rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-16b): optional HD texture packs

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc on Windows or Linux, with the optional Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot).

These downloads contain builders only: no game data and no texture packs. You supply your own unmodified Vagrant Story (USA) .bin and .cue.

New: optional HD texture packs

Classic Beetle PSX HW PNG texture replacement packs now work in both the normal and Merlose builds, with Vulkan or OpenGL. Texture packs are entirely optional: without an installed pack the original textures are used. No pack is downloaded automatically, and RetroArch is not required.

Install and load a pack

1. Download a Vagrant Story texture pack made for Beetle PSX HW and extract its archive (for example with 7-Zip).
2. Find the extracted folder that directly contains the PNG images. Rename that folder to texture-replacements.
3. Put it inside your built rood-boi folder, alongside play.bat / play-callo.bat on Windows, or play.sh / play-callo.sh on Linux.
4. Start the game normally. That folder is detected automatically at startup.
5. To switch between HD and original textures, open F1 (or Escape) → Graphics → HD texture replacements. Save settings to remember the choice.

The layout should be:

rood-boi/
  play.bat              (or play.sh on Linux)
  texture-replacements/
    textureCRC-paletteCRC.png
    ...

Keep the PNGs directly inside texture-replacements, rather than inside another pack-named subfolder. Packs are kept when you rebuild. If you prefer keeping a pack elsewhere, set ROOD_TEXTURE_PACK to its image folder before launching.

Current limits: this supports classic Beetle upload-rectangle PNG packs, not DuckStation packs, DDS or Beetle page-aligned/reduced-palette extensions. Missing replacements keep the originals; rebuilt font text uses the selected font. First loads and cache refills can briefly pause the game. Broader room, palette and animation coverage still needs playtesting. Native save-state loads need a room reload to restore texture matching; ordinary in-game saves are unaffected.

Also included: a Windows Vulkan memory fallback for cards whose small CPU-visible VRAM pool fills up, and noprompt's current upstream changes.

Download and build

• Windows without WSL: rood-boi-native-builder-2026-10-16b.zip.
• Windows using WSL: rood-boi-builder-2026-10-16b.zip.
• Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-16b.tar.gz (Podman or Docker).

Extract the appropriate builder, put your clean USA .bin + .cue beside its build script, then run Build rood-boi.bat on Windows or ./build-rood-boi.sh on Linux. Answer the optional-component questions; nothing is selected for you. The README in every archive includes the HD pack installation steps above.

Already built it? Extract this builder over your builder folder and run it again. It updates the source and keeps your game folder's saves, settings and installed texture pack. The Merlose mod, always-+4 stat items, selectable bonus wheel and experimental bigger inventory remain separate choices.

Memory cards: F1 → File → Memory cards... lets you select emulator card files. The bigger-inventory option remains experimental. Known Merlose issue: staff attacks use her bare-hands animations, so the staff is not shown while she attacks.

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, who started it and did the overwhelming majority of its work, Lil' Sassy, one of its most prolific contributors, and its other contributors. The Windows port, builders and Merlose mod are by Daemeous. Texture packs are supplied separately by their respective authors.

_{Source: callo @ 4082191, based on noprompt's main d642fbd. Validation: matcher and real GPU sampler tests; actual-pack OpenGL and native Windows Vulkan rendering, same-frame HD/original/HD comparisons; user-confirmed HD rendering; Merlose spawned and survived two Wine Cellar room transitions. Linux Merlose build: 325 translation units compiled with zero failures; actual-pack OpenGL comparison passed. Native Windows builder update run passed with Merlose and bigger inventory: PS1 byte check ended with All files match; normal and Merlose builds compiled with zero failures. Its finished Vulkan build passed automatic pack detection, HD/original/HD comparison, and startup without an installed pack.}

rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-16): memory cards in the File menu

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc, on Windows or Linux, with the Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot) if you want it.

Nothing from the game is in these downloads: the builder compiles rood-boi on your PC from the source code and your own copy of the game. Please don't share the built folder.

