San Andreas Online packages a controlled SkyGFX bridge and a configurable radar renderer directly in the Windows client. Players do not need a separate ASI install, and servers can request temporary visual profiles without overwriting the player’s saved settings.

The two captures differ slightly in time of day, so part of the warmth comes from GTA’s own timecycle rather than from the color path alone.

First-run visual profile

New San Andreas Online installs use a lightweight PS2-style profile by default:

• SkyGFX integration: enabled;
• PS2 color filter: enabled;
• YCbCr correction: enabled;
• PS2 depth bias: enabled;
• soft color-filter blur: disabled;
• PS2 radiosity: disabled;
• GTA heat haze: disabled;
• GTA motion blur: disabled.

Players can change these options in Settings → SkyGfx. This is still a selected MTA-compatible integration, not full SkyGFX and not a claim of exact PS2 parity.

Available SkyGFX effects

Option	What it changes
PS2 color filter	Replaces GTA’s compatible PC color-filter pass with the integrated PS2-style pass.
Soft color-filter blur	Adds the softer blur used by the selected console-style filter.
Adapt PC timecycle values	Adjusts PC timecycle values before the PS2-style filter.
PS2 depth bias	Uses the integrated PS2-style depth-bias behavior.
YCbCr correction	Applies the selected console color-space correction after world rendering.
PS2 radiosity	Uses the integrated PS2-style radiosity path with configurable intensity and passes.

Radiosity intensity accepts 1–255 and its filter/render pass counts accept 1–4. Higher settings are a visual choice, not a quality guarantee.

Fullscreen device resets

The current release bridge uses API v5. San Andreas Online releases SkyGFX-owned Direct3D default-pool resources before a D3D9 reset and recreates them afterward, fixing the exclusive-fullscreen Alt-Tab reset failure that could previously leave GTA unresponsive when radiosity was active.

API v4 remains accepted for compatible legacy color processing, but published San Andreas Online builds pin the tested v5 bridge with the device lifecycle callbacks.

Vanilla or Definitive Edition radar

The San Andreas Online radar settings offer two renderers:

• Vanilla: the normal GTA radar presentation with San Andreas Online’s configurable layout;
• Definitive Edition: a widescreen-safe renderer backed by the bundled 144-tile texture archive.

Players can change radar position, width, height, and widescreen-safe behavior from the San Andreas Online settings. The client reports the effective HUD geometry instead of assuming the stock 4:3 layout.

Resource-owned visual overrides

Client resources can read and temporarily override an allowlisted set of radar and SkyGFX options with getNeonClientSetting, setNeonClientSetting, and resetNeonClientSettings.

setNeonClientSetting("radar.style", "definitive")

Useful setting names include:

• radar.style, radar.position_x, radar.position_y, radar.width, radar.height, radar.widescreen_safe;
• skygfx.enabled, skygfx.color_filter, skygfx.color_filter_blur, skygfx.pc_timecycle, skygfx.depth_bias, skygfx.ycbcr, skygfx.radiosity;
• skygfx.radiosity_intensity, skygfx.radiosity_filter_passes, skygfx.radiosity_render_passes;
• read-only skygfx.status.

Overrides are session-scoped and owned by the calling resource. They stack in application order, do not replace the player’s saved preferences, and are removed automatically when the resource stops. A managed setting is shown read-only in the native UI until the override disappears.

Evidence and limits

Commit 7322b1d71 added the first-run profile, resource-scoped SkyGFX overrides, and API v5 device-reset lifecycle. Commit fb8ee02c4 added the Definitive Edition radar, layout controls, and the general San Andreas Online visual-setting bridge.

The integrated effects and radar renderer were built and checked in game. The documented scope does not imply complete SkyGFX parity across every weather, resolution, graphics mod, or hardware configuration.

For Project2DFX, pool sizes, CULL zones, and renderer diagnostics, continue with Rendering and limits.