Game stuck at 120fps, changing PC settings or the config.ini file does not help.

[WTFantastico]

In many, if not all, of the cutscenes, I can hit 240fps no problem, but for some reason gameplay is limited to 120fps. Even in the performance test, the game runs at around 220fps. Even when I change the refresh rate and max framerate cap to 60, the game still runs at 120. Restarting the game after all these changes doesn't help. I also messed with the config file at %LocalAppData%\capcom\DEVILMAYCRY4SPECIALEDITION, but nothing is working.

In the thread talking about the 2019 fix for Trainers and DDMK, it says that "You can go full screen and then windowed when changing resolutions to maintain the 120fps and above. It doesn't run as well as before but it still somewhat works", but this is confusing language, since you can't adjust both the resolution and the fullscreen setting at once. No combination of resolution/fullscreen changing back to back made the game run higher than 120fps. Additionally, DDMK has no resolution or framerate options.

What's going wrong, here? Why is this port so ♥♥♥♥♥♥? This combined with the fact that MSAA and G-sync won't kick in unless I alt+tab away and back to the game, which ends up cutting off a large portion of the bottom and right sides of the screen, makes me think this was just a garbage port-job.

[Arthur]

Ok, sorry to be that guy, but why do you need more than 120 fps? I really don't think anything above 60fps makes any real, noticeable difference. Isn't the game already perfectly fluid?

[WTFantastico]

I definitely notice a difference in input latency and ease of reacting to enemy attacks between this game and DMCV. I'm not going to pretend it makes the game unplayable by any means, but it's something I can't stop noticing as I play coming off the heels of DMCV. I can understand and react to enemy attacks much sooner and comfier at DMCV's 200+fps than I can with DMC4's 120fps. It's not really a lack of "fluidity" >120fps will accomplish, because the game looks fine on its own, it's a feeling of "sharpness" in the gameplay and how easily one can interpret motion. Just from experience, I know that if I can get it higher than 120fps, then the game's going to feel noticably better.

So it depends on what you mean by "need." Do I need it to have fun with the game? Absolutely not, it's still fun on its own. Is it needed to achieve a certain level of performance? Yeah.

[Lethal Placebo]

The most recent patch for this game locked it to 120 FPS. In that thread for the 2019 Fix for Trainers, there should be a link to a downpatched version of the exe. That should be what allows you to run above 120 FPS.

[WTFantastico]

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, the dropbox link in that thread is dead, but I assumed it was a mirror of the mega link, which I'd used. My game directory looks like this:
https://i.imgur.com/3sNaBZX.png
It's also been this way since before I first posted. Is there something more I needed to do? I took another look at the thread and found another dropbox link posted further down the comments, but it seems to be the same files as in the mega.

[Lethal Placebo]

Originally posted by WTFantastico:

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, the dropbox link in that thread is dead, but I assumed it was a mirror of the mega link, which I'd used. My game directory looks like this:
https://i.imgur.com/3sNaBZX.png
It's also been this way since before I first posted. Is there something more I needed to do? I took another look at the thread and found another dropbox link posted further down the comments, but it seems to be the same files as in the mega.

Your directory looks correct, same as mine when I use SuperTrainerV9. The one thing I can't tell of course is if your exe is downpatched or not. You can find the downpatcher at the following link, just scroll all the way down, look for "downgrade.zip" download it and follow the instructions:

https://github.com/serpentiem/ddmk/releases/tag/2.5

[WTFantastico]

I did use that originally, but I just tried it again, and no dice. Running the batch prefixed both the exe and steam api files with "new", which I renamed back to their original file names, as I did before, but messing with the refresh rate and resolution I still can't get it to run beyond 120fps.

Is there any chance steam is updating the downgraded exe when I try to launch it? Is there something I have to do to prevent that?

[Lethal Placebo]

Steam shouldn't be doing anything like that unless you're verifying the game cache. That is really strange though.

I'll try and run through the process again on fresh files later tonight and report back with what I find.

In the meantime, just make sure (and I'm sure you already have) that you're running the game in fullscreen, at native resolution, with any framerate option set to "variable"

[WTFantastico]

Fullscreen (in-game option) introduces a lot of distracting screen-tearing, so I'd kept it off. I just tested turning it on, though, and it still has the 120fps cap. I've been using borderless windowed via DDMK, since that gets rid of tearing. Other than that, yes, I have the game at 1080p, which is my monitor's rez, and framerate set at variable.

I appreciate the help a lot, and I'll be curious what happens with your test.

[Lethal Placebo]

Well, it appears I'm now running into the same problem as you haha. It's been a while since I booted up DMC4SE since I've been playing so much of the vanilla version. Even after downpatching and turning off v-sync, I'm stuck at 120 FPS at fullscreen. I'll run some other tests and check some other things tonight and once again let you know what I find.

Also, as a quick aside: if you run the game in any sort of windowed mode, borderless or not, Windows automatically applies v-sync, but you said you're running a G-sync monitor, correct?

[WTFantastico]

I am using a g-sync monitor, yeah. And if the problem is new, I wonder if it's just that the most recent downgrader is bugged. I might want to try an older one and see if it gets fixed.

EDIT: It kinda looks like there aren't any older releases available on his github. :\

[Lethal Placebo]

The downpatcher works, as long as you also use the xdelta3 files specified in the instructions.

Okay, so according to some sources on the Internet, SE will run at higher than 120 FPS as long as v-sync is on and the monitor's refresh rate is above 120 FPS. I know you have a G-sync monitor, but is it also 120 Hz?

If it's higher than that, then you can try this:
-Open your Nvidia control panel by right-clicking your desktop
-Click manage 3D settings
-Click program settings
-Add Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition to the list if it isn't already there
-Look for Max Frame Rate, should be the 11th or so entry, and set it to On
-Customize the framerate to your liking
-Launch the game.

[WTFantastico]

My monitor is 240Hz. Setting v-sync to "on" or "Use the 3D application setting" with v-sync enabled in-game causes Steam's framecounter to lock to 59. Turning v-sync off without restarting the game lets it go back up to 120. I turned max framerate on, and tried both 200 and 240, but it didn't help.

I remember something similar happening with Persona 4 Golden, where letting it run max framerate caused a bunch of screentearing, but using v-sync locked it to 59fps. These are the only two games which do this. :\

EDIT: Apparently adjusting the display frequency after turning on v-sync allows it to go back to 120fps.

[WTFantastico]

I tried a fresh install of DMC4 with new downloads of ddmk, xdelta, and the downgrader. The MD5 hashes of the exe and steam_api before patching were:

Old exe MD5: 3ec32685898fb3e17d9d6189685b0a85
Old steam_api MD5: 67365492ec0c8076840b1764ad2eca5f

and the hashes after were

exe MD5: f53b82b332b6b28d79e3e6b600b9507d
api MD5: 69bee18efe39e0bd24b8ac979b560f39

These post-downgrade files also appear to be identical to the files provided in the folder named "DMC4SE 2019 March Fix". Still, I'm getting the same errors as originally, with the highest framerate I can get being 120fps. I feel like I'm at a dead end. :\

[Lethal Placebo]

Yeah, I'm afraid I'm out of ideas to try as well. Sorry we couldn't figure out a fix.

[WTFantastico]

It's alright, and I appreciate your time. I've tried to send a small summary of the situation to the mod's creator in a message on reddit to see if they have anything to say about the situation. I didn't open an issue on their github, since nowhere do they mention breaking the 120fps lock via downgrading as an intended feature, so I'm not sure it's fair to call it an "issue." I'll update the thread if I get anything back, but I'm not the most hopeful. :\