GSdx 1.0

[Dant]

An in-depth look into the Devil May Cry 3 SE graphical issues, part 1.

First I must say that the old DX11 and OpenGL modes had a severe bloom in most of the place where it was deployed, while DX9 mode never rendered this effect. The new plugin dialed down the bloom considerably, making the overall image in HW mode look more closely to its SW counterpart. Both DX11 and OpenGL modes benefited from the changes, while DX9 didn't at all.

It should be noted though that the CRC hacks were turned on for the comparison below (in case of Gsdx2 it was set to Full). Nevertheless the game still misses lots of post-processing effects, and without any CRC hacks more rendering bugs pop out.

DX11, Hardware mode, 05.23.15

   

DX11, Hardware mode, 06.18.15 (GSdx2)

   

DX11, Software mode, 06.18.15 (GSdx2)

   

The test bellow was done in OGL mode with CRC Hack Level set to None. The DX11 mode looks just like the OGL one with HW OGL Depth turned off. I wasn't able to check Accurate Blend option, but judging by the Bositman's test it doesn't help.

Full Motion Videos

FMV's don't work in OGL but they work in DX11. They also don't work in the older OGL Gsdx versions, for example in the build that dates back to 05.23.15. I haven't found a way to fix them. Fixed it by updating my graphics driver. Nvidia users must ensure that they have the latest drivers and GPU that supports OpenGL 4.5.

Black border at the bottom of the screen

For some reason it appears in both hardware and software modes. CRC Hack Level set to minimum removes the border in either of the modes.

Broken contrast

At least in one of the areas the contrast is too low. HW OGL Depth fixes it, but it also introduces some nasty line patterns which I have already mentioned in my previous post.

OGL Hardware mode, Depth off

   

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

OGL, Software mode

   

Wrong colors and contrast

This bug is not related to the previous one. In some areas the image has some green (or possibly other) tint and higher contrast. OGL Depth removes the green tint, but the contrast is still a bit high. Also note that both hardware images bellow have excessive bloom or glow which will be mentioned later.

OGL Hardware mode, Depth off

   

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

OGL Software mode

   

Grain filter in the Menu

When activated the Accurate Color clip fixes the missing grain filter in the in-game menu, though the effect does render sometimes with that option disabled.

OGL Hardware mode, Color off

   

OGL Hardware mode, Color on

   

OGL Software mode

   

Misalligned bloom and glow when upscaling

These are known bugs that were mentioned before, so there is no need to go into the details.

Continued in the next post.

[Dant]

An in-depth look into the Devil May Cry 3 SE graphical issues, part 2.

Excessive bloom

Even though it has been dialed back, the bloom is still to strong most of the time. Sometimes it even messes the whole area, as seen in the second set of screens.

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

OGL Software mode

   

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

OGL Software mode

   

Weak bloom

In some instances though the bloom lacks a punch compared to software mode.

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

OGL Software mode

   

Excessive Heat Effect

The Heat effect looks too intense, but OGL Depth fixes the issue. It also removes the blue tint.

OGL Hardware mode, Depth off

   

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

OGL Software mode

   

Missing Depth of Field

Self explanatory. Without the OGL Depth option the DOF blurs the whole screen. With the option turned on the blur disappears, unfortunately DOF still doesn't render properly.

OGL Hardware mode, Depth off

   

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

OGL Software mode

   

[felixthecat1970]

@Ōkami Amaterasu,
Mega dl doesn't work on my side. Could you post your .gs in another place?

@felixthecat1970
Same as above. Could you post your .gs in another place?

Hello, thanks for you work, here is my gs dumps.

burnout 3 gs.dump

Soul calibur 3 gs.dump

[refraction]

Shadow of the Colossus:

Issues: Overbright graphics - Used to affect DirectX 11

Result: No change, although something weird happened and DX looked ok, pretty sure I'd turned the CRC's off, guess not DX hw mode not tested, somehow left it in SW mode after changing renderer, After further checks DX11 looks the same as OGL with all accurate options.

Regression: Only with Accurate Blend 2, graphics become corrupted where the overbright normally is.

Screenshots in order from left to right:
-OpenGL + Accurate options + depth
-OpenGL as above + Accurate Blend 2
-Software mode

[Dant]

So I redid the testing and have something to say.

As expected, those line patterns I mentioned before have gone for good, it was all the driver's fault.

Second good news: depth of field now works (CRC hacks - none, OGL depth - on). Not so good news: it doesn't work with scaling, when you do so, objects that are in front of the DOF get this doubling contour.

