SCSKiller 1.2.3 is out! (Patreon)

This is a big one, with over 40 fixes. Thank you all for the reports and the recordings you share, they make a huge difference.

New

- "Closing the window quits SCSKiller" in Settings (off by default). The close button then quits like Quit in the notification area. A running compile finishes saving first, and a downloaded update installs.

- "Scan games when SCSKiller starts" in Settings (on by default). Turn it off and SCSKiller shows your last list at start, and only reads a game again when you refresh, when the game closes, or when Steam or the Xbox app installs or updates one.

- Updates install by themselves, the next time SCSKiller starts or when you quit it, never during a compile, a game or Windows shutdown. You can turn this off in About.

- Ray tracing without a recording for Unreal Engine 4.25 games like Returnal on NVIDIA. With a recording, Returnal now also compiles the ray tracing shaders it hadn't recorded, which caused most of its stutters after a compile.

Faster and steadier

- Much faster start. SCSKiller only re-reads the games that changed, at low disk priority. On a PC with 64 games the list shows in about a second instead of up to 20, and no more disk grinding after Windows starts.

- Pausing a compile for more than a minute no longer makes it fail when you resume.

- A compile no longer stops itself saying the game is running when it isn't.

- Large Unreal games no longer run out of memory while their shaders are read.

- One game with a broken file no longer stops every game from being listed.

- Game pages open without stutter, and Clear cache responds right away.

- Skipped pipelines after a compile now show as a short line instead of a warning, that's normal.

Games

- Xbox app games finally record (before, the recorder never recorded in them), and their Unreal games are compiled for the real game exe instead of a launcher.

- Dead Island 2 now compiles and matches the game. It runs on its own Unreal Engine 4.25 build, which SCSKiller now recognises.

- Unreal games with a launcher or installer next to the exe, like Returnal, are found as the real game.

- Monster Hunter Wilds and other RE Engine games no longer get stuck on "Building plan" for hours.

- The Witcher 3 no longer crashes at start with frame generation on, and no longer asks for a rebuild after every play session.

- DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO and other encrypted Unreal games open without entering a key.

- FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE is recognised as DirectX 12 (or DirectX 11 if you launch it with -dx11 on Steam).

- Neverness to Everness is recognised as Unreal Engine 5.6.

- Games with ray tracing turned off no longer ask for a ray tracing recording.

Mods

- RenoDX with ReShade loaded by OptiScaler now compiles through the whole chain, and records.

- Xbox app games with ReShade in their package folder compile through ReShade and RenoDX.

- RE Engine games record with REFramework installed.

- Logs, crash dumps and shader caches that mods or games write next to the exe no longer turn the recorder off.

- When a mod setup still can't be compiled, the game page tells you why and how to fix it, in one line.

Recorder and anti-cheat

- More anti-cheat is recognised, so the recorder always stays out: every Riot Games title (VALORANT, League of Legends, 2XKO and more, also when added by hand), Anti-Cheat Expert games like Delta Force, every HoYoverse game and EA Javelin games.

PCs and Windows

- Older CPUs without AVX2 no longer close SCSKiller at "Reading shaders".

- On Windows 10, games that ship their own DirectX 12 version now compile with it.

- Maximum mode now explains what it does: it seems to help most on AMD, and it takes longer and uses more disk space.

Important after updating

If you play Dead Island 2, Returnal or other Unreal games from the Xbox app, compile them again. Their earlier compile went to the wrong place.

Community database

It keeps growing fast thanks to everyone sharing recordings: over 400 games and 2.5 million pipelines now. Supporters get all of it without having to record themselves.

What's next

1.3.0 is already in the works: frame times that work with frame generation, in-app notifications, more engines and a lot more!

Thank you for supporting SCSKiller! ❤️