santiquiroz/gears-of-war-2-pc-port

Website: santiquiroz.github.io/gears-of-war-2-pc-port

Retail Xbox 360 Gears of War 2 statically recompiled from the player's own default.xex to native x64 code with the ReXGlue SDK. This is not emulation. Players must own the game. An earlier fan port ("Hollow") was built from a leaked 2008 development build; this one runs the complete retail game.

The project's short name, gow2-recomp, names the release zip; the repository is gears-of-war-2-pc-port.

Leer en español: README.es.md

Act 1 with 4K internal rendering (resolution_scale = 3).

Original 720p rendering (left) vs 4K internal rendering (right).

• Act 1 playable with keyboard and mouse or a controller
• Native high resolution (resolution_scale 2 = 1440p, 3 = 4K internal)
• Community game patches
• FSR 1 upscaling and CAS sharpening (present_effect)
• Texture packs: dump the game's textures, load your own higher-resolution versions
• Mouse aim through the game's own PC mouse axes, with no stick dead zone (gow2_mouse_aim, on by default)
• FSR 4 and FSR 3.1 temporal upscaling (gow2_temporal, gow2_upscaler; off by default). The release has no DLSS
• Keyboard keys and mouse buttons handled as on a PC while a level is played (gow2_native_keys, SDK patch 0022); menus, the pause menu and cutscenes still pass through the emulated controller
• Keyboard prompts as keycap pictures that follow your keybinds and switch back to the pad's buttons while a controller is connected (gow2_keycaps; build the pack with scripts/build-keycaps.ps1, see tools/keycaps)
• Keyboard keys handled as on a PC (they still pass through an emulated controller)
• Ultrawide: a really wider picture (Hor+) instead of 16:9 with bars, up to 1680 pixels wide (gow2_widescreen, see docs/WIDESCREEN.md); needs the ROV render target path (NVIDIA and Intel by default)
• Full campaign play-through
• System Link campaign co-op for up to four players (gow2_coop_players, off by default): four copies on one PC (loopback), and a PC with an Android phone on one LAN for two players, verified 2026-10-14 and 2026-10-15; Stage 2 (chapter changes, deaths, leave/rejoin, checkpoints, cinematics) verified with four copies on one PC on 2026-10-16; a phone and a PC on 0.2.0 joined one System Link lobby on 2026-10-16
• Internet play, experimental (net_peers, net_public_address, net_allow_peers): a phone on mobile data joined a PC-hosted campaign through ports opened by UPnP, verified 2026-10-15; a PC friend outside the network has not been tried yet
• In-game options menu (PC Options; Device Options on Android) (docs/PC_OPTIONS.md): verified on a PC and on a Galaxy S25 Ultra on 2026-10-16
• Game quality options: Graphics > Game quality with Low/Medium/High/Custom presets and 24 of the game's own engine settings (shadows, lights, bloom, motion blur, depth of field, ambient occlusion, flares, distortion, decals, fog, foliage, level of detail); all 76 keys in docs/SYSTEM_SETTINGS.md
• Update checker on PC and Android (GitHub Releases, at most twice a day, gow2_update_check)
• Automatic settings for integrated GPUs (720p internal, 2x anisotropic filtering, no per-frame guest memory re-upload) for handhelds and laptops
• Android: the white objects/effects of the Vulkan renderer are fixed (0.2.3); object shadows are an option, off by default on Android
• VSync waits for the display on D3D12 and the 30 fps cap holds with VSync off (0.2.4)
• System Link Horde and Versus
• Android: a build from the repository reaches gameplay and joins a PC's System Link campaign, but is not finished yet; an experimental APK has been attached to every release since v0.1.2 (see Android). The whole scene has drawn since October 15; it runs at about 30 fps for the first minutes from a cool start, falling to about 10-12.5 fps once the phone is warm (docs/ANDROID.md)

See ROADMAP.md for the full plan.

Nothing of the game is included in the release. You need your own retail Xbox 360 copy of Gears of War 2 (title ID 4D53082D), dumped to a folder that has default.xex and the GearGame folder, for example by extracting your ISO with xdvdfs:

xdvdfs unpack "Gears of War 2.iso" C:\Games\GoW2

Do not pirate the game.

Requirements: Windows 10/11 x64 and a DirectX 12 GPU (developed on an AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT).

