DreamPunk 3.4.3 SDR, HDR & Bodycam Release

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DESCRIPTION

07/03/2026: DreamPunk 3.4.3 now finally released. Installation is now easier than ever with the new custom designed NGD installer. Update 3.4.3 includes a massive and complete compute-based rewrite of all the official and eligible NGD shaders to enable much higher performance with enhanced stable photorealistic visual performance. The average total shader performance improvement is about 75-150%.

In 3.4.3, you now also have access to a brand new Performance preset that reduces shader performance cost by an additional 30-40%. My expectations is that for many of you, this will make a significant difference on your total FPS. 3.4.3 also includes the new DreamPunk Experimental version - a version designed to test new features and weather effects. Furthermore, tomorrow I will be releasing the full 1.0.0 version of DreamVision (formerly named CSS) together with a full shader installer to apply on any game. Let's go over what's changed in detail:

Development Status 30/05/2026:

DreamPunk 4.0 is on the way and is arriving soon. Here's what is coming:

Shaders no longer affect UI elements - you can now play the game with Depth of Field and have the UI enabled without it ever blurring. This is done through a custom standalone addon that I will be presenting that can be used in most DX12 games. It will also be integrated into the new version of DreamVision that releases shortly. This is something I've tried to solve for over 2 years.

Fully customizable and optional camera module that ensures the game looks exactly like the videos in FPP without any additional user tweaks. Dynamically manipulates and disables Depth of Field where it is not used such as in ADS or in TPP camera for cars. Dynamically changes the DOF look based on weapon equipped.

Instant seamless switching between vanilla and Cyberpunk 2077 by pressing F7 or any chosen hotkey. Every single thing DreamPunk introduces is disabled with the press of a button. You no longer have to uninstall DreamPunk if you want to go back to the vanilla experience, just press a button. Makes it possible to switch to other LUTs that replace the vanilla LUT as well.

Shaders reworked through a multitude of iterations to ensure no more bugs are present. No more strange lines in the middle of the screen. If the Depth of Field ever breaks, I can now guarantee that it is due to the ReShade depth buffer freezing, not the Depth of Field shader.

Replaced the entire infrastructure of the code base in DreamPunk, reducing the risk of crashes greatly.

We'll see if I have the time to include it but I've also been working on a recommended mods software that you can use to easily navigate through my favorite car mods and other quality of life mods that you may want to download. It will take you to the mod page of the mod and it can help you deploy it if you so desire or let you use your mod manager. It's sort of like a lightweight mod manager system. It would be accompanying the installer and help you easily find good picks for whatever you'd like to install

I can't wait to share this update with you guys. See you soon!

DreamPunk 3.4.3 Changelog

Complete compute-based rewrite of all 16 official supported NGD shaders. Enables much higher performance and more stable visuals:

NGD Dynamic Contrast shader was reworked and now works properly and as intended visually.

NGD Cinematic DOF has received a massive overhaul and gives an average of 200% better performance with 0 visual downside.

NGD Dynamic Camera Shake was completely rewritten to ensure equal visual shake but with 1/3 of the performance cost for most systems.

DreamPunk 3.4.3 Performance preset for those that prioritize performance over visuals (minor visual difference for most users).

The new NGD installer for both DreamPunk is now released. It is the most streamlined way to install DreamPunk currently and the process is straightforward:

Easy-to-use interface with all the included options in just one single installer. No more manual files necessary.

Custom installer design with custom code, custom textures, custom icons, written by leveraging pywebview. Designed to make your installation experience a breeze.

For the first time ever, DreamPunk 2.1.1 Legacy is now installable by installer with automated external shader downloads. The classic visuals are now right at your fingertips.

Mod Manager install now supported: On the install confirm page you can press the Mod Manager button at the bottom right to extract a .zip file with all your selections that you can put in your Mod Manager downloads folder to install.

