Note that there is a bug where you can't play the game with lighting set to very high without altering a setting first in the game config file in the install directory! Otherwise you will get a black screen! It is important that you do this if you want to avoid using DirectX 8 and shader model 1.1 and instead use DirectX 9 Shader model 3.0.

First thing is first. Find your 'system.cfg' file in your Far Cry install directory (in the main 'FarCry' folder) and look for the cvar r_shadersPrecache. change it from '1' to '0' and you'll have shader model 3.0 in windows Vista and above (or 2.x if you've got an older ATI GPU that can't handle SM3.0). that is to say, you'll be able to enable 'very high' lighting quality without having any black screens on startup or other issues.

Now, on to the actual steps needed to get the most visually stunning version of the game up and running on your machine.

I suggest you grab the 64 bit patch and content update for this game as well. It gives the game MUCH nicer textures, effects like HDR lighting and a plethora of other enhancements like further draw distance and really makes the game look super modern for being a 2004 release. But please do note that you can not have AA enabled at the same time as HDR in game. Force AA with your AMD or Nvidia programs. In order to turn on HDR lighting you need to press the tilde key ~ follow these instructions.

To enable HDR, start Farcry, open the console, and type in "\r_hdrrendering 7" and press enter. Why 7? Well technically numbers 1 - 11 are available. Each one offers a variation of HDR. Number 7 seems to be the preffered number. Experiment with others if you like.

To disable HDR, simply type in "\r_hdrrendering 0" and press enter.

Also, I suggest going into options and turning the renderer to enhanced or paradise mode!

You can find everything you need to know on how to get the 64 bit content working by this great guide here user Django has made.

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=290196752

If you don't have a 64 bit processor, and want a more modern looking game there is also a nice iron sights mod. Please keep in mind that the iron sights mod and the 64 bit version are not compatible with each other. In fact I think the 64 bit doesn't even support mods due to the SDK not ever being released for the 64 bit version, so you are going to have to figure out what version you want. Also I should note that the 64 bit version is on patch 1.3 while the iron sights works with the 1.4 version.

If you want the iron sights mod you can grab them from here.

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=593964030

Special thanks to user $tackz for that helpful guide.

If you want to see more detailed configuration instructions please check this video out here. He details a lot of fixes like how to get true surround sound mode working. Also please note that this video goes into detail using the 1.9 community patch and a lot of things are not applicable to the 64 bit version! This video also shows side by side video of the 32 bit and 64 bit versions running simultaneously for comparison.


http://www.moddb.com/mods/farcry-addon-mod-fcam/downloads/fcam-farcry-addon-mod-1999

Keep in mind this changes a lot of the textures and stuff so if you are like me and just want to experience the game as the developers intended and have a modern 64 bit processor and OS I recommend the 64 bit patch and content update as well as turning on HDR.

If you don't have a modern processor but want to get the most you can out of what you are working with then the FCAM mod might be best suited to your machines specs.