1. Download gow2-recomp-<version>-win64.zip from the latest release (the .apk is the Android build).
2. Unzip it anywhere and run gow2.exe. The exe is not signed, so Windows may show "Windows protected your PC": choose More info, then Run anyway.
3. The first launch asks for the game folder (the one with default.xex and GearGame) and remembers it in gow2_game_path.txt next to the exe. To pick another folder later, delete that file.

It does not ask when the game folder is inside the exe's folder or right next to it, when the exe's folder is inside the game folder, or when you pass the folder yourself:

gow2.exe --game_data_root="C:\Games\GoW2"

The first time you play System Link co-op, Windows asks whether gow2.exe may use the network: allow it, or the other players will not find your game.

Requirements: an arm64 phone with Android 10 or newer and Vulkan, and free space for a full copy of the game files.

1. Download gow2-recomp-<version>-android-arm64.apk from the latest release and install it (Android asks you to allow installing apps from your browser or file manager).
2. Copy your extracted game folder to the phone.
3. Open the app, tap Choose game folder and pick that folder. The app copies the files into its own storage, which needs as much free space as the game takes, because the game cannot read files through the folder picker. With the folder from step 2 that is two copies; delete yours once the app has finished.

Instead of steps 2-3 you can copy the folder over USB from a PC, so that default.xex ends up in Android/data/com.santiquiroz.gow2recomp/files/game/, then tap Check again.

The settings menu is called Device Options on Android (the gear in the top-right corner). If the game closes unexpectedly, the next launch opens Launch options first: a few settings, Safe mode (no sparse GPU memory, 1x resolution, bilinear filter), Reset settings and Share last log. To open it on purpose, long-press the app icon and choose Launch options. Status and known limits: docs/ANDROID.md.

A controller works at the same time. All bindings are in gow2.toml.

Everything here can be changed in game from Options > PC Options (or F10, or Back+Start); see docs/PC_OPTIONS.md. gow2.toml sits next to the exe. It is read at start-up; command-line flags (--name=value) override it. Main keys:

The Graphics tab includes Game quality: Low / Medium / High (retail) presets and 24 individual engine quality controls, all applied after a restart. High restores retail quality; Auto keeps platform defaults. See the key inventory and presets.

• fullscreen — run fullscreen or windowed.
• resolution_scale — internal render resolution as a multiple of 720p: 1 = 720p, 2 = 1440p, 3 = 4K.
• present_effect — final image scaling: bilinear with the stock runtime; fsr, cas and experimental temporal paths with a source-built runtime (see below).
• vsync — vertical sync.
• gow2_unlock_fps — lifts the game's 30 fps cap.
• gow2_fps_cap — frame rate limit while unlocked (0 = no limit).
• gow2_audio_volume — master volume in percent.
• gow2_black_shading_fix — correct character lighting.
• gow2_texture_streaming_fix — bigger texture pool, less pop-in.
• gow2_aniso16 — 16x anisotropic filtering.
• gow2_ao_upscaling_fix — ambient occlusion without artifacts when scaled.
• gow2_dof_upscaling_fix — depth of field without artifacts when scaled.
• gow2_temporal, gow2_upscaler — temporal upscaling: gow2_temporal = true with gow2_upscaler = "fsr4" (Radeon RX 7000/9000) or "fsr3"; off by default.
• mnk_sensitivity — mouse sensitivity.
• gow2_save_dir — folder for saves, profile settings and achievements; point it at a OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox folder to keep the campaign in the cloud (docs/SAVES.md).

The community patches come from xenia-canary/game-patches (authors illusion and boma); the patched sites and values for this XEX are applied to the generated code, each behind its gow2_* setting.

On Windows, the game checks GitHub for a new release at most twice a day and sends nothing else. Turn this off in PC Options > System, or set gow2_update_check = false in gow2.toml.

Measured on a Ryzen 9 7900X3D + Radeon RX 7800 XT, Act 1, resolution_scale = 2 (1440p internal): about 90 presented frames per second on average, 1% low 55, GPU about 6 ms per frame (PresentMon 2.6, 30 s capture). These numbers are presented frames. For bug reports, gow2_frame_log = true logs FRAMESTATS frame times every 5 s and d3d12_stats_log = true logs D3D12 counters.

