See enemies in the dark. No alt-tab, no game files modified.

BrightRaider is a lightweight Windows tray tool that lets you switch display brightness, contrast and digital vibrance with a single keypress — per game, auto-applied when you Alt-Tab. It works with any PC game; the Arc Raiders toolbox (Map Scanner, Autoscrapper, QuickSelect, QuickSave) is an optional module you switch on only if you want it.

One EXE, zero dependencies (Native AOT — no .NET runtime install required). Works with any keyboard — numpad, TKL, or fully custom bindings.

🌐 Website: brightraider.github.io/BrightRaider

V1.2 pre-release: the Autoscrapper — release notes · Latest stable: V1.1.1 · Changelog

Two hero shots — the rest is one click away.

Tray menu Per-profile color marker, quick toggles for Alt-Tab Auto-Switch and Auto-Brightness, monitor picker, license status, one-click Settings.

Map Scanner overlay — in-game Long-press M → ~100 % OCR hit rate, detects all 13 current map conditions, color-coded evac timers, audible alarm below threshold.

📸 See every Settings tab (click to expand — 10 screenshots)

Game Profiles — the Free killer feature. Per-game profile + FPS limit, auto-switched on Alt-Tab.

Display + Profiles. 9 profiles, each with Gamma / Contrast / Vibrance / Hue and an optional brightness range for Auto-Brightness.

Auto-Brightness (Pro). 5-zone screen sampling, Calibration Wizard, optional debug overlay.

Audio (Pro). Footstep Booster (per-process limiter), Audio Ducking, Background AutoMute.

Map Scanner (Pro). Per-state threshold colors, overlay position + background opacity, Evac alarm threshold.

Crosshair (Pro). Click-through overlay, 6 styles, custom color + outline.

QuickSelect (Pro). 8 slots, per-slot LMB hold time (ms), modifier-key bindings, MB3/4/5 + wheel triggers.

QuickSave (Pro). 5 drag presets, toggle direction, configurable timing.

Hotkeys. Every key reassignable. Modifier-key support (Ctrl / Alt / Shift). Mouse MB3/4/5 + scroll wheel.

App + Performance. Theme, language, license, Break reminder, display-reset emergency buttons. Performance tab: optional High priority + physical-cores-only affinity for the foreground game.

Note on video quality: BrightRaider works by adjusting display output at the GPU level — the same way your monitor brightness works. Because of this, screen recording software cannot capture the actual brightness changes. The videos were recorded with a phone camera pointed at the monitor, which is why the quality is lower than usual. This is also proof that BrightRaider is not a cheat — it only changes display settings, nothing inside the game.

Free version — Profile switching with hotkeys (starts at 0:06):

Pro version — Auto-Brightness in action:

NVIDIA Game Filters are blocked by anti-cheat (EAC). Monitor OSD is slow and clunky. Alt-tabbing to adjust settings gets you killed.

BrightRaider's display and colour features use standard Windows display APIs — the same way your NVIDIA Control Panel or monitor settings work — and are safe with all major anti-cheat systems (EAC, BattlEye, Vanguard).

VibranceGUI is no longer needed. BrightRaider auto-switches vibrance and FPS limits per game as you alt-tab — everything VibranceGUI does, in one place. You can uninstall it.

• Display presets on a hotkey — Normal / Bright / Brighter, instant even in fullscreen.
• Game Profiles + Alt-Tab Auto-Switch — per-game Gamma / Contrast / Vibrance / Hue and FPS limit, applied while the game is in front, reverted on Alt-Tab. Replaces VibranceGUI.
• FPS limit per game — NVIDIA via DRS, AMD via FRTC. → Optimal FPS cap settings (Blur Busters)
• HDR hotkey + per-game Auto-HDR — HDR on when the game launches, off when it closes.
• Hotkeys your way — every key rebindable, with modifiers, mouse buttons and scroll wheel; optionally only while a game is focused. Controller players: see the manual.
• Your calibration stays safe — DisplayCAL / ICC gamma is saved on first launch and restored on exit, even after a crash.
• NVIDIA, AMD and Intel · multi-monitor · English / German · dark mode
• Break reminder, update notifier, auto-start with Windows
• Native AOT — one portable EXE, no .NET install.

One key unlocks everything below, in every game — the Arc Raiders tools included.

• Auto-Brightness — samples the screen and adjusts Gamma / Contrast / Vibrance to what you see; set up in two clicks. 📖 Guide
• Profile editor + profiles 4–9 — edit Gamma / Contrast / Vibrance / Hue of every preset.
• Footstep Booster — per-game audio limiter: turn the game up for footsteps without gunshots blowing your ears. 📖 Guide
• Game Mute, Audio Ducking, Background AutoMute — silence or duck only the game; muted automatically on Alt-Tab. Discord and music keep playing.
• Audio Output Switcher — cycle speakers ↔ headphones with one key, optionally on game start.
• Autorun — CapsLock holds forward; tap mode for the Looting Mk. 3 augment.
• Crosshair Overlay — click-through, 6 styles, custom colour, outline and size.
• Process Optimizer — High priority and physical cores only for the game in front.