Automatically switches to update mode by tracking your previous DreamPunk version and updates to the latest one of your choice.

Targeted uninstallation directly supported in the installer. If you got tired of the DreamPunk experience and want to try something else: uninstallation's never been more simple.

DreamPunk 3.4.3 Experimental is now released for those that want to try out some new weather looks (This is not necessarily a more "realistic" version, it's a dev version to try out new visuals as I'm working on them).

New version of DreamPunk that was to test new visuals and features. Currently only contains about half of the DreamPunk Stable weathers but with unique changes.

Removes a lot of blue coloring and attempts to neutralize the ambience completely - good for photo sessions where you might want to apply ambience color with shaders instead.

Because of what is mentioned above it is better adapted for leveraging the full posibilites of DreamVision 1.0.0.

Some minor changes:

Time is now unlocked by default, this means your day will progress naturally as you play without unlocking it. You will still have to manually select your weather in the mod menu. I'm still looking into a bulletproof solution to weather transitions that don't break immersion.

Makes the mod menu work with other presets. The mod menu can now hide HUD and auto toggle shaders in menus for any ReShade preset and any external shaders as long as you properly enable the NGDFrameBuffer shader.

Graphics configuration was slightly adapted to release some extra performance with 0 visual downside.

What is DreamPunk?

DreamPunk is a visual project primarily based in ReShade - a collection of minimalistic but effective changes that aim to create a photorealistic look. I originally created DreamPunk as a private tool to create the most realistic graphics showcases possible, it was an experiment to see how far I could push the visual limits. I've continued balancing it to look better in more scenarios and I share my progress towards photo-realism here. The changes focuses on adapting the overall visuals to more closely match real life photography. It achieves this through a number of methods, primarily by introducing a carefully curated set of custom shaders that I've developed over the years for use in my photorealistic game videos, consolidated into the DreamPunk project and leveraged through ReShade post-processing. The core assets of DreamPunk was done in DaVinci Resolve as well as Photoshop. I hope DreamPunk gives you many hours of joy and reignites your love for photorealistic gaming!

Installation

1 . Go to the bottom of the post and download the DreamPunk_3.X.X.X_Setup.zip and extract the DreamPunk_3.X.X.X_Setup.exe located inside to any location. Run the .exe. Please note that on new releases the .exe file does not yet have a built up reputation score so Microsoft Smart Screen will often try to block it. Just press the "More information" text at the top and press run anyway. Follow through the installation process:

All steps are fully modular and adapt to your choices.

Press confirm to install your selected packs or extract them to a .zip file by pressing the Mod Manager button at the bottom right. I recommend not extracting a .zip if you don't have experience as the installer supports targeted uninstallation. Further installation information can be found in the attached DreamPunk_Setup_Guide.pdf guide at the bottom of this post.

2 . Start up the game and press "Home" on your keyboard. Familiarize yourself with the standard hotkeys of the overlay. Make sure the ReShade "Add-ons" tab looks like this picture (Try changing up the Aspect ratio heuristic settings to "Multiples of resolution..." if your screen is constantly blurry or the DOF is not working - usually the case for lower DLSS settings like Performance or Ultra Performance):

You can toggle the NGD Mod Menu by pressing "End" or "Home" on your keyboard. Ensure that you can open and see the NGD Mod Menu. Read through the hotkeys.

3. Don't forget to max out your graphics and play with the highest quality DLSS (or DLAA) that you can push. Remember to familiarize yourself with your hotkeys. Enjoy!

Recommendations

Always use custom DLSS overrides in the Nvidia app and set the app to use the latest DLSS versions. This helps massively with the visuals unless you're using DLAA. If you're using a RTX 5000 series card I recommend trying a custom input resolution of 0.75-0.90 instead of the regular Quality preset 0.67.

The following 2 mods helps improve the stability of the game. Because you can now force weather states with the NGD Mod Menu, they are no longer a requirement but they can still provide stability.

