[Special K] Improved Framegen, Cutscene FPS Unlock and Other Fixes - [Updated April 16th, 2025]

[Kaldaien]

Introduction

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3448793433

Problem Description and Work in Progress

I have updated Special K for this game with a number of fixes for Anvil Next's broken NVIDIA Reflex integration (higher latency Framegen than should be), mysteriously vanishing DLSS options, aspect ratio fixes, and framerate uncap (with correct cloth physics).

These changes are included as of 25.4.16 (currently the latest TEST release), which you can find on our Discord server[discord.gg] in the #nightly-builds, or can be downloaded directly from our website[special-k.info]:

Features

• Black bar removal in (real-time) cutscenes
  
• Unlocked (real-time) cutscene framerate
  
• Frame generation in (real-time) cutscenes
  
• Improved frame generation pacing
  
• Increased FOV range

Download and Install

Installer (first-time users)

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

Portable Upgrade (replace SpecialK64.dll from an existing install)

https://sk-data.special-k.info/SpecialK-test.7z

---

Miscellaneous:

• Frame generation during FMV cutscenes is disabled, but real-time cutscenes support it.
  
• It has been tested working on Epic Games Store, Steam, Ubisoft Connect and Ubisoft+ (in other words, works with all versions of the game).

Please visit our Discord server for help, Ubisoft likes to ban me whenever I fix one of their games (rofl), so it really isn't ideal to communicate here.

[Dume]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von KyoZ:

I'm using the latest version of Special K with GSYNC enabled and FG during cutscenes & everything works perfectly!
Thank you so much for fixing this game Kaldaien.

Same here. Zero problems with Special K in my case.

[Devoured Colossus]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kaldaien:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von SMiThaYe:

My GSync isn't enabling after doing this with 'windowed mode GSYNC' now enabled in the Control Panel.

Gah, turn that crap off, immediately.

That is not G-Sync. That option just causes the DWM to draw all windows at the rate of the application in the foreground. You still are not getting G-Sync, you're just getting a delayed DWM. Real G-Sync has latency benefits, that has none, and in fact that breaks all manner of stuff.

If you're not getting G-Sync it's because of an overlay such as Discord, pure and simple.

if that is the case, then idk what to say. works fine for me now after doing that. turning it off makes everything a jutter-fest. the only overlay i use is RTSS and even after turning it off, SK still would turn off gsync. i am also undervolting/OCing my 5090, so i cannot close afterburner unless i want to be pulling 500w just to play.

[Devoured Colossus]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Devoured Colossus:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kaldaien:

Gah, turn that crap off, immediately.

That is not G-Sync. That option just causes the DWM to draw all windows at the rate of the application in the foreground. You still are not getting G-Sync, you're just getting a delayed DWM. Real G-Sync has latency benefits, that has none, and in fact that breaks all manner of stuff.

If you're not getting G-Sync it's because of an overlay such as Discord, pure and simple.

if that is the case, then idk what to say. works fine for me now after doing that. turning it off, i got the weird FPS issue. the only overlay i use is RTSS and even after turning it off, SK still would turn off gsync. i am also undervolting/OCing my 5090, so i cannot close afterburner unless i want to be pulling 500w just to play.

[Devoured Colossus]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Devoured Colossus:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Devoured Colossus:

if that is the case, then idk what to say. works fine for me now after doing that. turning it off, i got the weird FPS issue. the only overlay i use is RTSS and even after turning it off, SK still would screw up the FPS. i am also undervolting/OCing my 5090, so i cannot close afterburner (if that was causing issues) unless i want to be pulling 500w just to play.

[Colts]

getting crashes trying to go to options menu ingame latest version not every time 50/50

[GODzilla]

Thanks for your continued great work. :)

A request and a question:

Can you decouple the "start minimized" option from the "start with windows" option? I usually open SpecialK, then click close (is set to go to try), then use the tray icon to start SpecialK and then start the game normally. Starting always minimized would be prefered for me. Thanks in advance.

And question about the DLSS: Under Direct3D 12 settings --> Nvidia DLSS, does it show what DLSS preset is used or does it only present the option of what can be used?

Example: AC Shadows, I enabled the override in the Nvidia App for Super Resolution, setting this to "Latest", which from my experience with many games sets preset K. SpecialK shows me "DLSS Preset: E Game Default". But when I enable the DLSS overlay (I have reg files for this) it says preset K. So I guess this part of SpecialK just shows options, not what is currently being used, correct?

(To be save I set this to "Override K" in SpecialK to match what I set within the driver, but I guess this would do nothing if it is already running with preset K.)

[Kaldaien]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von GODzilla:

Thanks for your continued great work. :)

A request and a question:

Can you decouple the "start minimized" option from the "start with windows" option? I usually open SpecialK, then click close (is set to go to try), then use the tray icon to start SpecialK and then start the game normally. Starting always minimized would be prefered for me. Thanks in advance.

That seems even more complicated than necessary. :shrug:
I have SKIF (the actual application that you're referring to as Special K) pinned to my taskbar, even when it's not running, you can right-click it and it gives you a "jump list" of recently launched games. The system tray menu is bare bones by comparison, and it's very difficult to dig around in the try to even find it.

Ursprünglich geschrieben von GODzilla:

And question about the DLSS: Under Direct3D 12 settings --> Nvidia DLSS, does it show what DLSS preset is used or does it only present the option of what can be used?

