Releases

Releases

Sightline is released as a Windows package on the GitHub Releases page. A release package is the quickest way to play: no toolchain, no clone, no Python. You still need your own ROM — see ROM Setup.

Every release package contains no GoldenEye ROM and no game data. Everything the game draws, plays and loads is read from your own ROM at run time, and the package validator scans every shipped file for ROM-derived excerpts before a release is cut.

Getting a release

1. Open the Releases page and download the latest Sightline-vX.Y.Z-win32.zip.
2. To verify it, download the Sightline-vX.Y.Z-win32.zip.sha256 file beside it — one line, <sha256> <file name> — and compare it with the file's hash:

(Get-FileHash .\Sightline-v0.3.0-win32.zip -Algorithm SHA256).Hash

(sha256sum -c Sightline-v0.3.0-win32.zip.sha256 elsewhere.) The release page and VERSION.txt inside the package also record the SHA-256 of sightline.exe and of every other file in the package.

What the package contains

File	What it is
sightline.exe	the game: a 32-bit (i686, PE32) Windows executable
SDL2.dll, libwinpthread-1.dll	the runtime DLLs the executable imports (read off its import table at packaging time, not a hand-kept list)
Sightline.cmd	the launcher: finds your ROM, sets the launch environment and runs sightline.exe
Get-Textures.cmd	optional, since v0.3.0: fetches the Community HD texture pack from its maintainers and converts it for the COMMUNITY HD presentation (see First run)
tools\get-textures.ps1, tools\community-source.json, tools\mapping\community.json	what Get-Textures.cmd runs: the fetcher and converter, the pinned release's identity (repository, tag, asset name, size, SHA-256), and the texture-number mapping — identities only, no pixels
data\asset-overrides\boot\*.slmodel	the four Sightline-authored boot-screen models (CC0)
data\asset-overrides\controllers\*.slmodel	the Xbox and DualSense controller models drawn on the watch's controller page (third-party CC-BY-4.0 work, modified; see [[Custom Boot Models
LICENSES\	the Sightline code (0BSD) and artwork (CC0) grants, the inventory README.md, asset-overrides-LICENSE.md, and third-party\controllers\<name>\ATTRIBUTION.md for each controller model
README.txt	the ROM requirement, quick start, the optional Community HD textures, where files are written, how to verify the download
VERSION.txt	provenance: version, source commits and tags, build date, toolchain identity, build flags, the link-map input's hash, and the SHA-256 of every file in the package

The package is built by tools\windows\build.ps1 from a clean checkout of the tagged commit and staged, validated and zipped by tools\windows\package-release.ps1 / validate-package.ps1 — see Building.

First run

1. Extract the whole ZIP to a folder of your choice. Running sightline.exe on its own is not the supported path: without the launcher's environment it opens no window and finds no ROM.
2. Give it your ROM — a plain, uncompressed, big-endian .z64 dump of GoldenEye 007 (USA), 12582912 bytes, SHA-1 abe01e4aeb033b6c0836819f549c791b26cfde83. Sightline.cmd looks, in order, at:
   • the SL_ROM environment variable, if it names a file;
   • the first *.z64 beside Sightline.cmd — the simplest setup is to copy your dump into the extracted folder;
   • the path remembered from a previous run;
   • otherwise it asks you for the path once and remembers it in %LOCALAPPDATA%\sightline\rom-path.txt.
3. Double-click Sightline.cmd. It opens a 960x720 window (SL_WINDOW_SIZE overrides the initial size; the aspect-ratio setting then decides the width — see Running the Game).

The launcher checks the file's size; the game itself checks the .z64 magic and a checksum of the audio microcode segment at start-up, and refuses a byte-swapped (.n64 / .v64), patched or truncated ROM with the reason on the console. See Troubleshooting.

Optional: the Community HD textures

Double-click Get-Textures.cmd once. It downloads the pinned official release of the GoldenEye 007 HD texture pack (created by intermissionfb, font textures by GhostlyDark) straight from its maintainers, checks it against the size and SHA-256 in tools\community-source.json, and converts it into %LOCALAPPDATA%\sightline\assets\texpacks\community. It needs nothing but the Windows PowerShell that ships with Windows; re-running it costs one hash check. Then choose OPTIONS → SETTINGS → DISPLAY → PRESENTATION = COMMUNITY HD, or press F5 in a level. Sightline redistributes no part of the pack.

The XBLA presentation is not set up by the package: its texture pack and world assets are prepared from your own copy of the remaster with a source checkout — see Running the Game → Presentation.

