Running DS Remastered at full speed with Vulkan: Potato Edition

Hello! In this guide you'll learn how to run Dark Souls Remastered at 30fps full speed (yes, FULL SPEED) in your potato machine!

Brief introduction

Unfortunately, Dark Souls Remastered doesn't have a Variable fps option, that means that you NEED to maintain a solid 60fps to run the game, otherwise you'll face some slowdowns, since the game speed is tied to the framerate.

"You said 30fps at full speed! How will i be able to run at full speed if my game will be at 30fps???"

Woah! Slowdown, babe! We will be cheating a little to make the game run at full speed. How? Cheat Engine will do the trick

Also, don't be afraid! I've already beat the game solo and in coop, so there is no risk of beeing baned at the moment (and the servers are down, so whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

So, let's begin our journey to make this game run in our potato machines!

Okay, What are my specs? Well...

• OS: Windows 10
  
• CPU: Intel Core i3 6006U
  
• GPU: Intel HD Graphics 520
  
• RAM: 12GB

First things first: Important stuff to download before tweaking

1. Update your graphics driver AND make sure that your GPU supports Vulkan (if not, then skip all parts related to DXVK)
   
2. Download Cheat Engine: https://www.cheatengine.org/downloads.php
   
3. Download MSI afterburner OR just download Riva Tuner Statistics Server (MSI recomended): https://www.msi.com/Landing/afterburner/graphics-cards
   
4. Download DXVK latest release from github: https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk

Let's begin our tweaking!

Okay, now that you have everything downloaded AND installed, let's start tweaking:

1. Extract your dxvk into any folder you like and open it. This should be the contents of the folder:
   
   
2. Now, go to the "x64" folder and copy the "dxgi.dll" and "d3d11.dll" (or just copy everything inside the folder) and paste into your DSR folder. Usually is located at "Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > commom > DARK SOULS REMASTERED"
   
   
3. Open the game, load any character (or just create a new one), change the settings from fullscreen to windowed and then go to your desktop
   
   
4. Now, open Cheat Engine, select the monitor icon that's bellow the "file" option and select DARK SOULS REMASTERED. Now, check the "Enable Speedhack" option and set it to ~1.4 (maybe you'll need to tweak this number to your taste)
   
   
5. Open MSI afterburner and wait Riva Tuner to start (or just open Riva Tuner) and set you fps limit to 30-38. In my system, when i limit my fps to 30, the game runs at 24-25fps, so i limit the fps to 37-38fps to make the game run at 30fps. I don't know why that happens, but it just works
   
   
6. Go back to the game, put it back to fullscreen (or leave it windowed, if you like), change your resolution to the lowest and voilà: your game should be running at full speed without slowdowns for most of the time! You can even increase the resolution to see if it can maintain 30fps or just activate some fancy settings, like ambient occlusion and anti-aliasing.
   

Important Notes

• Performance may vary in each system, so if Vulkan doesn't give you enough performance, you can try to run the game without doing the DXVK step.
  
  
• If your system does not support Vulkan, you can also skip the DXVK step.
  
  
• About being banned: I was never banned. I already beat the game 3 times in coop and even did some pvp. But be aware: there is always the risk of being banned, so do it at your own risk!
  
  
• Also: what is DXVK? Why is that so important? Well, DXVK is a Vulkan-based translation layer for Direct3D 9/10/11 which allows running 3D applications on Linux using Wine, but IT ALSO WORKS IN WINDOWS! It gave me a huge performance boost in various games, so you can test it in other games and maybe get better performance.

Extra: Off-screen recording of me doing the steps above and running the game

[匚ㄥモ工]

Mano fiz tudo porem nem o cheat engine nem o msi entendem meu dark souls como um jogo e nem aumenta a velocidade nem mostra o fps do lado igual o seu

[Flanders Nº17]

EN : Wanted to note that on Intel HD Graphics some versions of DXVK past 1.10.1 may not work, probably because some there are some Vulkan functionalities not included on their drivers. (Info obtained from a performance guide for Fallout New Vegas)

PT : Noto que, usando placas Intel HD Graphics, algumas versões do DXVK depois da 1.10.1 podem não funcionar, possivelmente por causa de alguma funcionalidade Vulkan não estarem inclusas nos drivers. (Informação tirada de um guia de performance do Fallout New Vegas)

Fallout New Vegas performance guide (direct into the DXVK info)
https://performance.moddinglinked.com/falloutnv.html#DXVK

[็]

this doesnt work on ryzen 3 2200u xdd
30 fps on the first bonefire and 1 on the first optional boss...

[jonis69]

This can be used online, but as i said on the guide: I was never banned. I already beat the game 3 times in coop and even did some pvp. But be aware: there is always the risk of being banned, so do it at your own risk!

[็]

this can be used online?
or its a risk of ban??

[Miracle]

Consegui notar uma melhoria aqui mas enquanto tiver com sistema sem Vulkan vai rolar não. Vou deixar a thread salva pra voltar de novo quando fizer esse upgrade tho, por enquanto a jogatina vai ser na lan house HAHAHA

[jonis69]

Por nada. Fico feliz por conseguir ajudar outras pessoas a jogar esse game maravilhoso

[Flanders Nº17]

Dude, love you, you literally have the same specs as my Notebook.
This is a godsend.

(ou abrasileirado)
Parça, só amores, teu pc é literalmente igual ao meu note.
Presente de deus.