Topic-Free Mega Thread - v 1.11.2020

[Aemony]

Ugh, I’ve been waiting for Hitman (2016) on EGS to finish downloading now for probably more than a day. It’s a 36 GB download but Epic has some major issues right now in my download region apparently, which means it takes forever… I have never seen this slow speed before.

When I initially started the download it took some 12 hours just to download 6 GB.

Epic Games Public Status

Similarly, before I started the download of Hitman I was waiting for an 90 MB update for “The Cycle” (whatever that game is) to finish – took the client some 10-15 minutes

[Kaldaien]

[! Except !] 	<< EXCEPTION_BREAKPOINT >>
-----------------------------------------------------------
[ FaultMod ]  # File.....: 'C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\MSVCP140.dll'
[ FaultMod ]  * RIP Addr.: MSVCP140.dll+000000000000AFADh
[StackFrame] <-> Rip=7fffc9b2afadh, Rsp=00000014b450h, Rbp=00000014b6e8h
[StackFrame] >-< Rsi=7fffa7a961f8h, Rdi=00000014b570h
[  GP Reg  ]   rax:    0x0000e06d7363    rbx:    0x00011fc79f20
[  GP Reg  ]   rcx:    0x000000149f60    rdx:    0x000000149730
[  GP Reg  ]   r8:     0x000000000000    r9:     0x000000000001
[  GP Reg  ]   r10:    0x00000010000b    r11:    0x0000001497b0
[  GP Reg  ]   r12:    0x110000103f56d26    r13:    0x00015897ffe0
[  GP Reg  ]   r14:    0x000199674fe8    r15:    0x000000000003
[ GP Flags ]   EFlags: 0x00000202
-----------------------------------------------------------
           MSVCP140.dll >                                           std::_Throw_future_error
           MSVCP140.dll >                                           std::_Throw_future_error
 platform_rmdwin7_f.dll >    platform::achievements::development::populateCatalog_Northlight
 platform_rmdwin7_f.dll >    platform::achievements::development::populateCatalog_Northlight
         SpecialK64.dll >                       SK_Steam_AchievementManager::OnRecvSelfStats  <             C:\Users\amcol\source\repos\SpecialK\src\steam\steam_api.cpp:2014>
         SpecialK64.dll >  CCallResult<SK_Steam_AchievementManager,UserStatsReceived_t>::Run  <C:\Users\amcol\source\repos\SpecialK\depends\include\steamapi\steam_api.h:271>
        steam_api64.dll >                          SteamAPI_ISteamUtils_ShowGamepadTextInput
        steam_api64.dll >                          SteamAPI_ISteamUtils_ShowGamepadTextInput
        steam_api64.dll >                              SteamAPI_ISteamFriends_SetPersonaName
        steam_api64.dll >                                                 Steam_RunCallbacks
        steam_api64.dll >                                              SteamAPI_RunCallbacks
         SpecialK64.dll >                                       SteamAPI_RunCallbacks_Detour  <             C:\Users\amcol\source\repos\SpecialK\src\steam\steam_api.cpp:3774>
 platform_rmdwin7_f.dll >                     platform::storage::development::findInExplorer
 platform_rmdwin7_f.dll >                                  platform::services::triggerEvents
           KERNEL32.DLL >                                                BaseThreadInitThunk
              ntdll.dll >                                                 RtlUserThreadStart

---

Developer’s not using SteamAPI correctly. Let me add a work-around.

[JonasBeckman]

Steam API callbacks and achievement issues? Northlight engine and prior stuff like Alan Wake and Quantum Break but maybe those have similar issues too then from Remedy and their Steam versions of these later games.
(Well Northlight I think is only Q.Break and Ctrl here.)

EDIT: Suppose if they had a Remedy Windows 10 Final .dll that’d resolve it. ~
(Well I suppose it’s something between the game and Steam and their Steam API file and implementation.)

Interesting.

EDIT: Nope it’s the spoofer from reading some of the upper replies more in-depth.
Also interesting.
(And the game probably goes weird when trying to run it in offline mode or other issues then from whatever is wonky here.)

[JonasBeckman]

Well this game caught my attention. Though based off reviews it might need a few game fixes lol.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1299810371419738113

And here I thought the previews were already on the yeah this is going to be a bit wild and different take on the sport.

Then someone made that little Tweet and video.
Think that even tops the dynamic “hugging” physics EA implemented in Fifa at one point and then everything went very wrong somehow.

EDIT: The head movement or lack thereof and completely out there expressions also really helps complete this little video example.

EDIT: From the Meta Council topics.

Community - MetaSteam | August 2020 - Come Fly With Me

EDIT: Also what’s up with this for Control?

Control is pretty great but the way the game sends you all the way back to the last control point every time you die is kind of obnoxious. Especially considering how long the loading times can be even on my SSD.

If loading times are bad switch to DX12 mode. For some reason DX12 has to be launched by a different exe in the files but the game does a check and forces you to play DX11 on some PC’s. Theres a workaround though but I was playing on DX11 for like an hour before realizing there was DX12.

My HDD has really fast loading screens on DX12 but on 11 they’re like 3 minutes long each.

