Focal Engine Usage and Installation Instructions

Focal Engine is REQUIRED to both download and USE our latest Focal Engine enabled shaders.

This currently includes Continuum Legacy Alpha (from our Continuum Early Access package), Continuum 2.1, and Continuum RT Early Access. It enables both the download and update of all of our products from within the game itself (which is why you were directed here from the downloads page), as well as enhanced graphical features and performance in supported products. Legacy Products, like Continuum 2.1 Alpha (Builds 12 and below), and our Stratum Resourcepack, are still available to download directly from our downloads page, as well as from within Focal Engine.

As of the latest version of Focal Engine, version 1.0.9, we support Minecraft 1.14.4, 1.16.5, 1.17.1, 1.19.2, 1.20.1, and 1.20.4. You will find installation instructions for these below. Please follow these instructions carefully. Using the specific recommended versions of the required mods is strongly advised. Not doing so may result in Focal Engine not working properly, or at all.

You can scroll down, or jump to a specific section with the buttons below:

Usage Instructions for Focal Engine's In-game UI
Installation Instructions for Minecraft 1.20.4
Installation Instructions for Minecraft 1.20.1
Installation Instructions for Minecraft 1.19.2
Installation Instructions for Minecraft 1.17.1
Installation Instructions for Minecraft 1.16.5
Installation Instructions for Minecraft 1.14.4

How to use Focal Engine's in-game UI

Once you have your preferred version installed per our individual tutorials on this page, launch the game and head to Options > Video Settings > Shaders and click the ‘Continuum Products’ button in the top right

If you don’t see the Continuum Products button, then Focal is not properly installed. Reference our tutorial again or contact our support.

Once you’re in the Continuum Account menu, you can either proceed to download any of our free releases right away, or click the Login button in the top right to access any Early Access projects you have paid for access to.

Once in the Login menu, input your continuum.graphics account credentials and click the Login button

You should now be logged in. If your account has Continuum Early Access, Continuum RT Early Access, or a Stratum Early Access Tier, you can now select one from the left hand menu, select the Build Version, and click the Download button!

For this tutorial, we have selected Continuum Early Access (currently Continuum 2.1 Beta), picked Build Version 31, and downloaded it.

Once you have downloaded all the Shader and/or Texture versions you want (in our case, Continuum 2.1 Beta Build 31), go back to the Shaders menu. You should see it has now been populated with those versions. Click the one you wish to load, and enjoy!

In the case of Stratum (our texture pack), you will find downloaded versions of that in the Resource Packs menu, ready to be activated.

That’s all there is to it! If you find any of this confusing, feel free to reach out to our support.

Detailed Installation Instructions

As stated above, please follow these instructions carefully. Using the specific recommended versions of the required mods is strongly advised. Not doing so may result in Focal Engine not working properly, or at all.

If you find yourself confused about some part of these instructions, feel free to contact our support for assistance.

Focal Engine for Minecraft 1.20.4

Requirements

The preferred version of Focal Engine, for Fabric, will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.20.4
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Fabric Loader. Current recommended version: 0.16.14 for MC 1.20.4. Link
    – Download latest installer, and install our recommended version of the loader from within the installer
  4. OptiFabric. Current recommended version: 1.14.3 for MC 1.20.4. Link
  5. Optifine. Current recommended version: I7 for MC 1.20.4 Link
  6. Latest Focal Engine Universal Jar (same Jar works on both Forge and Fabric) from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

The Forge version of Focal Engine will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.20.4
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Forge. Current recommended version: 49.2.0 for MC 1.20.4 Link
  4. Optifine. Current recommended version: I7 for MC 1.20.4 Link
  5. Latest Focal Engine Universal Jar (same Jar works on both Forge and Fabric) from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

Please note: Focal is currently tested with the default bundled Java included with default MC installs, other versions may work, but we cannot guarantee them at this time.

Installation

Focal Engine for Fabric

  1. Install Minecraft 1.20.4 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install Fabric Loader, selecting the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.20.4 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release fabric-loader’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Fabric Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.20.4 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop Optifine, OptiFabric and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

Focal Engine for Forge

  1. Install Minecraft 1.20.4 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install the Forge client, using the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.20.4 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release 1.20.4-forge’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Forge Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.20.4 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop the recommended versions of Optifine and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

This concludes our installation instructions for Minecraft 1.20.4

Focal Engine for Minecraft 1.20.1

Requirements

The preferred version of Focal Engine, for Fabric, will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.20.1
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Fabric Loader. Current recommended version: 0.16.14 for MC 1.20.1. Link
    – Download latest installer, and install our recommended version of the loader from within the installer
  4. OptiFabric. Current recommended version: 1.14.3 for MC 1.20.1. Link
  5. Optifine. Current recommended version: I6 for MC 1.20.1 Link
  6. Latest Focal Engine Universal Jar (same Jar works on both Forge and Fabric) from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

The Forge version of Focal Engine will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.20.1
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Forge. Current recommended version: 47.4.3 for MC 1.20.1 Link
  4. Optifine. Current recommended version: I6 for MC 1.20.1 Link
  5. Latest Focal Engine Universal Jar (same Jar works on both Forge and Fabric) from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

Please note: Focal is currently tested with the default bundled Java included with default MC installs, other versions may work, but we cannot guarantee them at this time.

