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DARK SOULS™ III > Guides > Kaldaien's Guides
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Souls "Unsqueezed"
By Kaldaien
Render and Usability Enhancements for Dark Souls III.

The primary features of Souls "Unsqueezed" include:
  • Blackbar Removal for non-16:9 Resolutions,
  • Borderless Window Mode,
  • VSYNC and Triple-Buffering Configuration,
  • Texture Dumping, Injection and Caching,
  • Steam Achievement Unlock Sound
Future versions will address performance and other render-related annoyances.
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Created by
Kaldaien
Offline
Category: Achievements, Modding or Configuration
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
11 Apr, 2016 @ 9:16pm
9 Jan, 2018 @ 4:59pm
37,382 Unique Visitors
968 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Introduction
 
Download 
Installation
 
Before and After
 
Configuration
SoulsUnsqueezed.ini
 
Configuration
dxgi.ini
 
On-Screen Display
 
Known Issues 
Troubleshooting
 
Source Code and Donations
 
Comments
Introduction
The game is very flaky if your resolution is higher than 1920x1080 or if your screen is not 16:9
    Dark Souls III blackbars non-16:9 aspect ratios and has serious problems rendering the HUD on systems with multiple displays and high resolution DPI scaling in Windows 8/10. The mod exists primarily to remove these blackbars and rescale the HUD—it "unsqueezes" things.
Summary of Features (0.5.0):
  • Special K 0.7.x Integration
    • New Config UI built-in (Ctrl + Shift + Backspace)
    • OSD Rendering No Longer Uses RTSS
Summary of Features (0.4.0):
  • Special K 0.6.0 Integration
    • Support for automatic updates, and guided install/uninstall
    • New compatibility layer for third-party software
        (e.g. Razer Bloatware™, MSI Nahimic, AMD Gaming Evolved / Plays.TV)
Summary of Features (0.3.0):
  • Texture Dumping and Injection
    • Extract all textures loaded by the game (in .dds format)
    • Replace any previously extracted texture
  • Texture Caching
    • Minimize texture recycling to reduce texture-related performance problems
  • Enhanced multi-monitor support
Summary of Features (0.2.0):
  • Adds HUD stretch toggle to fix artifacts where sidebars used to be during cutscenes.
  • Supports desktop resolutions < 1080p
  • Correctly centers the window after resolution change
  • No longer requires setting the graphics settings XML to read-only
Summary of Features (0.1.0):
  • Removes black bars from non-16:9 resolutions
  • Adds Borderless Window Mode
  • Adds DXGI 1.2 (Windows 8+) Flip Mode for higher performance windowed rendering
  • Fixes HUD scaling on high-DPI or multiple monitor systems

http://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=673234559


Souls "Unsqueezed" v 0.2.0 supports 4:3, 16:10 and 21:9 without black borders at resolutions as low as 640x480 and as high as 12288x2160 (3x DCI 4K monitors).
Download
Automatic Installer
(Preferred — Requires No Additional Software)

The project now uses an internet-based installer. The installer is used by all of my software, so you will have to select this mod from the product list. Souls "Unsqueezed" is second-to-last on the list.
      SKIM64 will locate your Dark Souls III installation, download and install the latest version automatically. It also verifies that the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Runtime is correctly installed.
        Software updates are automatic; you will be given the option to upgrade when one is released.


Traditional Installation
(Discouraged — Requires 7-zip Software)

Visual C++ 2015 Runtime
    Beginning with 0.3.4, MSVC++ 2015 Runtime (x64) is required to use the mod. This may not be installed on your computer. If you get an error about msvcp140.dll, vcore140.dll, etc. missing, grab the install package here[www.microsoft.com].

The Base Mod
    (Souls "Unsqueezed")
The latest release (0.5.0) is available from GitHub (grab SUS.7z only, not the source code):
    Testing
      v 0.6.0
    Download from here.[github.com]
      Includes Dark Souls 3 Tweak v 0.1.0
    Current
      v 0.5.0
    Download from here.[github.com]
      Includes Dark Souls 3 Tweak v 0.1.0
    Previous
      v 0.4.0
    Download from here.[github.com]
      Includes Dark Souls 3 Tweak v 0.1.0

Configuration Utility
    (Dark Souls 3 Tweak)
To automate the most important configuration steps, SUS includes an optional GUI config tool.



Dark Souls 3 Tweak is included in all releases of Souls "Unsqueezed" beginning with 0.2.0, and the latest version of the tool can be acquired separately.

    Latest Version
      v 0.0.5
    Download from here.[github.com]


I ask that you never link directly to one of the GitHub release pages when discussing this project; it creates troubleshooting problems for me. Instead, if you could link to the Steam forum post or this guide, that would be appreciated.
Installation
Guided Install / Uninstall
(SKIM64.exe)
  1. Run SKIM64.exe and select Souls "Unsqueezed" from the product list
  2. Select "Manage/Repair" to run the config tool
    • This step is not optional, failure to do this will result in incorrect in-game resolution.