Workaround if game is forcing you into DX11 from PCgamingwiki.

create \steam_appid.txt and write 870780within the file to be able to launch the game executables directly.

Wonder how the D3D12 API shortens the loading times. Shouldn’t affect that but what do I know, something’s a bit weird here.

[Kaldaien]

Bahahah, it just occurred to me that this game is by Remedy. The same developers who dedicated an entire CPU core to running SteamAPI non-stop (99.9% of CPU cycles were basically checking to see if Steam had any work to do – 99.9% of the time, no). Looks like they’ve stepped up their game when it comes to using SteamAPI the wrong way.

[Kaldaien]

Control - [ SteamAPI Fixes, HDR and Frame Pacing ]

‍ Download and Install ‍ Official releases of Special K (as of 8/30/20) do not support Remedy's unorthodox ... ( unstable ) ... Steamworks API usage patterns; only versions 0.11.0.46 or newer are compatible. Special K v 0.11.0.46 is not ready for release, so a compatible test build has been provided.     Special K v 0.11.0.46 (x64)       The download contains SpecialK64.dll, for Global Injection. If you do not know what Global Injection is, or do not want it, feel free to rename the DL…

[DoLLo]

I don’t really know how many people can still use it but the new content is there so I’d say someone is using it.

[Kaldaien]

Pfft!!! What doofus at Remedy forgot to add HDR to Control?

Guess that settles it, I’m playing the D3D11 version with Special K adding HDR. Lazy developers

[Aemony]

It’s a weird choice for being such a otherwise high-profile title. No version of the game has HDR — not even the high-end consoles.

[Kaldaien]

Oh well, I came prepared at least

Give me another few months and I’ll be able to add HDR to D3D12 games… that makes me giggle a little, the notion of D3D12 games not shipping with HDR is such an absurd prospect. Of course, here we are.

[Darktalon]

You can either use slew mode by pressing Y on your keyboard to place your plane anywhere you want, or press Insert for Drone mode, and fly around on the drone, but yeah youre gonna wanna look up the controls. There is def some Quality of Life needed to tidy the game up.

[Darktalon]

@Aemony

Took me like 10 minutes just to find the controls for the cockpit lamps – quite hard when it’s night and those controls aren’t lit up at all.

RIP, press L on your keyboard, turns your control panel lights on.

@Kaldaien

Give me another few months and I’ll be able to add HDR to D3D12 games… that makes me giggle a little, the notion of D3D12 games not shipping with HDR is such an absurd prospect. Of course, here we are.

D3D12 support makes me happy. Nextgen is going to be using it a lot.

[Kaldaien]

Incidentally, where does this rule-of-thumb about setting framerate -3 from nominal refresh to keep G-Sync engaged come from?

I’ve been doing some testing with my OLED in G-Sync mode (I usually run it w/ Black Frame Insertion instead), and it seems 1. NvAPI has no notion of G-Sync disabling when V-Sync rate is hit and 2. it only requires > 1 frame per-second slower than refresh rate to keep G-Sync in variable refresh mode.

I’m beginning to think that rule was found experimentally rather than analytically, and that the framerate limiter used to derive it was simply not very accurate.

[Darktalon]

@Kaldaien

ng some testing with my OLED in G-Sync mode (I usually run it w/ Black Frame Insertion instead), and it seems 1. NvAPI has no notion of G-Sync disabling when V-Sync rate is hit and 2. it only requires > 1 frame per-second slower than refresh rate to keep G-Sync in variable refresh mode.

I’m beginning to think that rule was found experimentally rather than analytically, and that the framerate limiter used to derive it was simply not very accurate.

-1 Would work, but framelimiters that aren’t yours are bad, especially 5 years ago, and if you capped too close, during FPS swings, it could go above the limit you set, hit the cap and enable vsync. The reason we don’t want that, is then input latency becomes really bad.

[Kaldaien]

Man the server’s really chugging…

Those don’t look like the numbers from a server that’s as weirdly unresponsive as this one is right now

I might pack up the database and move this site over to Linnode where I host my blog and GitLab from, because there’s something seriously wrong with the server and it’s not reflected in any metrics Digital Ocean shows me.

[GPUnity]

@Aemony

I guess we can call them IMs as well. They are, after all, quite fitting for “instant messages” when notifications are enabled.

IM makes me think of Instagram messages, and Apple iMessage XD

[Aemony]

Global routing issues are causing reachability issues for this site.

Cloudflare Status

r/sysadmin - Internet down? Cannot ping DNS 4.2.2.1

[Aemony]

@Darktalon

RIP, press L on your keyboard, turns your control panel lights on.

The control panels had their lights on

The lighting of the lamps inside the cockpit itself was controlled by a bunch of unlit knobs on the roof between the seats.

[Darktalon]

RIP, press Alt+L on your keyboard, turns your flashlight on.

[Kaldaien]

I just had an interesting idea… what would you guys say to a mode where Special K creates a second window (D3D11) that can be moved to a different monitor that contains the control panel and floating widgets?

Initially it’d just be a cheap hack to deal with Vulkan / D3D12 games, but as time progresses (even after I finish Vk / D3D12 support) it could be handy to move the performance graphs off the primary screen and onto a different monitor. The specialized version of ImGui used in SKIF actually allows this kind of stuff.