diff --git a/neo/renderer/GLMatrix.cpp b/neo/renderer/GLMatrix.cpp
index 899a00d2..444b2602 100644
--- a/neo/renderer/GLMatrix.cpp
+++ b/neo/renderer/GLMatrix.cpp
@@ -495,6 +495,19 @@ void R_SetupProjectionMatrix( viewDef_t* viewDef, bool doJitter )
 	//
 	const float zNear = ( viewDef->renderView.cramZNear ) ? ( r_znear.GetFloat() * 0.25f ) : r_znear.GetFloat();
 
+	const int viewWidth = viewDef->viewport.x2 - viewDef->viewport.x1 + 1;
+	const int viewHeight = viewDef->viewport.y2 - viewDef->viewport.y1 + 1;
+
+	// TODO integrate jitterx += viewDef->renderView.stereoScreenSeparation;
+
+	// this mimics the logic in the Donut Feature Demo
+	const float xoffset = -2.0f * jitterx / ( 1.0f * viewWidth );
+	const float yoffset = -2.0f * jittery / ( 1.0f * viewHeight );
+
+	float* projectionMatrix = doJitter ? viewDef->projectionMatrix : viewDef->unjitteredProjectionMatrix;
+
+#if 1
+
 	float ymax = zNear * tan( viewDef->renderView.fov_y * idMath::PI / 360.0f );
 	float ymin = -ymax;
 
@@ -504,34 +517,6 @@ void R_SetupProjectionMatrix( viewDef_t* viewDef, bool doJitter )
 	const float width = xmax - xmin;
 	const float height = ymax - ymin;
 
-	const int viewWidth = viewDef->viewport.x2 - viewDef->viewport.x1 + 1;
-	const int viewHeight = viewDef->viewport.y2 - viewDef->viewport.y1 + 1;
-
-#if 0
-	jitterx = jitterx * width / viewWidth;
-	jitterx += r_centerX.GetFloat();
-	jitterx += viewDef->renderView.stereoScreenSeparation;
-	xmin += jitterx * width;
-	xmax += jitterx * width;
-	const float xoffset = ( xmax + xmin ) / width; // 0 without jitter
-
-	jittery = jittery * height / viewHeight;
-	jittery += r_centerY.GetFloat();
-	ymin += jittery * height;
-	ymax += jittery * height;
-	const float yoffset = ( ymax + ymin ) / height;
-
-#else
-	// this mimics the logic in the Donut / Feature Demo
-	const float xoffset = -2.0f * jitterx / ( 1.0f * viewWidth );
-	const float yoffset = -2.0f * jittery / ( 1.0f * viewHeight );
-#endif
-
-	// RB: IMPORTANT - the projectionMatrix has a few changes to make it work with Vulkan
-	// for a detailed explanation see https://matthewwellings.com/blog/the-new-vulkan-coordinate-system/
-
-	float* projectionMatrix = doJitter ? viewDef->projectionMatrix : viewDef->unjitteredProjectionMatrix;
-
 	projectionMatrix[0 * 4 + 0] = 2.0f * zNear / width;
 	projectionMatrix[1 * 4 + 0] = 0.0f;
 	projectionMatrix[2 * 4 + 0] = xoffset;
@@ -558,6 +543,43 @@ void R_SetupProjectionMatrix( viewDef_t* viewDef, bool doJitter )
 	projectionMatrix[2 * 4 + 3] = -1.0f;
 	projectionMatrix[3 * 4 + 3] = 0.0f;
 
