[Special K] Fixes Achievements / Input / Aspect Ratio + Improves Graphics Quality / Performance

[Kaldaien]

Introduction

This port is overall very good, but there are a few broken things and some room for Quality of Life improvement.

The two most common problems the game has without modification are a stutter framerate limiter (not the worst, but it's easily fixed), and missing rumble support for PlayStation controller owners.

There is a FAR MORE DEVIOUS problem, however, related to the state of the Steam overlay and the code that manages "Steam Trophies" (achievements as normal people call them).

Achievements don't unlock unless the overlay is enabled without Special K!!!

Special K's Plug-In for this game Adds the Following

• Achievements No Longer Require The Steam Overlay
  
• Fully Unlocked Framerate
  
• MSAA, Resolution Scaling and Temporal Anti-Aliasing
  
• 21:9, 16:10, and arbitrary Aspect Ratio Support
  
• Options to Disable Post-Process Effects
  
• Gamepad Fixes and Enhancements
  
• Improved Texture Filtering options
  
• Fixed Shadow and Object Culling
  
• Enable HDR Rendering Internally (intended for use with RenoDX)

Download and Install

The latest build of Special K, at time of writing, is 25.1.29.1.

You can install Special K either by visiting Special K's Discord server and grabbing the latest #nightly-build and placing SpecialK64.dll in the game's directory renamed to dxgi.dll, or you can download the installer and launch it through SKIF.

Launching the game through SKIF is preferred for maximum compatibility

If you install Special K the normal way, then you can also copy-and-paste SKIF %COMMAND% into this game's launch options in Steam and avoid running SKIF.

• The latest installable version of Special K can be downloaded here.[sk-data.special-k.info]

Note About Related Projects

As of 25.1.29.1, Special K has made Lyall's Tales of Graces f Fix mod obsolete by porting the entirety of its features from C# to C++. You may still use it standalone if you do not want to use Special K, but there is no point in combining both things.

There is a RenoDX addon for HDR users for this game, to use it with Special K you will need to load ReShade as a plug-in and then place the AddOn in <Special K Install Directory>\Profiles\Tales of Graces f Remastered\ReShade\AddOn

Troubleshooting

I will be happy to answer questions in this thread, though it is easier to reach me on our Discord server ( https://discord.gg/specialk ).

CHANGELOG

25.1.29.1
=========
 + Fixed a SERIOUS screwup in the Tales of Graces f Steam port, where ALL
     achievement-related code is contingent upon the end-user having the
       Steam overlay enabled!

    * Bad Bandai Namco, Bad!  Pay me to review your QA test next time? :)

25.1.29
=======
 + Detach Mono threads after invoking C# functions on threads that are not
     originally part of the Mono runtime to avoid garbage collection on the
       render thread in Tales of Graces f.
 + Increased color grading LUT size to reduce banding in Tales of Graces f.
 + Finished porting all of Lyall's Tales of Graces f fix BepInEx mod to C++,
     including aspect ratio centering and new code to address object culling.
 + Remove Temporal AA option when MSAA is selected in Tales of Graces f.
 + Improve overall UI layout and spacing in Tales of Graces f control panel.
 + Boosted default gamepad polling rate up to 1 kHz again after disabling WGI
     in favor of XInput for Tales of Graces f.
 + Added options to control anisotropic filtering front and center in
     Tales of Graces f's control panel.
 + Prevent Tales of Graces f using Windows.Gaming.Input to get it to fallback to
     XInput 1.3, which has support for gamepad input polling on -real- Xbox
       controllers while the game window is in the background.

   * This also reduces overhead on controller rumble and potentially allows for
       the use of higher polling rates on devices that SK is not handling the
         HID <--> XInput/Windows.Gaming.Input translation for.

