2.1.0-pre.3 (experimental)

Experimental prerelease. For stable, use 2.0.1. This is 2.1.0-pre.2 (shadPS4 0.20.0) with everything new in 2.0.1.

Big thanks

• @eFMann for the threaded renderer, frame pacing, character motion vectors, the VRAM cleanup rounds and the 0.20.0 port (#16).
• @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_) for finding and fixing shadPS4's long-standing VRAM leak (#18).
• @zeroznet for SDR to HDR (#28).

New

• SDR to HDR (thanks @zeroznet): a Special K style conversion of the finished image to HDR, for any GPU, with DLSS and FSR frame generation. Turn on Use HDR in Windows, then tick SDR to HDR in F1 and restart.
• Keyboard and mouse controls with a real mouse camera, rebindable in F1 (F1 → Keyboard & mouse, then restart once).
• Sharper textures while upscaling (NVIDIA's recommended texture LOD bias), toggle in F1.
• F1 is resizable and stays within the screen; Game motion blur moved to the bottom.

Fixed

• Movement stuttering on keyboard when holding several keys at once (shadPS4 0.20.0 bug).

Note

SDR to HDR is not RenoDX: it stretches the final image, so clipped highlights stay flat white and the HUD gets brighter too. RenoDX gives the better HDR but doesn't work on the 0.20.0 builds yet; for it, stay on 2.1.0-pre.1.

Note

White dots (#25): if you still see them with Merged copy shaders on, please turn on Diagnostics logging (F3 → Graphics → Bloodborne - Experimental) and attach your user/log/shad_log.txt to #25.

If the camera or controls misbehave, please open an issue with your user/log/shad_log.txt.

Updating: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install. The first start compiles shaders again. Your dlss.ini settings are kept.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

2.1.0-pre.2 (experimental)

Experimental prerelease. For stable, use 2.0.0. This is 2.1.0-pre.1 moved onto shadPS4 0.20.0, so you get the experimental features together with everything new in upstream 0.20.0.

Big thanks

• @eFMann for porting the experimental branch to 0.20.0, on top of the threaded renderer, frame pacing, character motion vectors and the VRAM cleanup rounds (#16).
• @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_) for finding and fixing shadPS4's long-standing VRAM leak (#18). The VRAM cleanup builds on his work.

New

• Based on shadPS4 0.20.0.
• Possible fix for the white dots (#25) with Merged copy shaders on (thanks @eFMann). If you had them on pre.1, please try this build with Merged copy shaders on and tell us in #25 whether they're gone. If they're still there, turn on Diagnostics logging (F3 → Graphics → Bloodborne - Experimental), play until they appear, and attach your user/log/shad_log.txt with your GPU and enabled patches.

Warning

RenoDX HDR doesn't work with this build. shadPS4 0.20.0 compiles the game's shaders differently, so RenoDX doesn't recognise them until it gets an update. For HDR, stay on 2.1.0-pre.1 for now.

Online: shadPS4 0.20.0 moves the network settings into their own section of config.json. Your settings carry over, but if you go back to pre.1 or an older build afterwards, ShadNet and "Set Network Connected to True" need to be ticked again in F3 → Experimental.

If something breaks that worked on pre.1, please open an issue and attach your user/log/shad_log.txt.

Updating: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install. The first start compiles shaders again, so expect some stutter at first. Your dlss.ini settings are kept.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

2.0.1

Experimental: 2.1.0-pre.3 has everything below too, on top of @eFMann's threaded renderer, frame pacing and character motion vectors, and the VRAM cleanup by @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_) and @eFMann.

New

• SDR to HDR (thanks @zeroznet): a Special K style conversion of the finished image to HDR, for any GPU (AMD, Intel and NVIDIA), with DLSS and FSR frame generation. Turn on Use HDR in Windows, then tick SDR to HDR in F1 and restart. Brightness and peak sliders are in F1.
• Keyboard and mouse controls: F1 → Keyboard & mouse → Use keyboard & mouse controls, then restart once. WASD moves, the mouse turns the camera like a PC game (not like a stick), left click attacks, arrow keys and Enter work the menus. Every action can be rebound in F1, with mouse sensitivity and invert. Your previous controls are kept as a backup (Restore previous controls).
• Sharper textures while upscaling: the scene's textures are sampled for your output resolution instead of the lower render resolution, as NVIDIA's DLSS guide recommends. On by default, toggle in F1.
• Object motion vectors switch in F1 (they were already on; turning them off helps check where ghosting comes from).
• The F1 panel can be resized and stays within the screen. Game motion blur moved to the bottom of F1.

Fixed

• Movement stuttering on keyboard when holding several keys at once (a shadPS4 0.20.0 bug, fixed upstream after the release).

