You will NOT get VAC banned for using this. Proof: http://twitter.com/#!/Steam_Support/…10796128243712

Dead Island Helper: Automatically improve performance and apply tweaks without having to edit files

Authors site:
http://www.theplaywrite.com/tools-an…to-edit-files/

Tool direct download: The Dead Island Helper Tool:
http://downloads.zafehouse.com/deadi…dih_latest.zip

UPDATES
SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW THE LATEST UPDATE

UPDATE #4 11/09/2011: The fun never stops. Version 1.4 is available now, and allows you to change the weather to overcast. You can now also reselect your Dead Island folder, if you somehow managed to choose the wrong one initially.

UPDATE #3 11/09/2011: Yet another update! We’re now at version 1.3. Here are the changes:

Added an option to enable vertical syncronization
Added an option to disable dust
Added an option to disable the desaturation effect
Disabling bloom and weapon refraction now affects front30.ppfx and indoor30.ppfx

Remove stuttering / jerkiness caused by repeated keystrokes… without using Filter Keys
Fixes sluggish mouse in menus
Disable / enable SSAO shader for increased performance on some configurations (NVIDIA only)
Disable / enable motion blur, as some people just don’t like it
NEW in v1.1: Disable / enable bloom and weapon refraction

UPDATE #5 11/09/2011: Changelist follows:

The tweaks menu no longer closes automatically when you check/uncheck an option
Shadow maps: You can now set the shadow map resolution to 512, 1024, 2048 or 4096
Field of view: Expanded selection of values ranging from 62.5 (default) to 90 degrees
Added an option to enable overcast weather
Fixed a bug that could cause the program to crash when selecting non-option menu items

UPDATE #7 32/09/2011: Version 1.6 is now available! I’ve made quite a few changes under the hood to make the program more powerful and user-friendly. Here’s a changelist for the curious:

Tweaks have been split up and categorised. The result is a cleaner interface and an easier time finding the tweaks you want
Alternate settings folder support. You can now switch between My Documents and your game folder, if you’re finding that the tweaks aren’t working
Added the following tweaks:

Disable event logging, Disable in-game voice and Enable simple shadows
Small reminder when Video.scr is read-only or writeable and the ability to easily switch between these settings
The program should now prompt the user for administrative privileges
Renamed the keystroke repetition feature to make its usefulness more obvious
Corrected a typo with the field of view settings
Added a Close menu option along with Exit program
Various checks and balances for missing files and directories
Added a passive check for the micro-stutter fix so it only limits keyboard repetition while Dead Island is running.
Fixed a potential memory leak in the file extraction rountine

UPDATE #8 14/09/2011: New version, we’re up to v1.7 now. No new tweaks, but some significant structural changes and a few bug fixes.

UPDATE #9 14/09/2011: Minor bug fix release, v1.7a. It addressed a crash on program start-up. This would happen if the Dead Island registry settings could not be found.

Smart tweak detection: Dead Island Helper now reads edited files for changes and intelligently sets the enabled / disabled state of each tweak. Now you can see exactly what tweaks you’ve set – even ones you didn’t activate with Dead Island Helper!
Alternate configuration folder option replaced with custom folder selection. Users can now hunt down the exact directory configuration settings are stored. Don’t worry, it still tries to autodetect them if it can
Autodetection of the game’s main directory via the registry
Fixed a bug that would require the user to constantly re-enable the micro-stutter tweak in order for it to work
Added a “Start with Windows” option
Added a “Play Dead Island without intro movies” option. Start the game directly from the Helper! This option will also set Dead Island’s CPU priority to “Normal”
Dead Island Helper now starts on the lowest possible CPU priority setting to minimize any interference with the game while it’s running

UPDATE #10 15/09/2011: Changes in v1.8:

Split up the categories a bit more. FOV and motion blur moved to “Camera Tweaks”

“Disable in-game audio” removed. I had so many reports of it not working, and I can’t provide support for it, so it’s gone

Added an option to force the max refresh rate. Settings for 59Hz, 60Hz, 100Hz and 120Hz are available

Auto checks for updates. The tool now checks to see if a new version is available and, if so, lets you know. That’s the call it’s doing to the internet. It does it once on start-up. I’ll add an option to disable the check in the next version

UPDATE #11 17/09/2011: Changes in v1.81:

Replaced the keyboard hook-based micro-stutter fix with a FilterKeys one. Should fix any issues people have been having with weird sound or framerate issues when this tweak is active.

