v0.1.8

Project Pyrrhus 0.1.8, a pre-release: partly playable, see docs/RELEASE-CRITERIA.md.

New in 0.1.8:

• Character skinning on the SPU side runs as native code: about twice as fast per batch, the same output bit for bit (on by default; KZ2_NATIVE_JOB_SKIN=0 turns it off).
• Options > Display has a VSync row (on by default; off allows tearing), and a frame that the screen is not ready for is skipped instead of holding up the game.
• The texture cache size is a setting; the default stays at 8,192 entries.
• The particle vertex relight and packing run as native SSE code by default, the same output bit for bit and about 5 % less SPU time for that job (KZ2_NATIVE_JOB_VJLIGHT=0 goes back to the previous native form, KZ2_NATIVE_JOB_VJVERT=0 to the recompiled SPU code).
• FSR 1 now runs before the HUD: the HUD, crosshair and subtitles are drawn at the window's resolution, not upscaled.
• The game folder can be read in place: with a new install the launcher makes no folder link (writes go to the install's vfs folder; saves and settings stay where they are).

Fixed:

• The game's internal clock reads the real date on Windows (it read January 1970); save dates were already correct.
• If the window's back buffer cannot be fetched, the present skips its copy and resizes the window at the next present instead of using an empty buffer (this case was not reached in our runs).

If you have an earlier version, install this one over it: run the new setup and pick the same folder. The first start then translates and builds the game again where this version changes how it is built.

See CHANGELOG.md for the full list.

Windows installer (Project-Pyrrhus-setup.exe, recommended) and portable zip. You need your own Killzone 2 disc dump (US, BCUS98116), the 1.29 update and a decrypted EBOOT made from your own copy; none of them is included or downloaded. What each must contain: docs/GETTING-FILES.md. SHA-256 sums: SHA256SUMS (and the .sha256 files). What goes online: docs/PRIVACY.md.