Special K - v 0.8.65 [Legacy Release] - (1/15/18)

[Kaldaien]

Release Note History (in lieu of documentation)

I am too busy experimenting to write proper long-term documentation...

You may find useful pseudo-documentation here[gitlab.com]

Releases

Branch=Latest

1/15/18	v 0.8.65 [github.com] Improved Startup Performance
1/14/18	v 0.8.64 [github.com] Fix missing overlay in D3D11
1/13/18	v 0.8.62 [github.com] DirectInput 7 Support + More OpenGL stuff
1/9/18	v 0.8.61 [github.com] More OpenGL Improvements
1/5/18	v 0.8.60 [github.com] Improved OpenGL and Global Injection Support
1/2/18	v 0.8.59 [github.com] Steam Common Redistributable Disposal
1/1/18	v 0.8.58 [github.com] Happy New Year
12/21/17	v 0.8.57 [github.com] Improved Steam Controller Support
12/19/17	v 0.8.56 [github.com] Fix Handle Leak in Applications Blacklisted from Injection
12/18/17	v 0.8.55 [github.com] RivaTuner Statistics Server Compatibility
12/15/17	v 0.8.54 [github.com] Improved OKAMI HD / 大神 絶景版 shader modding
12/2/17	v 0.8.52 [github.com] 32-bit Injection Compat Fix
11/3/17	v 0.8.50.4 [github.com] Enhanced Framerate Limiter + D3D11 Texture Reload
10/2/17	v 0.8.46 [github.com] Fix config for Steam games with non-Latin names
9/29/17	v 0.8.45 [github.com] D3D9 Texture Injection Optimization
9/23/17	v 0.8.44 [github.com] Denuvo Activation Management (Steamworks only)
9/18/17	v 0.8.43 [github.com] Divinity: Original Sin 2 Optimizations
9/5/17	v 0.8.41 [github.com] File | Exit
9/3/17	v 0.8.39 [github.com] D3D9 Shader Mod Tools + Clothing Optional
8/31/17	v 0.8.37 [github.com] Preliminary Native Steam Controller Support
8/27/17	v 0.8.36 [github.com] First Anniversary Release
8/7/17	v 0.8.33 [github.com] Multi-colored graph widgets
7/23/17	v 0.8.26 [github.com] G-Sync Status in OSD
7/20/17	v 0.8.25 [github.com] Many fixes for Mouse Effect: Agh! and ReShade.
7/15/17	v 0.8.24.3 [github.com] Multi-threaded Rendering / TexCache Fixes
7/11/17	v 0.8.24 [github.com] Final Fantasy 8 (Preliminary DirectInput 7 Support)
7/9/17	v 0.8.23.1 [github.com] Streamlined SKIM64 Experience
7/8/17	v 0.8.22.8 [github.com] Fairy Fencer AD Middleware License Fix
7/2/17	v 0.8.21.3 [github.com] SKIM Replaces inject.bat / uninject.bat
7/1/17	v 0.8.20 [github.com] Compatibility Updates
6/21/17	v 0.8.19 [github.com] Compatibility Updates
6/21/17	v 0.8.18 [github.com] Improved Version Management
6/20/17	v 0.8.17 [github.com] Auto-Update
6/19/17	v 0.8.16 [github.com] In-game fullscreen toggle added to D3D11
6/18/17	v 0.8.15 [github.com] Compatibility Menu (HOLD Ctrl + Shift at game start)
6/16/17	v 0.8.14 [github.com] DirectDraw Support + New Injection Menu
6/11/17	v 0.8.13 [github.com] D3D11 Texture / Shader Modding
5/16/17	v 0.8.12 [gitlab.com] { No Auto-Update Support Yet }

