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v1.8.2: Hector's sprint

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@jmafort jmafort released this 04 Nov 17:23
· 28 commits to main since this release
v1.8.2
a062717

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, for Windows and Linux. 1.8.2 gives Hector a
sprint.

You need your own copy of the game: the USA or the European Xbox disc, as an .iso or its extracted files. These
downloads contain 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.

Which download?

  • Windows: CastlevaniaCOD-PC-1.8.2.zip
  • Linux: CastlevaniaCOD-PC-1.8.2-linux.tar.xz

Both have the same game, the same launcher and the same settings (Linux has no HDR or frame generation yet, see
below); take the one for your system. Optional, and not part of these downloads: Calm-Consideration41's HD movies and
textures (below).

Is it safe?

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

  • VirusTotal scan of the Windows zip: no security vendor flagged its download link (0 of 93), see the report; Microsoft Defender finds nothing in it either
  • VirusTotal scan of the Linux archive: no security vendor flagged its download link (0 of 93), see the report
  • SHA-256 of CastlevaniaCOD-PC-1.8.2.zip: 4463c24a3d0f4cb2943409724494b59aee0cc19b00f22c91e3ffb6eedacfd7d2
    (in PowerShell, Get-FileHash CastlevaniaCOD-PC-1.8.2.zip shows the one of your download)
  • SHA-256 of CastlevaniaCOD-PC-1.8.2-linux.tar.xz: f8922cd49f69c447556dc9dcd3fe2b36951429294962011a5849431abbead235 (sha256sum shows yours)
  • 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 on Windows

  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: HD movies and an HD texture pack (below). CastlevaniaLauncher.exe has every setting. For AMD FSR or
    NVIDIA DLSS (anti-aliasing, upscaling, frame generation), its Graphics page downloads their files from AMD and
    NVIDIA.

Install on Linux

  1. Extract the archive anywhere you can write to, your home folder for one:
    tar xf CastlevaniaCOD-PC-1.8.2-linux.tar.xz
  2. Run ./Castlevania in the CastlevaniaCOD-PC folder (or double-click it). The assets folder opens.
  3. Put your .iso (or the extracted disc) in it and run ./Castlevania again. The first start builds the game code
    with the compiler that comes in the archive, in a few minutes; press Start when it is done.
  4. Optional: HD movies and an HD texture pack (below). ./CastlevaniaLauncher has every setting.

Nothing needs installing and no root: only a Vulkan driver, which desktop Linux has (Mesa for AMD and Intel, NVIDIA's
own driver). The HD movies play with the FFmpeg that comes in lib, and anti-aliasing and upscaling are the game's
own TAA, which needs nothing either. glibc 2.35 or later: Ubuntu 22.04 or later, Debian 12, Fedora, Arch, SteamOS and
the like, on X11 or Wayland.

HD movies and textures (optional)

Calm-Consideration41's own downloads, his work, linked here with thanks (not part of this release):

  • HD movies (Google Drive,
    3.9 GB): every story movie upscaled. Extract it and put its movies folder beside Castlevania.exe (or
    Castlevania). The launcher's View page and the in-game menu (F10) turn them off and on and set their size (Fit,
    Fill, Original), at once, a movie playing too. On the N editions of Windows they need Microsoft's Media Feature Pack.
  • Textures v4 (Google Drive,
    12 GB): his HD texture pack, with material maps for the light and the stones' depth. Extract it and put its
    textures folder beside the game, in place of another pack's. The launcher's Textures page has Material maps
    and Surface depth.

New in 1.8.2

  • Sprint: click the left stick in (L3), or press Left Shift, while Hector walks, and he sprints until you
    let go of the stick. Its speed is set on the Controls page of the launcher and of the in-game menu (F10): Off (the
    default), 1.25x, 1.5x or 2x. His walk's animation speeds up with him, so his steps keep up with the ground.
  • Only his walk gets faster: his guarded walk, the dodge, jumps and attacks, every enemy and the game's clock keep
    their pace, and the game's own collision still applies. It works in both button layouts (Xbox and PS2) and both
    releases; the game has no use of its own for the stick's click, and clicking both sticks still opens the settings
    menu.

Everything else is as in 1.8.1 and
1.8.0: Calm-Consideration41's HD movies, material
maps, anti-aliasing and upscaling, frame generation, ambient occlusion, HDR, 16:10 and the rest.

Assets 4
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