New in this version

• Choosing memory card files moved to the File menu. Press F1 (or Escape), then File → Memory cards...: a small window shows each slot's file and format; paste a card file's path, click Use, then Save settings in that window. (It used to be a section of the Graphics tab.)

Also in this release (from 2026-10-15c)

• Fixed: chests and containers stuck open. In a game saved with Merlose, some treasure chests and storage boxes (for example in save rooms and workshops) showed as already open and ignored X. Merlose's saved equipment shared space with the game's "chest opened" markers for chests 64-75; it now lives where the game never looks.
  • Your saves are converted automatically the first time you load them; her equipment carries over.
  • Those chests come back closed, with their contents, even ones you had really opened.
  • The room you load into may still show its chest open; step out and back in once.
• New option: bigger inventory (EXPERIMENTAL, may be unstable). With Merlose, the builder asks whether you want twice as many weapons, shields, blades, grips, armour and gems in your bag.
  • When you save, the extra items go into the last quarter of the Container, so the Container holds a quarter less while this is on.
  • Your saves keep working without it: run the builder again, answer N, and the extra items are in your Container.
  • With it on, the game always uses the original-style menus (the new-style PC menus don't know the bigger bag yet).
• Latest rood-boi from noprompt: battle charging option, emissive "glowing surfaces", modern menus with a native Data screen, the map's Modern/Original controls, an Ashley menu model, and fixes.
• Native Windows builder fix: with the newest code, the final step failed with "The filename or extension is too long"; fixed.

Already built rood-boi? Just run your builder again: it fetches the latest code and keeps your saves and settings. To be asked about the bigger inventory (new in 2026-10-15c), use this version's builder (extract it into your builder folder; it asks its questions again).

Windows

1. Download rood-boi-native-builder-2026-10-16.zip (no WSL) or rood-boi-builder-2026-10-16.zip (uses WSL), and extract it.
2. Copy your unmodified Vagrant Story (USA) .bin + .cue into the folder.
3. Double-click Build rood-boi.bat and answer its questions. (The WSL builder may first install WSL, which needs admin rights and a restart; then run it again.)
4. Play with play.bat, or play-callo.bat for Merlose, in the new rood-boi folder.

Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-16.tar.gz

1. Install Podman (or Docker), extract the archive, and copy your .bin + .cue in.
2. Run ./build-rood-boi.sh and answer its questions, then rood-boi/play.sh or rood-boi/play-callo.sh.

Saves and memory cards: rood-boi reads DuckStation/ePSXe/RetroArch cards (.mcd, .mcr, .srm), DexDrive .gme, VGS .mem/.vgs, and PSP/Vita .vmp (load only). Choose the card files under F1 → File → Memory cards...; see the README's Saves and memory cards section.

Known issue: with a staff, Merlose uses her bare-hands animations, so the staff isn't shown while she attacks.

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors.

_{Builds callo @ 48cf4dd (rood-boi main dec91e5 plus the Merlose mod, the native Windows build, the memory card changes and the optional bigger inventory). Tested: the native builder zip as an update run with Merlose and the bigger inventory; in the exe it built, File → Memory cards... opens the window. In a Windows build of the same code: a DexDrive card path typed in, Use, Save settings, and the next launch used that card. The WSL and Linux builders weren't re-run (their scripts are unchanged since 2026-10-15c; only the README text changed).}

rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-15c): chests fixed, bigger inventory option

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc, on Windows or Linux, with the Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot) if you want it.

Nothing from the game is in these downloads: the builder compiles rood-boi on your PC from the source code and your own copy of the game. Please don't share the built folder.

