How Do I Get The Witcher 3 To Work With Special K?

Open file explorer, go to the game’s directory, press alt+d, type cmd.exe, press enter

Then type:

echo > SpecialK.dxgi

I did. Nothing happens. It just goes: C:\Users\Sean

I then place: >echo > SpecialK.dxgi

I hit enter. nothing. After that line (C:\Users\Sean>echo > SpecialK.dxgi), It creates a new line with C:\Users\Sean.

Wait. Wait. I did it properly. Hold on.

Alright, the DXGI file is created. Booted up game. Nothing. Still can’t open Special K in Witcher 3.

I’m so freaking close. Okay, I deleted all SpecialK.dxgi files I created. Found out that my Witcher 3 is actually booting from a deeper location in the GOG galaxy folders…so I located the exact launch directory, place the .DXGI file in there…and when I ran the application, I was told that SpecialK will delete Ansel while running the Witcher 3 ( something like that?)…I hit okay, and nothing happened. I ran the application again and it opened for half a second and closed. It says the game is running (shows in my task manager) but no game is open. I have tried starting it again and it still closes almost instantly. SO CLOSE!!! Any ideas?

Galaxy?

Hmm if there’s a Steam_Api64.dll file in where Witcher3.exe resides I wonder if you might not have to add

[Steam.Log]
Silent=true

To the SpecialK config file to disable the Steam functionality, sometimes GOG Galaxy and Steam API files kinda both exists in either version of the game and that can be problematic for compatibility.

I’d try with GOG Galaxy disabled also but I think it should work depending on how it hooks into the API.

My own preference is to use the SpecialK stuff locally though as D3D11.dll or DXGI.dll and on that note check so that GOG Galaxy doesn’t have their own D3D11 or DXGI dll files already present if that’s a potential conflict as well. :slight_smile:

It gets a bit complicated if you have multiple API’s working like this where there’s Steam files even without Steam or GOG Galaxy in the Steam version without GOG running and then possible issues around if Galaxy has it’s stand-alone Galaxy 32 or 64-bit .dll files or interacts directly through their own D3D or DXGI .dll files which might be causing compatibility issues with SpecialK. :slight_smile:

EDIT: Hmm maybe GOG Galaxy on the SKIF blacklist could also potentially help but the game would need to be whitelisted I’m pretty bad at using the launcher so not much I can contribute with for how to set it up or utilize it best here.

Since I’m more of a local installation user so that would mean either the latest stable or beta build and using that.

Latest beta files would be from that post, SpecialK64.dll as DXGI.dll or D3D11.dll which means the config file would be named DXGI or D3D11 .ini next to Witcher3.exe the main game .exe not some launcher exe or how it’s set up for the GOG edition if that differs compared to Steam.

Best to get the global launcher build working and possibly also without using these WIP builds though. :slight_smile:

Something like that I think far as paths and everything.

Bit of editing there, I miss or forget a lot of info I was actually thinking it’d be the .\Witcher3\ folder but it’s a sub folder and then a secondary sub folder within that. :slight_smile:

EDIT: Pathing and listing if going through SKIF should also reflect this I believe.
(Just in case there’s a smaller separate launcher exe or similar elsewhere and that’s causing a snag here.)

You did it. I had another dxgi file in my directory that seems to have been interfering. I moved the file to desktop for now, and the game boots with SpecialK enabled. HOWEVER, it seems the the dxgi file I moved was allowing another mod I had installed to work properly. Is there no way I can have both files in the directory? I really like that mod =(

Ah so in the end it turns out it was one of the .dll mods yeah I think you can have both if that file can be D3D11.dll or if SpecialK can be DInput8.dll one or the other. :slight_smile:

I completely forgot the game had that system for mod support now.

EDIT: Loading both .dll files early so you get the functionality of both without compatibility issues is the idea behind this and getting the naming and such sorted or to allow for either SpecialK global or local installation to work and with the mod still active as to retain it’s functionality.

Problem after problem. Great, now the game crashes after I try to load a save. A Metal Gear Solid sound plays and the game goes down. GRRRRRR

That’s the SpecialK crash reporter kicking in, you should have log files now but it’s probably between the .dll files would be nice if both could work but something is causing it to crash on trying to initialize the game now.

