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Dark Souls internal rendering resolution fix (DSfix)

RedSwirl

Junior Member
God damn man. All this has singlehandedly made me seriously consider double-dipping after I get through a bit more of my Steam backlog.

The framerate isn't as big a concern for me and I understand how it's not at the top of the priority list, but it would be cool if someone started investigating it.

As for KB+M, this is Skyrim and Dead Space all over again. At least with Skyrim we had someone re-mod the entire UI. With Dead Space and even its sequel Visceral Games straight up told players that they would prefer people used the 360 pad. Of course the problem with this is assuming every PC gamer has a 360 pad. I don't think they relented on that issue at all until they saw a video of a quadriplegic playing a PC game with his head after he had requested fully-mappable controls for DS2.

...and oh yeah - I wish Dark Souls had remappable controls on every platform. Even the 360 version feels weird using the bumpers instead of the triggers for attack and guard. Just another sign of how this was originally intended to be a PS3 game - period.
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
Another copy sold thanks to you Durante and only thanks to you. I was 100% sure I wouldn't buy the game considering everything around the pc version.

Now your fix(es) have made me not only buy it but actually look forward to replaying it again!

data2012-08-2619-25-4uqq7l.png


Thanks!
 
If I look in a very specific direction in Blighttown my framerate goes to shit. If I look towards the large tree from just about anywhere in the level, framerate drops to 15. I look away and it climbs back to 30. What I wouldn't give for a proper performance patch from From.
 
Also, motion blur is superb - really improves the look of the animations of the bosses in particular. I still don't see why it is recommended to switch it off?

It's not, actually. The whole "turn blur off" thing is a misunderstanding caused by calling the in-game AA function a blur filter in the readme.
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Another copy sold thanks to you Durante and only thanks to you. I was 100% sure I wouldn't buy the game considering everything around the pc version.

Now your fix(es) have made me not only buy it but actually look forward to replaying it again!

data2012-08-2619-25-4uqq7l.png


Thanks!
Absolutely fucking ridiculous.
 

Pachinko

Member
Durante's resolution patch looks pretty damn amazing for a few days work from a fan.

I notice though, one reason why from software may have not bothered on their end was just a simple lack of experience. They built the entire game, framerate, textures and art assets to work at 1 specific resolution , I'm noticing that the real HD shots of the game all the 3d stuff looks far better but the 2d assets must all be low res images, even the text looks all distorted due to being blown up.

Is it possible to hack in an HD font or even resize the font during 1080+ rendering so it and the HUD don't get increased with the 3D graphics ? Just curious is all, not a demand.
 

BloodyBonzai

Neo Member
If I look in a very specific direction in Blighttown my framerate goes to shit. If I look towards the large tree from just about anywhere in the level, framerate drops to 15. I look away and it climbs back to 30. What I wouldn't give for a proper performance patch from From.

New drivers from NVIDIA or AMD depending on your card will be the biggest boost. Especially considering no drivers have been released yet that have optimized Dark Souls on the PC.
 

Pachinko

Member
Ah nice. Well I think , seeing as I have a dozen other games to play, I will wait until durante has essentially finished this excellent patcher and pick up this game for whatever it's worth when I've actually got some time to play it. :D
 

BloodyBonzai

Neo Member
If I look in a very specific direction in Blighttown my framerate goes to shit. If I look towards the large tree from just about anywhere in the level, framerate drops to 15. I look away and it climbs back to 30. What I wouldn't give for a proper performance patch from From.

Try lowering your settings some more and see if that still occurs. Reminds me of Batman Arkham City with tessellation. I can have a solid 60fps max settings but the moment I was within view of an object being tessellated my fps would drop drastically down into the 20s or 30s. Given there is no tessellation in Dark Souls, but possibly something else with those objects being in view that is causing more work for your hardware.
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
So Durante, seeing as it's going to be especially cheap for me to purchase the game because of me being able to purchase from GMG in USD coupled with a 20% off coupon (Which I'm only doing thanks to you), do you accept donations?
 
