Achieve RDR2 Deep Surface Quality on Linux: Easy Steps

I wanted to get the best possible graphics out of Red Dead Redemption 2 on my Linux machine. I’d heard some buzz about tweaking a setting called “Deep Surface Quality” to get some really noticeable improvements. So, I thought I’d give it a shot and share my experience.

First, I made sure that all the regular graphic settings were on ULTRA or High. After that, I unlocked the advanced settings and played around with them. I could already see some improvements. You know, things like water, fog, and reflections looked way better after messing with those advanced settings.

But I was really after that “Deep Surface Quality” thing. I had heard that I need to change the settings in the game’s file to do it. I did some digging online and found out that to really crank up this “Deep Surface Quality” thing, you supposedly need to mess around with the game’s `*` file. I even found a comment online where someone said they changed their deep surface quality to ultra in the settings. I got excited and thought I should try it too.

Before diving into the files, I messed around with some other settings. Someone recommended setting the “Far Shadow Quality” to at least “Medium” to avoid losing shadows in the distance, which is supposed to add more depth to the visuals. Seemed like solid advice.

• I also messed with the resolution scale which was near the bottom of the settings page, and I made sure that it was OFF.
• I also checked the resolution size setting near the top and set it to what I wanted.
• I also set every single setting as low as they’ll possibly go, leaving only Texture Quality and Anisotropic Filtering at Ultra and x16 of course.

After changing the settings, I ran a couple of benchmarks to see how my frame rates were holding up.

So yeah, that’s where I’m at right now. I managed to get the game to look a lot better by messing around with the in-game settings. It seems like Linux can handle the game pretty well, based on what I’ve read online. So, I thought I will just go with the higher quality version of the settings.

I just wanted to share my experience here in case anyone else was trying to get RDR2 looking its best on Linux. It’s definitely doable with some tweaking!