 + Always clear the camera's background to black in Tales of Graces f,
     to avoid random -white- bars in places where the UI has to be
       centered in 16:9 for wide/narrow screens.
 + Set the "opaque downsampling" pass in Tales of Graces f to native
     resolution when MSAA is used.
 + Fixed scenario where SK wouldn't correctly detect RenoDX in
     Tales of Graces f.
 + Released new version to get 25.1.25.1 version number
 + Disable HDR in Tales of Graces f without RenoDX
 + Changed default gamepad polling rate to 240 Hz in Tales of Graces f,
     because Steam Input and the native Windows.Gaming.Input implementation
       do not work reliably at higher rates.
 + Enabled HDR rendering in Tales of Graces f w/o using HDR remasters;
     uses R11G11B10 instead of FP16 to improve performance w/ MSAA.
 + Reduced D3D11 render state tracking when ReShade is loaded, but there are no
     actual ReShade triggers defined in d3d11_shaders.ini that would require
       tracking ReShade draw call triggers.
 + Fixed assignment to config variables in refactored Tales of Graces f code
     not actually writing a value to the INI file (i.e. Temporal AA not saved).
 + Default Tales of Graces f to 1 kHz input polling rate, since SK's handling
     input and the dummies hard-coded 60 Hz input polling rate no matter what
       framerate limit you have selected (!!)
 + Added MSAA, Temporal AA and Resolution scaling options to Tales of Graces f.
 + Disable scissor rectangles in Tales of Graces f in order to fix screenspace
     shadows being clipped incorrectly on non-16:9 displays
 + Rewrite Tales of Graces f framerate limiter override so that SK's slider now
     immediately changes the game's internal limit, and no longer causes
       conflicts when trying to use Latent Sync on a fixed-refresh display.
 + Improved Mono embedded runtime hook initialization procedure to load various
     Unity modules and compile their JIT code ahead of time.
 + Improved compatibility with ReShade/RenoDX in Tales of Graces f -- for best
     results load ReShade as a global plug-in using plug-in load order, rather
       than using ReShade64.dll installed locally to the game directory.
 + Added experimental support for hooking Mono (C#) code in order to port
     Lyall's TGFFix mod to C++ and integrate directly into Special K.
 + Whenever Special K's framerate limiter is enabled, it will override the
     internal framerate limiter in Tales of Graces f, allowing > 120 fps
       without any special configuration or third-party software.
 + Change name of various Tales of Graces f graphics overrides and add
     tooltips explaining when to disable them.
 + Added options to disable Heat Haze and FXAA in Tales of Graces f
 + Added options to control native PlayStation vs. Xbox emulation in Graces.
 + Added option to sharpen character and object outlines in Tales of Graces.
 + Added options to disable Depth of Field and Bloom to Tales of Graces.
 + Disable Tales of Graces' native DualSense support and translate
     DualSense HID to Windows.Gaming.Input in order to add rumble support.
 + Alias the Share and Trackpad Click buttons on DualShock4/DualSense
     controllers in Tales of Graces f because various button prompts say to
       use the trackpad but it normally maps to Share when SK does API
         translation.

[Kaldaien]

Postat inițial de Mana:

Appreciate your work! I haven't used Special K for a long time and it's changed a lot so I may be missing something obvious but I added the game and it's showing, all looks good, but when I launch I don't see the injection and ctrl + shift + backspace isn't working. Is there something else I need to do other than installing Special K + adding the game? Thank you!

No known compatibility problems like that. I think you set something up wrong :-\

Make sure you download the linked -test.exe installer above. I've been continuously updating it even though the description in this thread hasn't been updated.

Latest Changes

SK supports arbitrary framerate and fixes the hard-coded 60 Hz controller polling code in the game. Latency is much lower and everything's smooth as hell :)

I also added MSAA, Temporal AA and Resolution scaling options to the control panel and they can be adjusted in real-time to find the best image quality for your available GPU performance.

https://sk-data.special-k.info/SpecialK-test.exe (25.1.24)

I need to rewrite this post eventually, been too busy on actual dev of the mod :P

[Mana]

Postat inițial de Kaldaien:

Postat inițial de Mana:

Appreciate your work! I haven't used Special K for a long time and it's changed a lot so I may be missing something obvious but I added the game and it's showing, all looks good, but when I launch I don't see the injection and ctrl + shift + backspace isn't working. Is there something else I need to do other than installing Special K + adding the game? Thank you!

