God of War III Remastered for PC 2.2.0

Linux: the 2.2.0 AppImage (gow3-x86_64.AppImage) is now attached to this release, tested on Arch Linux.

Game

• Black screen at the opening (#111, #208; probably also #21, #32, #144 and #150, please retest): the window opened and the FPS counter ran, but the picture never appeared. Cause found by @brunoweierich-ctrl from dumps of the stuck process: a deadlock between the emulated GPU and the game's EOP thread on the first flips (the GPU waited on a WAIT_REG_MEM for a signal the flip thread only writes after the next EOP). Fixed by the new Bug Fix - Startup Black Screen patch (#119). It is always applied, also when the launcher kept a patch selection from an older version, and it is not listed among the patch choices.
• In-game button icons that match the controller (#133, #173, #223): new launcher option Game → Controls → In-game button icons: Original, Match my controller, Xbox or Nintendo. The prompts, the move list and the QTE buttons show the chosen icons in every language. The icons are drawn when the game starts on copies of two game files in the port's data folder (about 70 MB); the game folder is never changed. With the option on Original nothing is generated (#192).
• FSR 1 removed from the in-game menu (Insert → Image), as it was from the launcher; a saved fsr1=1 no longer turns it on. Sharpening (RCAS) stays in the same tab.
• Frame capture (Insert → Diagnostics, GOW3_FRAME_CAPTURE_KEY) no longer crashes the game on the first captured frame (null read).

Launcher

• New layout: five pages (Home, Graphics, Performance, Game, Advanced) with a Save button that is active only while there are pending changes. Changes made from the in-game menu are kept when the launcher saves other fields; a failed save keeps the changes pending and does not start the game. Changing the launcher language keeps the page and the game status (#123).
• Temporal upscaling temporarily removed: the experimental switch and the FSR 3.1, TAA, FSR 4 and DLSS choices are out of the launcher while we analyze them further and work on a more satisfying implementation. They will come back in a later release. The game renders at the chosen resolution without temporal upscaling, also for players who had turned the switch on in 2.1.8 (#210, #211).
• The cover art at the top of the Home page no longer has the dotted fade, and the title id and version sit below the picture.
• Update folder and mods on Windows without Developer Mode: closing the game no longer leaves out\game-update-* folders behind (WinError 145), and a mod that contains a directory junction is rejected like a symlink instead of reading files outside its folder (#141).
• README in Spanish (README.es.md) (#215).
• Linux: the mouse pointer no longer disappears over the launcher (XWayland), and the mouse wheel scrolls the pages (#268).

Known issues

Start and crashes

• Crash at start with the full 1.02 update (eboot.bin sha256 6e72330e...): Fault: write access to 0000000000007458 at ntdll.dll followed by STOP: guest raised debug exception code=0xa0020014 (#175, #213). Under investigation.
• Startup crash 0xC0000005 in ucrtbase!strlen right after the audio threads start (#46).
• Overwolf's overlay (ow-graphics-hook64.dll) crashes the game at start: close Overwolf before playing (#199).
• Runtime: cannot create 8128 MiB of guest memory (error 1450): enable the page file (#104).

Textures and lighting

• Ground textures turning yellow, orange or white after some time of play, often after Poseidon or the Heart of Gaia (#56, #59, #131, #138, #155, #193, #194, #200), and wrong lighting in the Heart of Gaia (#197, #206). Workaround: Performance → Deferred GPU readbacks off; it fixes the textures but some scenes stutter. Under investigation.
• Steam Deck and other RADV systems: block corruption on Kratos and the logo (#143, #204). Cause found by @hugouchoasborges (vkQueueBindSparse sent to a queue without sparse binding on RADV); the fix is not in this release yet.

GPUs

• Intel HD 630 (#35): 3D renders black or blue only. A test build is in windows-v2.1.8-intel-hd630-test1.
• Intel Iris Xe (#188): crash on the first level load, Fault: read access to 0000000000000008 at guest offset 0x160b8. Intel UHD (#216): Device lost during submit in the cutscene where Athena gives Kratos the blades. Other Intel graphics glitches: #205, #206.
• AMD RX 6600 and Ryzen APUs (#121, #142): the picture is drawn small in a corner. RX 550 (#196): crash Unknown data_format=15. RX 5500M (#181): ErrorOutOfDeviceMemory after 15 to 20 minutes.

Performance

• Large FPS drops with Spartan Rage, the Blade of Olympus and the Nemean Cestus, also on fast GPUs and at lower resolutions (#68, #118, #164, #182).
• The shader cache (user\cache\...\pipeline-binaries) can grow past 20 GB (#177).
• The performance overlay adds input lag (#153).

