v121

DARK SOULS II: Scholar of the First Sin — Switch, build v121

Static recompilation of the Xbox 360 release (Title ID 465307E4) with a native Vulkan renderer.
You need your own Xbox 360 game files and Compatibility Pack 4 — none are included.

What's new since v104

• Start screen (Dark Souls style): choose 720p (native, default) or 540p (higher FPS where the GPU is the limit,
  optional sharpening), Frame Rate Lock 30/60, and the interface language (Russian / English / the one set
  in ds2.toml). Buttons or touch. The choice is remembered and starts automatically after 20 s; press any button
  or touch the screen to stay.
• No more stutter on autosave: saving no longer freezes the game for ~0.1 s every 30–60 s.
• Faster game code: profile-guided optimisation of the recompiled code and tuned critical-section spinning.
• Bottom-of-screen blur strip fixed (depth of field read stale rows).
• Resolves that did not change are skipped (less GPU work in some scenes).
• Crash fixes around the achievement notification and recoverable game faults.

Installation

Copy to sdmc:/switch/ds2/:

ds2.nro
ds2.toml
ds2_shaders.spvlib
ds2_shaders.spvlib.idx
game_root/   (your Xbox 360 game files, original structure)
dlc/         (your Compatibility Pack 4 STFS file)

Install DARK SOULS II Scholar of the First Sin (port) [0100D52000560000][v0].nsp with DBI, as usual (same as v104).

Updating from v104 or earlier:

1. Delete from sdmc:/switch/ds2/: ds2_shaders_v103.spvlib, ds2_shaders_v103.spvlib.idx, ds2_shaders_v104.spvlib,
   ds2_shaders_v104.spvlib.idx and ds2_shader_cache.spvlib (recreated automatically).
2. Copy ds2.nro, ds2.toml, ds2_shaders.spvlib and ds2_shaders.spvlib.idx, replacing existing files.
3. Keep user/ (your saves).

From v121 on the shader pack has a fixed name: future updates only replace ds2.nro and ds2.toml.

Warning

ds2.toml requests non-stock clocks (CPU 1963 / GPU 1267 / RAM 2500 MHz). They only apply with a suitable
clock sysmodule and hardware. Set ds2_switch_cpu_mhz, ds2_switch_gpu_mhz, ds2_switch_mem_mhz to 0 to keep stock clocks.

SHA-256

19db1e758c96e206c3d2332f95e878d743f56d21a77157cc91f8625923a1d916  ds2.nro
6c2d8b73765330db13ed8d095b0d12d2c7fb44094ff79260214ec35433b74d46  ds2.toml
e7ea772fbc181396631b0ab4760fbfe251fa9833042ae73ae8d5a989ede43914  ds2_shaders.spvlib
f38036a98e5f85cd861789e6b8b72e691e4b1df84af3355a95aa43594714e3ce  ds2_shaders.spvlib.idx

Unofficial project; not affiliated with FromSoftware, Bandai Namco, Microsoft or Nintendo.

v104

DARK SOULS II: Scholar of the First Sin — Switch, build v104

Static recompilation of the Xbox 360 release (Title ID 465307E4) with a native Vulkan renderer.
You need your own Xbox 360 game files and Compatibility Pack 4 — none are included.

What's new since the previous public build

• Up to +25% FPS where the CPU is the limit: the game code is regenerated with registers as C++ locals,
  direct calls and guest memory without volatile. Typical heavy scenes: ~33 FPS (31–40) with the supplied clocks,
  ~17–29 FPS at stock clocks.
• Faster GPU shading: texture signs/gamma are pipeline specialization constants — main passes 20–50% faster.
• DLC areas fixed: 3D (volume) textures are supported; the DLC world is no longer black under the HUD.
• Lava smoke near the Rotten is rendered at reduced resolution (no more slowdown there).
• No half-rate output after an achievement: the notification is removed after it is shown.
• First boot shows a progress bar while the DLC and save packages are unpacked (it used to be a black screen).
• Unusual files or folders on the SD card no longer crash the game at start; the problem is written to the log.

Installation

Copy to sdmc:/switch/ds2/:

ds2.nro
ds2.toml
ds2_shaders_v104.spvlib
ds2_shaders_v104.spvlib.idx
game_root/   (your Xbox 360 game files, original structure)
dlc/         (your Compatibility Pack 4 STFS file)

install DARK SOULS II Scholar of the First Sin (port) [0100D52000560000][v0].nsp - using DBI, as usual.

Updating from an older build: replace ds2.nro and ds2.toml, add the two ds2_shaders_v104.* files and
delete the old ds2_shaders_*.spvlib, ds2_shaders_*.spvlib.idx and ds2_shader_cache.spvlib.
Keep user/ (your saves).
The first minutes after an update may stutter while the shader cache is rebuilt.

Warning

ds2.toml requests non-stock clocks (CPU 1963 / GPU 1267 / RAM 2500 MHz). They only apply with a suitable
clock sysmodule and hardware. Set ds2_switch_cpu_mhz, ds2_switch_gpu_mhz, ds2_switch_mem_mhz to 0 to keep stock clocks.

SHA-256

4012c5d3bbad06840c0c1ee3f93925158b40b3898cac0f16ab047ff7226d8e81  ds2.nro
ef76c5bd5c574011dc466a9f314c037c5dee5c2f90dcda5cdd3023500d5faf76  ds2.toml
e7ea772fbc181396631b0ab4760fbfe251fa9833042ae73ae8d5a989ede43914  ds2_shaders_v104.spvlib
f38036a98e5f85cd861789e6b8b72e691e4b1df84af3355a95aa43594714e3ce  ds2_shaders_v104.spvlib.idx

Unofficial project; not affiliated with FromSoftware, Bandai Namco, Microsoft or Nintendo.