No known compatibility problems like that. I think you set something up wrong :-\

Make sure you download the linked -test.exe installer above. I've been continuously updating it even though the description in this thread hasn't been updated.

Latest Changes

SK supports arbitrary framerate and fixes the hard-coded 60 Hz controller polling code in the game. Latency is much lower and everything's smooth as hell :)

I also added MSAA, Temporal AA and Resolution scaling options to the control panel and they can be adjusted in real-time to find the best image quality for your available GPU performance.

https://sk-data.special-k.info/SpecialK-test.exe (25.1.24)

I need to rewrite this post eventually, been too busy on actual dev of the mod :P

Yup that's what I am using, the test link which installed successfully, added the game successfully, but it doesn't seem to inject. Added the elevated privilege just in-case but the same still. I'll try download test again to make sure it's the latest. Ooh, looks like 25.1.24 worked but 25.1.8.1 would not. Awesome, thanks again!

[MabinoZerk]

To update Special K I can just install it to my usual location again, right?

[Teraman]

Postat inițial de Kaldaien:

Postat inițial de Mana:

Appreciate your work! I haven't used Special K for a long time and it's changed a lot so I may be missing something obvious but I added the game and it's showing, all looks good, but when I launch I don't see the injection and ctrl + shift + backspace isn't working. Is there something else I need to do other than installing Special K + adding the game? Thank you!

No known compatibility problems like that. I think you set something up wrong :-\

Make sure you download the linked -test.exe installer above. I've been continuously updating it even though the description in this thread hasn't been updated.

Latest Changes

SK supports arbitrary framerate and fixes the hard-coded 60 Hz controller polling code in the game. Latency is much lower and everything's smooth as hell :)

I also added MSAA, Temporal AA and Resolution scaling options to the control panel and they can be adjusted in real-time to find the best image quality for your available GPU performance.

https://sk-data.special-k.info/SpecialK-test.exe (25.1.24)

I need to rewrite this post eventually, been too busy on actual dev of the mod :P

I dunno if it's just me but this version made the game not recognize joystick inputs from my controller (all other buttons worked fine). I rolled back to v25.1.3.1 and it works again.

[Wayfarer]

From some reason when I'm using Special K with Pro Controller the left analog stick won't work, how to fix this? Also is it possible to get PS button prompt if I'm using Pro controller?

[Teraman]

Postat inițial de Wayfarer:

From some reason when I'm using Special K with Pro Controller the left analog stick won't work, how to fix this? Also is it possible to get PS button prompt if I'm using Pro controller?

I had the same problem and I figured it out. You have to lower the polling rate. It defaults to 1000 but for me anything above 300 or so was causing issues. I just set it to 200 to be safe.

[Wayfarer]

Postat inițial de Teraman:

I had the same problem and I figured it out. You have to lower the polling rate. It defaults to 1000 but for me anything above 300 or so was causing issues. I just set it to 200 to be safe.

Thank, did you manage to get PS button prompts to show up as well? I can't find an option for it.

[Kaldaien]

Postat inițial de Wayfarer:

Postat inițial de Teraman:

I had the same problem and I figured it out. You have to lower the polling rate. It defaults to 1000 but for me anything above 300 or so was causing issues. I just set it to 200 to be safe.

Thank, did you manage to get PS button prompts to show up as well? I can't find an option for it.

You shouldn't be using PlayStation controller prompts if SK's not handling input for you. Make sure Steam Input is disabled, and DS4Windows as well. I'm coming to find they can't handle high polling rates. SK works fine up to 8 kHz.

Nonetheless, I set the default now to 240 Hz, that seems to work even on official Microsoft hardware that's using Windows.Gaming.Input, as opposed to SK translating the hardware's native protocol to Windows.Gaming.Input without the overhead of a driver.