Manual Install / Uninstall
(Not suggested)
    Install
    1. Extract SUS.7z (0.4.0+) or SUS.zip (0.3.5) to your Dark Souls III install path (usually SteamApps/common/Dark Souls III/Game/)

    2. v 0.4.0+:
        Make a copy of default_dxgi.ini called dxgi.ini as well as a copy of default_SoulsUnsqueezed.ini called SoulsUnsqueezed.ini

    3. Run Dark Souls 3 Tweak
        Uninstall
        1. Delete dxgi.dll, dxgi.ini and SoulsUnsqueezed.ini from your Dark Souls III install path

        2. Delete the logs my mod generates, stored in logs/
            All files in this directory were created by my mod, so you can delete the entire directory
    Before and After
      4K is only to demonstrate the problem at its worst; the mod is friendly to all resolutions.

    Windows DPI Scaling Run Amok (4K):



    Windows DPI Scaling Corrected (4K):

    Configuration
    SoulsUnsqueezed.ini
    [SUS.Render]
    CorrectAspect
      {true | false}
    Enables Aspect Ratio Correction
      Removes black bars on non-16:9 resolutions.
    Requires GraphicsConfig.XML to be setup with DisplayMode set to WINDOW.
    FlipMode
      {true | false}
    Enables a special performance enhancing mode for Windowed rendering in Windows 8+
      The game does not use this by default, and some third-party tools are confused by it.
    Only works on non-SLI systems with Windows 8+ (or Windows 7 with Platform Update)

    [SUS.Window]
    Borderless
      {true | false}
    Game will run in borderless mode
      Reduces application switching time, allows you to place windows on top of the game and eliminates VSYNC performance and input latency penalties when framerate is not stable.
    Center
      {true | false}
    Centers the game window on the primary monitor
      This is intended for people who play the game in borderless window mode, since you cannot move the window otherwise.
    Rarely, this may cause issues with the taskbar or [ Alt ] + [ Tab ].
    Fullscreen
      {true | false}
    Changes desktop resolution when switching to Fullscreen
      When Borderless is enabled, selecting Fullscreen mode in-game will change the desktop resolution (temporarily) to match.
    This is useful for DSR resolutions and certain multi-monitor setups

    [SUS.Display]
      † Denotes an option that only works when correcting display scaling problems.
      • See the Before and After screenshot for an example.
    StretchHUD
      {true | false}
    Enables HUD Stretching (for non-16:9 displays)
      With Aspect Ratio Correction setup, this stretches the HUD to fill the entire screen.
    • Resolves issues where fade-to-black/white effects do not cover the entire screen.
    You can also toggle this in-game by pressing: [ Ctrl ] + [ Alt ] + [ Shift ] + [ . ]
      †HUDResX
        [ 800 - ∞ ]
      HUD Width
        If the game is working correctly, a value of 1280 will scale to your output resolution.
      If your HUD is anchored to the top-left corner of your screen, set your resolution here.
      †HUDResY
        [ 600 - ∞ ]
      HUD Height
        If the game is working correctly, a value of 720 will scale to your output resolution.
      If your HUD is anchored to the top-left corner of your screen, set your resolution here.

      †HUDOffsetX
        [ -∞ - ∞ ]
      HUD Horizontal Offset
        Offset (in pixels) from the left edge of your screen

      If your resolution is wider than 16:9, you will need to set this yourself.

      The formula to center the HUD (since aspect ratio correction is not complete yet) is:

      (Resolution_X - (Resolution_Y / 9.0) * 16.0) / 2.0 Example (3440x1440): (3440 - (1440 / 9) * 16) / 2 = 440
      †HUDOffsetY
        [ -∞ - ∞ ]
      HUD Vertical Offset
        Offset (in pixels) from the top edge of your screen

      If your resolution is narrower than 16:9, you will need to set this yourself.

      The formula to center the HUD (since aspect ratio correction is not complete yet) is:

      (Resolution_Y - (Resolution_X / 16.0) * 9.0) / 2.0 Example (1920x1200): (1200 - (1920 / 16) * 9) / 2 = 60
      Configuration
      dxgi.ini
      These settings are highly technical; I have done my best to simplify them, but you are probably better off leaving them alone or using the configuration utility to tune these automatically.

      [Render.FrameRate]
      PresentationInterval
        [ 0 - 6 ]
      VSYNC (Number of monitor refreshes before a frame is displayed)
        The game defaults to 0 with no option to control it. In FULLSCREEN mode, that produces tearing ---- To turn VSYNC on, set this to 1.
      This option is largely meaningless in windowed mode, but a value of 0 with FlipMode enabled may slightly improve performance.
      PreRenderLimit
        {-1} | [1-15 ]
      Maximum number of frames the game is allowed to work ahead of the GPU
        As the description suggests, this controls how many frames (worst-case) worth of action will pass before input response shows up on screen
      Higher values increase visual smoothness, but destabilize input latency
      Lower values cause the opposite problem.

