BlueHeisenberg/SCSKiller v1.4.4 on GitHub

This build isn't code-signed yet, so the first run will probably show SmartScreen's "Windows protected your PC".
Click More info, then Run anyway. Updates never show it.
To check the download arrived whole, compare its SHA-256 with the one at the end of these notes (PowerShell:
Get-FileHash <file>). These notes aren't signed, so that doesn't prove who built it. The source: https://github.com/BlueHeisenberg/SCSKiller/tree/v1.4.4.
Smart App Control (Windows 11) blocks unsigned apps outright, with no Run anyway.

Linux support is no longer experimental: Heroic, Lutris and Faugus Launcher join Steam. Get the AppImage from the
release page.

New

On Linux, SCSKiller records Vulkan games of Heroic, Lutris and Faugus, also in their Flatpaks once you let the
launcher save the recordings.
On Linux, one click lets a Flatpak Heroic use SCSKiller's recorder folder, so its DirectX games are recorded.
On Linux, SCSKiller lists and compiles the Windows games you added to Faugus Launcher, and they get a Play button.
On Linux, SCSKiller lists the games you added to Heroic, and Add a game takes a game's exe inside its Wine prefix.
On Linux, Heroic, Lutris and Faugus games on Mesa drivers compile instead of stopping at Warming with "isn't a game of
a Steam library", and the compile follows a cache folder the launcher sets for the game. Games of a Flatpak Heroic,
Lutris or Faugus are compiled on AMD and Intel graphics too, inside the launcher's Flatpak.
On Windows, SCSKiller finds games installed with WeGame, also in a Steam library folder and up to two folders below a
drive's root, and a WeGame game in a Steam library folder is no longer shown as VAC.
GRYPHLINK games get their own section in the Library.
Black Myth: Wukong Benchmark Tool and other Unreal benchmark tools on Steam are listed and compiled like games.
The game page has a Ray tracing only button that compiles only the game's ray tracing pipelines, the rest compiles at
its next compile. The command line takes it as compile <game> --rt-only.
When a game's plan changed a lot after a compile, the app offers to delete its old shader cache and compile again, so
no disk space is wasted.
The compile queue has a Check now button that runs the waiting check for new shaders without waiting for the PC to be
idle.
On Windows, games with OptiScaler installed as d3d12.dll can be recorded when "Record alongside OptiScaler" is on,
with OptiScaler and its settings left as they are.
Unreal games with several AES keys, such as Fortnite, take one key per line, the game page shows how many of the
encrypted archives the keys open, and a key for a GUID no archive has says so.
The Library shows its summary cards again, and Settings has a Compact UI option for the slim layout.