New in this version

• Fixed: chests and containers stuck open. In a game saved with Merlose, some treasure chests and storage boxes (for example in save rooms and workshops) showed as already open and ignored X. Merlose's saved equipment shared space with the game's "chest opened" markers for chests 64-75; it now lives where the game never looks.
  • Your saves are converted automatically the first time you load them; her equipment carries over.
  • Those chests come back closed, with their contents, even ones you had really opened.
  • The room you load into may still show its chest open; step out and back in once.
• New option: bigger inventory (EXPERIMENTAL, may be unstable). With Merlose, the builder asks whether you want twice as many weapons, shields, blades, grips, armour and gems in your bag.
  • When you save, the extra items go into the last quarter of the Container, so the Container holds a quarter less while this is on.
  • Your saves keep working without it: run the builder again, answer N, and the extra items are in your Container.
  • With it on, the game always uses the original-style menus (the new-style PC menus don't know the bigger bag yet).
• Latest rood-boi from noprompt: battle charging option, emissive "glowing surfaces", modern menus with a native Data screen, the map's Modern/Original controls, an Ashley menu model, and fixes.
• Native Windows builder fix: with the newest code, the final step failed with "The filename or extension is too long"; fixed.

Already built rood-boi? Just run your builder again: it fetches the latest code and keeps your saves and settings. To be asked about the bigger inventory, use this version's builder (extract it into your builder folder; it asks its questions again).

Windows

1. Download rood-boi-native-builder-2026-10-15c.zip (no WSL) or rood-boi-builder-2026-10-15c.zip (uses WSL), and extract it.
2. Copy your unmodified Vagrant Story (USA) .bin + .cue into the folder.
3. Double-click Build rood-boi.bat and answer its questions. (The WSL builder may first install WSL, which needs admin rights and a restart; then run it again.)
4. Play with play.bat, or play-callo.bat for Merlose, in the new rood-boi folder.

Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-15c.tar.gz

1. Install Podman (or Docker), extract the archive, and copy your .bin + .cue in.
2. Run ./build-rood-boi.sh and answer its questions, then rood-boi/play.sh or rood-boi/play-callo.sh.

Saves and memory cards: rood-boi reads DuckStation/ePSXe/RetroArch cards (.mcd, .mcr, .srm), DexDrive .gme, VGS .mem/.vgs, and PSP/Vita .vmp (load only). Choose the card files under F1 → Graphics → Memory cards; see the README's Saves and memory cards section.

Known issue: with a staff, Merlose uses her bare-hands animations, so the staff isn't shown while she attacks.

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors.

_{Builds callo @ 3f59693 (rood-boi main dec91e5 plus the Merlose mod, the native Windows build, the memory card changes and the optional bigger inventory). Tested: the native builder zip as an update run with Merlose and the bigger inventory, then the built exe loaded a Merlose save from the old layout (equipment moved, the workshop container closed again); Windows Merlose and bigger-inventory builds from WSL played by the user. The WSL and Linux builders weren't re-run for this version (their scripts gained only the new question).}

rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-15b): play your emulator saves

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc, on Windows or Linux, with the Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot) if you want it.

Nothing from the game is in these downloads: the builder compiles rood-boi on your PC from the source code and your own copy of the game. Please don't share the built folder.

New in this version: play your emulator saves

• rood-boi now reads the memory card files emulators and save tools use, and saves back in the same format:
  • .mcd, .mcr, .srm: raw card images (DuckStation, ePSXe, PCSX, RetroArch Beetle PSX, MemcardRex)
  • .gme (DexDrive) and .mem / .vgs (Connectix VGS)
  • .vmp (PSP / PS Vita): loads only. To save onto one, convert it to .mcr first with MemcardRex.
• Choose which card file each slot uses in the game: press F1 (or Escape), open the Graphics tab, then Memory cards. Paste the file's path, click Use, then Save settings at the top. Default goes back to rood-boi\pc\save.
• Safer: a file that isn't a memory card is never overwritten. Before, pointing a slot at the wrong file (or a DexDrive .gme) could wipe it on the first save.
• The README has a new Saves and memory cards section: where saves are, how to use your DuckStation card, and why you shouldn't have the same card open in rood-boi and an emulator at the same time.

Already built rood-boi? Just run your builder again: it fetches the latest code and keeps your saves and settings. (If you extract this zip over your old builder folder, it asks its questions again.)