Part of the optional Arc Raiders module — switch it on in the Setup Wizard or Settings → App.

• Autoscrapper (V1.2 pre-release) — press F5 with the stash open: it reads the whole stash and scraps or sells by your rules, only after you confirm the list. 📖 Guide
• Map Scanner — long-press M on the map: evac timers, map conditions and hatch states as a colour-coded overlay, plus an evac alarm. Other games via data packs. 📖 Guide · Pack authoring
• QuickSelect — one key uses an item from your quick-use wheel. 📖 Guide
• QuickSave — one key drags an item into your Safe Pocket or backpack and back. 📖 Guide

All hotkeys are rebindable. Defaults shown above use the numpad preset. On Free these three presets are switch-only — editing any display profile's values (and unlocking 4–9) is Pro. For fully custom colors per game, use the free Game Profiles tab.

Download Latest Release

One BrightRaider.exe for every keyboard — numpad, TKL or custom. A short setup wizard appears on first launch: choose your keyboard type (numpad or TKL) and your hotkeys are configured automatically. You can re-run the wizard at any time from Settings → Input.

Coming from V9.x? Your license key still works — re-enter it once under Settings → App. Activation limit reached? See the known-issues post.

Just download and run. No installation needed.

⚠️ Antivirus false positive? Some AV tools flag BrightRaider due to its global keyboard hook (same mechanism as Logitech GHub, Razer Synapse, Discord Push-to-Talk). No data is logged or transmitted. Verify it yourself: VirusTotal scan of the current build — only a couple of the ~68 engines flag it heuristically. This build was also submitted to Microsoft for analysis (11 Aug 2026); their scanners reported "no positive detection". 100–200 downloads daily, zero reports — see stats.

📄 Microsoft's analysis of this exact build (click to expand)

_{Submitted 11 August 2026 through the Microsoft Security Intelligence file submission portal, and closed as Completed with no detection. Submission ID and submitter address redacted. The two releases before this one (V1.1.0 and V1.0.0) were submitted the same way and came back the same.}

1. Run BrightRaider.exe — a setup wizard appears
2. Choose your keyboard type (numpad or TKL) — defaults are configured automatically
3. Decide whether you want the Arc Raiders module (Map Scanner, QuickSelect, QuickSave, Autorun). Off by default on a fresh install — you can flip it any time in Settings → App.
4. Press your profile key — switch brightness instantly, even in fullscreen
5. That's it. Switch anytime.

On first launch, BrightRaider sets one registry entry to unlock gamma adjustment:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ICM → GdiIcmGammaRange = 256

This tells Windows to allow gamma adjustments — used by many display calibration tools, harmless, can be removed anytime. A UAC prompt appears once. Restart your PC after the first launch (only needed once).

1. Buy your license:
   • Lemon Squeezy (€5.49)
2. Right-click tray icon → Settings → Enter License
3. Enter your email and license key
4. Done — all Pro features unlocked permanently. No subscription. Internet required once for activation, offline forever after.

All hotkeys are fully rebindable in Settings → Input.

Works with NumLock on or off. Tip: keep NumLock off while playing — with NumLock on, Windows briefly interrupts the Shift key when you switch profiles, which can slow your character if Shift is your sprint key.

BrightRaider adjusts your display output using standard Windows APIs:

• GDI (SetDeviceGammaRamp) — gamma & contrast, works on every GPU
• NvAPI — NVIDIA Digital Vibrance; per-game FPS limits via NvAPI DRS
• ADL — AMD Radeon saturation + hue control
• ADLX — AMD per-game FPS limits via ADLX FRTC

Nothing is modified in the game. Nothing is injected. It's the equivalent of changing your monitor brightness — just faster and with presets.

Analyzes 5 small zones across your screen (center + 4 corners) using median brightness measurement. Based on the result, it smoothly interpolates between your profiles. Darker screen = more boost, brighter screen = less. The transition is seamless.

Calibrate in two steps: measure the darkest spot, measure the brightest spot, done.

BrightRaider does NOT:

• Modify game files or memory
• Inject DLLs into game processes
• Hook into the game
• Read game data or game memory

The Map Scanner takes a screenshot of your screen and reads it on your PC — the same as taking a photo of your monitor. No game files, no game memory, no game process is accessed.

BrightRaider ONLY uses:

• Windows GDI — same as your monitor settings
• NVIDIA NvAPI — same as NVIDIA Control Panel
• AMD ADL / ADLX — same as AMD Radeon Software

Anti-cheat systems do not flag display adjustments.