Improved

On Windows, Settings has Remove recorders too, and it also removes SCSKiller's notification registration and temp
file.
The CLI's status and the game page say when another SCSKiller copy's recorder is in the game's folder, and that
turning recording on takes it over.
What's new no longer lists changes made for the other OS.
On Linux, notifications meant only for Windows, such as Windows driver news, no longer show, and Lutris games get
their own Library section. The command line names Faugus and Lutris games as the Library does.
The Library summary counts games you added yourself separately from the ones found in your stores.
A paused compile keeps its rate and time left, and the check of each game before a compile shows in the log and the
tray.
The game page's recorded pipelines show what the recording holds, not the count from when the compile plan was last
built.
The game page's community data row says when the community recording isn't in use, because it's for Patreon supporters
or isn't downloaded yet, and the log says why.
A failed compile says why on the game's page and in a one-line notification, also when an automatic compile fails.
A game whose last compile failed says so on its page and in problem reports instead of "Not compiled yet", and a
compile process that stops is no longer shown as a GPU driver crash while the compile goes on.
A compile with nothing left to do says so instead of ending silently.
On Linux, problem reports name the Proton build of Faugus, Heroic and Lutris games instead of "Proton unknown", and
mask the home folder in Wine paths as ~ without the drive letter.
Report a problem includes a failed compile's own log, its error and its last error output, shows how many shaders the
game still built after SCSKiller's compile, the game's rendering setting, and every shader archive read.
The game page's Details and Report a problem show how much of the driver cache's disk space is in use.
The first launch after a compile counts how many of its shader compiles reused a shader set the compile already had,
shown in status and in problem reports.
A game the compile can't reach says a newer driver may let it compile again, instead of promising it.
The game page no longer says a recording confirms the coverage for games that can't be recorded.
Games with anti-cheat say the game contains anti-cheat and, where there is one, how to record it at your own risk. The
Settings option for the recorder in games with anti-cheat says enabling it is at your own risk, and SCSKiller isn't
responsible for bans.
On Windows, the offline session's ban risk note says to play online only once its button reads "Record offline without
EasyAntiCheat" again.
An update held back by a recording session says the session's game is running or its files are still in the game
folder.
On Windows, the game page names the process a compile shows as in Task Manager, so it isn't mistaken for the game.
On Windows, the game page says when Windows Smart App Control blocks the recorder.
On Windows, a compile that Windows stops as the game's copy starts says so, and names the large-page setting when that
is set for the game's exe.
On Windows, the compile's Finishing step shows a moving percentage and time left while the compiled shaders go into
the game's cache, also for a big game, and when that runs after the game exits, the game page says so and shows how
long it has taken.
On Windows with NVIDIA, the Finishing step of a compile takes far less time and disk space when the game's own cache
is small.
On NVIDIA, the warning before a very large compile says the cache will take more memory than the PC has free once it
would use over 90% of the RAM.
An automatic re-warm after a driver update shows its notifications (a failed compile, the game started during the
hand-off) also when it runs while SCSKiller is closed.
On Windows, compiles use the performance cores of Intel hybrid CPUs instead of only the efficiency cores.
