Say hello to Contact Hardening Shadows
So what's the verdict, was Grand Theft Auto V for the PC worth the wait? It's a question that can spark a debate, and if you're in the "Yes!" camp, one piece of evidence to support your claim is GTA V's inclusion into AMD's Gaming Evolved program. As part of that, GTA V supports a feature that's called Contact Hardening Shadows (CHS) for rendering more realistic soft shadows.
You'll find the feature by heading into the Settings menu and selecting Graphics > Soft Shadows. One of the options is "AMD CHS," and what it does is either harden or soften a shadow depending on the distance of the shadow from the light source. It also takes into consideration the object casting the shadow.
"This means softer shadows that diffuse more realistically," AMD says.
If you're rocking a GeForce graphics card, fear not, similar effects are provided by what Nvidia calls "Percentage Closer Soft Shadows" (PCSS).
"PCSS, if you're unaware, introduces shadows that progressively and smoothly soften as the distance from the casting object increases, as in real life," Nvidia explains in a blog post. "For example, the shadow from the trunk of a tree will be sharp, and the shadows on the leaves seen some distance away will be soft."
Drivers
We already told you about Nvidia's Game Ready 350.12 WHQL driver for GTA V. What about AMD? While the Omega 14.12 is still the most recent stable release (12/9/2014), AMD does have available a beta driver, version 15.4, that's been optimized for GTA V. It also includes Crossfire profiles for GTA V, Dying Light, Galactic Civilization III, Meta Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Mortal Combat X, and Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition, along with updated Crossfire profiles for Battlefield Hardline, Far Cry 4, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Sniper Elite 3.
You can read the release notes here and download the beta driver here.
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