B3-Express v0.1.1

Fixes the FPS drop when loading into or out of a verse.

No game files are included. You need your own extracted dump, updated to v1.2.0. See INSTALL.txt in the zip, or the install guide.

Fixed

• The FPS drop after loading into or out of a verse map. In 0.1.0 the game fell to about 17 FPS for 8 to 12 seconds there. A few of the game's compute shaders kept their working data in system memory, so the GPU waited on the PCIe bus. That data now stays in video memory.

Results on the test PC (Ryzen 7 5700X3D, RTX 3080, 2560x1440)

• After a verse exit: compute work at most 0.6 ms a frame, down from up to 24 ms. No sampled frame took over 20 ms of GPU time, where the build before had 43 of 368
• Walking the street after a load: 1% low about 47 FPS, against about 30 with the fix switched off

Upgrading from 0.1.0

Unzip 0.1.1 to a new folder and run Install again from your extracted dump. The game code is compiled for this version.

Known limits

• Loading new areas can still hitch while textures load
• First visits to an area can freeze briefly while shaders build
• Tested on one PC. AMD GPUs, other PCs and most chapters are untested
• Ride sequences are untested with cutscenes at 60

Built on ScarletNX, GPL-3.0-or-later. The fix follows the design of Witch Time (GPL-3.0-or-later). Not affiliated with Nintendo, SEGA or PlatinumGames.

SHA-256 of B3-Express-0.1.1-windows-x64.zip: bfb72d76a37042f64f6242bb927c4ba28e18693297ed7f4ef1ccab67f2db7d4b