On Windows, a compile on a game with many ray tracing pipelines restarts far less often to free memory and never uses
more than 60% of the PC's RAM.
With the traversal stutter fix on, SCSKiller sets aside graphics memory only when a game needs it, and gives unused
memory back sooner.
On Windows with NVIDIA, a compile starts NVIDIA Aftermath when the game would, from an Unreal game's settings or
because the players who shared its community recording saw the game start it, so its pipelines reach the game's cache.
On Windows with NVIDIA, games that start NVIDIA Aftermath, such as STAR WARS Galactic Racer, no longer compile their
shaders again at the first launch with the recorder installed.
On NVIDIA, Unreal 5.5 and later games with a ray tracing recording compile the rest of their ray tracing shaders, as
Phantom Blade Zero does.
On NVIDIA, the ray tracing part of a compile skips ray generation shaders at sizes the game never uses, so it takes
far less time in games such as Phantom Blade Zero.
On NVIDIA, Phantom Blade Zero's ray tracing compiles with the settings the game uses, also with path tracing on, so far
fewer of its ray tracing shaders compile while you play.
On NVIDIA, more recorded pipelines of games that use NVIDIA's shader extensions compile as the game creates them, so
fewer of them compile again while you play.
On NVIDIA, when a game's first launch after a compile still compiles some pipelines, the next compile creates only
those and the new ones instead of every pipeline again.
On NVIDIA, the recorder can go into more games that load Streamline first.
On Windows, the recorder loads in Path of Exile 2, also on AMD, and the game page no longer guesses DirectX 11 when
the game's own setting says DirectX 12.
RE Engine games that keep their settings in their own config file, such as RESIDENT EVIL RESISTANCE, get their DirectX
version from it.
On Windows, a game that makes its DirectX 12 device without going through the recorder says so on its page instead of
"the recorder never loaded", and a launch the recorder loaded into without a DirectX 12 device says the game may have
run on DirectX 11.
The Vulkan recorder records pipelines that set per-attachment sample counts, such as the Bloodborne PC port's.
Luma's Unreal Engine and Watch Dogs 2 builds, which rewrite some of the game's shaders, count as shader mods like the
other Luma builds that do.
The Medium compiles about 2% more pipelines from its game files, so fewer stutters remain on the first play.
On Windows, the app's text follows Settings > Accessibility > Text size again, as it did up to 1.3.4, and changes with
it while the app runs.
SCSKiller started with --version, --help, a command-line command or an option it doesn't know prints its version
or usage instead of opening the app.
The command line's compile, status, key, exe, index and rehydrate for one game read and change only that
game's data instead of scanning and updating every other game first, and the queue shell reads piped commands that
start with a byte order mark.
The command line's cache page uses the app's names, commands that take no argument refuse a stray one, and a compile
says why it fetched no community recording.
On Linux, a game whose launch options or launcher settings pick a GPU compiles on that GPU when SCSKiller can tell
which one, and says why when it can't compile for it.
On Linux, a game's DirectX or Vulkan choice in Heroic, Lutris or Faugus counts for its compile, as Steam launch
options do.
On Linux, a game whose Wine prefix has no drive for its folder shows why it wasn't recorded.
On Linux, a game whose Steam or launcher prefix doesn't exist yet shows "Start it once first" instead of Ready or Not
supported yet.
On Linux, SCSKiller never asks you to paste Steam launch options. A Steam game's compiled cache sits in Steam's own
shader cache folder.
On Linux, a compile never runs on a software renderer and stops with a clear error instead.
The live counter no longer counts the DirectX 11 shaders SCSKiller can't build yet as failed, matching the summary at
the end.

