[Special K] Monster Hunter: World - Dead Mod

[Kaldaien]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2028860053

I'm done here, sorry :(

Regarding 2/5/20 Patch

Capcom has gone insane with their anti-tamper, rather than remove it they are applying it earlier and to a more broad coverage of executable code (including third-party DLLs). This has massive implications for stability and will prevent normal users not even modifying the game from running the game (as seen in the primary forums).

Tl;Dr:

To continue using Special K, apply the following changes to dxgi.ini

[Steam.Log]
Silent=true

Regarding 1/26/20 Patch

Capcom has removed the active CRC scanning threads on 1/26/20, old anti-tamper code is now at play, which introduces the same stability problems I have been warning Capcom about since the game launched. I've watched that code self-destruct on Ansel's whitelist check DLL numerous times and that code needs to be removed.

Please do not give Capcom a free pass to stop where they did, your CPU load may have gone down, but there is still something truly awful under the hood that consumers need to complain about until gone.

Introduction

This is what is left of the original HDR mod for MH:W, HDR is officially supported now and the more important functionality offered by the mod is improved framepacing and memory scan (anti-tamper/anti-cheat related) elimination for better performance.

Current Features:

• Eliminates 24-thread CRC scanning performance sink
  
• Restrict job threads to a manageable number (physical or logical cores)

D3D11

• HUDless screenshots (Broken 2/5/20)
  
• Texture/button mods
  
• Pre-HUD ReShade

D3D12

NOTE:
Special K's UI is not functional in D3D12 mode, but the mod does still work and manual edits to the ini file allow tweaking stuff.

HDR Display Owners:

A work-in-progress HDR FAQ is available here.

Non-HDR Display Owners -- No More Washed out Colors:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1481284663

Download and Install

• 0. The Visual C++ 2019 runtime[aka.ms] is a required pre-req.

1. Grab this archive (if using D3D11)[drive.google.com] or this archive (if using D3D12)[drive.google.com] from Google Drive.
   
2. Extract it to your game's install directory (steamapps\common\Monster Hunter World)

Configuration

Press Ctrl + Shift + Backspace to open Special K's config menu.

HUDless screenshots can be configured under the Steam Enhancements / Screenshots tab

Custom ReShade

Follow the normal Download and Install procedure, using this archive[github.com] instead.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1475702486

The shipping preset is configured to test pre-HUD shading and nothing else, you can go into the ReShade directory and fiddle with stuff to your content. You DEFINITELY do not want it the way it's setup out-of-the-box :P

Troubleshooting

If the mod does not work, third-party software (especially FRAPS!), anti-virus software or Windows 7 is usually to blame.

Windows 7 has a half-dozen optional updates that you need to install to use modern software such as mine; it's easier just to upgrade to Windows 10 :P

If after closing third-party software the game still does not start, please paste logs/dxgi.log, logs/modules.log and logs/game_output.log to pastebin.com and provide a link in a post.

[Kaldaien]

And yes, the Steam overlay is not helping things at all in this game. Your framerate periodically dips for about 15-20 frames every time you get a notification because it's uploading textures ineficiently. Until Capcom and Steam fix that notification problem, you prbably wan tto turn the overlay off.

[HolyDeath3000]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

And yes, the Steam overlay is not helping things at all in this game. Your framerate periodically dips for about 15-20 frames every time you get a notification because it's uploading textures ineficiently. Until Capcom and Steam fix that notification problem, you prbably wan tto turn the overlay off.

Would turning off Steam Overlay actually help a lot more? Would've I want to take screenshots?

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by Dudey Rune:

This mod/pack whatever you call it is ♥♥♥♥, it disables the ability to take screenshots, it adds a huge delay to starting the game, it reduces fps and causes the game to lock randomly for 2-3 seconds, it even causes the game to have fits of 30 or less fps when before my system ran the game at 100+ always, when alt tabbing it adds black bars to the game window which look ugly.

I have not seen one beneficial thing about it, it's absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ trash and thus have deleted it.

This ♥♥♥♥ should be removed as it's garbage.

Your system is loaded with ♥♥♥♥, and you should remove it to make your system less garabge.

[Goa]

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

ReShade will always freaking drop fps no matter what freaking setting you use.

Reshade itself never slowed down my game by 6ms in worst case scenarios, just a frame or two with injected SMAA and vibrance.

[HolyDeath3000]

Originally posted by Goa:

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

ReShade will always freaking drop fps no matter what freaking setting you use.