• Native resolution via resolution_scale (see Settings).

• FSR: the release runtime is built with AMD FidelityFX. present_effect = "fsr" renders at a lower resolution_scale and upscales with FSR 1 plus sharpening; "cas" only sharpens. Measured with resolution_scale = 1 and FSR 1 to 1440p: about 85 fps in Act 1.

• Temporal upscaling: FSR 4.1 on Radeon RX 7000/9000 and FSR 3.1 on other GPUs, through AMD's signed FidelityFX SDK 2.3 DLLs, ported from the Gears of War: Judgment recompilation. Off by default: set gow2_temporal = true and gow2_upscaler = "fsr4" or "fsr3", and lower resolution_scale so the upscaler has room to work. FSR 4 was checked in game on a Radeon RX 7800 XT (1280x704 upscaled to 2560x1408).

• No DLSS in the release: NVIDIA's DLSS SDK license does not allow it in an open-source release (see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md). Only builds made from source with your own copy of NVIDIA's DLSS SDK can use it.

• Texture packs: see the next section. Tested with a texture replaced by a version twice its size:

  

Replace game textures with higher-resolution versions (for example upscaled 4x) for your own use. Each player builds packs from their own copy. An upscaled or recoloured texture is still derived from the game's copyrighted art, so do not share packs made from the game's textures; this project does not host or link them.

1. Set texture_dump = true in gow2.toml and play. Dumps land in textures\4D53082D\dump next to gow2.exe, one .dds file per unique texture, named <hash>_<format>_<width>x<height>.dds. Videos and other textures that change every frame are skipped.
2. Convert the dumps to PNG with tools\texpack.py (included in the release; needs Python 3 and Pillow, pip install pillow): python tools\texpack.py to-png textures\4D53082D\dump work converts the whole folder.
3. Upscale the PNG with any tool (Upflow on AMD GPUs, chaiNNer, Upscayl).
4. Convert back with a full mip chain: python tools\texpack.py from-png work textures\4D53082D\replace. File names are kept; the game matches each file by the hash at the start of its name. This writes uncompressed DDS; for files about 4x smaller compress with Microsoft texconv instead: texconv -f BC7_UNORM -m 0 file.dds.
5. Set texture_replace = true in gow2.toml and play. Before upscaling everything, check that replacement works with a solid color: python tools/texpack.py tint <dump.dds> <replace.dds> and look for the tinted texture in game.

A replacement is picked up when it has at least as many mip levels as the game texture (a full chain down to 1x1, which from-png writes), keeps the same aspect ratio, and is at least as large as the original.

Campaign co-op over System Link works between PCs and between several copies on one PC; an Android build joined a PC for two-player co-op. It is off by default: set net_link_active = true in gow2.toml (or pass --net_link_active=true) on every player's copy, and use the same build everywhere; gow2_coop_players 3 or more turns it on by itself. The game's UDP port 1000 becomes 41000 on every platform (net_port_offset, because Android cannot bind ports below 1024) and the System Link beacon uses UDP 14001, so a PC that hosts needs a Windows Firewall rule for those two ports. system_link_trace = true logs every network and session call the game makes ([netlink] lines).

• docs/NETWORK_PLAY.md: a PC and a phone on one network, the settings, several copies on one PC, troubleshooting.
• docs/COOP_N_PLAYERS.md: Stage 2 co-op with more than two players covers chapter changes, deaths, leave/rejoin, checkpoints and cinematics; what is still missing includes co-op splits, vehicle exit, the Ride-Reaver section and four PCs over the internet.
• docs/ONLINE.md: playing over the internet. From the repository (not in the release zip), scripts/host-online.ps1 -Start opens UDP 14001 and 41000 through UPnP on every router between the PC and the internet, with a lease (6 h by default, 24 h at most), and schedules an automatic -Stop for the end of the lease; -Stop closes them. Run -Stop after every session: some routers ignore the lease. Without UPnP: forward by hand; with no open ports: Tailscale or ZeroTier. Verified on 2026-10-15: a phone on mobile data joined a PC host behind two routers in a row.

Horde and Versus over System Link have not been tried. See ROADMAP.md.

