Although Rockstar Games made them wait, PC gamers have finally been able to sink their teeth into Red Dead Redemption 2. While the Red Dead is plenty gorgeous on console, the PC version offers the flexibility of customization that fans of the platform crave. However, while many like to dig into the settings to get the most out of their rigs, one Red Dead Redemption 2 player has done the opposite.
LowSpecGamer is a YouTube channel that focuses on games running at the lowest settings possible. In most cases, games don’t look terribly different when running at the lowest settings but a select few deliver memorable changes. Red Dead Redemption 2 is one such PC gaming experience.
On the lowest setting, Red Dead Redemption 2’s models shun all the essential textures and details that make them look realistic. Humans look more like Slenderman than grifters trying to survive in the New West. In some places, it’s downright disturbing to see low polygon models move and interact with Rockstar Games’ world.
Traveling through the landscapes of Red Dead Redemption 2 is supposed to be a serene, zen-like experience, but when the characters look like toddler toys and the horses barely resemble the animal, it’s a bit jarring. Some environments even lose their detail altogether.
Of course, LowSpecGamer isn’t just dropping the settings down to low on Red Dead Redemption 2 to deliver these types of results. As the video shows, they dug deep into the code of RDR to reduce individual values and see what happens. For example, manipulating the vehicleLODBias to -1 in the game eliminates the carriage portion of a wagon. Reducing the lodScale value to -1 leaves all of the foliage on the ground but eliminates the actual ground textures.
One of the values of games being on PC is manipulating the code in funny ways like this. Obviously very few are going to dig deep into the files to see what the game would look like without certain textures, but that’s where content creators like LowSpecGamer come in.
For the rest of us, the PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2 opens up the opportunity to boost the frame rate and textures to see just how much detail Rockstar Games packed into its latest release. And while the studio hasn’t said much about official mods just yet, most figure those are on the way as well. Perhaps someone will be able to combine the low spec with some crazy mods to deliver even weirder Red Dead creations.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.