Reshade itself never slowed down my game by 6ms in worst case scenarios, just a frame or two with injected SMAA and vibrance.

Heh luck you the moment I turn on SMAA and to make it look good usually drops me 5 fps minimum.

My ReShade Effects Used for this Game:
Effects=AdaptiveSharpen.fx,HighPassSharpen.fx,GaussianBlur.fx,Clarity.fx,Colourfulness.fx,Curves.fx,Deband.fx,DepthHaze.fx,Levels.fx,SMAA.fx,MagicBloom.fx,MXAO.fx

And I only drop like 40 fps lol.

But as I stated with my rig, I do get avg of 40 to 45 fps in Main town.

Basically everyhing maxed Except AO: Off, Volumetric setting: Low, SH Diffuse Quality: low, Dynamic Range: 32bit.

[Goa]

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

And yes, the Steam overlay is not helping things at all in this game. Your framerate periodically dips for about 15-20 frames every time you get a notification because it's uploading textures ineficiently. Until Capcom and Steam fix that notification problem, you prbably wan tto turn the overlay off.

Would turning off Steam Overlay actually help a lot more? Would've I want to take screenshots?

I don't take screenshots with Steam overlay, and I have not noticed any performance drops while having it on or during notifications, only noticable drops I've seen is caused by Steam Friends disconnecting every once in a while.

[Kaldaien]

ReShade's not very friendly to this game with its depth buffer locking design.

The custom version of ReShade has a few optimizations to fix that. For multi-threaded rendering engines, I don't lock the depth buffer and instead use a lockless algorithm that works better there. (This game's not multi-threaded rendering)

My version of ReShade disables depth buffer tracking unless you have a shader effect active that uses it. No sense in letting it hurt your performance if you're just applying color post-processing :)

[HolyDeath3000]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

ReShade's not very friendly to this game with its depth buffer locking design.

The custom version of ReShade has a few optimizations to fix that. For multi-threaded rendering engines, I don't lock the depth buffer and instead use a lockless algorithm that works better there. (This game's not multi-threaded rendering)

My version of ReShade disables depth buffer tracking unless you have a shader effect active that uses it. No sense in letting it hurt your performance if you're just applying color post-processing :)

The problem with your ReShade is that its not proper depth Buffer Detection. MXAO is nothing like its supposed to look like when Used. Same with SMAA and such. Which is why I use Official ReShade. It causes distortion in the effects for MXAO that shouldn't look like it does.

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by Goa:

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

Would turning off Steam Overlay actually help a lot more? Would've I want to take screenshots?

I don't take screenshots with Steam overlay, and I have not noticed any performance drops while having it on or during notifications, only noticable drops I've seen is caused by Steam Friends disconnecting every once in a while.

Yes, and in this game, every 5 - 10 seconds you get a notification that a friend has started playing the game. So, we're in agreement -- the overlay is quite a problem for this game in its current buggy state.

[HolyDeath3000]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

Originally posted by Goa:

I don't take screenshots with Steam overlay, and I have not noticed any performance drops while having it on or during notifications, only noticable drops I've seen is caused by Steam Friends disconnecting every once in a while.

Yes, and in this game, every 5 - 10 seconds you get a notification that a friend has started playing the game. So, we're in agreement -- the overlay is quite a problem for this game in its current buggy state.

I have like 2 friends when I see on MHW actually connect and reconnect like 10 times within 2 to 5 minutes. Obnoxious as hell lol.

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

ReShade's not very friendly to this game with its depth buffer locking design.

The custom version of ReShade has a few optimizations to fix that. For multi-threaded rendering engines, I don't lock the depth buffer and instead use a lockless algorithm that works better there. (This game's not multi-threaded rendering)

My version of ReShade disables depth buffer tracking unless you have a shader effect active that uses it. No sense in letting it hurt your performance if you're just applying color post-processing :)

The problem with your ReShade is that its not proper depth Buffer Detection. MXAO is nothing like its supposed to look like when Used. Same with SMAA and such. Which is why I use Official ReShade.

Use the older reshade shader collection. The latest MXAO shader's not even HDR compatible, they took some shortcuts and it's using R8G8B8A8 as the frameubffer format when the game's framebuffer is R10G10B10A2. That will never work unless you use official ReShade, which takes the framebuffer and crams it down to 8-bit and you lose image quality.

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

Yes, and in this game, every 5 - 10 seconds you get a notification that a friend has started playing the game. So, we're in agreement -- the overlay is quite a problem for this game in its current buggy state.