Fixed

On Windows, compiles of Xbox app games on Windows 10 reach the game's own NVIDIA shader cache.
On Windows, Settings shows whether Windows' automatic disk cleanup is kept from clearing compiled shaders, also after
you leave the page.
On Windows, Steam games no longer all count as VAC when Steam's registry path points at a game's own Steam folder, in
the app and in the recorder, and the log says that folder isn't a Steam install.
A GOG, Epic or hand-added game no longer shows VAC because of a Steam file in its folder or a game's own Steam folder,
and the recorder works in it.
On Linux, a non-Steam game installed into its own Proton prefix is no longer flagged VAC, and its recorder installs. A
game outside Steam whose files name a VAC game is shown with VAC, as the recorder already refused it at launch.
A game folder SCSKiller can't fully read counts as unknown instead of anti-cheat: the recorder waits and comes back
once it reads, and Always record stays on. The Library shows "Checking for anti-cheat" instead of "Blocked by
anti-cheat" until the check finishes, and the at-own-risk recording offer says the check didn't finish instead of
saying the game contains anti-cheat.
A game with no anti-cheat in its install keeps its recorder when its anti-cheat check runs long, as long as the
install hasn't changed since the last complete check.
On Windows with AMD, a moment when Steam's data can't be read no longer stops SCSKiller for good from giving the
driver the game's name, and games it stopped get it back.
On Windows with AMD, games that build AMD's GPU library into their exe, such as FINAL FANTASY XVI, compile into the
cache they read, and Clear cache no longer leaves a game Not compatible.
On Windows with AMD, demos of games that register their full game's name with AMD's driver compile into the cache key
the demo reads.
On Windows with AMD, SILENT HILL f's compile keeps its pipelines in the driver's cache instead of losing most of them.
On Windows with AMD, a game whose launch uses another shader cache than SCSKiller's compile filled shows as not
reached instead of compiled.
On Windows with AMD, compiles keep a ray tracing game's plan within the driver's cache size, also at a game's first
compile, so the game's cache is no longer trimmed and compiled again after every session.
On Windows with AMD, a Vulkan game's compile fills the cache file the game reads, also when the game starts outside
Steam, instead of a new file each time that the game never used.
On Windows with AMD, Clear cache and keeping caches aside handle shader cache files that a game run as administrator
wrote, instead of calling them in use or reached through a link.
On Windows with AMD, some DirectX 11 games, such as Dota 2, no longer show "Not compatible" after a compile.
Two games with the same exe name, such as Path of Exile and Path of Exile 2, no longer take each other's driver cache
files, and the ones already mixed up are relearned.
Clear cache keeps a driver cache file another game also uses and says which, instead of refusing.
On NVIDIA, compiled pipelines keep the game's NVAPI state when the community recording includes records from other GPU
vendors.
On NVIDIA, ray tracing pipelines this PC recorded compile with the state the game used here, not another player's.
On Windows with NVIDIA, STAR WARS Galactic Racer's compile matches the game's crash reporting setup, so it no longer
prepares shaders at start.
Coverage no longer drops for games whose shared data includes other players' RenoDX recordings, as in Phantom Blade
Zero.
Phantom Blade Zero compiles through RenoDX also when OptiScaler in its Binaries folder loads ReShade from beside the
game's exe.
A RenoDX update that only rebuilds the same version no longer compiles the whole game again.
Fortnite's Performance mode compiles its own shaders on DirectX 12 and only those on DirectX 11, and on Windows about
9,700 more of its pipelines compile on DirectX 12.
On Windows, the DirectX 11 compile also builds vertex shaders that write to a buffer in the first output slot, so none
are skipped.
On Windows, games that restart themselves through Steam when started by their exe record again, instead of recording
nothing in the relaunched game.
A compile that runs short of memory no longer restarts again and again from the same point, as Phantom Blade Zero did
on 8-16 GB PCs. It creates the pipelines that were in flight one at a time, goes on with one thread, and skips a
pipeline for that compile only if it still can't get past it. Out-of-memory errors count as skipped, not failed.
A compile whose compile process ends unexpectedly keeps its progress, and compiling again goes on from there instead
of from the last stop.
A compile that resumed after ending unexpectedly no longer compiles what it already created again at the next compile.
Pipelines a compile couldn't create after its compile process died and was started again are tried again at the next
compile, instead of counting as created.
A compile that ends twice at the same pipeline skips that pipeline and goes on, instead of starting over at it each
time.
A Vulkan pipeline that crashed or hung the driver is skipped in later compiles too.
A stopped compile goes on where it stopped when the game's pipeline list changed.
The low disk space pause checks the drive the shader caches really are on, also when a cache folder was moved to
another drive with a junction.
On Windows, the hand-off into the game's cache checks free space on the drive a linked shader cache folder is on, not
on the system drive.
The Cache page's total counts everything its rows list, including a compile's files still waiting to be handed to the