Windows

1. Download rood-boi-native-builder-2026-10-15b.zip (no WSL) or rood-boi-builder-2026-10-15b.zip (uses WSL), and extract it.
2. Copy your unmodified Vagrant Story (USA) .bin + .cue into the folder.
3. Double-click Build rood-boi.bat and answer its questions. (The WSL builder may first install WSL, which needs admin rights and a restart; then run it again.)
4. Play with play.bat, or play-callo.bat for Merlose, in the new rood-boi folder.

Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-15b.tar.gz

1. Install Podman (or Docker), extract the archive, and copy your .bin + .cue in.
2. Run ./build-rood-boi.sh and answer its questions, then rood-boi/play.sh or rood-boi/play-callo.sh.

Known issue: with a staff, Merlose uses her bare-hands animations, so the staff isn't shown while she attacks.

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors.

_{Builds callo @ a63f901 (rood-boi main 3ba1c4e plus the Merlose mod, the native Windows build and the memory card changes). Tested: the card code's unit test (each format saved in place, .vmp and non-card files never written, the card path setting) passes inside the Linux and Windows builds; the Windows Merlose build loaded saves from real DexDrive .gme and PS Vita .vmp cards through Continue, leaving the files unchanged; the native builder zip as an update run. The builders' build steps are unchanged.}

rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-15)

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc, on Windows or Linux, with the Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot) if you want it.

Nothing from the game is in these downloads: the builder compiles rood-boi on your PC from the source code and your own copy of the game. Please don't share the built folder.

New in this version

• The builders ask which options you want when they start: Merlose, and her two extras (stat-up items always +4; choosing the bonus wheel reward). Nothing is switched on by default anymore. With the choosable bonus wheel, the wheel after a boss doesn't spin, which looked like a freeze to players who didn't know it was on. Your answers are remembered, and the next build asks whether to keep them.
• New: a Windows builder without WSL (rood-boi-native-builder-2026-10-15.zip). It needs no WSL, no admin rights and no restart. It downloads its own build tools into its folder: MSYS2, a portable Python, and Windows builds of the PlayStation compilers. The first build takes 30-60 minutes. The WSL builder is still here if you prefer it.
• Rebuilt on noprompt's latest rood-boi: signs drawn from the font, warp fixes, a faster launch, and builds that skip what hasn't changed (updates are much quicker).

Already built rood-boi? Just run your builder again (or this one, in a new folder): it fetches the latest code and keeps your saves and settings.

Windows

1. Download rood-boi-native-builder-2026-10-15.zip (no WSL) or rood-boi-builder-2026-10-15.zip (uses WSL), and extract it.
2. Copy your unmodified Vagrant Story (USA) .bin + .cue into the folder.
3. Double-click Build rood-boi.bat and answer its questions. (The WSL builder may first install WSL, which needs admin rights and a restart; then run it again.)
4. Play with play.bat, or play-callo.bat for Merlose, in the new rood-boi folder.

Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-15.tar.gz

1. Install Podman (or Docker), extract the archive, and copy your .bin + .cue in.
2. Run ./build-rood-boi.sh and answer its questions, then rood-boi/play.sh or rood-boi/play-callo.sh.

Known issue: with a staff, Merlose uses her bare-hands animations, so the staff isn't shown while she attacks.

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors.

_{Builds callo @ 047b899 (rood-boi main 73a259f plus the Merlose mod and the native Windows build). Tested: the native builder zip from scratch in a fresh folder, downloading everything (35 minutes, "All files match", both games built with NRD), and as an update with changed answers (the plain game skipped as up to date, the Merlose build redone). On this commit's code, the WSL-hosted Windows and Linux Merlose builds compile every unit and the headless Merlose smoke test passes. The questions were tested in PowerShell and bash. The WSL and Linux builders' build steps are unchanged.}

Native Windows build tools 1 (PS1 compilers and binutils)

Windows builds of the PlayStation build tools, used by the native Windows rood-boi builder (no WSL) to build the rood-reverse decompilation (by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors) on Windows.