[maustrap]

Trying to use the latest SK with TGFix on steam deck and it immediately tanks the fps from solid 60 to 35-40. looks like the nightly build version from a few days ago doesnt have this issue (25.1.20.1) so I rolled back. anyone else having the same issue?

[Kaldaien]

Postat inițial de maustrap:

Trying to use the latest SK with TGFix on steam deck and it immediately tanks the fps from solid 60 to 35-40. looks like the nightly build version from a few days ago doesnt have this issue (25.1.20.1) so I rolled back. anyone else having the same issue?

That's not very helpful.
Can you like do a binary search between all the versions released since 25.1.20.1 and now to find the exact point? SK had barely any Tales of Graces-related features then.

EDIT: Realize I used programmer lingo there :P

Just cut the version number in half, if the version you checked performs well, increase the version by half, if not decrease by half... it'll make short work of testing, which is probably important given how much of a pain in the ass it is to do anything like this on a Steam Deck.

[Wayfarer]

Postat inițial de Kaldaien:

Postat inițial de Wayfarer:

Thank, did you manage to get PS button prompts to show up as well? I can't find an option for it.

You shouldn't be using PlayStation controller prompts if SK's not handling input for you. Make sure Steam Input is disabled, and DS4Windows as well. I'm coming to find they can't handle high polling rates. SK works fine up to 8 kHz.

If I disabled Steam Input while using SK my Pro Controller won't work at all but if I turn it on then only face buttons work.
Changing the polling rate doesn't have any effect either and I never use DS4Windows so I have no idea what is the cause.

[Kaldaien]

Postat inițial de Wayfarer:

Postat inițial de Kaldaien:

You shouldn't be using PlayStation controller prompts if SK's not handling input for you. Make sure Steam Input is disabled, and DS4Windows as well. I'm coming to find they can't handle high polling rates. SK works fine up to 8 kHz.

If I disabled Steam Input while using SK my Pro Controller won't work at all but if I turn it on then only face buttons work.
Changing the polling rate doesn't have any effect either and I never use DS4Windows so I have no idea what is the cause.

Yeah, Steam Input is the problem. It's nothing but problems, and I suspect it's also the problem for the Steam Deck user directly above you :-\

Try using DS4Windows instead for your Switch controller.

SK doesn't implement the Switch Pro controller's hardware protocol, it's complicated as hell and wasn't worth the time needed to test all that. But DS4Windows is generally very good, much better than Steam Input anyway.

[maustrap]

Postat inițial de Kaldaien:

Postat inițial de maustrap:

Trying to use the latest SK with TGFix on steam deck and it immediately tanks the fps from solid 60 to 35-40. looks like the nightly build version from a few days ago doesnt have this issue (25.1.20.1) so I rolled back. anyone else having the same issue?

That's not very helpful.
Can you like do a binary search between all the versions released since 25.1.20.1 and now to find the exact point? SK had barely any Tales of Graces-related features then.

I did a fresh install, again for steam deck. looks like starts for me in 25.1.22, its the same behavior from there through 25.1.25.1 from today. dont see this in 25.1.20 or 25.1.20.1 or 25.1.21, just doing a local injection with the nightly builds

[maustrap]

Postat inițial de maustrap:

Postat inițial de Kaldaien:

That's not very helpful.
Can you like do a binary search between all the versions released since 25.1.20.1 and now to find the exact point? SK had barely any Tales of Graces-related features then.

I did a fresh install, again for steam deck. looks like starts for me in 25.1.22, its the same behavior from there through 25.1.25.1 from today. dont see this in 25.1.20 or 25.1.20.1 or 25.1.21, just doing a local injection with the nightly builds

EDIT: completely understand the steam deck/proton is a PITA, not demanding anything here, just pointing out what I noticed with the nightly versions.

[Kaldaien]

Weird, I don't see any relevant changes in that version. It was all just code refactoring so I could start porting Lyall's TGFix mod to C++.