Hmm wonder if that means the mod isn’t activating and loading and what it tries to help with is causing a exception as a result when trying to load into the main game where this was previously active and doing it’s function.

The game only crashes when I enable HDR in the Special K menu. With HDR widget set to SDR, the game runs.

Use an updated version, or fiddle with the remastering settings.

Config file wise that should be these but if you can get to the main menu using the HDR widget from there before it crashes should be easier. :slight_smile:

[SpecialK.HDR]
Promote8BitRTsTo16=false
Promote10BitRTsTo16=true
Promote11BitRTsTo16=true

Use10BitSwapChain=false
Use16BitSwapChain=false

Newer builds disable these by default as I recall or the upcoming 0.11.1.x WIP builds since it’s not fully released yet.

EDIT: What was it again the 8-bit one can have some problems but I think it was already false by default just due to that fact so one of the other two then and which of the HDR modes for the swap chain to go by HDR10 or scRGB (16)

UI elements and so on specifically.
This is probably going to be a bit smoother using the PC Gaming Wiki or similar for configuration presets and recommended SpecialK overrides and using the SpecialK_Default.ini file to pre-set some of these to avoid start-up crashes. :slight_smile:

Over time as this improves and the HDR functionality also gets new features as can already be seen with 0.11.x here and these ongoing development builds.

With every new test version of SK I just enable all the remasters and play

Ok. I am having a prolem here too. I did all the steps above and tries adding the file it to directory. I tried with both names(dxgi and d3d11) and the in game menu does not appear.Any suggestions?

Have you tried injecting it through the global method?

I’m having problems with this game now. I took a break from this game for a few months, came back to it this evening and Special K and this game are having serious incompatibility problems. I’ve tried everything I can think of to remedy the situation, to preface, I was using Special K for HDR injection:

  1. Updated Special K to latest
  2. Disabled MSI Afterburner
  3. Tried running witcher3.exe as Admin (game starts, but SKIF doesn’t hook)
  4. Tried starting the game with HDR enabled and disabled.
  5. Disabled Ansel with Powershell per the instructions.
  6. Disabled and enabled HDR within Special K once I did manage to get the game to start, but once I attempt to load a save there is the Metal Gear Solid error sound and CTD.
  7. Created SpecialK.dxgi at game’s root directory.

Now the problem is that, with SKIF global service enabled, the game starts and becomes minimized with no way to maximize the game.

So fed up with these issues, I just wasted an hour of my life on this, not sure how the problem even cropped up in the first place, display driver update? No changes to Windows, this worked 2 months ago.

SK works with all of my other games.

first launch the game without special k, then go into the in-game settings and make sure that you do not have the game set to fullscreen. set it to windowed or borderless

then make sure you have the latest version of special k from the discord

you can do it from SKIF by setting the “check for updates to special k” to “on each launch” and to “discord (updates regularly)” - then restart SKIF

SKIF_Xl6LacK6Pp

that or simply download and run the latest installer from the #installers channel in the SK discord

latest version as of now is 22.6.28.1

after that, reset your specialk.ini (there are multiple plays to do this. one way is to simply delete your specialk.ini for the game - a new one will be created with new settings next time you launch the game with sk)

make sure that you do not have your game or steam running as admin

then try to launch your game with sk/from skif

if you still have issues, try setting this in your specialk.ini for the game-

[Display.Output]
ForceWindowed=true

[Window.System]
Borderless=true
Center=true

then try launching your game again with sk/from skif

Actually, the problem cropped up when I started SKIF to run TW3 and regrettably consented to updating SKIF. Then the issue where the game would either refuse to start at all, or start but then crash while attempting to load a save (with Metal Gear Solid sound effect, indicating problem is SKIF). I just updated to latest version of SKIF and the game starts now (once setting TW3 display to Windowed Borderless or Windowed) but the problem of the game crashing when attempting to load a save persists.

I’ve deleted specialk.ini and the problem persists.

