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inFAMOUS Second Son on shadPS4 - Performance Build v1.0

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@axylpup axylpup released this 19 Oct 06:08
· 124 commits to second-son since this release
second-son-v1.0
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inFAMOUS Second Son on shadPS4 - Performance Build v1.0

This is an old version - v1.1 is out (ultrawide and any screen shape, render size changed live, native 4K, sharper DLSS, smoother V-Sync and more). Get the newest build here: https://github.com/axylpup/shadPS4/releases/latest (to update, unzip it over your old folder and replace the files - your saves and settings stay).

An experimental fork of the shadPS4 PS4 emulator (built on shadPS4 0.17), tuned for one game: inFAMOUS Second Son. Unofficial, not affiliated with Sony, Sucker Punch or the shadPS4 team. No game files included - you need your own dump (tested: EU CUSA00004, update 1.07).

fire-scene rooftop-131fps

Highlights

  • High frame rates: on the test PC (i5-13600K + RTX 4070 Ti SUPER) the open-world city benchmark runs at about 140 FPS (1% lows about 134) and the heaviest rooftop view at about 110 FPS. One PC only - as a very rough guide, the same PC limited to fewer CPU cores gave about 95 FPS (6 cores), 60 FPS (4 cores / 8 threads) and 44 FPS (4 small efficiency cores). Treat these as estimates.
  • DLSS 4.5 (NVIDIA RTX): upscales the game's 1080p to your 1440p / 4K screen (DLAA on 1080p screens), the HUD stays sharp. Bring your own NVIDIA files - 2 minutes, see below.
  • Real 1:1 mouse aiming - the mouse moves the camera directly; left click shoots, right click aims.
  • Full keyboard + mouse layout, including the spray-can (motion sensor) and touchpad parts.
  • Keyboard/mouse button icons in the game's prompts - they switch to PlayStation buttons when you pick up a controller.
  • Fixes: settings stay after a restart, not saving before loading works, TVs in the city play, unplugging a controller hands control to the keyboard, both touchpad halves on the keyboard (R + G), spray-can scenes on the keyboard (X = motion mode, hold Z = tilt, tap Z = rattle), controller-speaker sounds (ringtone, rattle) turned down to 25%.
  • Shader cache included with a progress screen on the first start - far less first-time stutter.
  • Sharper water reflections (4x).

Quick start

  1. Download and unzip inFAMOUS-SecondSon-shadPS4-v1.0-win64.zip anywhere.
  2. Run shadPS4.exe and pick your game folder (the one with eboot.bin). It remembers it.
  3. The first start prepares shaders (one time, with a progress screen). Then play.

Keyboard + mouse: WASD move, mouse camera (Y toggles mouse aiming), Space jump, left / right click shoot / aim. All keys, the special sections (T = touchpad, X = motion sensor) and troubleshooting are in the README inside the zip. A DualSense / DualShock 4 works as on the console.

controls-dlss5

DLSS (optional)

NVIDIA's files are not included (licence). Download Streamline SDK 2.14.16 from https://github.com/NVIDIA-RTX/Streamline/releases - exactly that version - and copy these five files from its bin\x64 folder (not development) into the dlss folder next to shadPS4.exe:

sl.interposer.dll, sl.common.dll, sl.dlss.dll, sl.pcl.dll, nvngx_dlss.dll

Start the game: DLSS turns on by itself. Home switches it on / off to compare. Without the files, the game uses its own anti-aliasing.

dlss5-compare

DLSS 5 support is experimental.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 / 11 64-bit, a Vulkan 1.3 graphics card (12 GB video memory recommended), a fast 6+ core CPU.
  • DLSS: an NVIDIA RTX card (20 series or newer) and a recent driver.
  • Tested only on Windows 11 + RTX 4070 Ti SUPER + i5-13600K. Other hardware should work (every new feature has a fallback) but is untested - reports welcome.

Known issues

  • Touchpad prompts and the controller picture in the Options screen still show the PlayStation controller.
  • More icons and text need to be replaced to make sense on PC; this fork is still very much a WIP.
  • A few particle effects (smoke, fire) can flicker in places.
  • With DLSS on, menus look a little less smooth around the edges; the F12 screenshot shows the HUD with the game as a black screen (use Alt+F12).
  • Sounds a PS4 plays on the controller speaker come out of your PC speakers (turned down to 25%; adjustable in shadps4-flags.txt, SHADPS4_PADSPK_VOLUME).
  • Some heavy views (for example, the first karma choice) sometimes run at about half their usual frame rate; reloading usually brings it back.

Found a problem? Open an issue with user\log\shad_log.txt (and user\log\fatal.txt after a crash), your graphics card + driver, CPU, and what you were doing.

Credits and licence

Directed and tested by Axylpup - code by AI (mostly Claude Opus 5.5, Anthropic; how this was made).

Built on shadPS4 - thanks to its team and contributors. GPL-2.0-or-later; Source for this exact build: https://github.com/axylpup/shadPS4/tree/second-son-v1.0 (shadPS4 0.17, upstream main of 2026-08-08, plus our commits; the PGO profile of this build is in the pgo folder). NVIDIA Streamline headers are MIT; The DLSS runtime files are NVIDIA's and come from your own download. inFAMOUS Second Son (c) Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sucker Punch Productions.

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