Both are possible, and on my list of 50 million things to do ;)

is there anythign we can do to assist you Durante. i know jack diddly about programming or computers, but you have my axe (+5 lightning)

So Durante, seeing as it's going to be especially cheap for me to purchase the game because of me being able to purchase from GMG in USD coupled with a 20% off coupon (Which I'm only doing thanks to you), do you accept donations?

His blog has a paypal link
 

Nabs

Member
So Durante, seeing as it's going to be especially cheap for me to purchase the game because of me being able to purchase from GMG in USD coupled with a 20% off coupon (Which I'm only doing thanks to you), do you accept donations?

Check his blog in the OP for the link
 

Zzoram

Member
So Durante, seeing as it's going to be especially cheap for me to purchase the game because of me being able to purchase from GMG in USD coupled with a 20% off coupon (Which I'm only doing thanks to you), do you accept donations?

His blog where the fix is available for download has a donation link just below
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Thanks you guys, I did read the op but didn't bother checking the actual link out until I own the game itself. I can't wait to get killed repeatedly :)
 

Durante

Member
Ah nice. Well I think , seeing as I have a dozen other games to play, I will wait until durante has essentially finished this excellent patcher and pick up this game for whatever it's worth when I've actually got some time to play it. :D
Note that I can't guarantee that anything on that list will actually be finished. I can guarantee though I won't be able to do everything on it ;)

I think the game is totally playable now if you use a gamepad.


is there anythign we can do to assist you Durante. i know jack diddly about programming or computers, but you have my axe (+5 lightning)
The biggest issue is that tomorrow is Monday, so I probably won't get anything done until next weekend.
 

FtHTiny

Member
Okay question for the pvp-pros.
Never was really much into pvp on the console and trying now.
Failed to invade = is it server issues or whats going on. It happens so often.
As darkwraith can i invade every level or only around my level?
Also can i get only into new game plus people or also first timers.

Don´t judge me, someone has to get some invasions going! :c
 

Zzoram

Member
Okay question for the pvp-pros.
Never was really much into pvp on the console and trying now.
Failed to invade = is it server issues or whats going on. It happens so often.
As darkwraith can i invade every level or only around my level?
Also can i get only into new game plus people or also first timers.

Don´t judge me, someone has to get some invasions going! :c

Invading is based on level only, not which NG+ you're in.

You can only invade people within 10 levels +/- 10%, so the higher your level, the larger the level range you can invade IIRC.

One of the Covenants gives you an unlimited use red eye stone for invasion.



You can only be invaded before you kill the boss for that area. If you've killed the boss of an area, it will be safe for you to be there in human form in the future.
 

BloodyBonzai

Neo Member
Okay question for the pvp-pros.
Never was really much into pvp on the console and trying now.
Failed to invade = is it server issues or whats going on. It happens so often.
As darkwraith can i invade every level or only around my level?
Also can i get only into new game plus people or also first timers.

Don´t judge me, someone has to get some invasions going! :c

There is nothing better than knocking you guys off a cliff.
 
Try lowering your settings some more and see if that still occurs. Reminds me of Batman Arkham City with tessellation. I can have a solid 60fps max settings but the moment I was within view of an object being tessellated my fps would drop drastically down into the 20s or 30s. Given there is no tessellation in Dark Souls, but possibly something else with those objects being in view that is causing more work for your hardware.

I just took the time to do this. Resolution isn't the issue, I get the same performance at 3840 x 2160 as I do at 1920 x 1080. Issue was AF. I disabled the AF option in DSFix and the problem is gone.
 
Durante,

I was wondering if you could provide me with some pointers as to how to become a DirectX badass like you. I recently bought the book "3D Game Programming with DirectX" but I want to review my linear algebra before I start reading it. Any suggestions coming from you would mean a lot to this aspiring game programmer.
 

FtHTiny

Member
Invading is based on level only, not which NG+ you're in.

