SpeedBreaker v0.1.7

What's new

• Smoother on 120 Hz screens on SteamOS and Linux, and on 180 and 240 Hz ones: each frame now
  stays on screen for exactly two refreshes (three at 180 Hz, four at 240 Hz), as a 60 Hz screen
  shows each for one. Until now some frames stayed for one refresh and the next for
  three, a small, uneven stutter that came and went. Macs are unchanged.
• A note, once, when your screen runs at a rate 60 frames a second can't share evenly (90 Hz on
  a Steam Deck OLED, 144 or 165 Hz monitors), which makes motion stutter: it says how to set the
  screen to 60 Hz or 120 Hz, or to turn on variable refresh. It waits for a menu or a pause rather
  than coming up mid-race, pauses the game while it's open, and doesn't come back for that rate
  once closed. It never shows with variable refresh, nor on a Mac's ProMotion screen.

How to update

• Mac: drag the new SpeedBreaker into Applications and choose Replace, then allow it once more with Open Anyway (System Settings > Privacy & Security).
• Steam Deck, Steam Machine, Steam Frame and Linux: unpack the new download over the old folder (~/Games/SpeedBreaker). Your Steam shortcut keeps working.
• Everywhere: your saves, settings and the installed game are kept, and no disc image is needed.

More about it

• How it was tested: on simulated 120, 180 and 240 Hz screens (a nested gamescope session on a
  Steam Machine, whose own screen tops out at 60 Hz): 99.9% or more of frames shown evenly, against
  77-88% at 120 and 240 Hz before. Not yet on a real 120 Hz panel: a report from yours, with its
  log's [vblank] lines, would help.
• Latency: each frame reaches a 120 Hz screen about as soon as it did in v0.1.6, now evenly.
  While frames take longer (loading, a heavy scene), each is shown a refresh or two later, evenly,
  rather than some on time and some late.
• What it needs: as at 60 Hz, a graphics driver that reports when each frame reaches the screen
  (Vulkan's present wait); the log's [vblank] locked to every 2nd refresh line says it took. With
  variable refresh on, the game leaves the screen to follow its frames, as before.
  NFSMW_REFRESH_MULTIPLE=0 brings back v0.1.6's behaviour.
• The note: its words are in the log too ([video] refresh notice), and NFSMW_REFRESH_NOTICE=0
  turns it off. The rate is recorded in settings.toml's [app] refresh_notices once the note is
  closed. On a Steam Deck it points to Quick Access > Performance; the names of Steam's settings in
  it haven't been checked on a Deck yet.

The full list of changes is in CHANGELOG.md.

Which file is for my device?

Device	Download	Setup
Steam Deck, Steam Machine and Linux PCs (x86-64)	SpeedBreaker-steamos-x86_64.tar.xz	Steam Deck and Steam Machine, Linux
Steam Frame (arm64)	SpeedBreaker-steamos-arm64.tar.xz	Steam Frame
Mac with Apple silicon, macOS 15 or later	SpeedBreaker-macos.dmg	Mac
iPhone and iPad (experimental)	SpeedBreaker-0.1.7-ios.ipa, or build it yourself with Xcode	iPhone and iPad
Windows and Android	Coming soon

The two SteamOS files are not interchangeable: the arm64 one is for the Steam Frame only, and the
x86-64 one doesn't run on the Frame. Each download has a .sha256 file next to it (see Checksums
below).

All downloads are built from this release's source, commit 31849f5. The first line of the
game's log, and Settings > Advanced, say SpeedBreaker v0.1.7 (31849f5).

The Source code archives that GitHub adds hold SpeedBreaker's own source, with no game code or
data. Building from them needs your own disc; see
Building from source.

iPhone and iPad: the experimental IPA

SpeedBreaker-0.1.7-ios.ipa is signed by nobody: a sideloading tool such as AltStore signs it
with your own Apple Account and installs it. The IPA itself hasn't been installed on a device
yet: the iPhones and iPad it was tested on ran the same app built and signed with Xcode. Please
report how it goes, working or not, with your device and tool.

• The game asks iOS for more memory than most apps (two entitlements: Extended Virtual Addressing
  and Increased Memory Limit). A free Apple Account can give at most the second, and only with
  some tools: AltStore Classic 2.2 or later is expected to keep it; SideStore 0.7 drops both.
  Without them the game may not start, or iOS may close it in busy scenes. When iOS refuses the
  memory, the game says so on screen instead of closing.
• A free Apple Account's apps stop opening after 7 days until the tool refreshes them, and at most
  3 sideloaded apps can be active at once. These are Apple's limits.
• iOS or iPadOS 17 or later, on an A15-class chip or newer, with a controller or keyboard.
• Coming from a build you made yourself, the IPA installs as a separate app: install the game again
  from your disc image. Saves made in the old app stay with it.
• Sideloading the IPA
  has the steps and which tools keep what. Building it yourself with Xcode still works as before.

