DERELIKT Graphics Settings Explained: Low-Res, Warping, and Dithering Toggles

DERELIKT asks you a question most shooters never bother with: how much of 1999 do you actually want? The November 6 official post documents three presentation controls — resolution mode, texture warping, and dithering. For reference only, an older December 18, 2025 Steam discussion cited by sibling articles reportedly also named widescreen; the newer November 6 official post does not mention widescreen, so keep that older account for reference only rather than using it to set an exhaustive current count. That matters because the retro presentation here isn't a filter layered over a modern renderer; rebuilding the PlayStation-era pipeline is the reason the project exists in the first place.

This walkthrough covers the DERELIKT graphics settings as described in the developer's own Steam post and in a community guide at derelikt.rest, both captured on November 10, 2026, then suggests combinations for era purists and comfort-first players alike.

What the DERELIKT Graphics Settings Actually Control

Most discussion of DERELIKT graphics settings stops at "you can turn the PS1 stuff off," which undersells what the options are for. The art director's November 6 post on the DERELIKT Steam community hub, captured November 10, 2026, frames the game as something meant to feel like a lost 1999 title ported to modern hardware — and the switches let you move between the period-correct version of that fiction and a cleaner modern presentation. The list itself is short.

Announced DERELIKT graphics settings, per the developer's November 6 Steam community post and derelikt.rest's settings guide, both captured November 10, 2026. Both describe the full game.

Resolution mode is the broadest stroke of the three. The developer describes the low-resolution option as crunchy and era-accurate, and the high-resolution option as clean — a straight toggle rather than a stepped slider with dozens of stops.

Texture warping reproduces a genuine hardware limitation. PS1-era rendering used affine rather than perspective-correct texture mapping, so surfaces visibly warp and stretch as polygons grow large on screen. Switching it off gives you steadier-looking geometry at the cost of one of the era's signature artifacts.

Dithering adds the speckled, grain-like pattern that 90s hardware used to fake extra color depth. Turning it off smooths gradients and removes visible patterning, which is usually the first thing a player annoyed by "noise" will want to do.

Neither the November 6 developer post nor the derelikt.rest guide mentions a frame-rate cap, upscaling option, anti-aliasing mode, or field-of-view slider. For reference only, the older Steam discussion is reported to name widescreen; keep that account for reference only because the newer official post does not mention it. Treat any other option as unconfirmed until the shipped menu is documented.

Why the Retro Look Had to Be Built, Not Filtered

Knowing what each switch removes makes it easier to choose. The art director's post explains that the aesthetic was reconstructed technique by technique rather than applied as a shader:

• Affine texture mapping. The warp is baked into how the renderer maps textures, not painted on afterward.
• Dynamic subdivision. Geometry splits into smaller and smaller triangles as the camera gets close — one triangle becomes four, four become sixteen — which keeps crawling through vents from dissolving into mush.
• Hand-painted vertex lighting. All static lighting was painted by hand using vertex color tools in Blender, a step the developer calls the most enjoyable part of production and the main ingredient for a convincing high-end PS1 look.
• A blocky world by design. Flat walls are segmented into roughly one-meter tiles, which is a big part of why PS1 environments read as chunky.

The developer also notes that modern tessellation handles subdivision in a way that's too optimized to sell the illusion, so the team emulated the older software approach instead. That produces the distance "pop" where triangles split and surfaces shift — credited in the post as the real source of the PS1 wobble people remember.

Three DERELIKT Graphics Settings Combinations Worth Trying

The sources reviewed don't describe preset buttons, but the toggles are independent, so you can assemble your own look. These three combinations cover the sensible range.

Full 1999 is the one to pick if you want the game exactly as its art director intended the fiction to read: chunky pixels, swimming textures, and visible grain. Everything stays on.

Readable retro keeps the two personality-defining artifacts but buys you sharpness. It's a good middle ground on a 1440p or 4K monitor, where low-res mode can end up looking softer than nostalgic.

Modern presentation strips the era out entirely. Surfaces stay stable, gradients stay smooth, and the game reads as a clean contemporary shooter wearing a retro art style rather than a period piece.

Player experience varies here, and that's the point of the menu. A community comment on the Steam hub dated November 9, 2026 argued the textures look too rough and need more polish, while the developer's own post concedes the low-res presentation may be "too crusty" for some tastes — and treats the toggles as the answer rather than a compromise.

Demo, Launch, and What to Verify Before You Buy

As of the Steam community announcement captured on November 10, 2026, DERELIKT is listed for a PC launch on November 13, 2026 across Steam, GOG, and Epic, with PS5 and Xbox Series X|S also dated for November 13, 2026. A public demo released October 8, 2026, offering three chapters of the story in non-sequential order, and the game took part in the October Next Fest with a feedback form left open for players.

That demo is your best chance to audition the look before committing, but temper expectations about the menu. Because the DERELIKT graphics settings described above are presented as full-game options, the demo build may expose fewer of them — verify in the options screen itself rather than assuming the launch configuration. The official DERELIKT Steam store page is the place to check system requirements and store details closer to release.

One more note on framing: the itch.io project page, captured November 10, 2026, still lists the game as in development and describes it as a short narrative FPS inspired by Alien Resurrection on PS1 and Doom 3 on PC, with branching dialogue contributed by a collaborator. That page predates much of the recent Steam activity, so lean on the Steam hub for release specifics.

FAQ

How many DERELIKT graphics settings are there?

The November 6 developer post publicly documents resolution mode, texture warping, and dithering. For reference only, an older December 18, 2025 Steam discussion is reported to name widescreen too; the newer November 6 official post does not mention widescreen, so do not treat either three or four as an exhaustive current menu count.

Should I turn texture warping off in the DERELIKT graphics settings?

Turn it off if the swimming surfaces bother your eyes or you're playing on a large high-resolution display. Leave it on if authenticity is the goal — the warp is arguably the single most recognizable thing about the look.

Does the demo include the same graphics toggles as the full game?

That isn't confirmed in the sources reviewed. The demo arrived October 8, 2026 with three chapters, while the toggle descriptions are framed around the full game, so open the demo's options menu and see what's actually there.

When does DERELIKT release on PC?

As of the Steam announcement captured November 10, 2026, the listed date is November 13, 2026 for Steam, GOG, and Epic. PS5 and Xbox Series X|S are also dated for November 13, 2026.