Installation

Focal Engine for Fabric

  1. Install Minecraft 1.20.1 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install Fabric Loader, selecting the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.20.1 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release fabric-loader’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Fabric Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.20.1 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop Optifine, OptiFabric and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

Focal Engine for Forge

  1. Install Minecraft 1.20.1 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install the Forge client, using the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.20.1 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release 1.20.1-forge’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Forge Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.20.1 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop the recommended versions of Optifine and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

This concludes our installation instructions for Minecraft 1.20.1

Focal Engine for Minecraft 1.19.2

Requirements

The preferred version of Focal Engine, for Fabric, will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.19.2
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Fabric Loader. Current recommended version: 0.14.11 for MC 1.19.2. Link
    – Download latest installer, and install our recommended version of the loader from within the installer
  4. OptiFabric. Current recommended version: 1.13.16 for MC 1.19.2. Link
  5. Optifine. Current recommended version: H9 for MC 1.19.2 Link
  6. Latest Focal Engine for Fabric from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

The Forge version of Focal Engine will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.19.2
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Forge. Current recommended version: 43.2.0 for MC 1.19.2 Link
  4. Optifine. Current recommended version: H9 for MC 1.19.2 Link
  5. Latest Focal Engine for Forge from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

Please note: Focal is currently tested with the default bundled Java included with default MC installs, other versions may work, but we cannot guarantee them at this time.

Installation

Focal Engine for Fabric

  1. Install Minecraft 1.19.2 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install Fabric Loader, selecting the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.19.2 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release fabric-loader’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Fabric Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.19.2 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop Optifine, OptiFabric and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

Focal Engine for Forge

  1. Install Minecraft 1.19.2 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install the Forge client, using the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.19.2 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release 1.19.2-forge’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Forge Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.19.2 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop the recommended versions of Optifine and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

This concludes our installation instructions for Minecraft 1.19.2

Focal Engine for Minecraft 1.17.1

Requirements

The preferred version of Focal Engine, for Fabric, will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.17.1
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Fabric Loader. Current recommended version: 0.14.9 for MC 1.17.1. Link
    – Download latest installer, and install our recommended version of the loader from within the installer
  4. OptiFabric. Current recommended version: 1.13.16 for MC 1.17.1. Link
  5. Optifine. Current recommended version: H1 for MC 1.17.1. Link
  6. Latest Focal Engine for Fabric from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

The Forge version of Focal Engine will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.17.1
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Forge. Current recommended version: 37.1.1 for MC 1.17.1 Link
  4. Optifine. Current recommended version: H1 for MC 1.17.1 Link
  5. Latest Focal Engine for Forge from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

Please note: Focal is currently tested with the default bundled Java included with default MC installs, other versions may work, but we cannot guarantee them at this time.

Installation

Focal Engine for Fabric

  1. Install Minecraft 1.17.1 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install Fabric Loader, selecting the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.17.1 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release fabric-loader’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Fabric Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.17.1 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop Optifine, OptiFabric and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

Focal Engine for Forge

  1. Install Minecraft 1.17.1 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install the Forge client, using the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.17.1 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release 1.17.1-forge’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Forge Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.17.1 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop the recommended versions of Optifine and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

This concludes our installation instructions for Minecraft 1.17.1

Focal Engine for Minecraft 1.16.5

Requirements

The preferred version of Focal Engine, for Fabric, will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.16.5
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Fabric Loader. Current recommended version: 0.14.9 for MC 1.16.5. Link
    – Download latest installer, and install our recommended version of the loader from within the installer
  4. OptiFabric. Current recommended version: 1.13.16 for MC 1.16.5. Link
  5. Optifine. Current recommended version: G8 for MC 1.16.5. Link
  6. Latest Focal Engine for Fabric from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

The Forge version of Focal Engine will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.16.5
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Forge. Current recommended version: 36.2.34 for MC 1.16.5. Link
  4. Optifine. Current recommended version: G8 for MC 1.16.5. Link
  5. Latest Focal Engine for Forge from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

Installation

Focal Engine for Fabric

  1. Install Minecraft 1.16.5 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install Fabric Loader, selecting the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.16.5 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release fabric-loader’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Fabric Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.16.5 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop Optifine, OptiFabric and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. You’re almost done, but due to the age of Minecraft 1.16.5, and thus the age of the default version of Java it uses, you must install a newer version of Java and tell the game to use that instead for Focal to function as intended. Please refer to the instructions below before playing:

