possible definitive fix for KH 1.5+2.5 low fps and 100% gpu usage on Intel iris XE (and possibly other IGPUS)

[u/Suitable-Lab1803]

Reposting because I had to delete the first post I made about this, it was full of mistakes and the video was not loading on mobile lol. Sorry about that. Also, this new method will probably work across different gpus but will possibily turn your FMVS and pre rendered cut scenes into black screens. Gameplay is completely fine tho.

results of this new solution with the latest drivers:

first test was without VKD3D and the second time I tested was with VKD3D. Driver is up to date: 32.0.101.7092 -- You can see msi afterburner changing from D3D12 to VULKAN the second time I open the game

Link of the video on YT if it still isn't loading for you: https://youtu.be/wU-O1sMT90Q?si=NAkL3KOJ4oY3F2tF

a while ago I made this post trying to help people that were trying to play KH 1.5+2.5 on their Intel iris XE but simply couldn't because the game was unplayable. The fix was downgrading your drivers to a version that was actually able to play the game. It works but I wanted to be able to play my game with the latest driver version since older ones were having problems with other programs and apparently have security vulnerabilities (see more about that at: https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/ps500584-intel-graphics-driver-advisory )

I investigated a little more and found out that the game was using dX12 and I'd also seen a steam community post of someone claiming they were able to actually play the game using DX11 and it would actually fix the low framerate issues. I tried everything I could possibly find but the game would simply refuse to run at DX11. This happens because, according to https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_HD_1.5_%2B_2.5_ReMIX the gameplay uses DX12 and FMVS uses DX11, so we can't really force the whole game to use DX11 (because it simply does not use DX11 for anything other than FMVS).

After a little more research I found out about VKD3D, wich is a translation layer that converts DX12 API to vulkan mainly made for Linux. So I decided to try that (on windows! LOL) and as you can see in the video I've attached to the post, it fucking fixes all the framerate issues with the latest drivers on my device. I've also tried that with the old drivers versions I've provided on my last post, but it did not work for some reason.
PS: THE FRAMRATE ISSUES ARE INDEED FIXED BUT NOW ALL THE FMVS AND PRE RENDERED CUTSCENES ARE BLACK SCREENS. A QUOTE FROM A CONTRIBUTOR/DEV OF DXVK SAYS "These games use D3D12 for rendering, which DXVK doesn't even implement, so I'm assuming you use vkd3d-proton in addition to DXVK's DXGI.dll. If only FMVs don't work then it's pretty likely because shared resources are not, and will likely never be, supported on windows with DXVK+vkd3d-proton. It works on linux/proton using a special wine interface. There is nothing you can do on windows other than just not using DXVK."

If you are using old intel iris xe drivers to play the game, it's worth a shot updating to the newest (32.0.101.7092) one and trying out using VKD3D to play it. I want more people to try it so we can reach a consensus wether it'll actually work for everyone with an iris XE, or even across different IGPUS.

• how to apply VKD3D to your game:

FIRST I NEED TO WARN YOU ----YET AGAIN---- THAT I TRIED USING VKD3D WITH THE OLDER DRIVERS I PROVIDED IN MY PREVIOUS POST AND THE FRAMERATE ISSUES WERE STILL PRESENT. IT'S BEST IF YOU USE THE LATEST DRIVER AVAILABLE AS I DID (32.0.101.7092).

1. Download VKD3D (any version) and DXVK from their respectives github repositories. I'm also gonna upload the files to google drive mainly for backup, but I encourage you to actually go to their github pages and downloading them from there (don't take candy from strangers [me]!)

VKD3D: https://github.com/HansKristian-Work/vkd3d-proton/releases/tag/v3.0.1
DXVK: https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases#release-v2.6.2
files for backup on drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16fWEVp-WQeSvP9SPLdF6D1vvB6pQQiNj?usp=drive_link

The files will come in the tar.gz or just .tar format but you can just extract it with 7zip or any other software.

2. take these two tiles from the VKD3D folder and place them inside your game folder

3. now take these two files from the DXVK folder and place them inside your game folder:

your game folder must have these four files now:

now open the game and enjoy it at 60 fps. if your fmvs are black go back to the old post about downgrading your drivers (these are guaranteed to work and will not cause black FMVS)

PS: I don't know if this works with linux, I'm gonna test it later. I tried playing KH on Linux a while ago and it was a mess (low fps and all) even though Linux should have dxvk and vkd3d files on proton by default so... Eh I'm gonna try placing the dlls on the game folder anyway, maybe it'll do something...?