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=933337066

Test Releases

Branch=Testing

12/13/17	v 0.8.53.6 [github.com] Dbghelp.dll changes for League of Legends Compat
11/29/17	v 0.8.52.1 [github.com] Global Keyboard Macros
11/23/17	v 0.8.51 [github.com] World of Final Fantasy Compatibility
10/28/17	v 0.8.49.2 [github.com] Custom ReShade supports wrapper DLLs + Global Injection Whitelist
10/5/17	v 0.8.47.5 [github.com] D3D11 Shader State Profiles
9/3/17	v 0.8.40 [github.com] XInput Slot Reassignment
8/14/17	v 0.8.35 [github.com] Improved D3D11 Texture Mod Support
8/10/17	v 0.8.34 [github.com] Custom ReShade Support
8/6/17	v 0.8.32 [github.com] Steam Game Profiles No Longer use <appname.exe>
8/5/17	v 0.8.31 [github.com] Added Gamepad Input Support to Widgets
8/2/17	v 0.8.30 [github.com] Fixed DDRAW and D3D8 API Wrapping
8/1/17	v 0.8.29 [github.com] Improved UI Widgets
7/29/17	v 0.8.28 [github.com] Increased Log/Config/Startup Performance
7/27/17	v 0.8.27 [github.com] OSD Widgets

[Kaldaien]

lol... Zelda Breath of the Wild has over 100 shrines (effectively mini-temples that earn you credits toward heart or stamina limit increases), and this sounds impressive on paper. I've been finishing up a few that I skipped and came across one that's nothing but a putter using the Switch's motion controls.

https://www.zeldadungeon.net/breath-of-the-wild-walkthrough/shrine-locations/katosa-aug-shrine-guide/

They ran out of ideas at one point and fell back on the thing Nintendo's most often laughed at for. Giving us the motion gaming craze that went nowhere.

[JBeckman]

A 100? Well I guess they won't compare to the dungeons in terms of size but I guess that explains one of the more common complaints I've heard about the game if there's that many, well that and the low durability even for higher-end weapons.

Second DLC should come out shortly I believe, update 1.34 is causing some concern in the CEMU emulator community due to frame pacing issues but I guess the actual hardware wouldn't have any such problems.

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by Aemony:

Originally posted by 🎃Macula🎃:

CSGO spammers are starting to infest this group now.

=__=

They’ve been doing the last two weeks or so, you just didn’t notice it. :)

Although there’s no reason to be concerned. Valve’s moderators are aware of the issue and mass-remove posts within an hour or so of their creation, even in this group.

I used to have to ban/remove them manually, but now Valve takes care of it before I usually even see the thread myself.

What I find most funny about that is the ratio of people who play CS:GO and are a member of this group is probably among the lowest of any Steam group considering my projects cater to JRPGs for the most part.

[JBeckman]

And Batman...though the two can probably mix although it tends to have some interesting results.
(There's been a few Japanese crossovers for some westerns content, and the opposite.)

Batman...well Batman tends to get weird but then again he started as a gunman and then it's kinda spread into all the crossovers ever. :P


EDIT: Though that was pre-SpecialK as it is now, mainly focused on ini tweaks for getting the streaming system to behave. Somewhat. :D

Which well you either revert to a earlier patch and use that or you use the new (grid?) system from the patched version for DLC compatibility which also restores effects such as rain drops and some other stuff but ALL the VRAM goes into the game then and it'll still stutter a bit.


EDIT: Though I suppose SpecialK with a system with enough DDR4 high-speed RAM and a SSD of reasonable speed and then a texture cache of insane size you can get some results too. :P
(The god-damn Batman finally has enough god-damn RAM...or something like that. Ha ha.)

EDIT: Which well I guess that's AMD's HBCC system for Vega in a nutshell, 128 GB system with memory to spare? Give some to the GPU. :D
(Well 32 or 64 might be enough, maybe.)

EDIT: Actually it's still going to stutter whenever you go into a new zone and all the data is loaded around if that's how it works now, well there goes that theory.