rood-boi-native-tools-1.zip:

• old-gcc\2.7.2-psx\cc1.exe, old-gcc\2.7.2-cdk\cc1.exe, old-gcc\2.8.1-psx\cc1.exe: GCC for the PlayStation with decompals/old-gcc's patches (release 0.17), cross-compiled for Windows with MinGW-w64. Their output is byte-identical to decompals' Linux builds for every one of rood-reverse's 289 C sources, with each of the three compilers.
• bin\mipsel-linux-gnu-*.exe: GNU binutils 2.46.0 for the PlayStation's MIPS CPU (static Windows programs).

rood-boi-native-tools-1-sources.zip: the complete corresponding source code: the GNU source archives, decompals' patches, the small Windows compatibility file (winshim.c) and the build script (build_tools.sh, also in pc/windows_builder/native_tools). GCC is under the GNU GPL version 2, binutils under version 3 (licence texts in the zip). Nothing from the game is in either zip.

Provided as-is: these were built as a means to an end and are shared in case they're useful. They aren't actively maintained, but you're welcome to adapt them.

rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-14c)

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc, on Windows or Linux, with the Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot) if you want it.

Nothing from the game is in these downloads: the builder compiles rood-boi on your PC from the source code and your own copy of the game. Please don't share the built folder.

New in this version

2026-10-14c: the Windows builder notices when the folder its private Ubuntu was set up in has been moved, deleted or replaced (the error ending in MountDisk/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND), and sets it up again by itself instead of failing.

2026-10-14b: the Windows builder now checks the internet before downloading. If WSL can't look up web addresses (the "Temporary failure resolving" errors), it fixes that for its own Ubuntu automatically; if there's no connection at all, it explains the usual causes (VPN, antivirus, wsl --shutdown).

From 2026-10-14:

Rebuilt on noprompt's latest rood-boi (lighting, fog and widescreen improvements, a levelled-spell crash fix, and more), plus:

• Saves are kept on Windows. Every save after the first was silently lost before.
• No more crash entering the Lamenting Mother's room, and a crash guard for spell effects (seen with a Hellhound's Fire Breath). Both fixes are also sent to rood-boi.
• Merlose:
  • she appears in rooms with no enemies (workshops, small rooms, the first room of Snowfly Forest) and in the Wine Cellar's first room
  • her spells can be changed again, and workshop repairs fix her gear
  • she draws her weapon when enemies are around and otherwise follows Ashley (no more PP drain)
  • she uses her own jump and landing poses
  • she can equip staves (with her bare-hands animations)

Already built rood-boi with an earlier builder? Just run the builder again: it fetches the latest code and keeps your saves and settings.

Windows: rood-boi-builder-2026-10-14c.zip

1. Extract the zip and copy your unmodified Vagrant Story (USA) .bin + .cue into the folder.
2. (Optional) Edit rood-boi options.ini (Merlose on/off, her extras).
3. Double-click Build rood-boi.bat. The first time, it may install WSL, which needs admin rights and a restart. Then run it again.
4. Play with play.bat, or play-callo.bat for Merlose, in the new rood-boi folder.

Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-14b.tar.gz

1. Install Podman (or Docker), extract the archive, and copy your .bin + .cue in.
2. Run ./build-rood-boi.sh, then rood-boi/play.sh or rood-boi/play-callo.sh.

The first build takes 20–40 minutes; later ones are quicker. Known issue: with a staff, Merlose uses her bare-hands animations, so the staff isn't shown while she attacks.

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors.

_{Builds callo @ 4c1eefd (rood-boi main 35e92a4 plus the Merlose mod). Tested: Windows and Linux builds of this commit compile cleanly, and the headless Merlose smoke test passes on Linux. The Linux builder is unchanged from 2026-10-14b. The 14c folder check was tested on a WSL Ubuntu with its disk deleted (cleared and set up again) and on a healthy one (left alone). The 14b Windows builder ran end to end ("Done!"), and its new DNS repair was tested with WSL's DNS deliberately broken: it detected it, switched to public DNS and carried on.}

rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-14b)

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc, on Windows or Linux, with the Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot) if you want it.