Progress and audio

• Reported progress blockers: the button prompt loops in the Hades and Scorpius fights (#110), an endless loading in one area (#114), a crash when jumping into a pit after the hammer statues (#170) and the floor not loading after the chain near the first meeting with Athena (#195). Please attach user\last_run.log and a save from before that spot.
• No music in some cutscenes (#77) and audio drifting out of sync in the cutscene after the River Styx (#167).

Linux and others

• Linux: prepare failed: expected PS4 SELF (#151); black screen on Ubuntu 26.04 (#221), probably the same deadlock fixed by #119, please retest.
• Android Wine/Proton (Winlator, GameHub) is not supported: the PS4 address range cannot be reserved (#139).

This release

• In-game button icons: the controller drawn in the pause menu stays a DualShock 4, switching controllers while the game runs needs a restart, and a few hints name a button in plain text.

Validation

• Python suite on Windows: 265 tests, all passing (the 5 Windows-only failures of 2.1.8 are fixed by #141).
• In-game button icons: generator checked on a CUSA01623 dump (all 19 textures replaced, WAD size, entry table and headers identical, game files unchanged by hash); Original, Xbox, Nintendo, remapped buttons and Match my controller played with a DualSense in the development build and in the release package.
• Update view and mods: both bugs reproduced on Windows with the old code and fixed with the new one, on a real dump.
• C++ tests graphics-settings, perf-overlay, orb-multiplier and stat-multipliers passed; the graphics-settings and patch tests were written to fail before the FSR 1 and black screen fixes.
• Release package built from main (af5930a) with MSYS2 CLANG64 and played on an RX 6700 XT with the intro on: the log lists Bug Fix - Startup Black Screen with a patch selection saved by an older version, the opening reaches the menu, and FSR 1 is gone from the in-game menu. The launcher reports 2.2.0.
• Linux AppImage built on Arch Linux from main (e4eb0ab) plus the launcher fix in #268; the launcher was tested on Arch Linux (Hyprland, XWayland): it opens and reports 2.2.0, the mouse pointer is visible and the wheel scrolls the pages.

Thanks to @brunoweierich-ctrl for finding the cause of the black screen at the opening; to @hmathsan for the in-game button icons, @devLucasEmiliano for the new launcher, @1M7md-CS for the Windows junction fixes, @jleandrocampos for the frame capture fix and @vitorinoluca for the Spanish README; to @hugouchoasborges for finding the cause of the Steam Deck corruption; to @Oxygen991 and @CoBEpeuH for requesting the controller icons; and everyone who reported and tested.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered game files. No game files are included.

God of War III Remastered for PC 2.1.8

Processors

• The game runs on CPUs without MOVBE, BMI1 and LZCNT: Intel Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, AMD FX (#33, #66, #90, #102, #136). The game's code (eboot.bin, libc.prx, libSceFios2.prx) was compiled for the PS4's Jaguar and uses those instructions directly on the CPU, so those processors crashed with exception 0xc000001d (illegal instruction). The loader now finds every MOVBE, LZCNT, TZCNT, ANDN, BEXTR, BLSI, BLSMSK and BLSR in the game image (1416 sites on CUSA01623, scripts/isa_rewrite.py) and replaces each one with a jump to a stub that emulates the instruction with the exact flags (src/isa_rewrite.c, src/isa_emulate.c). On a CPU that has the instructions nothing is touched. The log says ISA: CPU lacks MOVBE, BMI1, LZCNT: N sites rewritten and lists the most executed sites when the game exits.
• The requirement is now a 64-bit CPU with AVX: Intel Sandy Bridge (2011) or newer, AMD FX or newer. A CPU without SSE4.2, POPCNT or AVX stops at start with STOP: this CPU lacks ... in the log instead of crashing. gow3-probe --cpu-features prints what the CPU lacks; GOW3_ISA_REWRITE=1 forces the rewrite on a full CPU (test mode) and =0 turns it off.
• Game speeding up on CPUs whose TSC differs per core (#42): sceKernelReadTsc follows the process clock (1 GHz, QueryPerformanceCounter on Windows) instead of the raw rdtsc. On a Xeon E5-2680 v4 the game jumped 3.9 s in time whenever a thread changed core.