Also note that excessive bloom has gone, unfortunately only in this area, but more on this later.

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

OGL Hardware mode, Scaling 2x

   

OGL Hardware mode, CRC Hacks Full

   

OGL Software mode

   

Now I haven't mentioned this bug since it's not that important, but the main menu has a wrong background color: it is black instead of white. Strangely, it affects all modes, hardware and software and there is no fix for it. More strangely it could become gray and even dark green on each load of the emulator. I once got it fixed by opening GSdx's settings and then closing them. Weird thing.

OGL Hardware mode, Depth on

   

So to clarify what works and what doesn't:

Background color in main menu - messed (see above);

Full Motion Videos - work;

Broken contrast - nothing changed, (from here on "nothing changed" means, that everything is just like I described it in my previous posts);

Wrong colors and contrast - nothing changed;

Grain filter in the Menu - nothing changed;

Misaligned bloom and glow when upscaling - nothing changed;

Excessive bloom - one area saw improvement (mentioned earlier), but nothing changed;

Weak bloom - nothing changed;

Excessive Heat Effect - nothing changed;

Missing Depth of Field - now works, but gives double images around objects when upscaling is used;

Hope it helps.

[refraction]

Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo

Problem: Vertical lines caused by Depth of Field/Fog effect

Status: Fixed in OGL, DX11 still broken.
Fixed by: Texture Cache HW Depth in OGL Mode.

Seems to even work when scaled, although the depth of field effect is much more subtle

Slight issue remains: If you look at the tree on the right, in HW mode there is some fidelity lost compared to software mode. Nothing seems to fix this.

Screenshots order left to right:
-OpenGL With just HW Depth optino
-OpenGL with x3 scaling
-Software mode

[refraction]

Tony Hawk's Project 8

Issue: Vertical lines
Status: Fixed in OGL
Fixed by: TC HW Depth

Slight issues remains:
-Both HW and SW modes exhibit black line down the left hand side
-Fidelity on distance objects still a bitty and not as smooth as software mode.
-When menu is fading from loading screen to the skater setup there is flashing of the menu over a fading in 3d.

GS dumps attached of both issues

Screenshots in order, left to right:
-OpenGL + HW TC Depth
-Software Mode

[refraction]

Sly 2 - Band of Thieves

Issue: Vertical coloured stripes
Status: Fixed in OGL mode and DX (although we know DX is wrong)
Fixed by: No options on the main page, fixed by Texture Shuffle support (internal)

Working fine now but picture remains dark, issue is prevalent in software and hardware modes.

Screenshots left to right:
-OpenGL HW
-Software

[felixthecat1970]

Game: tekken 5 slus 21059
Issue: DX miss filter effects on some scenarios, ogl show funny transparents rgb colors only on left screen random characters (screenshots below); now in the area rectangle the effect filter is ok other area is missing, speed hit

CRC hack: ogl crc partial Hack skips filter color effect, skip sun square over-bright on character in up-scaled resolution, speed hit is stable with HW OGL Depth off

Status:
now Ogl hw show correct effect in scenarios affected (with color filter effects) but only top left rectangle in the screen shot other area screen the effect is missing (tested with in game menu options off / on, ogl options nothing changes), speed hit is affected with HW OGL Depth on, turn off make speed stable, in upscaled resolution have afterimage in scenarios with color filter/haze/bloom effects, other scenarios with no have this effects is ok, scenarios upscaled sun overlaps in square form in character, OGl sw all is ok also HW OGL Depth on not have speed hit.

1 ogldepth 3 hardware all options on / crc none



2 ogldepth 3 software all options on / crc none



3 ogldepth 3 hardware all options on + scaling 4x / no crc



gs dump hw all options enabled/ native res /crc none


  tek5-2.7z (Size: 2,1 MB / Downloads: 360)

[refraction]

Issues tested from dumps already given to Gregory previously, issues are in both DX and OGL modes:

Not improved by any options:
Destroy All Humans - Black overlay and missing lighting remains.
Midnight Club - Videos still missing.
Urban Chaos - Colours are better but still very wrong, SW mode completely broken and murders memory. (screenshot of OGL HW below)
XenoSaga 3 - corruption on FMV's (missing lighting like Destroy All Humans?)

Fixed by changes:

Superman - Fixed by Texture Shuffling, not any visible option
Neopets The Darkest Faerie - Red stripes fixed by HW TC Depth option
Rainbow Six Lockdown - Red stripes fixed by Texture Shuffling, Fog in sky fixed by HW TC Depth