Nothing from the game is in these downloads: the builder compiles rood-boi on your PC from the source code and your own copy of the game. Please don't share the built folder.

New in this version

2026-10-14b: the Windows builder now checks the internet before downloading. If WSL can't look up web addresses (the "Temporary failure resolving" errors), it fixes that for its own Ubuntu automatically; if there's no connection at all, it explains the usual causes (VPN, antivirus, wsl --shutdown).

From 2026-10-14:

Rebuilt on noprompt's latest rood-boi (lighting, fog and widescreen improvements, a levelled-spell crash fix, and more), plus:

• Saves are kept on Windows. Every save after the first was silently lost before.
• No more crash entering the Lamenting Mother's room, and a crash guard for spell effects (seen with a Hellhound's Fire Breath). Both fixes are also sent to rood-boi.
• Merlose:
  • she appears in rooms with no enemies (workshops, small rooms, the first room of Snowfly Forest) and in the Wine Cellar's first room
  • her spells can be changed again, and workshop repairs fix her gear
  • she draws her weapon when enemies are around and otherwise follows Ashley (no more PP drain)
  • she uses her own jump and landing poses
  • she can equip staves (with her bare-hands animations)

Already built rood-boi with an earlier builder? Just run the builder again: it fetches the latest code and keeps your saves and settings.

Windows: rood-boi-builder-2026-10-14b.zip

1. Extract the zip and copy your unmodified Vagrant Story (USA) .bin + .cue into the folder.
2. (Optional) Edit rood-boi options.ini (Merlose on/off, her extras).
3. Double-click Build rood-boi.bat. The first time, it may install WSL, which needs admin rights and a restart. Then run it again.
4. Play with play.bat, or play-callo.bat for Merlose, in the new rood-boi folder.

Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-14b.tar.gz

1. Install Podman (or Docker), extract the archive, and copy your .bin + .cue in.
2. Run ./build-rood-boi.sh, then rood-boi/play.sh or rood-boi/play-callo.sh.

The first build takes 20–40 minutes; later ones are quicker. Known issue: with a staff, Merlose uses her bare-hands animations, so the staff isn't shown while she attacks.

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors.

_{Builds callo @ 66ab481 (rood-boi main 35e92a4 plus the Merlose mod). Tested: Windows and Linux builds of this commit compile cleanly, and the headless Merlose smoke test passes on Linux. The Windows builder ran end to end ("Done!"), and its new DNS repair was tested with WSL's DNS deliberately broken: it detected it, switched to public DNS and carried on.}

rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-14)

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc, on Windows or Linux, with the Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot) if you want it.

Nothing from the game is in these downloads: the builder compiles rood-boi on your PC from the source code and your own copy of the game. Please don't share the built folder.

New in this version

Rebuilt on noprompt's latest rood-boi (lighting, fog and widescreen improvements, a levelled-spell crash fix, and more), plus:

• Saves are kept on Windows. Every save after the first was silently lost before.
• No more crash entering the Lamenting Mother's room, and a crash guard for spell effects (seen with a Hellhound's Fire Breath). Both fixes are also sent to rood-boi.
• Merlose:
  • she appears in rooms with no enemies (workshops, small rooms, the first room of Snowfly Forest) and in the Wine Cellar's first room
  • her spells can be changed again, and workshop repairs fix her gear
  • she draws her weapon when enemies are around and otherwise follows Ashley (no more PP drain)
  • she uses her own jump and landing poses
  • she can equip staves (with her bare-hands animations)

Already built rood-boi with an earlier builder? Just run the builder again: it fetches the latest code and keeps your saves and settings.