Note

SDR to HDR is not RenoDX. RenoDX rebuilds the game's lighting in HDR, so bright lights, fire and the moon keep their detail. SDR to HDR can only stretch the final image: anything already clipped to white stays flat white, just brighter, and the HUD gets brighter with the game. If RenoDX works on your setup, it gives the better HDR. RenoDX still doesn't work on the shadPS4 0.20.0 builds: for RenoDX, use 1.8.6 or 2.1.0-pre.1 until it's updated.

The mouse camera hooks the game's camera code in update 1.09 (the version every current dump has). On other versions the mouse falls back to acting as the right stick. If the camera or controls misbehave, please open an issue with your user/log/shad_log.txt.

Updating: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install. Your dlss.ini settings are kept.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

2.1.0-pre.1 (experimental)

Experimental prerelease. For stable, use 2.0.0. This build continues 1.9.0-pre.3 and is still on shadPS4 0.19.0; the move to 0.20.0 comes in the next experimental.

Big thanks

• @eFMann for the threaded renderer, frame pacing, the VRAM cleanup rounds and now character motion vectors (#16). He's reworking how shadPS4 renders Bloodborne, aiming for performance that feels like a native PC port.
• @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_) for finding and fixing shadPS4's long-standing VRAM leak (#18). The VRAM cleanup builds on his work.

New (thanks @eFMann)

• Character motion vectors (ported from bbport): animated characters, cloth and weapons get their own motion for DLSS / FSR, so they stay sharper and ghost less while moving. Off while RenoDX is loaded.
• Threaded renderer: small vertex and index data used in place instead of copied every draw, fewer texture set misses (new F3 switch: Geometry in place).
• Also free idle buffers is now on by default.

New in F1: Object motion vectors and Character motion vectors switches. Both work live, and turning one off is the quickest way to check where ghosting comes from. If you see ghosting, please tell us which one makes it go away.

Note

Known issue (#25): on some setups, white dots flicker with the threaded renderer. If you see them, turn off Merged copy shaders (F3 → Graphics → Bloodborne - Experimental), and please help us find the cause: turn on Diagnostics logging in the same section, play until the dots appear, and attach your user/log/shad_log.txt to #25, with your GPU and enabled patches.

Updating: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install. The first start compiles shaders again, so expect some stutter at first. Your dlss.ini settings are kept.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

2.0.0

Experimental: 2.1.0-pre.2 is out, also on shadPS4 0.20.0. It continues the 1.9.0-pre builds with @eFMann's threaded renderer, frame pacing and new character motion vectors, and the VRAM cleanup by @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_) and @eFMann.

2.0.0 is built on shadPS4 0.20.0, the new upstream release. DLSS, FSR, frame generation, HDR and all Bloodborne fixes from 1.8.6 carry over, on top of everything shadPS4 changed since 0.19.0, including the network rewrite.

Heads up: this is a new shadPS4 base, so if something behaves differently than it did on 1.8.6 (crashes, graphics glitches, performance), please open an issue with your shad_log.txt. 1.8.6 stays available if you need to go back.

Online: shadPS4 0.20.0 moves the network settings into their own section of config.json. Your settings carry over, but if you go back to an older build afterwards, ShadNet and "Set Network Connected to True" need to be ticked again in F3 → Experimental.

Updating from 1.8.x: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install. Your dlss.ini settings are kept. The FSR 4 add-on is unchanged.

New install: see the README.

Known issue: RenoDX HDR doesn't work with 2.0.0 yet. shadPS4 0.20.0 compiles the game's shaders differently, so RenoDX doesn't recognise them until it gets an update. For HDR, use 1.8.6 or 2.1.0-pre.1 (experimental, still on shadPS4 0.19.0) for now.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

1.9.0-pre.3 (experimental)

Experimental prerelease. For stable, use 1.8.6.

Big thanks

• @eFMann for the threaded renderer, frame pacing and this round of VRAM cleanup (#16). He's reworking how shadPS4 renders Bloodborne, aiming for performance that feels like a native PC port.
• @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_) for finding and fixing shadPS4's long-standing VRAM leak (#18). This round builds on his work, and his fix is already showing up in other Bloodborne PC projects too.

Important

Testers wanted, especially on AMD: turn on Also free idle buffers (F3 → Graphics → Bloodborne - Experimental, under VRAM cleanup), restart and play a longer session. All testing so far was on NVIDIA. Tell us in the issues how it went, with your GPU, and your log if anything goes wrong.

1.9.0-pre.2 plus @eFMann's new VRAM cleanup work and the upscaler fixes from 1.8.6.

Upscaler fixes (same as 1.8.6)

• Ebrietas' room (Altar of Despair): upscaling no longer turns off past a point in the room.
• Cathedral Ward outside Oedon Chapel (#14, #17): no more lost detail and jitter with DLSS, or smearing with FSR, while moving. A tricky one: the game sets the camera up once per map part where parts meet, and the upscaler used the wrong one.
• The picture no longer shakes for a moment after you stop moving.