Autorun just holds your forward key down — a comfort feature, the same as the auto-run key many games include natively or a keyboard's own key-hold. It's a single held keypress with no timing pattern or sequence to it, effectively indistinguishable from holding the key yourself.

QuickSave and QuickSelect are the part to be aware of: they send a short sequence of clicks/keystrokes to move an item, so they're not in the "display only" category. BrightRaider does this with no kernel driver and no injection — but automated multi-step input is something behavioural anti-cheat (such as Anybrain, now used by Arc Raiders) can in principle flag, like any input-automation tool. The strongest thing such detection keys on is simulated mouse movement, so keyboard-only selection is a weaker signal than anything that moves the cursor for you. Both are optional and off by default — if you want zero exposure, leave them off and use everything else: display, FPS, overlay, Map Scanner and Autorun all stay clear of that category.

BrightRaider's crosshair works via a transparent Windows overlay — the exact same mechanism used by Discord, GeForce Experience, and TeamSpeak overlays.

EAC (Easy Anti-Cheat) explicitly allows this type of overlay. It is not injected into the game, does not read game memory, and is not rendered inside the game engine. It is simply a transparent window drawn on top by Windows.

EAC agrees in practice, not only on paper: overlay crosshairs that EAC does block stop Arc Raiders from launching at all, and BrightRaider's does not.

That statement is about EAC specifically and does not carry over to other anti-cheats. VAC is a separate system with its own tolerances, and players report bans connected to third-party crosshair overlays. In Counter-Strike, leave the crosshair off. Nothing else is affected — display, audio and movement stay clear of this question entirely.

• Windows 10 / 11 (x64)
• No .NET runtime install required — Native AOT, single self-contained EXE
• NVIDIA or AMD GPU recommended for full feature set (Vibrance, Hue, FPS limit). Intel + integrated GPUs work with Gamma + Contrast only.

View full changelog

📘 Full Manual — English + German, every feature explained.

Deep-dives for the more advanced features:

• 🧹 Autoscrapper Guide — rules, the review screen, test run vs. live, naming unrecognised tiles
• 🗺️ Map Scanner Guide — supported maps, event detection (all 13 conditions), threshold colors, Evac alarm setup
• 🔆 Auto-Brightness Guide — how the 5-zone sampler works, Calibration Wizard walkthrough, zone-weight tuning, debug overlay
• 🔊 Footstep Booster Guide — threshold / attack / release tuning, recommended starting values, troubleshooting
• ⚡ QuickSelect Guide — per-slot LMB hold time, modifier-key bindings, slots 7–10 mouse-movement path
• 💾 QuickSave Guide — 5 drag presets, toggle direction, timing controls

1. Exit BrightRaider (right-click tray → Exit)
2. Delete the folder
3. Optional: Remove GdiIcmGammaRange from HKLM\...\ICM
4. Optional: Remove auto-start from HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue.

This is a solo hobby project maintained in my free time. I read everything, but response times vary — there is no support contract.

Does this work with other games? Yes. BrightRaider adjusts your display, not the game.

Will I get banned? The display, colour, FPS and overlay features use the same Windows display APIs as your monitor settings — nothing injected, hooked, or read from the game — so they're anti-cheat-safe. The optional input-automation features (QuickSave / QuickSelect / Autorun) send keystrokes to the game, which is a different category; in titles with behavioural anti-cheat (e.g. Arc Raiders' Anybrain) use those at your own discretion.

Do I need Pro? Free is fully functional. Pro adds QuickSave (drag to Safe Pocket with one key), QuickSelect (auto-use items), auto-brightness, map scanner, and more — so you never take your hand off the mouse.

I used VibranceGUI before. Do I still need it? No. BrightRaider replaces it completely. Set your vibrance per game in Settings → Alt-Tab, and BrightRaider handles switching automatically.

I play with a controller. Does BrightRaider work? The display side works with no setup at all — profiles, per-game colour, FPS limit and HDR switch on their own when the game comes to the front, and none of that involves a hotkey. That's the larger half of BrightRaider and it doesn't care what you hold.

The hotkey features (QuickSave, QuickSelect, Autorun) can't be bound to a controller button. BrightRaider listens on the Windows keyboard and mouse hooks, and those never see gamepad input — a controller talks to Windows through a separate channel. It also needs to swallow the trigger key so the game doesn't also act on it, which polling a gamepad cannot do: the button would fire your macro and its normal in-game action.

A remapper solves it properly: Steam Input, DS4Windows or reWASD consume the controller button and send a keyboard key instead. BrightRaider then sees an ordinary key, swallowing included. Full details in the manual.

Made for the Arc Raiders community.