Correct, it lists what the game is using and then you can override that. You cannot use J or K in this game. The DLL is new enough for J, not new enough for K. If you upgrade the DLL, you can select K, but it has the same problem as J does -- it will cause all kind of ghosting.

Ursprünglich geschrieben von GODzilla:

(To be save I set this to "Override K" in SpecialK to match what I set within the driver, but I guess this would do nothing if it is already running with preset K.)

Don't do that, set it back to E. You're lucky you haven't noticed the problems K causes yet. I can save you the annoyance of discovering that :)

[GODzilla]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kaldaien:

That seems even more complicated than necessary. :shrug:
I have SKIF (the actual application that you're referring to as Special K) pinned to my taskbar, even when it's not running, you can right-click it and it gives you a "jump list" of recently launched games. The system tray menu is bare bones by comparison, and it's very difficult to dig around in the try to even find it.

Works perfectly fine this way, thanks for the hint. :)

Although...it still opens up the SpecialK desktop GUI, obviously. So next thing is always me closing it (to tray) or minimizing it, because I have set it up already, no need to have it open. Starting minimize, be it from the jumplist or otherwise, would still be my prefered method. ^^

I tried with a shortcut and "-silent" as start parameter, but that didn't work.

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kaldaien:

Correct, it lists what the game is using and then you can override that. You cannot use J or K in this game. The DLL is new enough for J, not new enough for K. If you upgrade the DLL, you can select K, but it has the same problem as J does -- it will cause all kind of ghosting.

[...]

Don't do that, set it back to E. You're lucky you haven't noticed the problems K causes yet. I can save you the annoyance of discovering that :)

Well...then I still don't get it. So here's what I did: I used the Nvidia App override, which upgrades the dll to 310.2.10, which is the version suitable for Preset K. It also makes Preset K the standard. I can verify that with the Nvidia DLSS overlay and I have, it says it is using Preset K.

I then start the game with SpecialK. The DLSS overlay still says Preset K is being used. SpecialK says Preset E is being used. How? Why?

Here is what this information mismatch looks like ingame:
https://i.imgur.com/aPRiqDc.jpg


Oh and yes, I see the ghosting. The problem is that I'm addicted. lol. Addicted to the sharpness in both stills and motion Preset K brings to the table. Ghosting be damned, but going back to Preset E feels like torture. ^^

Well...I might try with Preset E and the usual suspects I've used before DLSS came around: Reshade with CAS sharpening. It probably wont come close to Preset Ks motion sharpness, but maybe it's a good middle ground and I can get used to it again. ^^

[Kaldaien]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von GODzilla:

Well...then I still don't get it. So here's what I did: I used the Nvidia App override, which upgrades the dll to 310.2.10, which is the version suitable for Preset K. It also makes Preset K the standard. I can verify that with the Nvidia DLSS overlay and I have, it says it is using Preset K.

I then start the game with SpecialK. The DLSS overlay still says Preset K is being used. SpecialK says Preset E is being used. How? Why?

Here is what this information mismatch looks like ingame:
https://i.imgur.com/aPRiqDc.jpg


Oh and yes, I see the ghosting. The problem is that I'm addicted. lol. Addicted to the sharpness in both stills and motion Preset K brings to the table. Ghosting be damned, but going back to Preset E feels like torture. ^^

Well...I might try with Preset E and the usual suspects I've used before DLSS came around: Reshade with CAS sharpening. It probably wont come close to Preset Ks motion sharpness, but maybe it's a good middle ground and I can get used to it again. ^^

SK goes by what the game requests.

The new-fangled forced driver overrides make it impossible for SK to see what's in active use.

This is true of just about any driver-forced setting. They're impossible to override, and often impossible to actually detect. Like if you force VSYNC on or off in the driver, then there's no way the game or SK are going to know this. Given SK can apply all the same overrides, it's usually better to leave the driver alone and just use SK - you can quickly try different presets in real-time instead of restarting your game.

[GODzilla]

No problem, just wanted to know what's what. :)

About leaving it all to SK...well...I'm not yet convinced I wanna use it with any and all games. No offense meant, really, but most games run fine without it. And for others it would be a bit of an overkill scenario. Best example would be Kingdom Come Deliverance II. I use RenoDX, with a Reshade to fix HDR black floor and then Optiscaler for Frame Generation. SK would be the fourth tool in the mix and I wonder if at some point strange things will happen. xD

Give me some time, maybe SK will become one of the usual tools in playing games for me, too. :)

For now I did try Preset E with sharpening through Reshade and deemed it...tolerable. :D

Keep up the great work.

[Majin☆]

Way too many crashes using special k, unfortunately

[Kaldaien]

That would be third-party software, nothing to do with Special K.
I've had zero crashes in the past 200 hours.

The most likely culprit is RTSS.

[Majin☆]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kaldaien:

That would be third-party software, nothing to do with Special K.
I've had zero crashes in the past 200 hours.

The most likely culprit is RTSS.

I don’t understand this reference.

Do I need to turn off something within game or limit my frame rates (144)

I’ve tried playing it but it’s crashes especially on cutscenes. Zero crashes without using it

[Simplex]

RTSS is riva tuner statistics server. It should not be running along specialK

[GODzilla]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Simplex:

RTSS is riva tuner statistics server. It should not be running along specialK

Well...it is not recommended. I use it, but I never have the overlay active all the time. Just when I want to check performance or other statistics real quick.