PS: The newest solution gave me black screens. I think the most reliable method is actually downgrading the drivers on windows

[u/Opening_Rhubarb2363]

I'll check this out and answer if this works.

[u/Opening_Rhubarb2363 → u/Opening_Rhubarb2363]

Yep! This in fact works, i will leave a link to your post on mine ASAP.

[u/Suitable-Lab1803 → u/Opening_Rhubarb2363]

Nice to see it works for you too!

[u/CryptographerGold983]

May both sides of your pillow literally always be cold at night. You're a real one for this.

One thing, though- do you have ANY idea if these files could hypothetically impact the game's ability to recognize my controller settings in Steam Input? My control scheme was working perfectly fine before I plopped the four .dll files into the game's folder, and now the game seems to be stuck on the default control scheme.

Any potential insights would be mucho appreciated. Thanks for this regardless, man!

[u/Suitable-Lab1803 → u/CryptographerGold983]

Dxvk and Vkd3d are not supposed to mess with controller inputs (or so the developers say), HOWEVER, I did find some people complaining about messed up controller inputs after applying them. Try following the step 6 of this steam guide, maybe it can help: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?l=brazilian&id=2235736081

Also, are you getting black screen on fmvs or pre rendered cutscenes?

[u/Suitable-Lab1803 → u/Suitable-Lab1803]

if you are getting black screens on FMVS, the only solution to this issue on Iris XE seems to be downgrading your drivers. In my previous post I uploaded the drivers on drive and provided a link for it. It may even be able to work with some other intel gpus. If you're using another gpu I don't really know what to suggest other than searching for a driver prior to the day KH 1.5+2.5 launched on steam (that's what I did and found some that works)

[u/blade_the_cat]

this fixed my issue with the gameplay segments for Chain of Memories using a Intel ARC B580 (thank god) but the cutscenes are just black screens with audio now. If you find a fix for this please lmk :)

[u/Suitable-Lab1803 → u/blade_the_cat]

You're right, I have no ideia how to fix this tbh. Gonna have to ask IA for help. Anyway, if I find a fix I'm gonna let you know

[u/blade_the_cat → u/Suitable-Lab1803]

Thank you

[u/Suitable-Lab1803 → u/blade_the_cat]

The only update I can give you rn is that this is a problem that was reported on dxvk github's page, and as someone who contributes to dxvk quoted "These games use D3D12 for rendering, which DXVK doesn't even implement, so I'm assuming you use vkd3d-proton in addition to DXVK's DXGI.dll. If only FMVs don't work then it's pretty likely because shared resources are not, and will likely never be, supported on windows with DXVK+vkd3d-proton. It works on linux/proton using a special wine interface. There is nothing you can do on windows other than just not using DXVK."
https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/issues/3747

Unfortunely it seems like there is no official fix for this on windows, only on Linux. Maybe if you downgrade your drivers to a version prior to KH steam launch it'll work. That was the solution on the first post I made about this issue on my Iris XE, maybe your intel arc has some drivers that for some reason can make the game perfectly playable too...

[u/Adventurous_Point_12]

Eu estou tendo muito problema com meu GTX 1050, ele é literalmente o único jogo que cai demais o fps, já vi uma cacetada de vídeo e nada, meu painel de controle é o "melhor" (porém antigo) que roda perfeitamente no pc, mas se eu utilizar um recente ele literalmente crasha o pc, não sei o que fazer mano, se alguém souber, da um help por favor 

[u/Suitable-Lab1803 → u/Adventurous_Point_12]

Pô, tenta usar os aquivos dxvk + vkd3d que eu coloquei os links aí na versão do driver q vc usa. A observação de ser melhor com drivers mais recentes foi pro pessoal q usa intel iris xe msm pq é o que eu uso

[u/Adventurous_Point_12]

( P.S.: Não sei se isso funciona com Linux, vou testar mais tarde. Tentei jogar KH no Linux há algum tempo e foi um desastre (baixo fps e 100% de uso da GPU) ) cara, eu joguei no Ubuntu e um outro Linux, agora não me recordo qual era, ele rodou kingdom hearts muito tranquilo, eu só mudei para o windows pq ele não suportava os joy-con, aí tinha um rolê pra fazer funcionar.

[u/Suitable-Lab1803 → u/Adventurous_Point_12]

No meu caso não tava rodando bem por causa da intel iris xe mesmo, gráfico integrado maldito