• Mouse aim changed in 0.1.1. In 0.1.0 the mouse was turned into a right-stick movement, and the game ignored any stick deflection under 30% (its DeadZone=0.3 binding). Now the mouse goes through the game's own PC mouse axes (gow2_mouse_aim), with no dead zone, while controllers keep the game's own aiming. Keys still pass through an emulated controller. Reports of how it feels are welcome in an issue.
• Hints show Xbox button pictures. Menu prompts show keyboard keys ([Space], [E]...) while no controller is connected and switch to the Xbox buttons when you plug one in, and back when you unplug it (gow2_prompts = auto; keyboard and controller fix one choice at launch; on Android the choice is still made at launch). A menu already on screen changes the next time it opens; the tutorial hint pictures have their Xbox button circles removed while no controller is connected (the hint text names your key), and any other art with buttons painted in still shows Xbox buttons.
• Green-looking lighting has been reported on skin, lights and the menu flames; it has not been reproduced on the development PC yet. Screenshots are welcome in an issue.
• Co-op with three or four players is new. Stage 2 has been tested with four copies on one PC: players 3 and 4 keep their bodies and weapons through chapter changes and travel, respawn, leave and rejoin, return after checkpoint loads, hide during cinematics, stay unharmed on foot while a hero rides, and are moved next to Marcus or Dom by the host when left far behind. Co-op splits, getting out of a vehicle, the Ride-Reaver section, joining during a cinematic, long real combat, four PCs over a LAN or the internet, and Android with 3+ players have not been tried (docs/COOP_N_PLAYERS.md).
• Every player needs the same release. Everyone must run v0.1.2; with three or more players, campaigns with different co-op hashes stay hidden, while two-player co-op has no check and v0.1.1 is expected to crash at the end of Act 1 chapter 2.
• Only Act 1 has been played through; the co-op tests reached chapters 13, 16 and 27 by chapter travel.

See BUILDING.md. The main scripts are scripts/build.ps1, scripts/build-sdk.ps1 (optional — adds FidelityFX/FSR, temporal upscalers and system link tracing) and scripts/package.ps1.

tools/harvest_hints.py scans the decrypted image (exported from Ghidra with tools/ghidra/ExportImage.java) against a baseline codegen without hints (scripts/codegen-baseline.sh) and emits hints/harvested.toml: adjustor thunks, .pdata entries, code pointers stored in .rdata/.data and addresses built in code with lis+addi/ori. Hints that split an existing function are detected from the codegen log by tools/hint_fixpoint.py and kept out through hints/denylist.txt. Anything still missing is found at runtime by scripts/run-harvest-loop.sh (boot, read the "unregistered function" FATAL, add it to hints/runtime.toml, rebuild). scripts/chapter-sweep.ps1 does the same for all 29 chapters in one pass by travelling to each (see docs/TEST_TOOLING.md).

Contributions are welcome through pull requests on GitHub, one pull request per feature or fix. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the rules. Bug reports go through issues with the newest gow2_*.log attached (on Android: Launch options > Share last log).

• ReXGlue SDK (BSD-3-Clause, derived from Xenia) — runtime and code generator.
• OverkillLabs3/gears-judgement-recomp (Gears of War: Judgment on ReXGlue, BSD-3-Clause) — this repo copies tools/patch_switch_traps.py and tools/check_objects_fresh.py from it and adapts scripts/build.ps1 from its scripts/build.ps1. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.
• XenonRecomp (hedge-dev).
• Xenia.
• AMD FidelityFX SDK: FSR 1 and CAS (MIT). The FSR 4 and FSR 3.1 DLLs in the release are AMD's signed binaries, redistributed under AMD's license, not MIT (see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md).
• NVIDIA DLSS SDK (builds from source only; not in the release).
• PresentMon (used for measurements).

Unofficial project. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft, Xbox Game Studios, The Coalition, or Epic Games. All trademarks belong to their owners. This repository's own code is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause License — see LICENSE.

The screenshots (docs/screenshots, the docs/assets/img files other than icon-320.webp, docs/assets/og-image*.jpg and assets/icon/og-image*.png) show Gears of War 2 content, © Microsoft Corporation (originally © 2008 Epic Games, Inc.), captured from the game running in this port. They are not covered by the BSD-3-Clause license. The release zip also carries AMD and Microsoft runtime DLLs under their own licenses (THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md).