game's cache.
On Windows, a game's Windows shader cache from before a game update is counted, shown on the Cache page and offered
for deletion, and Clear cache removes it.
Indexing no longer fails with "outgrew its memory limit" on a package whose header has impossible counts. SCSKiller
reads that package whole and goes on, and after a memory peak it reads the remaining packages one at a time instead of
stopping.
Days Gone is read as its own engine version, so its shaders index without hitting the memory limit and the recorder
loads in its DirectX 11.
SCSKiller reads Crimson Desert's archive groups that hold very large files or a root folder.
Cyberpunk 2077 with Cyber Engine Tweaks starts again with Record on.
A game switched Off for shared shader hashes sends no more requests, also when a download was already retrying.
Left-out folders and drives aren't read during scans any more.
A game added by hand can no longer use a game folder that links into another game's folder, Game folder... on a game
that moved picks the game's exe in the new folder or says to add it again, and the recorder never goes next to an exe
outside the game folder it checked.
Adding a game by hand no longer refuses its folder when mod tools such as Fluffy Mod Manager sit inside it.
A game you added by hand inside a Steam game's install no longer removes the recorder from Steam's copy, and one added
in the folder where the Steam game's recorder sits leaves your library while the Steam game keeps its recorder and
recording.
A game whose exe SCSKiller was told to use keeps recording after the game runs another exe.
A second copy of SCSKiller no longer changes another copy's recorders, and a failed take-over puts the other copy's
recorder back exactly as it was.
A game folder with only another tool's d3d12.dll, such as OptiScaler, is no longer taken over from another SCSKiller
copy.
A copy with a moved data folder starts its driver-update notification on its own data folder and no longer changes the
installed copy's startup entry, driver-update task or menu entry.
On Windows, a notification from a test copy that closed unexpectedly no longer acts on the installed copy's games.
A recorder you remove stays off even when its files are copied back into the game's folder, and the recorder only
trusts SCSKiller's own data folder.
Removing the recorder also removes the settings file SCSKiller wrote beside it when it holds exactly what SCSKiller
wrote, also after it was edited and put back.
On Windows, Record while I play installs again where an earlier version's recorder settings file blocked it, and no
longer stops installing after SCSKiller loses track of that file.
The first launch after a compile is checked once the game has closed, also for games, such as Unreal games, that close
without telling the recorder.
Two games with the same exe name no longer both count as running when one of them starts, so the other no longer
reports that its recorder never loaded.
Other processes started with a Vulkan game no longer leave refusal files in SCSKiller's data folder.
On Linux, SCSKiller no longer stalls when run inside a sandbox such as bwrap or firejail, where compiles failed and
Restart to update kept waiting for a background rebuild that wasn't running. An update that can't install because the
lock folder can't be trusted says why, instead of blaming a compile.
On Linux, Vulkan games no longer skip valid pipelines whose shaders use newer SPIR-V features such as FMA or opacity
micromaps, and pipelines Steam would skip too are no longer reported as GPU driver crashes.
On Windows, Vulkan pipelines Steam would skip too, or that need a feature the GPU lacks, are no longer reported as GPU
driver crashes.
On Linux, a Steam game whose Proton prefix Steam made in another library (a game on a second disk, its prefix in
Steam's own folder) compiles instead of asking for a first start from Steam.
On Linux, the first compile after playing a Heroic, Lutris or Faugus game installed on its own drive or partition no
longer fails within a second.
On Linux, compiles no longer open an empty console window at each warm start under Proton.
On Linux, a Proton or Wine Unreal game's DirectX 12 setting is read from its Wine prefix, so Record installs the D3D12
recorder for it.
On Linux, a compile no longer fails with "no GPU adapter" when the game's Wine prefix sets a DXVK device filter that
matches no GPU.
On Linux, resuming a stopped compile on Mesa drivers continues where it stopped instead of compiling every pipeline
again.
On Linux, games that set VKD3D_CONFIG in their launch options or launcher settings compile in that mode, so their
cache is used.
On Linux with NVIDIA, a Vulkan game's next compile no longer replays everything.
On Linux with NVIDIA, compiling a Heroic, Lutris or Faugus game keeps its cache with the game and puts it where the
game reads it after the game's next launch.
On Linux, the Cache page describes the driver's cache folder and NVIDIA's cache size correctly.
On Linux, a non-Steam game added to Steam no longer puts its compile into the cache of another game with the same exe
name, and a compile already put there is taken back out.

SHA-256:

3ac248a35f1c88bacd0775f81bab057a151db5223e8b4bffda5936167c7f04c3  SCSKiller-1.4.4-Portable.zip
34e679ad49193d499b9a2fe00fd1db145827f552024a7beb444dfe5904dc874c  SCSKiller-Setup.exe
6cb157e28a998296b982f94e51c80905a8a51f269df4ec57754cfb16347e1520  SCSKiller-x86_64.AppImage

Code signing policy

BlueHeisenberg/SCSKiller v1.4.4 SCSKiller v1.4.4 on GitHub

BlueHeisenberg/SCSKiller v1.4.4
SCSKiller v1.4.4

on GitHub