NHL Hitz 2003 1.0.3 — Windows and Linux

NHL Hitz 2003 1.0.3

Windows 1.0.3 and the first public Linux release are available together.
Bring your own NHL Hitz 2003 Xbox USA ISO/XISO or extracted game folder.

Platform	Standalone	RecompLauncher
Windows x64	NHLHitz2003-Setup-1.0.3.exe	NHLHitz2003-1.0.3-Windows-x64.zip
Linux x64	NHLHitz2003-1.0.3-Standalone.AppImage	NHLHitz2003-1.0.3-Linux-x64.tar.gz

Windows

• Fixed in-match Xbox controller rumble. The controller menu updates the live
  vibration setting, and short pulses stay active long enough for the motors
  to spin up. The fix respects Vibration Off.
• Fixed the audio mix so the reverb send no longer doubles dry audio in the
  left channel, and skating, hits, and puck sounds use the intended 3D submix
  level. The earlier resampling and silent-voice protection remain included.
• Setup recognizes a complete copy of the current 4× texture pack and skips
  the redundant download. Existing settings and saves are preserved.
• The standalone installer and SDK use the same verified, staged game-data
  importer.

Linux

• Native x86-64 AppImage with OpenGL rendering, SDL2 audio and controller input,
  in-game settings, and support for the same optional 4× texture pack.
• First-run setup reuses valid game_files and keeps existing texture_pack
  contents. When game data is missing, it imports it from your disc or folder.
  The optional texture download supports resume and uses a local texture.bin
  beside the AppImage when available.
• Separate NHL Hitz 2003 and NHL Hitz 2003 Settings entries are offered
  by default. Run the AppImage with --setup to repair an existing installation
  or add textures later.
• Fresh settings start fullscreen at 1×, 4:3 and a 60 FPS cap. Existing
  display preferences, settings and saves are preserved.

Make the AppImage executable with
chmod +x NHLHitz2003-1.0.3-Standalone.AppImage before opening it. Linux
requires x86-64, glibc 2.39 or newer as the supported baseline, SDL2,
libepoxy, libpng16, Python 3, Tk for the setup and settings windows, and an
OpenGL 3.3 driver. Optional texture extraction uses 7-Zip. For systems
without working FUSE, use the AppImage’s --appimage-extract-and-run option.

RecompLauncher

Use the platform archive for SDK-managed setup. Both include a
recomplauncher.json manifest, headless game-data validation and import,
direct Play, launcher-editable settings, and the save location. The manifests
pass the SDK schema, and the shipped entry points were tested with a real
disc image. Full testing inside the RecompLauncher client and the optional
Redump badge remain pending.

The installers and archives exclude the debug kit, original game data, and
the separate shared texture payload.

NHL Hitz 2003 1.0.2

NHL Hitz 2003 — Windows 1.0.2

Changes since 1.0.1

• Game Setup offers an optional, initially unchecked 4x hi-res texture pack.
  The small standalone texture addon uses the same hosted payload.
• Both installers first check for texture.bin beside Setup. Otherwise they
  download it, or resume saved progress from a shared per-user cache. Downloads
  survive cancellation and installer restarts, and either installer can continue
  a partial transfer started by the other.
• Download progress shows percentage, increasing downloaded/total MB, total
  file size and speed. Saved resume offsets are excluded from the speed sample.
  Pinned file size and SHA-256 are verified before single-pass extraction.
• After success, choose whether to keep the cached BIN for repairs/reinstalls.
  Choosing No deletes the completed cache on exit. User-supplied sibling BINs
  and recovery files from interrupted/failed installs are preserved.
• config.exe now has a Textures tab with a master switch and separate Rink,
  Logos, Jerseys, Glow and Other choices. DDS, PNG and BMP packs are detected;
  controls are disabled without a pack or at native 1x scale.
• F8 toggles installed hi-res textures at 2x–5x scale, saves the choice and
  refreshes textures through the existing F1 settings path. F8 does nothing at
  native 1x scale or without a pack. Holding it does not repeatedly toggle.
• The Windows game prevents idle display-off and automatic sleep while running,
  including controller-only play. Normal power behavior resumes on exit.
• The normal game EXE is nhl_hitz_2003.exe. Repairs/upgrades remove the old
  nhl_hitz_2003_recomp.exe while preserving separately installed debug builds.
  Developer debug builds use nhl_hitz_2003-db.exe with a versioned banner
  contained inside the game window; no debugger is included in this release.

The graphics-memory recovery, sound-effect resampling, persistent-buzz protection
and DDS loading improvements from 1.0.1 remain included.