Graphics

• Black lines on the Radeon RX 6600 family and other RDNA2 cards, and the corrupted scene on Intel Arc (AMD: #65, #27, #43, #61, #70, #97, #91, #128; Intel: #28, #39, #96, #99, #140). Cause found by @kalil03 with a dump of each pass's images: the game draws with a 2-sample depth buffer and 1-sample colour, and the linear-depth pass reads that depth with texelFetch on a sampler2DMS. AMD's and Intel's Windows drivers return 0 for half of each 8x8 tile there, so lighting, fog and bloom inherit the bands. The game's multisampled images are now created with a single sample on those two drivers (VK_DRIVER_ID_AMD_PROPRIETARY, VK_DRIVER_ID_INTEL_PROPRIETARY_WINDOWS), integrated GPUs included; the log line is GPU: guest multisampling off. NVIDIA, RADV (Linux, Steam Deck), AMDVLK, ANV and MoltenVK are unchanged. GOW3_NO_MSAA=0 turns it off and =1 forces it on any card.
• Performance → GPU data → Game multisampling in the launcher: Automatic names the card the game will run on and the decision, for example "Automatic (Intel(R) Arc(TM) A750 Graphics: off)" or "Automatic (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650: on)", and follows the Graphics card choice; Off and On force it. gow3-gpu-capabilities --list prints the default per GPU.
• Mouse cursor hidden over the game window; the port's menu draws its own (#71).
• Diagnostics, all off by default: the frame capture (Insert → Diagnostics → Capture frame) prints a state line per pass; GOW3_DIAG_IMAGES=1 (with GOW3_DRAW_PIPE=0) dumps each pass's images; GOW3_LIGHTING_TEST=shading,msdepth,dref,bias, GOW3_AMD_PATHS_OFF=mixed,shaderext, GOW3_WAVE_STATS=1 and GOW3_FULL_BARRIERS=1 for the next investigations.

Launcher

• Add to Steam on Windows: Pillow is bundled with the launcher, so the shortcut artwork no longer fails with No module named 'PIL' (#100, #145). Its license notices are included.
• Dumps extracted from a PKG (Sc0 beside Image0): when sce_sys/param.sfo is missing, the launcher checks Sc0/param.sfo and offers to copy the system files into sce_sys, keeping the files already there (#86). Play stays disabled while it copies, and a failed copy can be retried.
• Incomplete dumps: missing, empty, invalid or unreadable required files are named before preparation starts, instead of prepare failed: out of bounds (#93).
• PLAY writes last_run.log to the saves folder, as Play God of War III.exe does, and keeps reading the game's output when that file cannot be written (the button stayed on RUNNING) (#65).
• Preparation no longer fails with 'gbk' codec can't encode character '\xae' on Windows with a non-Latin system code page (#95).
• Issue templates for bug reports, feature requests and launch problems.
• README: importing shadPS4 saves (RPCS3 saves are from the PS3 game and do not work), RTSS, Afterburner and ReShade on Vulkan (#54), the CPU requirement and Game multisampling.

Known issues

• CPUs without MOVBE, BMI1 and LZCNT: performance has not been measured. Drops to 30-40 FPS were reported on an Ivy Bridge Xeon. If you play on one, post the CPU: and ISA: lines of user\last_run.log in #102.
• Steam Deck and other RADV systems (#143): the block corruption persists; the multisampling change does not help there (GOW3_NO_MSAA=1 was tried). Under investigation.
• Intel HD 630 (#35): 3D renders black or blue only; a different cause, still open.
• RX 6600 with a shrunken image (#121): not fixed by this release.
• Black screen at the opening on some systems (#125) and the black screen after guest thread 'TrophyUtil::TrophyUnlock' created (#21): still under investigation.
• Runtime: cannot create 8128 MiB of guest memory (error 1450): the port commits 8 GiB at start; with 16 GB of RAM and no page file Windows refuses. Enable the page file (#104).
• From 2.1.7: Update folder on Windows without Developer Mode leaves out\game-update-* folders behind when the game exits; turning the experimental upscaler on and off leaves Screen sharpening (RCAS) off in gow3.ini; the two renamed sharpening labels appear in English in languages other than Portuguese and Russian.