You can only invade people within 10 levels +/- 10%, so the higher your level, the larger the level range you can invade IIRC.

One of the Covenants gives you an unlimited use red eye stone for invasion.

Thanks, always thought the darkwraiths can invade everyone.
And the failed invasion are just server issues?
 

2AdEPT

Member
Okay question for the pvp-pros.
Never was really much into pvp on the console and trying now.
Failed to invade = is it server issues or whats going on. It happens so often.
As darkwraith can i invade every level or only around my level?
Also can i get only into new game plus people or also first timers.

Don´t judge me, someone has to get some invasions going! :c

good ...yes we need more invaders.....in fact with the consoles it was actually gankers that were breaking the game not invaders...i.e they would wait with a team of three right near the spawn point. Notwithstanding, if you can persevere as an invader in that situation it can be very rewarding! Had to use the Titanite demon in ANor Londo, which is normally cheese if you are fighting a regular progression player....and hence why FROM made the Dark anor londo option exist, but for those gankers that don't get it.....its a great strategy!

Yes invade, but try to use a little tact....if a guy (or gal) is human and he either doesn't find a helper or her helper dies on sens fortress...the last thing s/he wants is to get backstabbed while waiting for swinging knives or a rolling ball....we don't want people to go offline for the wrong reasons....even if people experience a "polite" invasion once in a while it will help the community expand.

Here is a short etiquette for invaders (prolly missed some):

Dont heal with humanity or divine blessings or miracles unless the host does so first.
When initially standing off at a distance, bow and allow some time for host to change weapons get buffs prepared etc. especially if they are by themselves or the helpers are there but waiting to fight you one at a time.
Don't gesture in a rude way esp. if there was no reason for the host to deserve a taunt...it is outlawed in football etc. same should apply here.
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
So what happened during development? Seems like they were implementing high res stuff added a couple of higher res textures and then were like "fuck, now we have to test it more with multiple resolutions and video cards, that costs money....lower the res and ship it".
 

Durante

Member
Durante,

I was wondering if you could provide me with some pointers as to how to become a DirectX badass like you. I recently bought the book "3D Game Programming with DirectX" but I want to review my linear algebra before I start reading it. Any suggestions coming from you would mean a lot to this aspiring game programmer.
IMHO, the best introductory book on the topic is "Real-Time Rendering" by Möller and Haines. I don't know if the most recent version has kept up well with modern techniques, but the first edition was great.

It's not focused on DirectX, but the API is really not that important. (Just like the language is not that important for learning programming)
 

FtHTiny

Member
Here is a short etiquette for invaders (prolly missed some):

Dont heal with humanity or divine blessings or miracles unless the host does so first.
When initially standing off at a distance, bow and allow some time for host to change weapons get buffs prepared etc. especially if they are by themselves or the helpers are there but waiting to fight you one at a time.
Don't gesture in a rude way esp. if there was no reason for the host to deserve a taunt...it is outlawed in football etc. same should apply here.

I´m probably to high level to get the real new players anyway right now, but i already had 3 real good duells. With both standing face to face at the beginning. And i´m pretty fresh in the pvp too.
Sl 105 atm.
 
What a bunch of rubbish, you even know what ENB really does? It doesn't improve performance in GTA IV, quite the opposite. And as for 'image quality' that's exactly what I'm talking about. Developers aren't running around going "Oh no, how do we improve the looks of our game!" no, they are building the game within console limitations in many cases or a specific performance budget. Writing an injector that just slaps a ton of expensive effects on top of a game isn't exactly what developer houses are looking for, IF they really wanted those effects it'd be easier ( and cheaper, performance wise ) to write them from scratch. ENB is by no means a performance enhancer.
I was talking about San Andreas.
 

BloodyBonzai

Neo Member
I just took the time to do this. Resolution isn't the issue, I get the same performance at 3840 x 2160 as I do at 1920 x 1080. Issue was AF. I disabled the AF option in DSFix and the problem is gone.