Install

Download NHLHitz2003-Setup-1.0.2.exe. Existing installations update in place
and keep settings, saves and game files. Fresh installations require the user's
own NHL Hitz 2003 Xbox USA disc image or extracted files. The directory is
selectable and defaults to C:\Games\NHL Hitz 20-03 when no installation exists.
Fresh video defaults remain native 1x, fullscreen, 4:3 and 60 FPS with the other
enhancements off. Existing saved choices remain unchanged.

For textures, select the optional checkbox or run the standalone addon. The
shared BIN downloads 1,846,593,844 bytes (1.847 GB); installed DDS files use
2,946,015,256 bytes. To use them, open config.exe, choose Render Scale 2x+,
enable Use the hi-res textures on Textures, and Save. Or use F1 in game.
Installing a pack does not automatically change the user's settings.

The addon adds no Programs and Features entry or uninstaller. The game retains
its normal game uninstaller. The Windows installers contain no debug kit, PDBs,
debug collector or original disc assets. Texture bytes are a separate download,
not a second large copy embedded in either installer.

Validation

The owner tested and approved the preceding build. Automated checks covered
Settings persistence/defaults, DDS detection, reserved controls, transport ranges,
disconnect/retry, cancellation/resume, process/parent termination, redirects,
checksums, shared-cache access, cross-installer resume, local BIN preference,
keep/delete-on-exit and preservation after failed extraction. Numeric and actual
wizard-label tests checked progress and speed without counting saved offsets.
The native helper also resumed from the real public GitHub asset and verified
the complete pinned hash. Full offline addon extraction matched all 6,198 DDS
paths, sizes and hashes and preserved settings/custom files/registrations.

The release version bump is packaging-only relative to that approved behavior.
No new Linux build or Linux performance claim is included in this release.

NHL Hitz 2003 1.0.1

NHL Hitz 2003 — Windows 1.0.1

Changes since 1.0

• Recover graphics-pool space when allocations would otherwise fail. Blocks
  freed by the game remain intact until pressure, then become reusable before
  retrying the request. This addresses the ignored-frees path behind reported
  pool exhaustion after Exhibition and while loading Three in a Row.
• Replace linear voice resampling with a 16-tap windowed-sinc filter to reduce
  harsh high-frequency artifacts in converted effects. Double-precision phase
  keeps output consistent across streaming chunk sizes.
• Protect playing voices from physical-page alias changes. A later heap-page
  registration cannot redirect a looping graphics-memory sample buffer to game
  data. Choices reset on voice restart, stop and APU reset. Page-boundary reads
  resolve each page independently; control structures keep their existing lookup.
• Add DDS replacement textures with stored mipmaps, content-keyed caching,
  background reads/decodes and worker-created DDS textures. These reduce repeated
  loading/upload work. Existing PNG/BMP packs continue to work. Hi-res textures
  require a separately installed pack and render scale of at least 2x.
• Record video-setting changes with timestamps, frame counts, old/new values,
  requested/applied render settings, frame cap, fullscreen, filtering and pack
  state. Debug sessions can now distinguish startup settings from later changes.

Installation

Download NHLHitz2003-Setup-1.0.1.exe. Existing installations update in place
and retain their settings and saves. New installations default to
C:\Games\NHL Hitz 20-03, with a selectable directory, 1x native rendering,
fullscreen, 4:3 output and a 60 FPS cap. VSync, MSAA, anisotropic filtering and
hi-res textures default off. Existing saved choices are preserved.

This is the normal Windows x64 player: no debug kit, PDB, debug collector,
game assets or texture pack are bundled. Your own NHL Hitz 2003 USA Xbox game
files are required. The hi-res pack is optional and is not downloaded by Setup.

Validation and limits

The actual-runtime graphics allocator passes pressure/retry, delayed reuse,
duplicate-free, live-block, alignment/range and repeated-reuse regressions.
Audio tests cover page collisions, independent voices, restart/reset, cross-page
PCM/stream reads, resampling spectra, chunk continuity, stereo, DC and underruns.
NIS animation lifetime regression passes. Normal and debug development builds
compile; the published installer is built separately with the debug kit off.
Runtime scale/fullscreen change logging was verified through the game UI.
The exact public player also passed a separate 35-second startup check with
saved settings preserved, the expected rendering adapter, and no debug folder.
The installer compiler lists only the game, settings program and temporary
importer as payload inputs; the public game has no xrdbg or PDB reference.

The resampler's five-minute scripted run reached gameplay and ended at its
intentional watchdog deadline. Its audio telemetry recorded one 13.4 ms host
starvation interval; the change is not a claim that all audible hitches are
eliminated. The page protection has dedicated collision tests; repeated team
switches and the original full Exhibition → Three in a Row sequence still need
validation on the reporting laptop with the complete update.

A second five-minute scripted run with both audio fixes reached live
Toronto–Chicago play and reported zero host-starvation intervals, zero refused
audio buffers and no graphics-pool exhaustion. Both runs ended at their
intentional watchdog deadline. These short runs do not replace full-match and
repeated mode-transition testing.