Here’s the crash log. I greatly appreciate the help with this. This problem only cropped up because I made the mistake of consenting to updating SKIF. If I ever get this working again I will never update SKIF again, ever. I’ve already wasted 2-3 hours of my time with this. I don’t know what the source of the bug is but I would greatly appreciate it if potential bugs like this were caught before these updates are released into the wild. And my SKIF is set to update to the Website (until using your advice and changing this to update via Discord) so I’m not even on a new version when this problem cropped up.

I’m currently on 22.6.30.1

Here’s the crash log. I’m starting the game from SKIF and game is not set to run as Admin and I’ve also tried your specialk.ini suggest changes. Game crashes when I try to load a save. Game only does this with Special K running.

06/30/2022 21:55:59.505: DebugHelper Symbol Search Path…: ;C:\Users*\Documents\My Mods\SpecialK
06/30/2022 21:55:59.505: Unable to load Special K Debug Symbols ('C:\Users*
\Documents\My Mods\SpecialK\SpecialK64.pdb’), crash log will not be accurate.

==================================================================================================
<+> System Memory Load…: 62%

Current Working Set…: 1.054 GiB (Max Used: 1.054 GiB out of Total Physical: 15.818 GiB)

Current Virtual Memory.: 4.834 GiB (Max Used: 5.420 GiB)

<+> GPU0 Load…: 6.00% at 30.00°C

  • D3D11 Textures Cached…: 2155 ( 0.013 GiB Used, Quota: 2.000 GiB); 0 Evictions / 46 Hits
  • Current VRAM In Use…: 0.950 GiB / Max Useable VRAM: 24.000 GiB
    ==================================================================================================

06/30/2022 21:56:09.896: Unhandled Top-Level Exception (c000001d):


[! Except !] << EXCEPTION_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION >>

[ Thread ] ~ Name…: “[GAME] Primary Render < RenderThread >”
[ FaultMod ] # File…: ‘C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\dxgi.dll’
[ FaultMod ] * RIP Addr.: dxgi.dll+0000000000003C63h
[StackFrame] <-> Rip=7ffbe53b3c63h, Rsp=0092c946e248h, Rbp=0092c946e360h
[StackFrame] >-< Rsi=000000000001h, Rdi=000000000000h
[ GP Reg ] rax: 0x7ffbe544c108 rbx: 0x0208b56d7101
[ GP Reg ] rcx: 0x0208b56d71e0 rdx: 0x7ffbe544dd70
[ GP Reg ] r8: 0x0208958fa218 r9: 0x0092c9473740
[ GP Reg ] r10: 0x000000000021 r11: 0x000000000000
[ GP Reg ] r12: 0x0208959425d0 r13: 0x000000000012
[ GP Reg ] r14: 0x02139131e020 r15: 0x020895942b10
[ GP Flags ] EFlags: 0x00010202

   dxgi.dll >                    DXGIReportAdapterConfiguration
   dxgi.dll >                    DXGIReportAdapterConfiguration

SpecialK64.dll > ImGui_ImplDX11_NewFrame
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_SetPluginName
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix4x4::SetIdentity
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix4x4::SetIdentity
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
KERNEL32.DLL > BaseThreadInitThunk
ntdll.dll > RtlUserThreadStart

06/30/2022 21:56:09.899: Unhandled Top-Level Exception (c000001d):


[! Except !] << EXCEPTION_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION >>

[ Thread ] ~ Name…: “[GAME] Primary Render < RenderThread >”
[ FaultMod ] # File…: ‘C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\dxgi.dll’
[ FaultMod ] * RIP Addr.: dxgi.dll+0000000000003C63h
[StackFrame] <-> Rip=7ffbe53b3c63h, Rsp=0092c946e248h, Rbp=0092c946e360h
[StackFrame] >-< Rsi=000000000001h, Rdi=000000000000h
[ GP Reg ] rax: 0x7ffbe544c108 rbx: 0x0208b56d7101
[ GP Reg ] rcx: 0x0208b56d71e0 rdx: 0x7ffbe544dd70
[ GP Reg ] r8: 0x0208958fa218 r9: 0x0092c9473740
[ GP Reg ] r10: 0x000000000021 r11: 0x000000000000
[ GP Reg ] r12: 0x0208959425d0 r13: 0x000000000012
[ GP Reg ] r14: 0x02139131e020 r15: 0x020895942b10
[ GP Flags ] EFlags: 0x00010202

   dxgi.dll >                    DXGIReportAdapterConfiguration
   dxgi.dll >                    DXGIReportAdapterConfiguration

