its unit, range and default.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="wrench" href="/graphics/troubleshooting">
    An effect does nothing, or the picture looks wrong.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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