Visuals Nulled Night City

Visuals Nulled Dogtown

Follow this Video Guide if you're not sure how to install mods like these. Check the bottom of the post for more mod recommendations!

Do not use DreamPunk with mods modifying LUTs or weathers such as Nova LUT or GITS - see the "Compatibility & Comments" section further below for more information. See the "Known Issues" section for easy troubleshooting.

Mod Menu feature explanation

Depth of Field (DOF): Simulates depth in the image by blurring the background and foreground of an object inside an automated focus point.

Close Blur: The foreground blur of the DOF - blurs your weapon and steering wheel.

Focus Range Mode: Changes the minimum distance required between the player and a focus point where the DOF activates.

Camera Shake: Simulates handheld camera movement by leveraging mathematical noise.

Dynamic Camera Shake: Camera shake that depends on the movement of the image, gives a more natural, dynamic shake that tends to look more realistic

Car Cinematic Mode: Special camera shake mode that simulates drone footage - like a drone following a car. Forces black bars for a cinematic cutscene vibe.

Black Bars (Letterbox): Creates a black bar based on a specific percent of your resolution, creating a cinematic feeling.

Unlock Exposure: Allows the auto exposure to adapt the exposure to higher and lower exposure. Very effective in dark environments that are hard to navigate.

Graphics Settings

DreamPunk is built for using highest graphics settings possible:

Everything should be on MAX. The ReShade is designed for 4K to 8K Resolution but should look fine on lower resolutions. There may be artifacts on 1080P and below and the sharpening may need adjusting.

Path Tracing is a requirement if you wish the game to be photorealistic. The game will still look good on standard Ray Tracing but it will not be photorealistic.

DLSS Sharpening should be at 0.25-0.5 for 4K, try experimenting with this for lower resolutions. You can go higher when using the Bodycam preset. I recommend never going above 0.75. Use any DLSS preset you like, the higher the better.

I use FOV 120 to create photorealistic width, it can give you a good sense of depth. I use FOV 50-70 for closeup shots with DOF. FOV 90-100 is a good sweetspot for most people.

All basic options (Film Grain Etc.) should be off except Motion Blur as it helps mask the noise from the Path Tracing AI during fast movement. Use Low or High, it's up to you.

You can turn off Ray Reconstruction to make NPCs look better in some lighting scenarios but it will increase the noise during some scenes.

I strongly recommend doing this to display the full range of the natural color range DreamPunk introduces: How to Set NVIDIA RGB Full Dynamic Range

Troubleshooting

Crashes on startup are usually related to:

Here's how I've been able to help my subscribers resolve all crashes to date:

Move your Cyberpunk 2077 game folder to another location as a backup (or remove it manually - do NOT only uninstall it through your client as there can be leftovers in the folder).

Startup the game and make sure it does not crash. If it does crash, you have some incompatibility between your system and Cyberpunk 2077 and it is unrelated to any mod. Check your antivirus, there are crash reports about Avast causing crashes with Cyberpunk 2077 - could be other external antivirus as well. Disabling them could solve your issue. Microsoft Defender works fine.

If it doesn't crash, run the installer again and start up the game when it's done.

If it crashes, you most likely have an overlay problem. Make sure all your overlays are disabled. Most common overlay crash is caused by the GOG overlay but it could be ASUS overlay, MSI overlay or anything else - remember that you don't always see your overlay so ensure no background apps are deploying overlays on your game. Note that the Steam and Nvidia overlays are confirmed to work with ReShade without any issues. After you disabled all overlays, try starting the game again to confirm that it does not crash.

If you did these steps and it still crashes, write a comment!

In summary, crashes generally occur because of:

Mod leftovers from older game versions when the game updates.

Antivirus issues with Nvidia drivers.

Not using the latest game version DreamPunk is updated for. You can remove the r6 folder from the DreamPunk .zip file to make it compatible with any version of the game.