Nothing inside the extracted folder is written to. The package writes only under %LOCALAPPDATA%\sightline:

File	What
eeprom.bin	the cartridge save, created on first run
config.ini	the native settings (controls, bindings, display, presentation)
rom-path.txt	the ROM path, only if the launcher asked for it
assets\texpacks\community\	the converted Community HD textures, only if you ran Get-Textures.cmd
cache\	the downloaded pack archive, kept so a second run needs no network

System requirements

Windows 10 or 11 (x64) with OpenGL drivers. The build is 32-bit. No other platform is supported.

Versions

v0.3.0 — Visual Fidelity

Sightline-v0.3.0-win32.zip, SHA-256 ac2e621dcad78aeb72f8e8a1adcf8c6f3609a644001a9ac7da969cb252f0a554. Notes: docs/releases/v0.3.0.md. Everything new changes how the game is drawn, never how it plays: the simulation is the game's own in every setting, and every new setting defaults to the v0.2.0 rendering.

• PRESENTATION — ORIGINAL / COMMUNITY HD / XBLA: one setting that moves the texture and world-asset providers together. COMMUNITY HD draws the GoldenEye 007 HD texture pack where it covers a texture (fetched by Get-Textures.cmd); XBLA draws the Xbox 360 remaster's textures, backgrounds, skies, characters, props and first-person models across all 20 campaign missions, prepared from your own sources with a source checkout. Where the remaster and the game disagree, the difference is a numbered entry in docs/divergences.md that applies only under XBLA. F5, or View / Create on a controller, cycles it in a level.
• WORLD DETAIL — ORIGINAL / ENHANCED: props and characters are no longer withheld by the near-fog visibility range at the render seam. Render only.
• FRAME RATE (ORIGINAL, 30, 60, 120, 144, 165, 240, UNLIMITED) and SHOW FPS: frames presented between game frames with a blended camera; the simulation's rate and its per-tick traces are unchanged.
• Fixes: the model-code crashes when shooting guards (a byte-order defect in the native model loader, under every presentation); dynamic doors drawn at the game's own live box; destroyed objects kept; renderer repairs under XBLA.

Known and deferred: the gun-barrel / sniper intro's widescreen composition (internal #67) is still open. XBLA frame time in dense views is open, and an XBLA view too heavy for an extra frame is presented at the game's own rate whatever the FRAME RATE row says; per-stage XBLA items are listed in docs/backlog.md. XBLA preparation needs a source checkout; the package carries no XBLA tooling. Not in this release: modern lighting.

v0.2.0 — QoL Phase 1 (first Windows binary)

The first release with a downloadable binary, Sightline-v0.2.0-win32.zip. Notes: docs/releases/v0.2.0.md.

• Controls: semantic keyboard / mouse / controller controls — physical inputs bind to game actions (fire, aim, reload, interact, weapon cycle, zoom, crouch, sprint) rather than to N64 pad positions — with persistent remapping in the native settings.
• Controller layouts and models: the pad is a modern dual-stick controller with BUTTON LAYOUT presets (DEFAULT, SOUTHPAW, GREEN THUMB) and STICK LAYOUT presets; the watch's controller page draws the attached Xbox or DualSense controller with the family's own button names and the actions bound to them (a control bound to nothing reads UNBOUND). The bumpers mirror the triggers (RB / R1 fire, LB / L1 aim); the d-pad carries the weapon cycle and the zoom.
• Mouse: a sensitivity setting and a separate scoped (sniper / camera) sensitivity; invert mouse Y. Controller look sensitivity and stick deadzones.
• Hold / Toggle for crouch and for sprint.
• Widescreen: 4:3 / 16:9 / 21:9 / 32:9 aspect ratios (a wider view at the same height, never a stretch) with a FIELD OF VIEW setting; the widescreen cursor repair, so the game's pointer reaches the whole frame.
• Display modes: resolution, windowed / borderless / fullscreen, VSync.
• Native SETTINGS pages in the front end (OPTIONS → SETTINGS) and in the watch's SIGHTLINE page, persisted in config.ini.
• 4. QUIT GAME on the main menu.
• Nothing ROM-derived ships: the two audio-microcode tables the v0.1.0 executable compiled in are now derived from your own ROM at start-up.

Known and deferred: the gun-barrel / sniper intro's widescreen composition is misaligned (internal #67), accepted as outstanding for v0.2.0 and deferred to the next visual-fidelity release. Not in this release: world detail profiles, Community HD / XBLA texture sets, modern lighting.

v0.1.0 — pre-QoL native source checkpoint

A source-only tag: no Windows binary is attached. It marks the native build as it stood after the full-campaign acceptance and before the QoL line was integrated. No binary was published because that revision compiled 528 bytes of ROM-derived audio-microcode tables into its executable, and Sightline does not distribute ROM-derived data. Notes: docs/releases/v0.1.0.md.

Related

• Getting Started
• Running the Game
• Troubleshooting
• readme.md — Play a release