No shaders compile again after this update: your shader cache from the last build is kept.
What's new
AMD graphics cards: no more crash at the GT logo (#21). The AMD driver crashed on one part of the emulator's mesh shaders, which draw the game's text and a few other things. That part is now left out on AMD cards; the game's menus and races don't need it. Thanks to Shuyuyus for running the tests that found it. Other AMD problems may still come up further in, so please report them.
The recommended settings are now the defaults (#25). New launcher settings start with the ones the game was tested with. Settings saved with an older launcher are switched to them once: tessellation, bindless textures, red zone protection and the _kyty.txt log file on, and the debugging options off. Your resolution, present mode, vblank frequency and other personal settings stay, and anything you change after that is kept.
Red zone protection is always on now, unless you turn it off. Without it, a race could crash as it started (#25).
A faster Windows build. It's now built for AVX2 processors (every PC that can run the game has AVX2) and optimized from a recorded race. In a test race the emulator's GPU thread took roughly a fifth less time per draw, but the frame rate rose only 1 to 2 fps: the game's own main thread holds it back now too.
A fix from upstream KytyPS5 (thanks Nawid3333): in rare cases the game could take a wrong turn in its own code right after reading its thread-local data.
⚠️ Pop-in on new tracks is expected
The first time you drive a track, or a part of one, its shaders compile while you drive. Scenery, car details and reflections appear a moment late instead of the game freezing. They're cached afterwards, so the second time on that track everything is there from the start.
Known problems
- Scapes: the controls stop working after Olivier offers the drift photography tutorial (#19). The tutorial waits for the game's online servers, which the emulator has no stand-in for, so the Menu Book "Take a Photo of Your Car in Scapes" can't be finished yet. Closing the emulator is the only way out of it.
- AMD RX 9070 XT: races crash while they load, inside the AMD driver's shader compiler (#12). Workaround: start the emulator with
KYTY_SKIP_SHADER_HASHES=daced64c72398e80(the steps are in #12). That shader does some of the game's calculations, so something in races may be a little off. - Intel Arc graphics cards: the emulator stops at start-up, because the driver lacks fragment shader barycentrics, which the emulator needs (#20). Being looked into.
- NVIDIA: the driver's shader compiler can crash while compiling new pipelines (#18). Being looked into; the crash report names the pipeline.
- Some distant trees (about 150 m away and further) look brighter and flatter than up close, because they get no shadow from far away. Being looked into.
- Livery editor: leaving it shows error CE-210717 (the game uploads the livery to its online service, which the emulator has no stand-in for). Some parts of a saved livery's picture can have the wrong colour.
- Tokyo: at twilight and night, the picture can turn green at some tunnel exits and under some overpasses. It depends on the camera angle, so the same replay can be green one time and not the next.
- Tokyo at night: some shadows on tunnel ceilings and walls move with the camera.
- Ray tracing mode: the frame rate is low, about 10 to 20 fps in the garage. Reflections can still flicker a little and look a bit jagged, most of all right after switching between the cockpit and outside views.
- In-game videos can play out of sync with their sound (#4). Being looked into.
- A graphics driver crash, seen after many license test retries (#3), is not fixed yet.
Frame rate
On an RTX 5090 in performance mode: about 21 to 23 fps in a race at Tokyo against 11 AI cars (1% low 19, peak 27); in a time trial on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, mid 40s to 50s. Race frame rate is still what we're working on. With 32 GB of RAM, close other programs before playing: in a race the emulator uses about 20 to 25 GB.
Settings and help
Recommended launcher and in-game settings are in [docs/GT7.md](https://github.com/usa-ratt/KytyPS5-GT7/blob/gt7-eqaa/docs/GT7.md). In-game, use performance mode to play. The launcher now starts with the recommended settings (see What's new).
Found a bug? Open an issue with the [Bug report form](https://github.com/usa-ratt/KytyPS5-GT7/issues/new/choose) and attach your zipped _kyty.txt log.
Full Changelog: KytyPS5-2026-10-24-e0daf33...KytyPS5-2026-10-25-f008506