SpecialK64.dll > ImGui_ImplDX11_NewFrame
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_SetPluginName
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix4x4::SetIdentity
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix4x4::SetIdentity
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
KERNEL32.DLL > BaseThreadInitThunk
ntdll.dll > RtlUserThreadStart

06/30/2022 21:56:09.899: Unhandled Top-Level Exception (c000001d):


[! Except !] << EXCEPTION_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION >>

[ Thread ] ~ Name…: “[GAME] Primary Render < RenderThread >”
[ FaultMod ] # File…: ‘C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\dxgi.dll’
[ FaultMod ] * RIP Addr.: dxgi.dll+0000000000003C63h
[StackFrame] <-> Rip=7ffbe53b3c63h, Rsp=0092c946e248h, Rbp=0092c946e360h
[StackFrame] >-< Rsi=000000000001h, Rdi=000000000000h
[ GP Reg ] rax: 0x7ffbe544c108 rbx: 0x0208b56d7101
[ GP Reg ] rcx: 0x0208b56d71e0 rdx: 0x7ffbe544dd70
[ GP Reg ] r8: 0x0208958fa218 r9: 0x0092c9473740
[ GP Reg ] r10: 0x000000000021 r11: 0x000000000000
[ GP Reg ] r12: 0x0208959425d0 r13: 0x000000000012
[ GP Reg ] r14: 0x02139131e020 r15: 0x020895942b10
[ GP Flags ] EFlags: 0x00010202

   dxgi.dll >                    DXGIReportAdapterConfiguration
   dxgi.dll >                    DXGIReportAdapterConfiguration

SpecialK64.dll > ImGui_ImplDX11_NewFrame
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_SetPluginName
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix4x4::SetIdentity
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix4x4::SetIdentity
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
KERNEL32.DLL > BaseThreadInitThunk
ntdll.dll > RtlUserThreadStart

06/30/2022 21:56:09.900: Unhandled Top-Level Exception (c000001d):


[! Except !] << EXCEPTION_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION >>

[ Thread ] ~ Name…: “[GAME] Primary Render < RenderThread >”
[ FaultMod ] # File…: ‘C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\dxgi.dll’
[ FaultMod ] * RIP Addr.: dxgi.dll+0000000000003C63h
[StackFrame] <-> Rip=7ffbe53b3c63h, Rsp=0092c946e248h, Rbp=0092c946e360h
[StackFrame] >-< Rsi=000000000001h, Rdi=000000000000h
[ GP Reg ] rax: 0x7ffbe544c108 rbx: 0x0208b56d7101
[ GP Reg ] rcx: 0x0208b56d71e0 rdx: 0x7ffbe544dd70
[ GP Reg ] r8: 0x0208958fa218 r9: 0x0092c9473740
[ GP Reg ] r10: 0x000000000021 r11: 0x000000000000
[ GP Reg ] r12: 0x0208959425d0 r13: 0x000000000012
[ GP Reg ] r14: 0x02139131e020 r15: 0x020895942b10
[ GP Flags ] EFlags: 0x00010202

   dxgi.dll >                    DXGIReportAdapterConfiguration
   dxgi.dll >                    DXGIReportAdapterConfiguration

SpecialK64.dll > ImGui_ImplDX11_NewFrame
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_D3D11_EnableFullscreen
SpecialK64.dll > SKX_SetPluginName
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix4x4::SetIdentity
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix4x4::SetIdentity
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
witcher3.exe > Scaleform::Render::Matrix2x4::Prepend
KERNEL32.DLL > BaseThreadInitThunk
ntdll.dll > RtlUserThreadStart