How these downloads were tested

Each download attached here was tested before release. It was unpacked or opened as the setup
steps say, with a fresh home folder, and the game was installed through the installer from a disc
image:

• x86-64: on a Steam Machine (SteamOS 3.8). The game raced at 60 fps, with the default upscaling
  and with FSR 1. On a simulated 120 Hz display (nested gamescope), 99.96% of frames stayed on
  screen for exactly two refreshes; on a simulated 90 Hz display the refresh-rate notice appeared
  once and not again after a restart; at 60 Hz pacing was unchanged. Stopped with SIGTERM (the
  signal a launcher normally sends), it quit cleanly and kept its settings.
• arm64: on a Steam Frame (SteamOS 0.3.0), outside the headset. The game raced at 58.7 fps with
  the same frame pacing as v0.1.6 (no frame froze, the game's speed unchanged); stopped with
  SIGTERM, it quit cleanly with its settings saved, and FSR 1, the Controls page, Quit Game and
  the Fullscreen setting worked as before.
• Mac: on a MacBook Pro (M1 Pro, macOS 27.0.1). The game raced at about 60 fps, also with
  Upscaling set to FSR 1, and frame pacing on its 120 Hz screen was unchanged. Quit Game, the
  Controls page and Check for Updates worked. On macOS 15.6.1 (Sequoia), in a virtual machine on
  a Mac Studio, it installed and raced at about 60 fps.
• Updating from v0.1.6: on a Steam Machine, a Steam Frame and a Mac, v0.1.7 went over a working v0.1.6
  the way How to update says: the game used the existing install without reinstalling it, showed
  What's new once, and kept the settings.
• iPhone and iPad IPA: built and checked (its version, its two entitlements, its license notices, no personal
  data), but not installed on a device yet; see above.

Checksums (SHA-256)

File	For	Size	SHA-256
SpeedBreaker-steamos-x86_64.tar.xz	Steam Deck, Steam Machine, Linux PCs	16.2 MB	3ba48faf5637d6ae3706706cb38e89ac1d9bde4530a99e76882fd083ddb4fbce
SpeedBreaker-steamos-arm64.tar.xz	Steam Frame	13.9 MB	abe546a56ab6d1aba9368a961c3d4210437201fdea8300c618b5e3b425bac441
SpeedBreaker-macos.dmg	Mac (Apple silicon, macOS 15 or later)	20.0 MB	1c8aa3a3328a4dae0f5ef8ca9190bd9a1a34454f22826b08b79b7e330739f495
SpeedBreaker-0.1.7-ios.ipa	iPhone and iPad (experimental, to sideload)	15.9 MB	0ddf9c1f7ac28409fd2ad5001ace5d1a4cb48dcb73a27704cc2b637c61a8daa7
SpeedBreaker-0.1.7-third-party-source.tar.xz	Source of the LGPL and GPL libraries in the downloads	213.6 MB	8f8a64b2bf0b7ed56cce5adb1a2f8400ec56b3190ccfba4e0186cc96fb1164f0

Each file has its .sha256 next to it on this page. Download both into the same folder, then
run sha256sum -c SpeedBreaker-steamos-x86_64.tar.xz.sha256 on SteamOS or Linux, or
shasum -a 256 -c SpeedBreaker-macos.dmg.sha256 on a Mac (with your file's name). It should
say OK.