I have like 2 friends when I see on MHW actually connect and reconnect like 10 times within 2 to 5 minutes. Obnoxious as hell lol.

I have hundreds of them, it's making the game almost unplayble. :P

[Goa]

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

ReShade's not very friendly to this game with its depth buffer locking design.

The custom version of ReShade has a few optimizations to fix that. For multi-threaded rendering engines, I don't lock the depth buffer and instead use a lockless algorithm that works better there. (This game's not multi-threaded rendering)

My version of ReShade disables depth buffer tracking unless you have a shader effect active that uses it. No sense in letting it hurt your performance if you're just applying color post-processing :)

The problem with your ReShade is that its not proper depth Buffer Detection. MXAO is nothing like its supposed to look like when Used. Same with SMAA and such. Which is why I use Official ReShade.

Maybe the game uses logarithmic depth buffer? There is a setting to turn it on for some shaders in Reshade settings.

[HolyDeath3000]

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

The problem with your ReShade is that its not proper depth Buffer Detection. MXAO is nothing like its supposed to look like when Used. Same with SMAA and such. Which is why I use Official ReShade.

Use the older reshade shader collection. The latest MXAO shader's not even HDR compatible, they took some shortcuts and it's using R8G8B8A8 as the frameubffer format when the game's framebuffer is R10G10B10A2. That will never work unless you use official ReShade, which takes the framebuffer and crams it down to 8-bit and you lose image quality.

I am not even using HDR and its still bugging out. Nope using Logarithmic causes even worse artifacts for some odd reason. Even in official ReSHade. I mean I got it to look very similar to Official ReShade but the shadows on MXAO with your reshade are doing some weird hard shadow thing. Not soft like its supposed to be. Its kinda hard to explain. I see pixelation a bit too around the char. Also it covers entire area for most part with Official doesn't do nearly as much coverage. Someone posted screens of MXAO from both official and Unofficial. Actually it was Aemony that brought the screenshots into play.

Originally posted by Aemony:

Originally posted by JBeckman:

Logarithmic and reversed is what I need, depth is disabled when online activity is detected in the official version too and for the newest 3.4.0 and above you have additional DX11 compatibility options that come into play for manually setting the correct depth buffer for whatever it detects. :)

Huh? I tried with both logarithmic and reversed but it doesn't seemingly fix it for me. I've also tried with proxy resolution set to 2560x1440 and other stuff.

I can get Custom ReShade to darken the whole screen using MXAO, but I can't use it to actually darken the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ corners >_<

This is how the debug view for the AO/IL channel results in: https://images.aemony.se/sharex/2018-08-19_12-51-26.png

That view should be 95% white and 5% grey/black if the depth buffer worked properly.

Official ReShade works fine though >_<

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by HolyDeath3000:

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

Use the older reshade shader collection. The latest MXAO shader's not even HDR compatible, they took some shortcuts and it's using R8G8B8A8 as the frameubffer format when the game's framebuffer is R10G10B10A2. That will never work unless you use official ReShade, which takes the framebuffer and crams it down to 8-bit and you lose image quality.

I am not even using HDR and its still bugging out. Nope using Logarithmic causes even worse artifacts for some odd reason. Even in official ReSHade. I mean I got it to look very similar to Official ReShade but the shadows on MXAO with your reshade are doing some weird hard shadow thing. Not soft like its supposed to be. Its kinda hard to explain. I see pixelation a bit too around the char. Also it covers entire area for most part with Official doesn't do nearly as much coverage. Someone posted screens of MXAO from both official and Unofficial. Actually it was Aemony that brought the screenshots into play.

I know you're not. What I am telling you, however, is that my version of ReShade operates on the game's internal framebuffer, which is 32-bit HDR no matter what display device you have.

The other ReShade waits until the very end of a frame, when stuff is no longer HDR. It can take shortcuts and does so in its shaders, that aren't compatible with post-processing the game's native framebuffer.

The original MXAO shader didn't take these shortcuts and the image was format-compatible. The MXAO shader that comes with ReShade these days always draws into an RGBA8 image, which is not format-compatible with R10G10B10A2 or R11G11B10F. Thus if you try to use that shader in this game, about the best you'll accomplish is a dark screen.

I'm sure you can find a copy of the older more compatible MXAO shader. This isn't a problem strictly with Custom ReShade -- the new shortcut-ified MXAO shader works in Yakuza 0 because Yakuza 0 is R8G8B8A8 throughout the entire render pipeline. The MXAO shader works in both versions there.