GTA 5 Graphics Mod Makes The Game Look Like Real Life

GTA V's modding scene has been a slow and evolving ecosystem. It's not like the modding scene for GTA IV where modders took some time to understand the new system and hit the ground running. Nevertheless, modders have finally stepped up their game and have begun making total graphics conversions for Rockstar's open-world action title.

Kotaku spotted the update from modder and engineering enthusiast Josh Romito. The mod is called the Pinnacle of V and you can get a taste of how it enhances GTA V with the video below.

The mod is nearly 1GB big and contains 4K texture overhauls for the water, foliage, plants, streets and sky. It reduces the fog but increases the transparency to make it look more misty instead of thick and hazy. The mod includes an overhauled shader for color correction and proper saturation based on a Reshade mod, as well as a modified version of Boris Vorontsov's ENB graphics enhancement mod to add more depth and dynamism to the shadows and reflections. There's also improved Bokeh depth of field that has been implemented, similar to the kind featured in Hayssam Keilany's iCEnhancer for GTA IV.

It's not all graphics enhancements, though. Romito has also completely overhauled the gameplay to match the new graphics. Romito has included brand new gun physics so that instead of hit-scans there are actual projectiles that have projectile momentum and drop. He also completely changed the way the cars handle, focusing more on realism than the stiff arcade physics that Rockstar went with for the vanilla version of GTA V.

The cars aren't quite as realistic as the realistic handling mod from GTA IV, but it's definitely a step up from what it was in the standard version of GTA V. The cars have more bounce, slide and a bit less traction than vanilla. This helps give the cars a more dynamic feel when they slam into walls, objects and other vehicles.

There have also been updates to the rag-dolls where they have more realistic reactions when being shot and hit. You can see that in action partially in the video above, where the characters get hit by the car and properly slide off the hood without flopping around like a fish out of water.

One of the things I thought was most interesting was the update to the pedestrian, animal, police and gang relations. This means that players will see more accurate representations of crowd density during different times of the day. GTA V's NPCs will also interact more aggressively with each other without the player always having to get involved, which Romito states makes the game more “lively”.

You can check out the features for this GTA V overhaul or download the 1GB mod by heading on over to the official Pinnacle of V website.