      -1 uses the driver's default setting (often 3).
      BackBufferCount
        [ 1 - 6 ]
      Number of finished frames to keep
        This is similar to pre-rendered frames, though far more likely to hurt input latency.
      FlipMode requires a value of 2 or greater, regular rendering requires 1 or greater.

      If Presentation Interval is > 0 in fullscreen mode, each extra buffer over 1 adds a constant 1 frame of input latency (this is why you don't usually want triple-buffering).

      Large numbers should only be used in windowed mode.

      The mod comes pre-configured to 4 because borderless mode is enabled by default, if you turn borderless mode off consider setting this to 1.
      TargetFPS
        [ 0.0 - 60.0 ]
      Framerate Limit
        The game has a variable framerate limiter that does a pretty good job, but if you want to enforce your own limit, this is where you do it.
      You cannot use this setting to exceed the game's hard limit of 60, but you can limit things to 48 if that floats your boat.

      [Render.DXGI]
      SwapChainWait
        [ 0 - 33 ]
      Longest amount of time (in ms) to delay the next frame (when FlipMode is enabled)
        The point of this is to reduce input latency, but may cause a general loss in "smoothness"
      It is suggested that you leave this set to 0 unless input latency is bugging you
        (Windows 8.1+ is required)
      On-Screen Display
        OSD Readings

        Toggle Framerate Counter
        Ctrl + Shift + F
        Toggle Clock / Version
        Ctrl + Shift + T
        Toggle GPU Monitor
        Ctrl + Shift + G
        Toggle CPU Monitor
        Ctrl + Shift + C
        Toggle Memory Monitor
        Ctrl + Shift + M
        Toggle I/O Monitor
        Ctrl + Shift + I
        Toggle Disk Monitor
        Ctrl + Shift + D
        Toggle Page File Monitor
        Ctrl + Shift + P
          OSD Appearance

          Resize
          Ctrl + Shift + +/-
          Show / Hide
          Ctrl + Shift + O

          Color and Scale Config
          Documents\My Mods\SpecialK\Global\osd.ini

                Changes made using hotkeys are saved in osd.ini at (normal) game termination.

          Command Console

            Activate / Deactivate
            Ctrl + Shift + Tab
              Cycle Commands
              Up / Down

            The Special K Global Injector (optional), includes documentation:
          %UserProfile%\Documents\My Mods\SpecialK\ReadMe\cvars.txt
        Known Issues
          Windows 7 Users
            The mod uses an advanced feature for improved frame pacing and input latency in windowed mode, called "Flip Presentation Model". This requires Windows 7 Platform Update, but even with the update installed many drivers on Windows 7 do not support the feature correctly.
              If the game hangs at startup, turn FlipMode off in SoulsUnsqueezed.ini

          Please report any issues you encounter in the development thread, and ignore the resident troll.
        Troubleshooting
        Any issues encountered should be reported in the development thread here.

        When reporting a problem, logs/dxgi.log is very helpful. If you could paste that to pastebin.com and then post a link in the thread, I will do my best to track the problem down.
        Source Code and Donations


        I believe strongly in open source software and I never charge a penny for any of my work. However, these projects do take a considerable amount of my time and I like to think that has some value.


        Donations are completely optional, and they permit me to buy books, tools and dedicate more of my time to these projects. See the GitHub repository[github.com] for more information.
        975 Comments
        < >
        Dei 1 May @ 4:07pm 
        Doesn't work. Lookup "Proper PC Experience Mod" if you're looking for ultrawide support.
        Trava 18 Feb @ 5:49pm 
        Worthless boots my bags to a black screen and doesn't work
        Cap 11 Dec, 2023 @ 3:24pm 
        any vignettes fix? dialogue boxes, death screen or something.
        Markus PXPX 3 Oct, 2023 @ 8:19pm 
        Don't waste your time, too much FPS instability and now even deleting files, resetting the video settings I can't remove this freaking mod, the worst thing I did was trying to use this.
        Marshmallows 14 Sep, 2023 @ 2:00am 
        Use latest version of skim64, it work
        Dr. Feelgood 13 Aug, 2023 @ 10:59am 
        skim64 is currently not working
        -SNiGS- Kaori1 30 Jul, 2023 @ 8:31am 
        skim64 just refuses to launch anymore, Not sure why.
        sweb 19 Jul, 2023 @ 3:00pm 
        skim64 wont work, when i press run nothing happens
        CtK BurnsRed 30 Jun, 2023 @ 10:57am 
        Anytime I try bringing up the UI in game with ctrl+alt+backspace and accept the terms and conditions the game struggles and then crashes a few seconds later. My settings with DS3T also don't stay at what I set them to every time I save and reopen it afterwards. Any fixes for this?
        AdriftUrchin 7 May, 2023 @ 8:12am 
        @🔱 Yamyy_Yamyy 🔱 : On another post regarding this mod someone in the comments said they got softbanned for most likely using this so probably a good idea to go offline with this one.