GTA 5 mod delivers jaw-dropping graphics with better realistic lighting that fans can enjoy

GTA 5 mods help refresh the 2013 Rockstar Games title in many ways. YouTuber Gam3 4 Lif3 recently uploaded a video showcasing enhanced realistic lighting in the game made possible via a combination of two of its popular graphical mods - Natural Vision Evolved and QuantV. The video is 12 minutes and 31 seconds long and shows off many areas of the map at different times of the day with significantly enhanced visual effects.

In addition to the two mentioned above, the YouTuber has also used other mods to upgrade the standard vegetation, road textures, and some other aspects of the title.

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A combination of GTA 5 mods used to deliver enhanced realistic graphics and lighting

GTA 5's graphics were considered highly impressive at the time of its release in September 2013. However, it goes without saying that they have started to look quite dated in 2024.

Luckily, players on PC can use mods to bring the game's graphics up to date as shown in Gam3 4 Lif3's video attached above. As mentioned earlier, the jaw-dropping visual effects and realistic lighting are the result of a combination of the Natural Vision Evolved and QuantV GTA 5 mods.

An example of the realistic lighting achieved with these mods (Image via YouTube/Gam3 4 Lif3)

Night lighting is especially much darker which makes for a realistic visual as cars' headlights illuminate the poorly lit roads of Blaine County. Cars are also a lot more reflective during the day as can be seen in the later stages of the video.

Another highlight is the vegetation, which looks significantly denser than the official version of the game. This has been made possible via the Forests of San Andreas Ultimate and Forests of Blaine County GTA 5 mods.

The latter notably adds countless trees in Blaine County, completely changing the landscape. Here is an example of this:

Comparison between original and modded versions (Image via gta5-mods.com)

Other mods like DNX New Calafia Roads [YMAP | Add-On], DNX New Grand Senora Desert Road [YMAP | ADD-ON] 1.3.1 [SP ONLY], White LED Streetlight by Venkey, CityLights, NbVisual, LA Revo 2.0 & 5Real, RTGI, Restored NG Lens Flare, Exhaust Backfire FX 1.0, and some sound mods for GTA 5 have also been mentioned in the video's description on YouTube.

Using such mods can be a great way to experience GTA 5 story mode again while waiting for GTA 6's release. Needless to say, you will require a powerful PC to get playable framerates with these GTA 5 mods installed.