Validation

• AMD and Intel: test builds windows-v2.1.7-amd-teste1 and windows-v2.1.7-teste3 confirmed in #65 (RX 6600: lines in 10 of 11 launches before, 0 of 5 after; RX 6650 XT control with GOW3_NO_MSAA=0 brought the lines back; RX 6600 and RX 6800 XT in #128) and in #28 (Arc A750, A580, B580, 140V, MSI Claw 8 AI+). Nobody reported worse edges or lower FPS.
• CPUs: test build windows-v2.1.7-isa-test1 on a Xeon E3-1230 v2 (#102) and by the reporters of #33 (one played through Hades at 720p, 60 FPS most of the time). On a full CPU with GOW3_ISA_REWRITE=1 the 1416 sites were rewritten, 0 skipped, and the game reached the level load; without it nothing changes.
• Unit tests: isa-emulate-test runs every emulated instruction and width on the host CPU and compares it with the emulation (edge cases plus 20 000 random inputs per case); isa-stub-test rewrites real code in an RWX page (red zone, XMM registers, adjacent sites, relocation, int3 fallback); no-msaa-test covers the driver table; tsc-clock-test and cpu-check-test.
• Windows build from main (bb74e41) with MSYS2 CLANG64 (clang 23): 37 C/C++ test programs passed (actor-hook, aliasing, amd-paths, async-compiler, async-fetch-snapshot, async-pipeline-cache, audio-downmix, blend-rewrite, cheat-hook, cpu-check, depth-stencil-state, graphics-settings, isa-emulate, isa-stub, lighting-test-knob, motion-history, mp3, no-msaa, orb-multiplier, pad-map, page-state, pass-census, perf-overlay, pipeline-binary-cache, pipeline-binary-initialization, png-decode, readback-queue, readback-sources, services, signatures, stat-multipliers, tsc-clock, ui-composition, videodec, wait-diagnostics, warmup-inbox, wave-stats). cheat-hooks-test crashes in the test itself (test_cheat_hooks.cpp:70: its table of player offsets has 5 entries but is indexed by every hook id); it and src/cheat_hook.h are unchanged since 2.1.7, and the live hooks are covered by cheat-hook-test. Five test programs that use POSIX-only calls do not build on Windows. 211 Python tests: 174 passed, 32 skipped, and the same 5 pre-existing problems as before (4 in test_packaged_vulkan, Linux-only, 1 in test_mods with a short TEMP path). The frozen launcher imports Pillow 12.3.0 and iced-x86.
• Linux build on Ubuntu 24.04 (gcc 14, bash build.sh --test): pad, runtime, file mods, semaphores, AppContent, mp3, videodec, services, isa-emulate and isa-stub tests passed; the AppImage was built from the same tree. It was not run on Linux hardware for this release.

Thanks to @kalil03 for finding the cause of the black lines and writing the GOW3_NO_MSAA and GOW3_DIAG_IMAGES patches; to @FilipiEPTeixeira, @Gabrielsln, @MarcosAlexandre30, @jleandrocampos, @wyz-ez, @Momexdxd, @uviiitor, @eduhhh10zx-hue, @Tempus3214 and @rafaelsilvaiasd-lang (AMD); @ZeroTwoMiu, @Hussein798o, @silvajeangomes2026-spec, @skinnersweet24, @Elden-wq and @yisus230291 (Intel); @ta955995-cmd, @WladmirFE and @NatanSolaire (CPU test build); KrachDev/shadPS4_GOW3 for the 2-sample depth lead; and everyone who tested the test builds.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered game files. No game files are included.

God of War III Remastered for PC 2.1.7

Patches and cheats

• Patches and cheats now work on the full 01.02 update (eboot.bin sha256 6e72330e…) and on the European title (CUSA01715) (#6, #9, #12, #13, #17, #25, #26, #29, #30, #40, #42, #48, #67). Before, everything was off on those builds: no 120/240 FPS, no resolution patches, no skips, no cheats.
• Each patch site and each cheat hook is found by its original code (a signature) instead of a fixed address, so it applies wherever a release placed that code. Relative lea, call, jmp and mov inside the patches are recomputed for the build that was found (tools/make_signatures.py).
• A site that is not found leaves only that patch or cheat off. The log and the launcher's patch list say which, and the game still starts.
• The engine frame rate, direct memory and VBlank rate follow the patches that were actually applied, so the game no longer speeds up when the frame rate patch is missing (#42).
• Tested: CUSA01623 and CUSA01715, versions 01.00 and 01.02. Other regions and versions may work but are untested: open an issue with your user/last_run.log if you try one.

Launcher

• Add to Steam: a non-Steam shortcut with the game's icon, grid covers, hero and logo (#73).
• Update folder (optional, Game page): lays an update dumped apart over the game folder without changing either (#73).
• God of War font in the titles, sidebar and Play button; optional (#14).
• Touchpad: Back/View/Share opens the pause menu and L1 + Back opens photo mode; Tab and Backspace on the keyboard (#60).
• Graphics (experimental) page: the temporal upscalers stay off by default; a switch turns them on for testing.
• More launcher texts in Portuguese (#73).

Known issues

• Update folder on Windows without Developer Mode: the temporary view is not removed cleanly when the game exits, and out\game-update-* folders pile up. Leave Update folder empty and merge the update into the game folder if that happens.
• Turning the experimental upscaler on and off again leaves Screen sharpening (RCAS) off in gow3.ini. Turn it back on in Display.
• The two renamed sharpening labels appear in English in languages other than Portuguese and Russian.