Known issues and limits

• Mac, the first time you open it: the app isn't notarized by Apple, so macOS refuses to
  open it and offers Done or Move to Trash. Click Done. Then go to System Settings >
  Privacy & Security, scroll down to the message that SpeedBreaker was blocked, click Open
  Anyway, and confirm with Open Anyway and your password (or Touch ID). After that it opens
  normally.
  • The Open Anyway button only stays there for about an hour after the refusal. If it's gone,
    open the app again.
  • You do this once per download, so once more after each update. Control-click > Open no
    longer skips it.
  • The app isn't damaged. If macOS ever says it is, check the download against its .sha256 and
    download it again.
  • Apple silicon only, macOS 15 or later.
• macOS 15 Sequoia was tested in a virtual machine, not yet on a real Mac. If you play on
  macOS 15, a short report in the issues, working or not, with your Mac's model, would help a lot.
• Mac frame pacing was measured on a MacBook Pro (M1 Pro) with its 120 Hz ProMotion screen, in
  fullscreen. Other 120 Hz screens (other Macs, external displays) and windowed play weren't
  measured; a frame that isn't ready in time is shown when it is, as before.
• A Brightness slider moved before v0.1.4: if you moved the game's own slider in an earlier
  version (where it did nothing) and the game has saved since, v0.1.4 and later use that setting
  from the main menu on. At maximum the picture is much brighter and washed out, as on a 360 with that save.
  In the pause menu > Options > Video, set the slider back to the middle, or press Y (Defaults) and
  choose Yes. Settings > Display > Brightness doesn't undo it.
• Steam Deck OLED: set the refresh rate to 60 Hz (Quick Access > Performance); with Steam's
  per-game profile on, it stays at 60 Hz for this game. At 90 Hz the game stutters, and a note says
  so once. Leave the Framerate Limit off. The Steam Deck LCD hasn't been tested yet.
• 120, 180 and 240 Hz screens were tested on simulated displays, not yet on a real panel, and
  not in Game Mode on a TV. 90, 144 and 165 Hz can't show 60 fps evenly: use 60 or 120 Hz, or
  variable refresh.
• Game Mode on Steam Deck and Steam Machine:
  • Browse for image... may not open in Game Mode. Use the image the installer found instead:
    it is highlighted, so press A, then A again on Install. If it found more than one
    (for example one in Downloads and one on the SD card), pick yours with Up and Down first.
  • Choose a folder... opens its folder picker only in Desktop Mode. Pick the folder there, or
    run ~/Games/SpeedBreaker/speedbreaker.sh --install <image> --dest <folder> from Konsole. Use
    a folder on the internal storage or on a card formatted by SteamOS, or Game Mode won't find
    the game.
  • Game Mode only sees SD cards and USB drives formatted by SteamOS. For others, copy the image
    into Downloads from Desktop Mode.
  • Docked, or on a Steam Machine, set the shortcut's Game Resolution to Native.
• Steam Frame: it plays as a big flat screen in the headset; it is not a VR mode. Set Display >
  Frame Rate to 30 fps for smooth play (the headset's compositor shares the graphics chip; the
  game keeps its full speed). The Frame's file manager can't unpack the download: use the Konsole
  command in the setup steps. Since v0.1.2 the game needs a current SteamOS on the Frame (September
  2026 or later): if it says GLIBCXX_3.4.34 not found, update SteamOS.
• Linux:
  • Always start it with speedbreaker.sh. Started on its own, the program in lib/ fails on
    most systems with a message such as GLIBC_2.44 not found.
  • The x86-64 download is tested here on SteamOS. Players reported v0.1.1 working on Fedora 44
    with a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and on Ubuntu 24.04 with Intel Arc graphics (issue #2).
    The dedicated-GPU choice on two-GPU laptops hasn't been tried on a real laptop here yet: a
    note with your laptop's [video] Vulkan devices: log line would help.
  • Choose a folder... needs a file chooser portal or zenity; without one, install with
    --dest.
  • It needs a CPU with AVX2 (Intel Haswell, AMD Excavator or Zen, or newer) and Vulkan 1.2
    graphics.
• iPhone and iPad: the IPA is experimental and hasn't been installed on a device yet (see
  above). On the iPhone 18 Pro Max, long sessions on a charger get it hot even at 1x, and Frame
  Rate Auto then drops to 30.
• Going back to v0.1.4 works, but if you change a setting there, it forgets the keys set on
  the Controls page: back in v0.1.5 or later they are the defaults again.
• Game versions: only the USA (NTSC-U) Xbox 360 disc is supported. PAL and Japanese discs,
  re-releases, Games on Demand packages and the PC version aren't, and no title update is used.
• Not in this release: importing Xbox 360 saves, controller button remapping, mouse control in the game,
  more than 60 fps (the game's own cap), and Android builds. Windows is coming soon.

Reporting a bug

1. Open the settings (F1; Back + Start on a controller; on a Steam Deck hold View and press Menu;
   on a Steam Frame press Menu + View; a three-finger tap on iPhone and iPad), go to
   Advanced and choose Save Bug Report.
2. A notice says where the zip file went: usually your Desktop (on SteamOS, pick it up in Desktop
   Mode, or in the Desktop app on a Steam Frame), or the SpeedBreaker folder in the Files app on
   iPhone and iPad. Its name says which version you're running, for example
   speedbreaker-bug-report-v0.1.7-<date>_<time>.zip. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is
   checked online unless you press Check for Updates.
3. Check the open issues first. Then
   open a new issue, attach the zip, and say which device and download you use, what you were
   doing, what you expected, what happened, and roughly how long into the session it happened.
   If the game crashed, start it again and save a report: the crash report is included.

Never attach game files or disc images to an issue.
CONTRIBUTING.md
says how bug reports and pull requests are handled.

Thanks

To the players who report how the game runs on their screens and devices.

License and legal

SpeedBreaker is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or (at your
option) any later version (GPL-3.0-or-later). Each download carries its license notices and every
bundled library's own license (licenses/ in the SteamOS downloads,
SpeedBreaker.app/Contents/Resources/licenses in the Mac app, SpeedBreaker.app/licenses in the
IPA).

The complete source of the LGPL and GPL code by others in these downloads (FFmpeg with
SpeedBreaker's patch and libmspack in all of them; the GNU C Library and GCC's runtime libraries in
the x86-64 one) is attached below as SpeedBreaker-0.1.7-third-party-source.tar.xz.

"Need for Speed" and "Most Wanted" are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. Steam, Steam Deck, Steam
Machine, Steam Frame and SteamOS are trademarks of Valve Corporation. iPhone, iPad and macOS are
trademarks of Apple Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. SpeedBreaker is a
fan project by project(u), not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Electronic Arts Inc.,
the Need for Speed brand, Valve Corporation or Apple Inc. It contains no game data or assets, and
is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind. No game files are included: you need a
backup of your own USA (NTSC-U) Xbox 360 disc.