VRAM cleanup, round 2 (thanks @eFMann)

• Textures are written back and freed without waiting for the GPU: fewer hitches.
• On cards under 12 GB, textures unused for about 20 seconds are freed before VRAM gets tight.
• New option Also free idle buffers: also frees buffer memory unused for 30 seconds when VRAM is nearly full. Off by default (see the box above).

Experimental settings (F3 → Graphics → Bloodborne - Experimental, all on by default except the last two; Apply to try, Save to keep; * needs a restart)

• Threaded Renderer: the main switch, faster rendering and smoother frame pacing. Off gives standard shadPS4 and turns off the five below.
  • Streaming optimisations: smaller hitches entering new areas.
  • GPU readbacks on the copy queue*: fewer small stutters.
  • Merged copy shaders: less GPU copy work.
  • Faster Windows locks and sleeps*: less CPU overhead.
  • Show frames when ready: frames shown as soon as they're ready, smoother above 60 fps.
• Upscaler object motion: motion of moving things for DLSS / FSR. Off makes them ghost more.
• VRAM cleanup*: frees textures the game no longer uses in long sessions.
  • Also free idle buffers*: see the box above.
• Diagnostics: for troubleshooting only, makes the game slower. Keep "VRAM budget for testing" at 0.

Crashing or stuttering? Turn the experimental options off one at a time (restart after each) until it goes away, then open an issue with the version, your GPU and VRAM, resolution patch, frame generation setting, which option fixed it, and user\log\shad_log.txt from right after the problem (it's overwritten on the next start).

Installing: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs over your install, or keep it in a separate folder next to 1.8.6. Your dlss.ini settings are kept. The FSR 4 add-on is unchanged.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

1.8.6

Want to try more? 1.9.0-pre.3 (experimental) has the same fixes plus @eFMann's threaded renderer and frame pacing work and the VRAM cleanup by @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_), with @eFMann's second round on top. Big thanks to both of them. Feedback is welcome.

Upscaler fixes for two tricky bugs: areas where DLSS / FSR turned off or looked wrong.

• Cathedral Ward, outside Oedon Chapel (#14, #17): stepping out of the chapel, DLSS lost detail and jittered while moving, and FSR smeared. Where two parts of the map meet, the game sets the camera up once for each part, and the upscaler used the wrong one. This one was tricky to track down: nothing looked wrong in the logs, and it only showed while moving. Fixed, and the same applies to other places where map parts meet.
• Ebrietas' room (Altar of Despair): past a point in the room the game turns its motion blur off, and upscaling turned off with it. Also a tricky one, since the game itself switches things off there. It now keeps working.
• Small camera fix: the picture could shake left and right for a moment after you stopped moving in some places.

Thanks to everyone who reported these, and the logs helped a lot.

Updating from 1.8.x: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install. Your dlss.ini settings are kept. The FSR 4 add-on is unchanged.

New install: see the README.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

1.9.0-pre.2 (experimental)

Experimental prerelease. For stable, use 1.8.5.

1.9.0-pre.1 plus a new VRAM cleanup. All experimental features are on by default.

Big thanks

• @eFMann for the threaded renderer and frame pacing work (#16) at the heart of 1.9. He's reworking how shadPS4 renders and paces Bloodborne, aiming for performance that feels like a native PC port, and keeps testing and fixing along the way. Huge thanks.
• @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_) for the VRAM cleanup (#18), going after shadPS4's long-standing problem of VRAM filling up in long sessions until the game crashes. Thanks for tracking it down and for all the testing.

New: VRAM cleanup

• Frees textures the game no longer uses when VRAM runs low, including ones drawn by the GPU that shadPS4 used to keep forever.
• Aimed at long sessions, especially on 8 GB cards.
• For now it frees textures only. Freeing unused buffer memory too is part of the original PR, but it caused stutter and isn't safe yet with the threaded renderer, so it's off. We'll take another look at it later.

Our test, with an 8 GB card simulated, the same save and lamp travel between areas:

Minutes in	VRAM cleanup on	VRAM cleanup off
0	4.1 GB	5.1 GB
5	4.5 GB	6.1 GB
10	4.6 GB	6.9 GB
15	4.6 GB	7.2 GB
Growth	+0.5 GB	+2.1 GB

With it off, VRAM only went up and passed what an 8 GB card has to spare after about 10 minutes. With it on, it went down again after loading new areas and peaked at 5.3 GB in 32 minutes.

Also fixed

• The game could exit right after unlocking a trophy when shadPS4 couldn't read the trophy list.