Validation

• Reference build (d85c8135…): the signatures write exactly the same bytes as the fixed addresses did, checked in game.
• Full 01.02 update (6e72330e…): confirmed by players on test build 1 (#6, #67): cheats, 120/240 FPS and the game speed.
• Unit tests for the signature search on the reference build, on a simulated moved build and against the original bytes published for 6e72330e… (signatures-test, cheat-hooks-test, actor-hook-test, tests/test_patches.py).
• Windows build from main with MSYS2 CLANG64 (clang 23), 159 Python tests, and the C/C++ test programs (pad-map, audio-downmix, mp3, videodec, services, perf-overlay, graphics-settings, warmup-inbox, png-decode, readback-queue) passed.

Thanks to @LuizDev1 (#34) and @mateussmeneses (#47) for the measurements of the full 01.02 update, @weversonl (#73), @biologyscience (#14) and everyone who tested the test build.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered game files. No game files are included.

Test build intel-hd630-test1 on 2.1.8: 3D black or blue on Intel HD/UHD (2.1.8-intel-hd630-test1)

Test build for Intel HD/UHD Graphics on Windows (issue #35): the 3D scene rendering black or blue only.

What changes

• Vulkan dynamic vertex input is off by default on Intel's Windows driver (VK_DRIVER_ID_INTEL_PROPRIETARY_WINDOWS, integrated and Arc alike). On an HD 630 the driver draws every 3D object black or blue with VK_EXT_vertex_input_dynamic_state and correctly without it (#35, run B1 of the reporter's bisection); ANGLE and yuzu turn the extension off on every Intel Windows driver for the same reason. NVIDIA, AMD, RADV (Linux, Steam Deck), Mesa ANV and MoltenVK are unchanged. The log says which way it went: GPU: vertex input dynamic state off (Intel Windows driver; GOW3_VERTEX_INPUT_DYNAMIC=1 turns it on) or ... on.
• GOW3_VERTEX_INPUT_DYNAMIC=1 forces the extension on, =0 forces it off on any card. Performance → GPU data → Dynamic vertex input in the launcher shows the same choice; Automatic names the card and the decision, as Game multisampling does.
• GOW3_VK_DISABLE_EXT=<ext,...>|all (the test knob of the intel-test1 build) is in this build too and wins over the default: use it to bisect the New Game crash below.
• The static vertex path (the one these cards now use) no longer stops with SurfaceFormat: Assertion Failed! Unknown data_format=15 and num_format=5 when a draw-preparation worker reads a vertex descriptor the game is still writing (the cause of the 480p stop in #35); the worker leaves that draw to the GPU thread, as the dynamic path already did.
• The log warns once per vertex attribute format the GPU does not accept as a vertex buffer: Vertex attribute format <format> lacks VertexBuffer support on this GPU (#35). Please include any such line in your report; it decides between a driver bug and a port bug.
• The pipeline cache records the vertex input mode. Every GPU rebuilds its shader cache once on the first launch of this build (longer first-launch stutter, nothing else).

How to test (Intel HD/UHD/Iris on Windows)

Unzip into a new folder, point the launcher at your game files, and in the launcher clear the shader cache once. Put a teste.bat next to God of War III.exe and start the game through it so the log keeps the GPU details:

Run A, the new default:

@echo off
set GOW3_GPU_LOG=info
start "" "God of War III.exe"

Run B, control (the old behaviour; the scene should be black or blue again on the HD 630):

@echo off
set GOW3_GPU_LOG=info
set GOW3_VERTEX_INPUT_DYNAMIC=1
start "" "God of War III.exe"

On the HD 630, run A fixes the menu but New Game crashed in the Intel shader compiler (igc64.dll) when only the vertex input extension was off; the other four extensions of the intel-test1 "first half" made it load. To find which one matters, run New Game with each of these, in order, and stop at the first that loads the level:

set GOW3_VK_DISABLE_EXT=VK_EXT_provoking_vertex,VK_EXT_shader_stencil_export
set GOW3_VK_DISABLE_EXT=VK_KHR_workgroup_memory_explicit_layout,VK_EXT_image_2d_view_of_3d
set GOW3_VK_DISABLE_EXT=VK_EXT_provoking_vertex
set GOW3_VK_DISABLE_EXT=VK_EXT_shader_stencil_export
set GOW3_VK_DISABLE_EXT=VK_KHR_workgroup_memory_explicit_layout
set GOW3_VK_DISABLE_EXT=VK_EXT_image_2d_view_of_3d

(GOW3_VK_DISABLE_EXT skips the pipeline cache, so those runs compile every shader again.) Also please run A twice through New Game: it tells whether the crash is deterministic.

