PiratesAtWorldsEndRecomp v0.2.0

A new launcher that installs the game from your disc image, achievements, updates from the launcher itself, an
installer, sharper shadows, and a faster NativeXRenderer.

Important

You need your own original copy of the game, as an ISO image of your Xbox 360 disc. This release contains none
of the game's files: the launcher extracts them from your ISO the first time it opens.

Updating from v0.1.0

v0.1.0's launcher cannot update itself, so this one time, download v0.2.0 below:

• Installer: choose your v0.1.0 folder as the destination to keep your game files, saves and settings there.
• Zip: copy the contents of its folder over your v0.1.0 folder, replacing the files there.

From v0.2.0 on, the launcher finds new versions and installs them for you.

How to play

1. Download one of these:
   • the installer, PiratesAtWorldsEndRecomp-v0.2.0-setup.exe. It installs for your user, without
     administrator rights, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PiratesAtWorldsEndRecomp, with a Start menu shortcut;
   • the zip, PiratesAtWorldsEndRecomp-v0.2.0-windows-x64.zip. Extract it into a folder you can write to (not
     under Program Files).
2. Run PiratesAtWorldsEnd Launcher.exe. The first time, choose or drop the ISO of your disc (a full Redump image or
   a trimmed one): the launcher checks that it is this game's USA version and extracts its files. You do not need the
   ISO afterwards.
3. Choose your options and press Play. When you quit the game, the launcher comes back.

Requirements:

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit;
• a GPU with a Vulkan driver (NVIDIA DLAA needs an RTX GPU);
• the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015–2022 (x64).

What's new

A new launcher

• A new design that works with any controller: Xbox, DualSense, DualShock, Switch Pro and others. LB and RB
  change the page, A selects, B goes back, Start plays. It opens in fullscreen; F11 switches to a window.
• The game starts from it and comes back to it. For Steam, add the launcher as a non-Steam game: Steam sees the
  game running until you quit the launcher, and stopping it from Steam closes the game too.
• First run from your ISO: the launcher checks your image and extracts the game's files, with a progress bar.
• Controls:
  • Gamepad: choose which button of your controller presses each button of the Xbox 360 controller, with a layout
    per type of controller.
  • Keyboard and mouse (experimental): play with keyboard and mouse, with two keys per control and the mouse for
    the camera.
• Settings: monitor, fullscreen, borderless or window, image format (fill a wide screen, or 16:9 with bars),
  internal resolution, frame rate, antialiasing, anisotropic filtering and shadow quality. Every change is saved at
  once.
• Updates: the launcher looks for a new version when it opens and shows what's new. "Update now" downloads it,
  checks its SHA-256 and replaces the program's files; your game files, saves, achievements and settings are never
  touched. You can turn the check off.
• If the game closes with an error, the launcher says so when it comes back, with a link to the logs.

Installer

• For your user, without administrator rights, with a Start menu shortcut and an optional desktop one.
• Uninstalling asks before deleting your saves and settings, and before deleting the game files (No by default).

Achievements

• The game's 30 achievements unlock while you play, with a notification at the top of the screen and the game's
  own icons.
• F7 in the game shows the list, with what you have unlocked and when.
• The launcher's Achievements page shows them too, with your totals and gamerscore, filtered by all, unlocked or
  locked.
• They are saved in userdata\achievements.

Graphics

• Shadow quality (NativeXRenderer): Original, High (at least 2048²) or Ultra (at least 4096²) for the
  characters' shadow maps. Ultra takes about 250 MB more video memory and a fraction of a millisecond per frame.
• Sharper character shadows at high resolutions, on every setting. The shadow maps were already drawn at the
  internal resolution, but the game's shaders read them at the console's 1024²; they now use all of it.
• NativeXRenderer runs on a thread of its own, and spends less time per draw, so the game's render thread has
  more room.
• Rendering fixes found while bringing NativeXRenderer to more games (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Kameo):
  partial clears, signed textures, textures whose memory the game reuses, and others.

Other changes

• Quitting from the title screen: B on the title screen asks whether to quit the game. A quits, B cancels.
• Lower CPU use: the recompiled code keeps the console's registers in the PC's registers.
• The ReXGlue SDK is updated to its latest nightly, with better controller input (dead zones, vibration).

Known limitations

• Keyboard and mouse controls are experimental. Please report what does not work as you expect.
• Testing so far: the first levels have been played, in sessions of an hour. Later levels have not been tested
  yet, nor the cutscenes on ultrawide screens.
• Wide screens: the HUD stays in a 16:9 area in the middle; it is not anchored to the screen's edges.
• New areas: the first time one appears, a few objects can show up some frames late while their shaders compile.
  They are cached for the next time.
• DLSS upscaling modes other than DLAA are experimental. They can only be chosen in potcawe_options.toml.

Please report problems with your log (logs\ next to the executable) and what you were doing.

Source and licenses

• Source: this repository at tag v0.2.0, with NativeXRenderer as a submodule.
• License: MIT for the project's own code. The components keep their own licenses: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and
  the licenses folder in the zip.
• Trademarks: NVIDIA and DLSS are trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed
  by Disney, Eurocom or Microsoft.