[Shifroval]

Kaldaien, I'm sure it's a very unpopular thing to ask, but there is a problem with a mouse look in Star Ocean 4 and I'm pretty sure it can be fixed with Special K.
Mouse look there is tied to an invisible mouse pointer (well, according to this review, I'm still hesitating whether I should get the game myself to see how it works)
https://www.pcinvasion.com/star-ocean-last-hope-technical-review-options
So basically the camera moves until the pointer hits the edge of the screen. My guess is that the game loses focus of the pointer and stops the movement. I've seen such behavior before, it happens when the pointer is not locked within a window, a typical problem when trying to run old games in a window.
Maybe with all that window mess sorted out, mouse look will work correctly? I would have tested it myself with the latest Special K, but even if I had the game, I don't have free hdd space to install it right now.
Thank you once again for saving another broken game!

[Kaldaien]

I've had the option to restrict the mouse cursor to the window bounds for over a year now :)

Unfortunately, I think the problem here is that the mouselook is based on relative window position rather than raw input. Raw input (and DirectInput) will continue to send mouse delta information even if the mouse cursor is in a different application or has reached the edge of the desktop and said delta movement has much greater precision than 1 pixel.

Needless to say, THAT is the correct way to implement mouselook... but many games opt to instead warp the cursor to the center of the screen and look for movement differences :-\

[Shifroval]

So Square screwed up once again? Great. And they even made a whole set of keyboard and mouse buttons icons for the UI. But I guess we can't have it all. Something just _must_ be broken, be it renderer issues or the controls. You were right about the PC testing standards. It seems no one have actually tested the game with a KB/M. It's a very obvious issue and should be addressed at the start of porting process.

I guess the only solution here is to use GPDSCK or play with a controller.

[JBeckman]

Guess it can happen, you do often see shots from Q&A testing and similar or game shows where nothing but gamepads are being used.

For one example Star Wars Battlefront 2 released a short while ago, developed by Dice after games such as oh the entire Battlefield franchise.

Well a few days after launch update 1.02 (Somehow called update 0.2) came out, fixing among other things a bug where the game progress was deleted if you played the game without a controller plugged in.


Needless to say they probably never tried the game without a gamepad. :D
But that was at least patched, here? Well there's some mouse compatibility options in SpecialK (ME: Andromeda says hello.) but I don't know if they can help with this issue since it works a bit differently.


EDIT:
https://battlefront-forums.ea.com/discussion/83395/star-wars-battlefront-ii-release-notes-patch-0-2

General

Fixed an issue where the player’s saved data would be erased if starting the game with no controllers connected.

...

[Kaldaien]

Originally posted by Shifroval:

So Square screwed up once again? Great. And they even made a whole set of keyboard and mouse buttons icons for the UI. But I guess we can't have it all. Something just _must_ be broken, be it renderer issues or the controls. You were right about the PC testing standards. It seems no one have actually tested the game with a KB/M. It's a very obvious issue and should be addressed at the start of porting process.

I guess the only solution here is to use GPDSCK or play with a controller.

I can't say for sure, I rarely use keyboard / mouse controls and have not spent any time looking at them in this game.

I can tell you when a game is very obnoxious about its input and requires those compatibility settings like anti-warp, but I didn't spot anything like that. Some games even use an obscure feature in Windows that lets you treat mouse buttons as keyboard keys, input on Windows can go weird in a hurry with all the "wrong" ways you can do something :)

[Shifroval]

Originally posted by JBeckman:

Guess it can happen, you do often see shots from Q&A testing and similar or game shows where nothing but gamepads are being used.

Needless to say they probably never tried the game without a gamepad. :D
But that was at least patched, here? Well there's some mouse compatibility options in SpecialK (ME: Andromeda says hello.) but I don't know if they can help with this issue since it works a bit differently.

