split2-recomp

TimeSplitters 2 (Xbox) as a native Windows program. It is built from your own copy of the game: the game's code is translated to C on your machine and compiled against the xboxrecomp toolkit. No game code or data is in this repository.

It plays: the front end and story mode have been played through a level, at 60 fps, with higher internal resolution, a frame counter and rebindable controls. Other modes have not been tested yet.

What you need

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
• Visual Studio 2022 (or 2019) with the Desktop development with C++ workload
• CMake 3.20 or newer, on PATH
• Python 3.10 or newer, with capstone: py -3 -m pip install capstone
• Git
• TimeSplitters 2, PAL release, extracted from your disc. The build checks default.xbe and warns if it is a different version; see Other versions.

Build

git clone --recursive https://github.com/phobos665/split2-recomp.git
cd split2-recomp

Copy the extracted disc into a folder called game, so that game\default.xbe exists (with data\, music\ and the rest beside it). Then:

py -3 ./scripts/build.py

The first run translates the game (a few minutes) and then compiles it (longer). Later runs only recompile. When it finishes it prints where the program is:

build\Release\split2_recomp.exe             the game
build\Release\split2_recomp_launcher.exe    settings window, then starts the game

If you cloned without --recursive: git submodule update --init.

Play

Run build\Release\split2_recomp_launcher.exe to choose settings and play, or split2_recomp.exe to start straight away. Either can be shortcut from anywhere.

Key	Does
F9	show or hide the frame rate
F10	step the frame cap: adaptive, 60, 30, off
F11	save a screenshot and a capture of the frame, beside the executable, for bug reports

An Xbox or XInput controller works as itself. On the keyboard: arrows = D-pad, Enter = Start, Backspace = Back, Z = A, X = B, A = X, S = Y, Q = White, W = Black, E = left trigger, R = right trigger. Rebind both in the launcher's Input tab.

Where things are kept:

• Saves: game\UDATA\4553000a\
• Settings: %APPDATA%\xboxrecomp\titles\4553000A.conf (the launcher writes it)
• Controls: %APPDATA%\xboxrecomp\input_bindings.json
• Log: build\Release\split2_recomp.log, when started without a console

Settings

In the launcher's Video tab, or in the settings file:

Setting	What it does
Resolution scale	Renders at 2x to 8x the console's 640x480, then filters down. 2 is cheap and much sharper
Texture sharpness	Anisotropic filtering, 1 to 16
Frame cap	Adaptive (the default: 60, but a late frame shows at once rather than waiting a whole extra frame), 60, 30, or off
Widescreen / wide camera	Experimental. The game has no 16:9 mode of its own, so widescreen alone stretches it. Wide camera (register 60) widens the 3D view, but the HUD is stretched too

"Off" for the frame cap lets the game run as fast as your PC can. The game was built for 60 and some things may run fast or break.

Other versions

config/seeds.json and config/xdk_symbols.json are addresses inside the PAL default.xbe. An NTSC or other-revision disc will most likely need its own, and the build warns when the file differs. Please open an issue with the SHA-1 it printed.

Updating

git pull
git submodule update
py -3 scripts\build.py --relift

--relift translates the game again. Do it whenever the toolkit or config/ changes.

Problems

• "no default.xbe in ...": the disc contents are not in game\.
• Black window, nothing happens: read build\Release\split2_recomp.log.
• A rendering bug in one place: press F11 there and attach the .bmp and .d3dcap it writes to an issue.

Legal

You need your own copy of TimeSplitters 2. Do not share game\, src\recomp\ (it is translated game code) or anything under build\. This repository and xboxrecomp contain no game code or assets.