DDS first-period tests previously recorded fewer texture-creation stalls, but
different matchups prevent an exact performance-gain claim. Full-match stability
across every mode and a steady 60 FPS on all hardware remain open. This release
does not include the separate Linux development branch.

NHL Hitz 2003 - 4x Hi-Res Texture Pack 1.0.1

NHL Hitz 2003 — 4x texture pack 1.0.1

First stable standalone texture-addon release: 6,198 4x-upscaled DDS textures
covering rink surfaces, boards, jerseys, logos, player/menu artwork and arena
details. Original texture filenames, category folders and stored mipmaps are
preserved. Download size is 1,846,593,844 bytes (1.847 GB); installed DDS
storage is 2,946,015,256 bytes. No original game/disc executable is included.

Install

Run NHLHitz2003-HiRes-Textures-1.0.1-Setup.exe and select the game folder.
It detects existing normal/debug/legacy installations and lets you change the
destination. Game 1.0.1 or newer is required; 1.0.2 is recommended and
provides the same pack as an optional game-Setup checkbox.

Setup uses a verified texture.bin beside its EXE when available. Otherwise it
downloads the shared BIN with percentage, size and speed display. Interrupted
downloads are kept and resumed by either installer. After success, choose
whether to keep the cached BIN for repairs/reinstalls or delete it on exit.
A BIN supplied beside Setup is never removed.

Enable the installed pack in config.exe: choose Render Scale 2x+, switch
on Use the hi-res textures in Textures, and Save. Or use the game's F1
settings. The included Settings utility is version 1.0.2; newer installed versions
are preserved. User settings and saves are not reset.

The addon is extraction-only, with no Windows application registration or
uninstaller. Rerun it to repair bundled files; unrelated custom files are kept.
An older registered addon in this same game folder is migrated without running
its uninstaller or affecting the base game registration.

Shared payload

Both installers use the existing, unchanged asset:

https://github.com/dalves408/nhlhitz2003recomp/releases/download/texture-pack-v1.0.1/texture.bin

SHA-256: 39ade92c2439c82e4294d3cb4ee004f30e94b2642aee6e5ad4d0b2bed177173b.

The BIN passed full extraction and all DDS path/size/hash checks. Resume,
cancellation, cache cleanup and preservation tests passed, and the owner approved
the installer behavior. This data release tag identifies the existing payload;
the new installer implementation is in the game v1.0.2 source release.

NHL Hitz 2003 1.0

NHL Hitz 2003 — Version 1.0

Windows x64 installer for the native NHL Hitz 2003 recompilation.

Install

Download NHLHitz2003-Setup-1.0.0.exe and run it. Setup imports the files from
your own NHL Hitz 2003 Xbox USA ISO/XISO or extracted game folder. Game assets
are not included. Windows 10/11 x64 and a Direct3D 11 GPU are required; Visual
Studio, Python and a separate Visual C++ runtime installation are not required.

Existing installations can use Update or Repair. Imported game files,
saves and settings are retained. If a 1.0.0 test/debug build is already installed,
choose Repair to replace it with this public player build. Setup also removes
old debug shortcuts and the debug collector script.

Included

• Native D3D11 rendering, XAudio2 audio, XInput controllers and keyboard support.
• Video and Controls settings app: render scale, fullscreen, 4:3/stretch, VSync,
  frame cap, MSAA, anisotropic filtering and primary/alternate keyboard bindings.
• High-performance GPU selection for hybrid NVIDIA/AMD laptops.
• Rendering, shader caching and disc-read optimizations, plus the animation
  buffer lifetime fix verified through a complete first period.
• Memory-only emulated hard-drive partitions: no large Partition*.img files.
  Actual save files stay under %LOCALAPPDATA%\NHLHitz2003\SaveData.
• Standard installer, shortcuts and uninstaller. Uninstall preserves user data.

The public installer has no xrdbg kit, debug hotkey/banner, dump collector,
developer environment switches or debug symbols. Normal player settings remain
available. Only the release installer and its SHA-256 checksum are attached.

Defaults and controls

Fresh installs use native 1x resolution, fullscreen, the original 4:3 picture and
a 60 FPS cap. Existing saved settings are preserved. Enter is Start, Z is
A/confirm, X is B/back, arrow keys are the D-pad and WASD is the left stick.
F1 opens video settings; F11 or Alt+Enter toggles fullscreen.

Current limits

This is the first public packaged release of an ongoing recompilation. Boot,
menus, Exhibition setup and first-period gameplay have been tested. Complete
matches, all modes and manual in-game save/load have not been comprehensively
validated. Audio quality/sync and frame pacing still need further testing.