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@jmafort jmafort released this 02 Nov 14:56
v1.5.0
4b828bb

A native PC port of the original Xbox version of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, a fork of
Pazzi7054's CastlevaniaCOD-PC built on
TGP482's Xbox XBE Recomp.

You need your own copy of the game: the USA or the European Xbox disc, as an .iso or its extracted files. This download
contains no game files, no disc image and no game code; the first start builds the game code from your copy.

This is a personal, non-commercial fan project. It has nothing to do with Konami or Microsoft: it is not
affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by them.

Is it safe?

The programs are not code-signed (this is a free hobby project) and the download is new, so browsers and Windows
may warn about it. That is not a virus:

  • VirusTotal scan of this zip: none of the 66 antivirus programs found anything (Microsoft, Kaspersky, ESET, BitDefender, Malwarebytes, Sophos, Symantec and more), see the report
  • SHA-256 of CastlevaniaCOD-PC-1.5.0.zip: 3470866d51223fb75ee1f5db565c60c7a32d8db50878c69ef24d588b6bb78bee
    (in PowerShell, Get-FileHash CastlevaniaCOD-PC-1.5.0.zip shows the one of your download)
  • All of the source is in this repository; you can build it yourself.

If the browser blocks the download, open its downloads list (Ctrl+J) and keep the file: in Chrome Keep or
Download suspicious file; in Edge ..., Keep, Show more, then Keep anyway. If Windows says
"Windows protected your PC": More info, then Run anyway.

Install

  1. Extract the zip anywhere and run Castlevania.exe. The assets folder opens.
  2. Put your .iso (or the extracted disc) in it and run Castlevania.exe again. The first start builds the game code
    in a few minutes; press Start when it is done.
  3. Optional: an HD texture pack in a textures folder beside the exe (see below). CastlevaniaLauncher.exe has
    every setting, and its home page switches the pack on or off.

New in 1.5.0

  • The European release plays too, as well as the USA one: everything below, at 60 FPS, in its five languages
    (English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano: the launcher's Game page sets which, at first the launcher's own
    language). Just put your European disc image in assets and run Castlevania.exe as usual: it starts the European
    release's executable, CastlevaniaEU.exe, by itself. The launcher tells which release each of your copies is.
  • Saves carry over between the two releases, both ways.
  • Fixed: changing a setting in the in-game menu (F10) put the launcher back in English.

Since 1.3.0: the launcher in seven languages (1.4.0), and @CRAZY and @TREVOR from the start.

New in this fork

  • The USA and the European releases, each from any copy of its disc: an xiso, a whole disc dump of either disc layout, or the extracted files,
    including copies whose xbe header was patched for a hard disk loader or another region.
  • Hector's shadow is back under his feet.
  • Widescreen menus: the pause menu, the map, the save screens and message panels fill a 16:9 screen.
  • HD texture packs: .dds packs too, eight more textures matched (96.8% of what the game draws with Panda_Venom and
    Stan21's pack), clean edges on cut-out pictures, and the launcher's home page shows the pack with a switch for it.
  • No stutter the first time an effect is drawn (compiled shaders are kept on disk).
  • Anisotropic filtering works on the game's own textures too.
  • Options: the PS2 button layout, and the Lament of Innocence bonus (the Moai).
  • @CRAZY and @TREVOR from the start.
  • The launcher in the game's own look, choosing the graphics card and checking for Direct3D 12, in seven languages.
  • Newer Xbox XBE Recomp (91146ff).

HD texture packs

Made by fans for the PS2 game, their makers' own work, not included here:

Requirements: Windows 10 (1703 or later) or 11, 64-bit, and graphics with Direct3D 12. See the
README for details.

Assets 3
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