Still from 1.9.0-pre.1

• Threaded renderer: draws are recorded on a second thread, for faster rendering and smoother frame pacing.
• Fewer stutters: smaller hitches entering new areas, GPU readbacks on the copy queue, merged copy shaders, faster Windows locks and sleeps, and a pipeline cache fix.
• Show frames when ready: frames are shown as soon as they're ready, evenly paced, instead of on the next vblank tick. Smoother above 60 fps.

Experimental settings

1. In game, press F3 to open the emulator settings.
2. Go to Graphics and scroll down to Bloodborne - Experimental.
3. Everything there is on by default, except Diagnostics. Threaded Renderer is the main switch: off gives standard shadPS4 behaviour.
4. Click Apply to try a change, or Save to keep it. VRAM cleanup, GPU readbacks on the copy queue and Faster Windows locks and sleeps need a game restart.

Crashing or stuttering? Turn the experimental options off one at a time (restart after each) until the problem goes away: that tells us which one causes it. Then open an issue with:

• the version (1.9.0-pre.2), your GPU and VRAM, your resolution patch and frame generation setting,
• which option fixed it,
• your log: user\log\shad_log.txt in your shadPS4 folder, right after the problem (it's overwritten on the next start).

Working well? Tell us too, in the issues: your GPU, settings, and whether it runs better than 1.8.5. For VRAM cleanup, long sessions on 8 GB cards are the most useful: does VRAM still fill up, and does the game still crash after a while?

Installing: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install, or keep it in a separate folder next to 1.8.5. Your dlss.ini settings are kept. The FSR 4 add-on is unchanged.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

1.9.0-pre.1 (experimental)

Newer prerelease: 1.9.0-pre.2 adds VRAM cleanup and more fixes.

Experimental prerelease. For stable, use 1.8.5.

1.8.5 plus @eFMann's renderer and frame pacing work (#16). He's reworking how shadPS4 renders and paces Bloodborne, aiming for performance that feels like a native PC port. Huge thanks to him for the work, the testing and the fixes.

• Threaded renderer: draws are recorded on a second thread, for faster rendering and smoother frame pacing.
• Fewer stutters: smaller hitches entering new areas, GPU readbacks on the copy queue, merged copy shaders, faster Windows locks and sleeps, and a pipeline cache fix.
• Show frames when ready: frames are shown as soon as they're ready, evenly paced, instead of on the next vblank tick. Smoother above 60 fps.

How to use the experimental settings

1. In game, press F3 to open the emulator settings.
2. Go to Graphics and scroll down to Bloodborne - Experimental.
3. Everything is on by default. Threaded Renderer is the main switch: turn it off for standard shadPS4 behaviour. The options under it can be switched off one by one.
4. Click Apply to try a change, or Save to keep it. GPU readbacks on the copy queue and Faster Windows locks and sleeps need a game restart.
5. Leave Diagnostics off unless you're asked for logs.

If something goes wrong, turn off Threaded Renderer and please report it. (Velocity mirror batching stays on even then; it will follow that toggle in the next prerelease.)

Tell us how it runs! Whether it works well or not, let us know in the issues how the experimental features work for you and whether performance is better than 1.8.5 overall. Your GPU, settings and resolution patch help a lot.

Found a problem? Open an issue, mention 1.9.0-pre.1, and say whether turning off Threaded Renderer fixes it. If it does, it's likely in the new renderer.

Installing: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install, or keep it in a separate folder next to 1.8.5. Your dlss.ini settings are kept. The FSR 4 add-on is unchanged.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.

1.8.5

Want to try more? 1.9.0-pre.2 (experimental) adds @eFMann's threaded renderer and frame pacing work and @Cainhurst27 (u/EnglishDave_)'s VRAM cleanup. Feedback is welcome.

HDR fixes for BB PC Remaster.

• RenoDX + BB PC Remaster 1.01 + 1.07: Game/UI Brightness and Bloom work again. The Disable AA, Bloom and Chromatic Aberration patches are ignored in HDR, so RenoDX can control them. This works with the remaster as a mod or merged into the game, and no game files are changed.
• Moon lighting: optional F1 setting(HDR only with BB Remaster mod) that restores the original moon brightness and tint. Off by default, needs a restart.

Updating from 1.8.x: copy shadPS4.exe and the DLLs from the zip over your install. Your dlss.ini settings are kept. The FSR 4 add-on is unchanged.

New install: see the README.

nvngx_dlss.dll (DLSS 310.9.1) and nvngx_dlssg.dll (DLSS Frame Generation) are NVIDIA's runtimes, redistributed under the NVIDIA DLSS SDK license. The sl.*.dll files are NVIDIA Streamline 2.14.1, MIT. amd_fidelityfx_vk.dll is AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 1.1.4 build (FSR 3.1.4 upscaling and frame generation), MIT. This build doesn't include RenoDX.