Armada II Refit 13.34.0

Layers: render3d 0.27.0, testbench 3.68.0.

Changed

• render3d: an explosion inside a nebula lights the gas strongly about the breach,
  within two of the ship's radii, and the rest of the cloud with a dim wash, instead
  of lighting the whole cloud in view alike. New [Nebulae] keys LitExplosionCore
  and LitExplosionFar; LitExplosion defaults to 1.5, and an install moves a
  player's old 0.75 to it (render3d 0.27.0).

Added

• testbench: render3d-nebula-explosion (testbench 3.68.0).

Confirmed in game 2026-10-23.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.

VirusTotal: every program in this release scanned at 2026-10-24T00:48:26Z (virustotal.md, virustotal.json): armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe 5/70 · d3d8.dll 0/71 · d3d9.dll 0/71 · binkw32.dll 7/71 · GridLayout.asi 6/71 · HUD.asi 4/70 · Menus.asi 8/70 · Online.asi 5/71 · QOL.asi 2/70 · QOLRules.asi 1/71 · Render3D.asi 1/69 · UI.asi 1/70 · STA2WidescreenPatch.asi 2/72 · winmm.dll 2/70

Armada II Refit 13.3.0

Layers: testbench 3.47.0.

Added

• Bench scenarios wait for the log lines they check instead of a fixed time
  (Wait up to N seconds for the logs the next steps expect), and a log wait counts only
  lines written since the last action, and Quit the game no longer waits out each
  menu press (testbench 3.47.0).

Bench-only; installs nothing into the game.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.

VirusTotal: every program in this release scanned at 2026-10-23T08:31:16Z (virustotal.md, virustotal.json): armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe 6/63 · d3d8.dll 0/71 · d3d9.dll 0/71 · binkw32.dll 6/71 · GridLayout.asi 5/71 · HUD.asi 3/66 · Menus.asi 7/71 · Online.asi 4/68 · QOL.asi 2/71 · QOLRules.asi 1/70 · Render3D.asi 2/69 · UI.asi 1/71 · STA2WidescreenPatch.asi 2/72 · winmm.dll 2/70

Armada II Refit 13.2.0

Layers: testbench 3.46.0.

Added

• a2test watch --install-desktop: the bench dashboard in the app launcher, always run
  from the main checkout (testbench 3.46.0).

Installed, not yet seen in game.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.

VirusTotal: every program in this release scanned at 2026-10-22T21:53:19Z (virustotal.md, virustotal.json): armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe 5/71 · d3d8.dll 0/71 · d3d9.dll 0/71 · binkw32.dll 5/70 · GridLayout.asi 7/70 · HUD.asi 5/71 · Menus.asi 7/70 · Online.asi 5/70 · QOL.asi 2/71 · QOLRules.asi 1/71 · Render3D.asi 1/71 · UI.asi 1/71 · STA2WidescreenPatch.asi 2/72 · winmm.dll 2/70

Armada II Refit 13.1.0

Layers: render3d 0.18.0, ui 0.15.0, testbench 3.45.0, films 1.13.0.

Added

• A frame that repeats on the test bench: [Bench] Clock=bench in Render3D.ini and
  UI.ini (default wall, as before) runs every animation on the sim time, and the
  scene builder's Seed=, Step= and Pause= put two launches on the same tick;
  a2test --clock bench, scenario bench-determinism (render3d 0.17.0, ui 0.14.0,
  testbench 3.42.0).
• Pixel baselines: a2test baseline record|compare|diff|list|show and the baseline
  steps, for PNG, PPM and PFM (testbench 3.43.0).
• Frame dumps: Render3D.dump / UI.dump make the plugins write the HDR scene, the bloom
  levels and the presented frame; a2test drive dump (render3d 0.18.0, ui 0.15.0,
  testbench 3.44.0).
• The bench dashboard in place of a2test watch's page, who started each job recorded
  at start, a2test drive note for an agent's intent, the judge's tokens per day; noVNC
  vendored in testbench/vendor/ (testbench 3.45.0, films 1.13.0).
• render3d/perf/ab.sh: frame-time A/B of any two checkouts or revisions (render3d 0.18.0).

Confirmed in game 2026-10-22.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.

VirusTotal: every program in this release scanned at 2026-10-22T21:43:12Z (virustotal.md, virustotal.json): armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe 6/70 · d3d8.dll 0/71 · d3d9.dll 0/71 · binkw32.dll 5/71 · GridLayout.asi 5/71 · HUD.asi 3/71 · Menus.asi 9/71 · Online.asi 5/70 · QOL.asi 2/70 · QOLRules.asi 1/68 · Render3D.asi 1/70 · UI.asi 1/71 · STA2WidescreenPatch.asi 2/72 · winmm.dll 2/70

Armada II Refit 13.0.0

Layers: renderer 2.0.0 (was postfx), gui-installer 2.0.0, testbench 3.41.2, films 1.12.1.