Reply on #35 with: which run did what (menu correct? New Game loads?), user\last_run.log of each run, and for any Fault: or Assertion Failed the twenty lines before it.

Validation so far

• GTX 1650 (NVIDIA): default unchanged (GPU: vertex input dynamic state on); forced static path (GOW3_VERTEX_INPUT_DYNAMIC=0) rebuilds the cache (Pipeline cache isn't compatible with current system: rebuilding it) and loads the game without an assertion or Vulkan error (the menu was not visually checked).
• gow3-gpu-capabilities --list prints the sixth column (on/off); the launcher's Automatic label reads it.
• Unit tests: vertex-format-test, shader-profile-test, vertex-input-default-test, extension-policy-test, no-msaa-test; Python test_launcher_vertex_input.py (6), test_launcher_no_msaa.py (8), test_launcher_controls.py (22).
• Not run on Intel hardware: that is what this build is for.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered game files. No game files are included.

Test build teste3 on 2.1.7: black lines fix on by default for AMD and Intel (2.1.7-teste3)

Test build teste3, not a release. Built from branch worktree-gpu-amd (PR #106, commit e2cd838) on top of 2.1.7. Replaces teste2, whose zip stopped on a fresh folder with NameError: name 'source' is not defined (a main-branch bug in scripts/link_libc.py and scripts/link_modules.py; both fixed here and the full prepare was run from this exact zip). For the black lines on AMD RDNA2 cards (#65 and duplicates) and the corruption on Intel Arc (#28 and duplicates).

What changed since amd-teste1

• The fix is now on by default on Intel's Windows driver too (Arc A750, B580, 140V, MSI Claw 8 AI+ confirmed it with the teste.bat; integrated Intel GPUs on Windows get the same default). AMD's Windows driver was already on by default. No .bat needed anymore: just open the game. NVIDIA, Linux (RADV) and Steam Deck are unchanged.
• Launcher: Performance → GPU data → Game multisampling → Automatic names the card the game will run on and the decision, for example "Automatic (Intel(R) Arc(TM) A750 Graphics: off)" or "Automatic (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650: on)", and follows the Graphics card choice. Off and On force it on any card.
• gow3-gpu-capabilities --list prints, per GPU, the multisampling default on that driver and which GPU the game picks.

How to test

Fresh folder, no teste.bat, your usual settings. last_run.log is in your saves folder (the launcher's "Saves folder", for example Documents\god of war 3 saves) and must contain GPU: guest multisampling off on AMD and Intel.

1. Default: open the game 3 times from scratch; say whether the lines or the corruption appeared in any of them, with one screenshot, and attach one last_run.log.
2. Launcher label: say what the Game multisampling box shows (the card name and off/on).
3. Optional control: 1 launch with set GOW3_NO_MSAA=0 in a .bat next to God of War III.exe; the lines should come back.
4. If you play further, say whether anything comes back later in the game or at 1440p/1800p/4K, and whether FPS or edges changed.

Hybrid laptops (Intel integrated + NVIDIA): the log line GPU: guest multisampling off/on is what the game applied; if the label names the wrong card, say so.

Em português

Build de teste teste3, não é release. Substitui o teste2, cujo zip parava em pasta nova com NameError: name 'source' is not defined (bug da main em scripts/link_libc.py e scripts/link_modules.py; os dois corrigidos aqui, e o prepare inteiro foi rodado com este zip). A correção das linhas pretas liga sozinha na AMD e também no driver da Intel no Windows (Arc A750, B580, 140V e MSI Claw 8 AI+ confirmaram com o teste.bat; as Intel integradas entram na mesma regra). Não precisa mais de .bat: é só abrir o jogo. NVIDIA, Linux (RADV) e Steam Deck não mudam. No launcher, Performance → GPU data → Multisampling do jogo → Automático mostra a placa e a decisão ("Automático (Intel(R) Arc(TM) A750 Graphics: desligado)"); Desligado e Ligado forçam em qualquer placa.

Testes: pasta nova, sem o teste.bat. (1) 3 aberturas do zero, dizer se as linhas ou a corrupção apareceram em alguma, um print e um last_run.log (fica na pasta de saves; precisa ter GPU: guest multisampling off); (2) dizer o que a caixa "Multisampling do jogo" mostra; (3) opcional: 1 abertura com set GOW3_NO_MSAA=0 num .bat, as linhas devem voltar; (4) quem jogar mais adiante, dizer se algo volta depois ou em 1440p/1800p/4K, e se FPS ou bordas mudaram.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered game files. No game files are included.

sha256 of gow3-windows.zip: be9cda35ef3f471edc7d90ed4cf288899f49cf8e84252ef8ced2ddf15e28ebf9