Focal Engine for Forge

  1. Install Minecraft 1.16.5 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install the Forge client, using the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.16.5 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release 1.16.5-forge’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Forge Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.16.5 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop the recommended versions of Optifine and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. You’re almost done, but due to the age of Minecraft 1.16.5, and thus the age of the default version of Java it uses, you must install a newer version of Java and tell the game to use that instead for Focal to function as intended. Please refer to the instructions below before playing:

Required Java Update Procedure

  1. Navigate to this link, and download the latest Java 17 LTS JRE release (download the .MSI version)
  2. Run the installer, using the default installation settings.
  3. Once it is installed, go back to your Minecraft launcher, navigate to the ‘Installations’ tab, and click on the profile you setup in the Focal installation instructions above.
  4. Click ‘more options’, and then click the ‘Browse’ button to the right of the ‘Java Executable’ box.
  5. This will open a Windows Explorer window. Use this to navigate to C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jre-17.0.XX.X-hotspot
    (the X’s represent potential newer versions than we may have used at the time of writing this tutorial, which was 17.0.15.6)
  6. Once in the jre-17.0.XX.X-hotspot folder, open the ‘bin’ folder, and find ‘javaw.exe’. Click on it, and click ‘open’ in the bottom right.
  7. Click the ‘Save’ button in the bottom right of your Minecraft launcher’s installation page.
  8. You should be all set! Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

This concludes our installation instructions for Minecraft 1.16.5.

Focal Engine for Minecraft 1.14.4

Requirements

The preferred version of Focal Engine, for Fabric, will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.14.4
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Fabric Loader. Current recommended version: 0.11.7 for MC 1.14.4. Link
    – Download latest installer, and install our recommended version of the loader from within the installer
  4. OptiFabric. Current recommended version: 0.7.1 for MC 1.14.4. Link
  5. Optifine. Current recommended version: G5 for MC 1.14.4. Link
  6. Latest Focal Engine for Fabric from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

The Forge version of Focal Engine will require the following:

  1. Minecraft 1.14.4
  2. A Continuum Graphics account (optional)
  3. Forge. Current recommended version: 28.2.26 for MC 1.14.4. Link
  4. Mixin Bootstrap. Current recommended version: 1.0.5 (works for 1.14.4). Link
  5. Optifine. Current recommended version: G5 for MC 1.14.4. Link
  6. Latest Focal Engine for Forge from your ‘My Account’ > Downloads page OR our free downloads page

Installation

Focal Engine for Fabric

  1. Install Minecraft 1.14.4 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install Fabric Loader, selecting the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.14.4 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release fabric-loader’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Fabric Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.14.4 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop Optifine, OptiFabric and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. You’re almost done, but due to the age of Minecraft 1.14.4, and thus the age of the default version of Java it uses, you must install a newer version of Java and tell the game to use that instead for Focal to function as intended. Please refer to the instructions below before playing:

Focal Engine for Forge

  1. Install Minecraft 1.14.4 and download all the mods mentioned above, ensuring you have the correct version numbers of each mod
  2. Run the game at least once
  3. Close the game and install the Forge client, using the recommended version mentioned above
  4. Open the Minecraft launcher, and head to the installations tab
  5. Select your Minecraft 1.14.4 installation and click on the ‘version’ box
  6. Select the ‘release 1.14.4-forge’ version you installed earlier and click save.
  7. Run the game at least once to generate the Forge Mods folder
  8. Head back into the launcher’s installations tab and click the folder icon on your MC 1.14.4 install
  9. This should open the root of your game installation, from there, open the mods folder
  10. Drag and drop the recommended versions of Optifine, Mixin Bootstrap and Focal Engine into the mods folder
  11. You’re almost done, but due to the age of Minecraft 1.14.4, and thus the age of the default version of Java it uses, you must install a newer version of Java and tell the game to use that instead for Focal to function as intended. Please refer to the instructions below before playing:

Required Java Update Procedure

  1. Navigate to this link, and download the latest Java 8 LTS JRE release (download the .MSI version)
  2. Run the installer, using the default installation settings.
  3. Once it is installed, go back to your Minecraft launcher, navigate to the ‘Installations’ tab, and click on the profile you setup in the Focal installation instructions above.
  4. Click ‘more options’, and then click the ‘Browse’ button to the right of the ‘Java Executable’ box.
  5. This will open a Windows Explorer window. Use this to navigate to C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jre-8.0.4XX.X-hotspot
    (the X’s represent potential newer versions than we may have used at the time of writing this tutorial, which was 8.0.452.9).
  6. Once in the jre-8.0.XX.X-hotspot folder, open the ‘bin’ folder, and find ‘javaw.exe’. Click on it, and click ‘open’ in the bottom right.
  7. Click the ‘Save’ button in the bottom right of your Minecraft launcher’s installation page.
  8. You should be all set! Launch the game, and refer to the ‘How to use Focal Engine’s in-game UI’ instructions at the top of this page if you are unsure how to use Focal’s UI to begin downloading and using Continuum Projects with Focal Engine!

This concludes our installation instructions for Minecraft 1.14.4