Windows: rood-boi-builder-2026-10-14.zip

1. Extract the zip and copy your unmodified Vagrant Story (USA) .bin + .cue into the folder.
2. (Optional) Edit rood-boi options.ini (Merlose on/off, her extras).
3. Double-click Build rood-boi.bat. The first time, it may install WSL, which needs admin rights and a restart. Then run it again.
4. Play with play.bat, or play-callo.bat for Merlose, in the new rood-boi folder.

Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-14.tar.gz

1. Install Podman (or Docker), extract the archive, and copy your .bin + .cue in.
2. Run ./build-rood-boi.sh, then rood-boi/play.sh or rood-boi/play-callo.sh.

The first build takes 20–40 minutes; later ones are quicker. Known issue: with a staff, Merlose uses her bare-hands animations, so the staff isn't shown while she attacks.

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors.

_{Builds callo @ 7ed5afd (rood-boi main 35e92a4 plus the Merlose mod). Tested: Windows and Linux builds of this commit compile cleanly, and the headless Merlose smoke test passes on Linux. The builder scripts themselves are unchanged from the previous, fully tested release.}

rood-boi builders for Windows and Linux (2026-10-13b)

Build rood-boi, the native PC version of Vagrant Story, from your own disc, on Windows or Linux. Optionally include the Callo Merlose companion mod (Two's A Riot).

Nothing from the game is in these downloads. The builder compiles rood-boi on your PC from the source code and your own copy of the game. Please don't share the built folder.

New in this version: a Linux builder, and the latest rood-boi from noprompt (sun and sky lighting for outdoor rooms, haze and ground fog, a Vulkan lighting fix and more).

What you need

• Your own Vagrant Story (USA) as an unmodified .bin + .cue (no Zenith or other patches; .chd/.iso won't work)
• About 20 GB free and an internet connection for the first build
• A graphics card with Vulkan 1.3 (OpenGL works as a fallback)

Windows: rood-boi-builder-2026-10-13b.zip

1. Extract the zip (right-click → Extract All...) and copy your .bin + .cue into the folder.
2. (Optional) Open rood-boi options.ini in Notepad to choose whether to include Merlose and her extras.
3. Double-click Build rood-boi.bat. If Windows says "Windows protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway.
4. First time only: if WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) isn't installed, the builder offers to install it. That needs admin rights and a restart; then run the .bat again.
5. When it's done, open the new rood-boi folder and double-click play.bat (or play-callo.bat for the game with Merlose).

Linux: rood-boi-linux-builder-2026-10-13b.tar.gz

1. Install Podman (or Docker): sudo apt install podman / sudo pacman -S podman / sudo dnf install podman.
2. Extract the archive and copy your .bin + .cue into the folder.
3. (Optional) Edit rood-boi options.ini.
4. Run ./build-rood-boi.sh in a terminal in that folder.
5. When it's done, run rood-boi/play.sh (or rood-boi/play-callo.sh for the game with Merlose).

The build runs in an Ubuntu 24.04 container, so nothing but Podman is installed on your system. The game it builds runs on distributions with glibc 2.39 or newer (Ubuntu 24.04+, Debian 13, Fedora 40+, Arch and its derivatives).

Both

The first build takes about 20-40 minutes; later builds are quicker. To update, run the builder again: it downloads the latest code and keeps your saves and settings. A remove build tools script frees the space the tools take.

Option (rood-boi options.ini)	What it does
merlose	Also build the game with Callo Merlose as an AI companion
max_stat_items	With Merlose: permanent stat-up items always give +4
choosable_bonus_wheel	With Merlose: pick the bonus wheel reward after a boss instead of spinning

The QoL mod's weapon slots (L2 + R2 quick swap) are built into rood-boi: switch them on in the editor (Escape or F1 in game). Zenith, the Randomizer and QoL's other features are patches for the PlayStation version and don't work with rood-boi.

Known issue: in the first room of Snowfly Forest, Merlose doesn't appear (being looked into).

rood-boi is by noprompt, built on the rood-reverse decompilation by ser-pounce, Lil' Sassy and its other contributors. These builders use Daemeous/rood-boi (callo branch: rood-boi plus the Merlose mod).