This build isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen will probably show "Windows protected your PC" the
first time you run it. Click More info, then Run anyway. You see it once per install: updates are downloaded
by SCSKiller itself and never trigger it.Why: code signing through the SignPath Foundation is in progress, for stable releases (alpha and beta builds stay
unsigned). To check that the download arrived whole, compare its SHA-256 with the one at the end of these notes
(PowerShell:Get-FileHash <file>), but these notes aren't signed, so that doesn't prove who built it. The source: https://github.com/BlueHeisenberg/SCSKiller/tree/v1.2.3.Smart App Control (Windows 11) blocks unsigned apps outright, with no Run anyway. If it's on, wait for a signed release.
New
- "Closing the window quits SCSKiller" in Settings (off by default): the close button quits like Quit in the
notification area. A running compile finishes saving first, and a downloaded update installs if set to. - "Scan games when SCSKiller starts" in Settings (on by default): turn it off and SCSKiller shows your last list at
start, and reads a game again only when you refresh, when the game closes, or when Steam or the Xbox app installs or
updates one. - Updates install by themselves ("Install updates automatically" in About, on by default): a downloaded update
installs the next time SCSKiller starts or when you quit it, never during a compile, a game or Windows shutdown.
"Restart to update" still installs it at once. - Ray tracing without a recording for Unreal Engine 4.25 games (Returnal) on NVIDIA. With a recording, Returnal 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 re-reads only the games that changed, at low disk priority. On a PC with 64 games it
lists them in about a second instead of up to 20, and no longer keeps a hard disk busy for minutes. After an update
the list shows at once. - 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 (Codename CURE II).
- One game with a broken file date no longer stops every game from being listed.
- A game page opens without stutter, and Clear cache responds at once.
- Skipped pipelines after a compile are shown as a short line instead of a warning, that's normal.
Games
- Xbox app games are recorded now (before, the recorder never recorded in them), and their Unreal games are compiled
for the game's own exe instead of a launcher. Compile Xbox app Unreal games again (Dead Island 2, for example). - Dead Island 2 compiles and matches the game: it's recognised as a DirectX 12 game on its own Unreal Engine 4.25
build, and all its shaders are read. Compile it again. - Unreal games with a launcher or installer beside the exe (Returnal) are found as the real game. Compile them
again: the earlier compile went to the wrong program. - Monster Hunter Wilds and other RE Engine games no longer sit at "Building plan" for hours and crash.
- The Witcher 3 no longer crashes at start with frame generation on and the recorder installed, and it no longer
asks for a rebuild after every play session (NVIDIA and AMD). - DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO and other encrypted Unreal games whose key wasn't found now open without entering it.
- FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE is recognised as a DirectX 12 game (DirectX 11 if you launch it with -dx11
through Steam), so it compiles from a recording on AMD and NVIDIA. - Neverness to Everness is recognised as Unreal Engine 5.6.
- Unreal games with ray tracing turned off no longer ask for a ray tracing recording, and a game compiled without
its ray tracing shows as compiled, with "Ray tracing needs a 5-min recording" under it. - Unreal Engine 4.25 games also compile the pipeline list they ship with.
Mods
- RenoDX with ReShade loaded by OptiScaler compiles through OptiScaler, ReShade and the HDR mod, and records.
- Xbox app games with ReShade in their package folder (next to MicrosoftGame.config) compile through ReShade and
RenoDX. - REFramework: RE Engine games record with it installed.
- Files a mod or the game writes beside the exe (logs, crash dumps, shader caches) no longer turn the recorder off.
If a launch still isn't recorded, the game page says to start the game again. - When a mod setup still can't be compiled, the game page says why and how to fix it, in one line.
Recorder and anti-cheat
- More anti-cheat is recognised, so the recorder stays out: every Riot Games title (VALORANT, League of Legends,
2XKO and others, also when added by hand), Anti-Cheat Expert games (Delta Force), every HoYoverse game, and EA Javelin
games. A recorder already in one is removed at the next check. - Turning the recorder on no longer fails with "scskiller.ini is being used by another process".
PCs and Windows
- Older CPUs without AVX2: SCSKiller no longer closes at "Reading shaders".
- Windows 10: games that ship their own DirectX 12 runtime compile with it, instead of failing their newer pipelines.
- Maximum mode's description now says it seems to help most on AMD, and what it costs.
Updates
- A downloaded update installs at the next start even when the PC has no network yet at sign-in.
- One update server asking to wait no longer holds back every update check.
SHA-256:
9535f1c1fad90a30b82383a0bc8c14ee380c1549dbcff0ed24638df617fb3651 SCSKiller-1.2.3-Portable.zip
b0ef5f26e2d453825b2baa2ba8243d0ab8b1ca8dce5c593822025de424338d5f SCSKiller-Setup.exe