God of War III Remastered for PC 2.1.6

Fixes

• Low game volume on stereo outputs (#18, #41, #48). The game sends 7.1 audio, and the previous stereo downmix kept only about 21% of the front channels (about 13.5 dB quieter). The port now folds 7.1 into stereo itself: front channels at full level, center and surrounds at -3 dB, with a limiter so loud scenes do not distort. 5.1 and 7.1 outputs are unchanged.
• Game running on the integrated GPU (#38). New Performance → GPU data → Graphics card option: Automatic (dedicated GPU first, as before) or a specific GPU. The game log now lists every GPU Vulkan reports and the one in use. If no dedicated GPU appears in that list, its Vulkan driver is not installed correctly.
• A saved GPU that no longer exists (removed card, changed driver order) now falls back to automatic selection instead of closing the game.

Launcher

• Incomplete game dumps (#10): PLAY now lists the missing files (sce_sys/param.sfo, sce_module/libc.prx, sce_module/libSceFios2.prx) instead of failing with a raw file error.
• Full 01.02 update (eboot.bin sha256 6e72330e…, #6, #29, #42 and similar reports): the launcher now names this build and says patch support for it is in progress, instead of the generic "patches not available" message. Patches and cheats still apply only to the eboot.bin build they were checked against (sha256 d85c8135…).

Patches

• Added Skip Intro (skips the initial logos) for the d85c8135… eboot.bin build. Disabled by default; enable it in the launcher's patch list.

Validation

• Audio: unit test for the downmix, plus 127 s of real game audio passed through the old and the new downmix: +13.5 dB average level, peak at -6.4 dBFS, no samples limited.
• GPU choice: launcher tests, gow3-gpu-capabilities --list on an AMD RX 6700 XT, and a game start with an invalid saved GPU (fell back to automatic and ran normally).
• Incomplete dump: the PLAY warning listed the missing files and the game did not start.
• Skip Intro: the logos were skipped in game.
• Launcher, patch and runtime tests passed on Windows.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered game files. No game files are included.

God of War III Remastered for PC 2.1.5

Performance improvements

• Added a saved stream buffer memory setting under Performance → GPU data → Stream buffer memory (#1).
• System RAM (cached) is the default. System RAM (uncached) and GPU memory (previous behavior) are also available.
• If cached RAM performs worse on your system, select GPU memory and restart the game. The saved choice also applies when launching with --play.
• Removed unnecessary draw pipeline waits for the currently ignored SET_PREDICATION command (#23).

Windows source builds

• Added missing standard headers for MSYS2 CLANG64 / libc++ builds.
• Addressed warnings about unused runtime variables.

Validation

• PR #1: all 15 launcher tests passed, including saving, reopening and restoring every memory option. Services and video decoder tests also passed.
• PR #23: the Windows build passed. Compared against a build without the synchronization change in the same Caverns scene on an AMD RX 6700 XT. No critical errors were logged during the measured periods, and no graphical problems were reported during gameplay.
• The combined 2.1.5 build, launcher tests, services and video decoder tests passed. The extracted Windows package passed its frozen launcher and dependency checks.

Thanks to @Vansh-Bhardwaj and @1M7md-CS for the contributions.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered game files. No game files are included.

God of War III Remastered for PC 2.1.4

Game speed fix

The game no longer runs too fast when the frame rate patch is not applied.

The engine's 120/240 FPS mode is a game patch. It only applies to the executable the patches were checked against. On other executables (for example a different 01.02 build or the EU version), the engine still runs at 60 FPS, but the frame rate limit could go above that. Since the engine advances a fixed 1/60 s per frame, the game ran faster than intended (issues #12 and #13).

Now the frame rate limit can never go above the engine frame rate that was actually applied.

What you will see

• If your executable gets the frame rate patch: nothing changes, 120/240 FPS work as before.
• If it does not: the game runs at 60 FPS at normal speed, whatever frame rate limit you choose.
  • The launcher's home page shows "60 FPS engine · patches not available for this game build".
  • The in-game menu (Insert / R3+L2 → Performance) shows that the frame rate patch is not available for this game build.
  • user\last_run.log (or the launcher's Log page) shows Engine frame rate: N FPS.

Changes

• The present frame limit is capped at the applied engine frame rate.
• The applied engine frame rate is passed to the game and shown in the log and in the in-game menu.
• The launcher warns when the built-in patches do not apply to the selected executable.

Validation

• New tests failed before the fix and pass after it.
• Tested on the RX 6700 XT: engine 60 FPS with a 120 FPS limit now runs at normal speed; engine 240 FPS with a 240 FPS limit still runs at 240 FPS.