I am not getting any performance issues that cannot be solved by turning down the res. Turning down the TFO from 2 to 1 reduces the demand on your hardware just the same as turning down your res. So I dunno, I am not able to find fps issues that can only be resolved by turning the TFO from 2 to 1.
 

Jubbly

Member
I just wanted to thank Durante again for doing what FROM couldn't/wouldn't, but I think I'll play Sleeping Dogs and various other things in my backlog first because I'm sure his work and the work of others will make the game even better in the coming weeks and months.
 
I am not getting any performance issues that cannot be solved by turning down the res. Turning down the TFO from 2 to 1 reduces the demand on your hardware just the same as turning down your res. So I dunno, I am not able to find fps issues that can only be resolved by turning the TFO from 2 to 1.

That particular issue just seems to be more sensitive to AF than resolution.
 

Sentenza

Member
Just because Durante fixed the framebuffer doesn't mean kb+mouse controls are acceptable and people shouldn't be able to complain and ask for good ones. Get over it.
I never said they are acceptable, I said they are shit and there are better options.
Get over it.
 

Izayoi

Banned
By the way, do we know if there's a way of getting rid of the 30fps limit as well? Not as big of a deal as the resolution, but it sure would be nice...
 

BloodyBonzai

Neo Member
By the way, do we know if there's a way of getting rid of the 30fps limit as well? Not as big of a deal as the resolution, but it sure would be nice...

I am pretty sure the game engine is built around 30fps. Any type of modification going over 30fps will probably result in gameplay that would be like playing the game in fast forward mode, like a speed hack. I think the only improvement in regards to fps would be eliminating the jump from 30fps to 15fps as the max fps. So you get the fps you should be getting, for example 22 fps rather than having it drop to 15 fps. D3DOverrider fixed this issue in many games such as Just Cause 2 when Vsync is enabled. I figured having D3DOverrider active while playing this game would have eliminated this, but unfortunately it does nothing when Durante's MOD is active. I dont know if Durante intends on fixing this.
 

Swifty

Member
Durante,

I was wondering if you could provide me with some pointers as to how to become a DirectX badass like you. I recently bought the book "3D Game Programming with DirectX" but I want to review my linear algebra before I start reading it. Any suggestions coming from you would mean a lot to this aspiring game programmer.
Essential Mathematics for Games and Interactive Applications is probably what you're looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0123742978/?tag=neogaf0e-20

But don't think it means you aren't ready to work through what's written in the DirectX book. It's a very good book with some really good step by step examples. Even if your linear algebra isn't up to speed, understanding the API is a whole adventure on it's own. Just jump into it.
 

BloodyBonzai

Neo Member
Hey Durante, when I play Dark Souls without any modifications, D3DOverrider is active and eliminates the jump from 30fps to 15fps. But when your fix is implemented, it overrides D3DOverrider. Do you think you will be able to adjust your fix so that D3DOverrider stays active or update your fix to implement what D3DOverrider does so it is not needed for Dark Souls?
 

zkylon

zkylewd
Hey Durante, I know this is pretty unrelated to your mod, but how possible you think it'll be to remove the Namco Bandai/FROM/etc. intro? It's just annoying as hell to have to watch that before closing the game...
 

D3RANG3D

Member
Hey Durante, I know this is pretty unrelated to your mod, but how possible you think it'll be to remove the Namco Bandai/FROM/etc. intro? It's just annoying as hell to have to watch that before closing the game...

I just alt+f4 as soon as the Namco/Bandai screen pops up.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
Hey Durante, when I play Dark Souls without any modifications, D3DOverrider is active and eliminates the jump from 30fps to 15fps. But when your fix is implemented, it overrides D3DOverrider. Do you think you will be able to adjust your fix so that D3DOverrider stays active or update your fix to implement what D3DOverrider does so it is not needed for Dark Souls?

Are you sure that's the real reason? Without any mods, it needs less horsepower to keep it at 30fps. Does your system have the necessary overhead for the extra requirements?
 
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