Dead of Darkness (PPSA28010) on Windows

[HabibUrRehmanBhattii]

Tested on 2026-11-03 with a locally built main and an own dump. The game is playable on Windows/NVIDIA: title screen, menus, intro scenes and gameplay all run.

Build

• main be2420236350 — no PRs applied, no local changes. Full build with BUILD_TESTING=ON; the libs and relinker targets were built from the same tree.
• Windows 11 26200, WinLibs MinGW-w64 GCC 15.2.0 r7, Release, Ninja.

Title

• Dead of Darkness, PPSA28010, content version 01.004.000, contentId UP2005-PPSA28010_00-DEADOFDARKNESS00 (GameMaker).
• Dump: 789 MB in 146 files. eboot.bin (34,739,936 bytes) and both sce_module PRXs (libc.prx, libSceNpCppWebApi.prx) are fSELF and were unwrapped with tools/unwrap_self.py; PlayGo metadata is present, so no APS5_PLAYGO_UNLISTED_CHUNKS was needed.
• Conversion: relinker --windows --registry app0/eboot.elf app.exe — 1,311 external prx references, 2 modules converted. libs/ holds 399 patched .prx from build/core/libs/libs plus libgcc_s_seh-1.dll, libstdc++-6.dll, libwinpthread-1.dll, mimalloc.dll and mimalloc-redirect.dll.
• tools/audit_dump.py --windows exits 0: no missing imports; 2 stub exports (sceAgcCbMemsetExclusive, sceAgcAcquireMemSetEngine), 8 partial exports.

Host report

Captured with ANYPS5_HOST_REPORT=1:

AnyPS5 host report (format 1)
commit: be2420236350
[system]
os: Windows 10.0.26200
cpu: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-14700F
cpu_threads: 28
memory_mib: 32548
cpu_gate: passed
[sdl]
linked: 2.33.0
compiled: 2.33.0
[gpu]
device: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
type: discrete
vendor_id: 0x10de
device_id: 0x2786
vulkan_api: 1.4.351
driver: NVIDIA
driver_info: 616.92
driver_version_raw: 0x9a170000
subgroup_size: 32
device_local_mib: 12010
candidates: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
present_modes: unknown
present_mode_requested: default
[vulkan]
VK_KHR_8bit_storage: extension required present
VK_KHR_buffer_device_address: extension required present
VK_KHR_shader_float_controls: extension required present
bufferDeviceAddress: feature required present
fragmentStoresAndAtomics: feature required present
samplerAnisotropy: feature required present
shaderInt64: feature required present
shaderSignedZeroInfNanPreserveFloat32: feature required present
storageBuffer8BitAccess: feature required present
textureCompressionBC: feature required present
vertexPipelineStoresAndAtomics: feature required present
VK_EXT_external_memory_host: extension optional present
VK_EXT_fragment_shader_interlock: extension optional present
VK_EXT_hdr_metadata: extension optional present
VK_EXT_memory_budget: extension optional present
VK_EXT_mesh_shader: extension optional present
VK_EXT_present_mode_fifo_latest_ready: extension optional present
VK_EXT_provoking_vertex: extension optional present
VK_EXT_sample_locations: extension optional present
VK_EXT_sampler_filter_minmax: extension optional present
VK_EXT_shader_demote_to_helper_invocation: extension optional present
VK_EXT_shader_image_atomic_int64: extension optional present
VK_KHR_draw_indirect_count: extension optional present
VK_KHR_driver_properties: extension optional present
VK_KHR_fragment_shader_barycentric: extension optional present
VK_KHR_maintenance5: extension optional present
VK_KHR_present_mode_fifo_latest_ready: extension optional present
VK_KHR_shader_atomic_int64: extension optional present
VK_KHR_shader_clock: extension optional present
VK_KHR_shader_terminate_invocation: extension optional present
VK_KHR_spirv_1_4: extension optional present
[shader_cache]
state: present
size_mib: 30
[environment]
ANYPS5_HOST_REPORT: 1

Desktop machine on AC power; display refresh rate 120 Hz.

Run

• Command: app.exe in the runtime folder with the default presentation path. No APS5_* or ANYPS5_* variables were set for the play run (the host report above is from a separate short bootstrap run with only ANYPS5_HOST_REPORT=1); default in-game settings; the shader cache was warm (shader_cache present, 30 MiB).
• Result: title screen renders, New Game → Difficulty Select (Moderate) → intro quote → intro cutscenes (island, master bedroom, main hall, wine cellar, Miles's apartment) → playable apartment gameplay. The character moves with the left stick (WASD on the keyboard).
• Performance: the first load stalls briefly while the first scenes are prepared, then the game holds 60 FPS — 600 presents per 10 s with 0 dropped in the measured run.
• What stopped it: nothing; no crash and no stop on the default path. The log contains repeated non-fatal GameMaker warnings Error: Index did not map to an existing sound instance and one Error freeing memory; the game continues.
• Runs: one measured run of ~6+ minutes plus a longer play session; one observation, not a reproduction.
• Screenshots of the title screen, intro scenes and gameplay were captured locally (kept outside the repository).

Notes

• A first attempt with the debug capture path (APS5_NO_RESIDENT_PRESENT=1, APS5_NO_GPU_DUMP=1, APS5_DUMP_FRAMES) crashed at ~165 s in intro_masterbedroom with FATAL: unhandled exception 0xc0000005 (read of 0x24, rip app.exe+0x185a2a5, PM4 ring dump). The default presentation path passes the same point, so this is a capture-path observation, not the normal play path.

AI-assisted: yes. The host report, command, and outcomes are measured on this machine; the rest is my analysis.