PANTHEON

Unified Path 1 game engine for the Sony® PlayStation 2. VU1-native. Locked 60 FPS.

"Imagination unleashed."

_{Boot → world · Loop from retail PS2 capture}

_{PCSX2 v2.7.x emulation at native 640×480 — Boot luma ramp reveal into treadmill loop, skydome timecycle progression, and orbit camera telemetry at locked 60 FPS}

v1.0.1-Beta — Scale Phase

Pantheon Phase 2 ships the 31×31 Dynamic Treadmill — a player-anchored tile grid that maintains Y=0.0f ground invariant at locked 60 FPS. Zero-pop boot sequence. Path 1 VU1 rendering pipeline. Hardware-gated audio (IOP/SPU2). Ready for texturing (Phase 3).

What's New in v1.0.1

World Expansion

31×31 Dynamic Treadmill — player-anchored tile snapping; origin resets to nearest tile boundary; Y=0.0f ground clamp maintained across all 60 FPS frames
Zero-pop Boot Sequence — Path 1 world render gated until luma-ramp reveal completes; eliminates Z-fight flicker on boot
Mesh Slicing — hrc2ps2.py auto-partitions geometry into VU1-safe batches (≤72 vertices per draw)

Audio Pipeline (Hardware-Gated)

SPU2/LIBSD/AUDSRV initialization
IOP streaming — conditional compile under PANTHEON_HARDWARE_TARGET flag
PCSX2 builds run clean (audio disabled in emulation)
Retail PS2 hardware ready for audio payload integration

Build Profiles

Hybrid (default) — CPU GIF floor + Path 1 skydome (avoids coplanar Z-fight)
Strict Path 1 — VU1 renders all geometry; CPU GIF overlay disabled

Phase 1 Baseline Retained (v1.0.0-Beta)

Boot title — 94BILLY luma ramp reveal sequence
Timecycle skydome — San Andreas-style 8-slot weather + 4-channel RGB interpolation
Walkable floor — Path 1 mesh rendering (tiled instancing + hybrid CPU deck where enabled)
Orbit camera — Spherical telemetry, deadzone + smoothing
DualShock input — Analog pad capture and edge detection

Path 1 Architecture

Pantheon enforces a strict Path 1 pipeline: the Emotion Engine sequences 128-bit DMA/VIF command chains; VU1 executes shader.vsm (a bespoke VLIW microprogram compiled with dvp-as) that transforms vertices, packs GIF tags, and fires XGKICK directly to the Graphics Synthesizer. Geometry is authored in Softimage 3D (or optionally Blender), crunched offline via hrc2ps2.py and obj2ps2.py, and delivered as C arrays.

The EE never touches a vertex.

Build

git clone https://github.com/94BILLY/PANTHEON.git
cd PANTHEON
make -f Makefile.world

Output: floor.elf

Run in PCSX2 2.7.x or deploy to real PS2 hardware via OPL/FreeMcBoot.

Requirements: ps2sdk · ee-gcc 15.2.0 · dvp-as · Python 3.x

Setup guide: [GETTING_STARTED.md](GETTING_STARTED.md)

Next Phase: Phase 3 — Texturing

STQ Coordinate Extraction — Softimage 3D → C array payload
VU1 Texture Sampling — VRAM uploads, GS register config
Full Asset Pipeline — Diffuse + normal map integration

Core Files

File	Purpose
`pantheon_path1_contract.h`	EE ↔ VU1 compile-time memory layout contract
`pantheon_vram.h` / `pantheon_vram.c`	GS VRAM allocator (linear word-bump over 4 MB)
`shader.vsm`	VU1 microprogram — transform, matrix math, GIF packing, XGKICK
`floor.c`	EE conductor — DMA sequencing, boot, world loop, tile treadmill
`hrc2ps2.py`	Softimage 3D `.hrc` → C array mesh cruncher with auto-slicing

Documentation

Document	Content
`[GETTING_STARTED.md](https://claude.ai/chat/GETTING_STARTED.md)`	Build setup, PCSX2 config, profile flags, asset pipeline
`[BETA_RELEASE.md](https://claude.ai/chat/BETA_RELEASE.md)`	v1.0.1-Beta scope, acceptance criteria, treadmill implementation
`[BASELINE_ACCEPTANCE.md](https://claude.ai/chat/BASELINE_ACCEPTANCE.md)`	Phase 1 + Phase 2 acceptance gates and test procedures
`[FLIGHT_LOG.md](https://claude.ai/chat/FLIGHT_LOG.md)`	Development journal — debugging log, learnings, architecture decisions
`[DOCS_INDEX.md](https://claude.ai/chat/DOCS_INDEX.md)`	Full documentation index
`[CHANGELOG.md](https://claude.ai/chat/CHANGELOG.md)`	Release history

Media

Gallery (Retail PS2 captures):
[docs/media/VIEW_PANTHEON_MEDIA.html](https://claude.ai/chat/docs/media/VIEW_PANTHEON_MEDIA.html) — Stills and loops under docs/media/

Logo generation:
Source: [docs/pantheon-oculus-straight-on-zenith.png](https://claude.ai/chat/docs/pantheon-oculus-straight-on-zenith.png)
Generator: [tools/generate_pantheon_zenith_logos.py](https://claude.ai/chat/tools/generate_pantheon_zenith_logos.py)
Details: [docs/LOGO.md](https://claude.ai/chat/docs/LOGO.md)

Repository Policy

Maintainer: [94BILLY](https://github.com/94BILLY) is the sole project owner. In GitHub: Settings → Collaborators (and org membership) should list only 94BILLY for write access; remove any other users with push access if they appear.
Issues, pull requests, and unsolicited contributions are not accepted
Redistribution requires written permission from 94BILLY
Source code and assets are provided for educational and reference purposes

Audience

This codebase is targeted at developers comfortable with:

PS2SDK and ps2-gcc
Emotion Engine (EE Core, DMA, VIF)
Vector Unit 1 (VU1, microcode, VLIW instruction pairing)
Graphics Synthesizer (GIF packets, register writes, GS memory layout)
Bare-metal C (no OS abstractions, direct hardware access)

Entry point: Start with pantheon_path1_contract.h and shader.vsm.

github.com/94BILLY/PANTHEON
94BILLY · 94billy.com/PANTHEON

GitHub repository metadata

Description (one line):

Bare-metal Path 1 PlayStation 2 engine. VU1 microcode. Softimage 3D pipeline. 60 FPS. v1.0.1-Beta: Dynamic treadmill.

Topics:

ps2 playstation2 ps2sdk homebrew vu1 path1 gamedev openworld softimage bare-metal demoscene

Language:

C (95%), Assembly (5%)

Built with discipline. No shortcuts. No compromises.

Start with [pantheon_path1_contract.h](https://claude.ai/chat/pantheon_path1_contract.h) and [shader.vsm](https://claude.ai/chat/shader.vsm).

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

v1.0.1-beta

Choose a tag to compare

Sorry, something went wrong.