If this goes on, we'll get more Nioh-like games, and I can already imagine that in 5 or so years the mouse support will be advertised like 4K-res compatibility is nowadays. And EA will probably sell it as a $9.99 dlc lol. We live in grim times indeed...
Back in the 2000s every PC game I played was made for KB/M and no one even asked why there is no mouselook or remappable keys becase there was no such thing (well at least not on a large scale like we have now). It was vice versa, PC games had no controller support.

Originally posted by Kaldaien:

I can tell you when a game is very obnoxious about its input and requires those compatibility settings like anti-warp, but I didn't spot anything like that. Some games even use an obscure feature in Windows that lets you treat mouse buttons as keyboard keys, input on Windows can go weird in a hurry with all the "wrong" ways you can do something :)

Ok, thank you for your help, I just bought the game anyway and once I clear up enough disk space to install it, I can tell for sure what's going on there. Or someone before me will do.

[😎Macula😎]

Originally posted by Aemony:

Originally posted by 🎃Macula🎃:

CSGO spammers are starting to infest this group now.

=__=

They’ve been doing the last two weeks or so, you just didn’t notice it. :)

Although there’s no reason to be concerned. Valve’s moderators are aware of the issue and mass-remove posts within an hour or so of their creation, even in this group.

I used to have to ban/remove them manually, but now Valve takes care of it before I usually even see the thread myself.

It's possible someone erased posts before I notice them but usually when I do (usually on other group I follow up on) I just go to their profile and report advertisement links spams (with quote of thread just in case) for that and that group and then report thread itself for what I would assume mods/admins from that custom group see and remove.

But lately I wonder should I report it differently considering they prob phising or scams even.

Jackasses even use other steam accounts to post on their own thread saying along the line that it's working and trusted service etc.

And it's clearly obvious considering that group has slow traffic of posts.

[Kaldaien]

By the way, can anyone with an NVIDIA GPU and Star Ocean 4 help me verify something real quick?

I'm seeing Video encoder load for reasons I cannot figure. I do not have any video capture software running right now. I therefore believe the game is doing this, but that really makes no sense.

Can you tell me if the VID0 <%....> number shows up on the GPU OSD readout? It's hidden from view whenever NVIDIA's video encoder is at 0% load.

[Kaldaien]

Also, I now know why this game has that dumb Always-on-Top thing forced. Its framerate limiter only kicks in in windowed mode if the render window is on top of everything.

I'm going to insert into Special K's compatibility profile for this game a default forced 60 FPS limit. At this point the number of things that can break Star Ocean 4's framerate limiter are way too many, it needs this crutch :-\

[JBeckman]

I guess ripping it out and replacing it would be one possibility, takes more time though and it's not really a full project like with the "Tales of" games or similar.

Unless it is, I suppose the list of issues might grow as people keep digging into the game.

Video playback is a interesting one too, isn't it just BIK again only it's packed into those archives though then again there's no third-party BIK .dll so maybe not?
(And then it turns out to be some 1280x720 res 10-bit x265 encode or something...eh probably not but some video format of some kind is in those archives.)

EDIT: Well the video file is something from a quick string search.

E11030201M:Not found any avilable codec for the video stream. Attach a codec module before the Initialize function.

Also.

E06100908M:Found D Picture.

Well isn't that nice. :D
(There's a joke somewhere here but it's probably protection related, and there's a joke somewhere there too. Ha ha.)

EDIT: CRIVMPV, MPV format?

criVmpv/PCx64 Ver.3.58 Build:Jun 27 2017 14:58:29

EDIT: Lots of different CRI engine stuff from searching around a bit, guess that makes sense for this engine they're using having it's own feature set and tools.

[Kaldaien]

Yeah, there are multiple framerate limiters in this game actually. There's one used during video playback and that one sucks by every conceivable measure. There's also one used in menus and during gameplay.

The menu / gameplay limiter has input latency problems unless my "Sleepless window thread" option is engaged. But.... that option really angers this game during video playback :) Detecting the gamestate and turning that feature on/off is needed.