Known issue: patches on other 01.02 executables

Patches and cheats still only apply to one executable build. Support for the other 01.02 build (sha256 6e72330e…, also used by the EU version) is in progress and will come first as a test build. Details in issues #3, #6 and #13.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered game files. No game files are included.

God of War III Remastered for PC 2.1.3

Startup fix

Disabling Use pipeline binary cache (A/B test) in Performance → Shaders now takes effect during Vulkan device initialization. Previously, the startup path could still query the driver's pipeline key even with this option disabled.

This update provides a bypass for the startup path involved in reports #2 and #3. Confirmation on the affected NVIDIA systems is still pending.

GPU guidance

• NVIDIA: If the game closes immediately at startup, manually turn off Use pipeline binary cache (A/B test) in Performance ? Shaders, then launch the game again. You do not need to disable it just because you have an NVIDIA GPU if the game already starts normally.
• AMD: You can normally leave binary caching enabled. Both modes were tested on the RX 6700 XT; other AMD GPUs have not been verified by this test.
• Intel: Not tested yet. Unsupported binary caching automatically falls back to normal compilation. If the game closes immediately at startup, manually disable binary caching and try again.

Automatic fallback handles missing support or required functions, and driver calls that return an error or an invalid key. It cannot recover from a crash inside the driver call. In that case, binary caching must be disabled manually before launching the game.

Changes

• Skip pipeline binary extension activation and global key queries when binary caching is disabled.
• Fall back to normal pipeline compilation when support, required functions, or a valid key are unavailable.
• Log the reason for disabling binary caching.
• Preserve existing saves and shader caches.

Validation

• Regression test reproduced the disabled-cache initialization defect before the fix and passed afterward.
• Initialization and fallback tests passed, including missing functions, driver errors, and invalid keys.
• AMD RX 6700 XT initialization passed with binary caching enabled and disabled.
• Game startup was checked on the RX 6700 XT with binary caching disabled.
• NVIDIA confirmation is still required. No performance improvement is claimed.

Notes

With binary caching disabled, pipeline compilation can cause longer loading times or temporary stutters. Native 1080p remains the recommended render resolution. This update does not change executable compatibility checks or include PR #1.

You still need your own God of War III Remastered CUSA01623 game files with update 01.02. No game files are included.

God of War III Remastered for PC 2.1.2

A native Windows port of God of War III Remastered (PS4). The game's own code runs on your PC's processor and the graphics are translated to Vulkan.

No game files are included. You need your own copy of God of War III Remastered: CUSA01623 with the 01.02 update.
This project is not affiliated with Sony Interactive Entertainment or Santa Monica Studio. God of War is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

What's new in 2.1.2

• Fixed: the game no longer fails to start with prepare failed: 'charmap' codec can't encode characters when the game's metadata has non-Latin characters (for example a Japanese, Korean or Russian title in param.sfo).

This update keeps everything from 2.1.1 (Infinite Double Jumps, Unlock Very Hard) and 2.1 (persistent Vulkan pipeline cache, on-demand pipeline loading).

Validation and known issues

• The preparation step was run on a real game dump with a Japanese title, both from source and inside the packaged God of War III.exe: 2.1.1 fails with the reported error, 2.1.2 completes.
• An automated test writes a report with a Japanese title and checks the file is valid UTF-8.
• New areas and effects may still cause temporary stutters.
• Known issue: yellow or corrupted textures can appear in some areas, including at native 1080p. A fix remains under investigation.

Requirements

• Windows 10 (1903 or newer) or Windows 11, 64-bit.
• A graphics card with Vulkan 1.3 and an up-to-date driver.
• Your own copy of the game (CUSA01623, version 01.02): the folder with eboot.bin, sce_module and sce_sys.
• Persistent pipeline caching requires GPU and driver support for VK_KHR_pipeline_binary.

How to play

1. Download gow3-windows.zip below and extract it to a folder.
2. Open God of War III.exe. If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway. The program is not digitally signed.
3. Click Choose the game folder, then Browse next to Game folder, and select the folder with eboot.bin.
4. Click PLAY. The first start takes longer while the game image is prepared. Previously unseen pipelines also need preparation.

Already on 2.1.1? Advanced > Check for updates installs 2.1.2 and keeps your saves and settings.

Next time, Play God of War III.exe starts the game straight away. Full instructions: README.

Credits

A fork of Supermedo's Windows port of deadinside28's bloodborne_pc, with God of War III fixes from cuesta4's shadPS4 fork and the shadPS4 renderer. Patches by kvicken and cuesta4 (from illusion0001's PS3 patches); 240 FPS adapted by Felipe Prado. Cheats adapted from Celogamez's GoldHEN cheats.