Swap Force Recompiled 0.3.0-beta.9

Swap Force Recompiled, 0.3.0-beta.9 (test version).

• Smooth water ripples at a higher internal resolution (#76): the ripples that spread where you walk through water, like the stream in Woodburrow, looked grainy at 2x and above. The game steps them from their neighbours one console pixel away, and at a higher resolution that split them into four grids that didn't talk to each other. They now run on the console's grid and look as smooth as at 1x.

• Faster where the processor is the limit: the games are now built with profile-guided optimization: the compiler arranges the code by what a test run of each game actually used. In Spyro's Adventure's heaviest levels that's up to 12 % more frames per second; where the graphics card is the limit, nothing changes. No spot got slower in the tests.

• Safer file writes on USB sticks: when a game overwrites one of its files, the file is now cut short in place instead of deleted and made anew. On exFAT or FAT drives (most USB sticks, so portable data) a file another program still had open could get deleted without the new one being written. Normal saves already went another way; this covers the rest.

The easy way: install Core of Light, the launcher. It sets this game up from your disc and keeps it up to date by itself.

On its own: run SwapForceRecompSetup-0.3.0-beta.9.exe and point it at your own Xbox 360 disc (an ISO file or an extracted folder). It's not signed, so Windows may show "Windows protected your PC": "More info" > "Run anyway". The README says which disc version it needs.

The game's data (graphics, sound, levels, movies) doesn't come with it: the setup takes it from your own disc.

Problems: F4 > Game > "Report a problem" in the game, then a new issue.

Not affiliated with Activision or Vicarious Visions. Skylanders is a trademark of its owners.