Using the GOG overlay with ReShade or any other overlay except Steam and Nvidia overlay. Many overlays are not compatible with any ReShade, disable them.

The dreaded corrupted UserConfig.json bug that have plagued Cyberpunk 2077 over the last months. See this thread: CYBERPUNK CRASHING AT STARTUP. Try removing the UserConfig.json from C:\Users\(your_name)\AppData\Local\CD Projekt Red\Cyberpunk 2077 and starting the game again - or run the CP2077_CrashFix.bat. Try disabling G-sync and or setting a FPS cap for your game with the Nvidia Experience panel before starting the game.

Crashes in-game are usually related to:

A ReShade Depth Buffer compatbility issue with Frame Generation. Disable Frame Generation ot the Depth Buffer integration in the ReShade overlay add-ons tab and the crashes will go away. DreamPunk does not cause any crashes by itself.

Script heavy mods that create feedback loops in the game's spawning system. Usual suspects are traffic mods or pedestrian mods or other mod that directly alters any dynamic system in the game

It's important that you report any crashes directly to me in the messages section so that I can give you my full attention and troubleshoot it.

Other known issues:

The by far most common reason why DreamPunk does not work properly is that 1 of the 3 components of the installation was not installed successfully. This is a common problem if you're manually installing and it is the reason why I'm moving away from it. Remember that there is a main mod file, a ReShade preset component as well as custom shaders that needs to be installed. Read the instructions carefully.

Some weathers that relies heavily on volumetric fog introduce an unnatural fog to interiors - use weathers that remove volumetric fog such as Sunny or Cloudy to get rid of this.

Uninstallation

Installer: Uninstallation is handled effortlessly if you use the installer. Simply run the installer and select uninstall and proceed through the process.

Manual: Uninstalling DreamPunk manually follows the same procedure as uninstalling any other manual installation. The files extracted to the directory must be removed:

1. Remove "DreamPunk_XX/AE/SDR/HDR/.archive" from Cyberpunk 2077\archive\pc\mod

2. Remove "DreamPunk[GRAPHICS].ini" from Cyberpunk 2077\engine\config\platform\pc

3. Remove "NGD_ModMenu.addon" from Cyberpunk 2077\bin\x64

4. Remove the "NGD_Bridge" folder from Cyberpunk 2077\red4ext\plugins

5. Remove ReShade by running the ReShade setup, selecting Cyberpunk 2077, DX12 and selecting uninstall on the next step.

Compatibility & Comments

DreamPunk 3.X.X is incompatible with any mod that modifies Weathers (Weathermancer is fine), LUTs or Graphics Configurations. It is not compatible with Nova LUT or GITS. Use a fresh install when installing DreamPunk 3.X.X if you're experiencing problems and add other mods afterwards. If the game does not look as intended, there is most likely a mod overwrite issue or installation error. This is why I recommend a fresh install for the DreamPunk installation, especially for those without extensive modding experience. It's impossible to keep full compatibility with every unique mod list.

Comment Section Rules:

Comments should relate only to DreamPunk or the NextGen Dreams Patreon.

Comments about problems with any official NextGen Dreams content must contain a detailed description of your issue. Writing "it doesn't work" is not a detailed description.

Comments detailing problems related to your mod list's compatibility with DreamPunk are considered outside the scope of this Patreon. The DreamPunk installation expects a fresh install. Installing DreamPunk on an existing modlist is usually fine but it is at your own risk.

Comments made by the same user should stick to their comment thread. Never post multiple comments in the main comment section, answer instead to your own comment if you have more things to add. Once your comment is no longer part of the latest 10 comments this rule no longer applies.

Comments should keep a respectful tone towards all other members of this Patreon.

If your comment fails to adhere to these rules it will be deleted, moved or in other ways addressed to keep the comment section healthy. Failing to adhere to these rules repeatedly will have further consequences. As long as you do not break these rules, a comment is always appreciated