Updated the disable bloom, weapon refraction and dust tweaks to use the files in Data02.pak. This should hopefully fix the issues people have been having where effects seem to disappear while these tweaks are active

The auto-update feature can now be disabled

Laid some groundwork for an in-game save feature. Should be in for v1.9

Added a periodic check for the Dead Island process that will set the process priority to “Normal” if it ever drops to “Below Normal” or “Low”

UPDATE #12 18/09/2011: Released v1.9 as a beta! It contains some experimental features that have been tested as much as possible on a single machine. However, to make sure it’s as good as possible, I’ve released it as a beta. Changelist follows:

Removed the process priority enforcement from v1.8.

Reverted to the old keyboard hook-based micro-stutter fix as it is more reliable. The way it works has been tweaked so it should consume less CPU cycles (not that it was ever processor-intensive).

Settings restore points: It is now possible to set restore points for your settings. This feature will take a snapshots of your “Documents\DeadIsland\out” folder, compress them as a ZIP file, and store them in “Documents\DeadIsland\Restore Points”. Note that snapshots must be taken / restored manually. The snapshot feature at this stage does not save “Disable event logging” or “Enable micro-stutter fix”

Added “Fix auto-equip delay” tweak.

Added “Rebind hardcoded instances of the Use key” tweak. If you’re using “F” for something other than “Use”, this is the tweak for you. Limited to alphanumeric keys for now.

UPDATE #13 19/09/2011: v1.91 beta has just been uploaded. Here’s what’s new:

Added a save game and profile backup and restore. Once activated, you can press F5 in-game to create a backup of your save game and profile (up to a maximum of 10, at which point, the Helper will replace the oldest backup with a new one). Important: This is not a quick-save! It only backs up what the game has saved, in case it becomes corrupted.

Added black screen fixes – one changes the “Monitor” value in Video.scr, while the other disables Desktop Composition while Dead Island is running. These aren’t guaranteed to fix every black screen issue under the sun, but it should help with those caused from having more than one monitor.

Slight bug fix for the vertical synchronization tweak. Shouldn’t have cased problems for a majority of cases.

UPDATE #14 22/09/2011: v1.93 beta is available for download. Hopefully people will have less (or no) issues with this version. Changelist below:

Added extensive error handling – hopefully we’ll get more constructive information when something goes wrong.

Added “Create diagnostic file”. This option will produce a simple text file on your desktop that contains some useful debug information. I can use this info to help troubleshoot problems, so please use it when you contact me!

Added “Launch via Steam” checkbox, under “Play Dead Island”. When this checkbox is set, Dead Island Helper will launch the game using the Stream protocol (steam://) when you click “Play Dead Island”. Movies will still be enabled (unless you disable them with “-nologos” in the launch properties). Use this option if things don’t work quite right when running the game directly via “Play Dead Island”.

Added “Clear all settings” option. This will clear the settings folder, game directory and all non-tweak related settings from Dead Island Helper’s memory and restart the program. This will give you a clean slate to work from when using new versions.

Dead Island Helper will automatically exit on startup unless it detects the correct settings folder, or you’re able to manually select the correct settings folder.

Dead Island Helper will no longer demand administrative privileges when it runs. However, you may need to use “Run as Administrator” if some features do not work.

UPDATE #15 22/09/2011: v1.94 beta, out now for the brave! I finally managed to track down the crash problem that was causing issues for so many people.

This update also fixes a crucial bug with the save game backup feature – it is strongly recommended you update to v1.94 beta if you use this feature and please, DO NOT use any of the save backups you’ve created with versions of the tool before 1.94 beta because they won’t work!

Fixed a critical bug with the save game and backup feature. This now also backs up the “remotecache.vdf” file, which contains important size and timestamp data.

Fixed a bug that would cause Dead Island Helper to crash on non-Administrator accounts and accounts without application compatibility enabled.