+#else
+
+	// alternative Z for better precision in the distance
+
+	float aspect = viewDef->renderView.fov_x / viewDef->renderView.fov_y;
+
+	float yScale = 1.0f / ( tanf( 0.5f * DEG2RAD( viewDef->renderView.fov_y ) ) );
+	float xScale = yScale / aspect;
+
+	const float epsilon = 1.9073486328125e-6F;	// 2^-19;
+	const float zFar = 160000;
+
+	//float k = zFar / ( zFar - zNear );
+	float k = 1.0f - epsilon;
+
+	projectionMatrix[0 * 4 + 0] = xScale;
+	projectionMatrix[1 * 4 + 0] = 0.0f;
+	projectionMatrix[2 * 4 + 0] = xoffset;
+	projectionMatrix[3 * 4 + 0] = 0.0f;
+
+	projectionMatrix[0 * 4 + 1] = 0.0f;
+	projectionMatrix[1 * 4 + 1] = yScale;
+	projectionMatrix[2 * 4 + 1] = yoffset;
+	projectionMatrix[3 * 4 + 1] = 0.0f;
+
+	projectionMatrix[0 * 4 + 2] = 0.0f;
+	projectionMatrix[1 * 4 + 2] = 0.0f;
+	projectionMatrix[2 * 4 + 2] = -k;
+	projectionMatrix[3 * 4 + 2] = -k * zNear;
+
+	projectionMatrix[0 * 4 + 3] = 0.0f;
+	projectionMatrix[1 * 4 + 3] = 0.0f;
+	projectionMatrix[2 * 4 + 3] = -1.0f;
+	projectionMatrix[3 * 4 + 3] = 0.0f;
+
+#endif
+
 	if( viewDef->renderView.flipProjection )
 	{
 		projectionMatrix[1 * 4 + 1] = -projectionMatrix[1 * 4 + 1];
diff --git a/neo/renderer/Passes/SsaoPass.cpp b/neo/renderer/Passes/SsaoPass.cpp
index 5ec20170..a1a85430 100644
--- a/neo/renderer/Passes/SsaoPass.cpp
+++ b/neo/renderer/Passes/SsaoPass.cpp
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 static idCVar r_ssaoBackgroundViewDepth( "r_ssaoBackgroundViewDepth", "100", CVAR_RENDERER | CVAR_FLOAT, "" );
 static idCVar r_ssaoRadiusWorld( "r_ssaoRadiusWorld", "0.5", CVAR_RENDERER | CVAR_FLOAT, "" );
 static idCVar r_ssaoSurfaceBias( "r_ssaoSurfaceBias", "0.1", CVAR_RENDERER | CVAR_FLOAT, "" );
-static idCVar r_ssaoPowerExponent( "r_ssaoSurfaceBias", "2", CVAR_RENDERER | CVAR_FLOAT, "" );
+static idCVar r_ssaoPowerExponent( "r_ssaoPowerExponent", "2", CVAR_RENDERER | CVAR_FLOAT, "" );
 static idCVar r_ssaoBlurSharpness( "r_ssaoBlurSharpness", "16", CVAR_RENDERER | CVAR_FLOAT, "" );
 static idCVar r_ssaoAmount( "r_ssaoAmount", "2", CVAR_RENDERER | CVAR_FLOAT, "" );
 
diff --git a/neo/shaders/builtin/SSAO/ssao_deinterleave.cs.hlsl b/neo/shaders/builtin/SSAO/ssao_deinterleave.cs.hlsl
index e0b6331c..444f71fa 100644
--- a/neo/shaders/builtin/SSAO/ssao_deinterleave.cs.hlsl
+++ b/neo/shaders/builtin/SSAO/ssao_deinterleave.cs.hlsl
@@ -74,10 +74,22 @@ void main( uint3 globalId : SV_DispatchThreadID )
 #if LINEAR_DEPTH
 			float linearDepth = depth;
 #else
-			float4 clipPos = float4( 0, 0, depth, 1 );
+			//float4 clipPos = float4( 0, 0, depth, 1 );
 			//float4 clipPos = float4( 0, 0, depth * 2.0 - 1.0, 1 );
+
+			// adjust depth
+			depth = depth * 2.0 - 1.0;
+			float4 clipPos = float4( 0, 0, depth, 1 );
+
 			float4 viewPos = mul( clipPos, g_Ssao.matClipToView );
 			float linearDepth = viewPos.z / viewPos.w;
+
+			// HACK: adjust linear depth to fit into [0 .. 16000] range
+			linearDepth += 0.35;
+			linearDepth = saturate( linearDepth );
+			//linearDepth = 1.0 - linearDepth; // reverse depth
+			//linearDepth *= 4000; // zFar
+			//linearDepth *= DOOM_TO_METERS;
 #endif
 
 			depths[y * 4 + x] = linearDepth;
diff --git a/neo/shaders/builtin/gbuffer.ps.hlsl b/neo/shaders/builtin/gbuffer.ps.hlsl
index 806bf961..efdd4dc1 100644
--- a/neo/shaders/builtin/gbuffer.ps.hlsl
+++ b/neo/shaders/builtin/gbuffer.ps.hlsl
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ void main( PS_IN fragment, out PS_OUT result )
 	localNormal.z = sqrt( 1.0f - dot3( localNormal, localNormal ) );
 
 	float3 globalNormal;
-#if 1
+#if 0
 	globalNormal.x = dot3( localNormal, fragment.texcoord2 );
 	globalNormal.y = dot3( localNormal, fragment.texcoord3 );
 	globalNormal.z = dot3( localNormal, fragment.texcoord4 );