Removed

• The vkBasalt bloom and its ReShade preset, everywhere: postfx/postfx.py,
  postfx/vkbasalt/, the bloom layer of a2mod, the release package's bloom/
  folder and publish/installer/shaders.txt, the MagicBloom and ReShade header credits,
  and the GUI installer's vkBasalt panel and how-to. Bloom, tone mapping and every
  other post-process are Render3D.asi's (renderer 2.0.0, gui-installer 2.0.0).
• a2mod no longer flips vkBasalt's enableOnLaunch; a bloom key in an older
  state.json is ignored.
• The test bench and the film tooling no longer carry vkBasalt into a session
  (testbench 3.41.2, films 1.12.1).

Changed

• postfx/ is renderer/, the name of the one a2mod layer it still holds.
• What an earlier version set up comes out, since both would bloom the frame twice:
  ./install removes the per-user vkBasalt layer; install.sh the armada2-refit-bloom
  folder it wrote; install.ps1 A2Bloom.ini and its ReShadePreset.ini copy; the GUI
  installer the vkBasalt variables it wrote into Heroic. The package's bloom step does
  this now, so the step list and the package schema are unchanged.

Confirmed in game 2026-10-22.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.

VirusTotal: every program in this release scanned at 2026-10-22T19:05:10Z (virustotal.md, virustotal.json): armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe 5/70 · d3d8.dll 0/71 · d3d9.dll 0/71 · binkw32.dll 5/71 · GridLayout.asi 5/71 · HUD.asi 4/71 · Menus.asi 7/71 · Online.asi 5/71 · QOL.asi 3/71 · QOLRules.asi 1/71 · Render3D.asi 1/70 · UI.asi 1/71 · STA2WidescreenPatch.asi 2/72 · winmm.dll 2/70

Armada II Refit 12.42.1

Layers: none (publish/ is versioned by the root).

Added

• CI scans every PE in the release zip and the Windows installer on VirusTotal
  (publish/virustotal.py, job virustotal; on main and on dispatch, report only)
  and attaches virustotal.json and virustotal.md to the release with a VirusTotal line
  in its notes (virustotal-release). Secret VT_API_KEY; variable VT_FAIL_ABOVE
  makes the scan fail above that many detections (issue #4).
• .github/workflows/virustotal-fp.yml and publish/virustotal-fp.py: for a release
  tag, an issue "False positives: vX.Y.Z" with a checklist per antivirus vendor
  (publish/av-vendors.json, kept by hand), the flagged files zipped as an artifact
  (password infected), and optionally a comment and harmless vote on VirusTotal.

Installs nothing.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.

VirusTotal: every program in this release scanned at 2026-10-22T18:53:01Z (virustotal.md, virustotal.json): armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe 6/71 · d3d8.dll 0/71 · d3d9.dll 0/71 · binkw32.dll 6/70 · GridLayout.asi 5/71 · HUD.asi 4/68 · Menus.asi 6/71 · Online.asi 5/71 · QOL.asi 3/71 · QOLRules.asi 1/71 · Render3D.asi 1/69 · UI.asi 1/71 · STA2WidescreenPatch.asi 2/72 · winmm.dll 2/70

Armada II Refit 12.41.1

Layers: qol 1.6.2.

Fixed

• qol: an order QOLRules.asi refuses for want of resources speaks stock's advisor
  line again ("Insufficient crew", ...), to the refused player only (issue #1, c23cb19).

Confirmed in game 2026-10-22.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.

Armada II Refit 12.39.1

Layers: render3d 0.16.1.

Changed

• CI: a changelog entry with a line starting "Pre-release" is released as a
  pre-release even when confirmed in game (publish/README.md).

Fixed

• render3d: on Windows, on a card that takes shaders of 4096 instruction slots, the
  sky behind the main menu and every map was black and the planets stock: the sky's
  and the planets' bakes are now chains of passes that fit, and Render3D.log names
  any shader Direct3D refuses (0bd0a97).

Confirmed in game 2026-10-21.
Pre-release until it is seen on Windows.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.

Armada II Refit 12.39.0

Layers: gui-installer 1.7.0.

Added

• gui-installer: Diagnostics for a bug report in the window and --report on the
  command line, a report a player can post: the Direct3D chain and the plugins by hash
  against the release, changed settings, the plugins' logs, and findings such as
  UI.asi and Render3D.asi without crosire's d3d8to9; user names and addresses left out.

Installed, not yet seen in game.

---

Installing, with the GOG release of the game:

• Windows: download armada2-refit-installer-windows.exe and run it. It is not signed, so SmartScreen may hold it the first time: More info → Run anyway.
• macOS: needs CrossOver (or another Wine) with the game installed in it. Download armada2-refit-installer-macos.zip and unzip it. The app is not notarised, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: on macOS 15 and later, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; on older macOS, right-click the app → Open.
• Linux: download armada2-refit-installer-x86_64.AppImage, make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.
• By hand: README.txt in the zip, and Installing by hand.