PerfectDarkZeroRecomp

A static recompilation of Perfect Dark Zero (2005, Xbox 360 launch title, Title ID 4D5307D3, retail hash C1572363239DB6CE) to native Windows x86-64, built on the ReXGlue SDK.

Static recompilation translates the Xbox 360 PowerPC code inside the game's default.xex into native C++ that compiles and runs on a PC. There is no emulator and no interpreter in the loop; file I/O, GPU commands, audio and threading go through the ReXGlue runtime.

Status

• Codegen runs clean (1 manual [functions] boundary needed for an UnresolvedCall, plus one hand-patched cross-function tail-jump compile error - see Known issues).
• The build compiles and the executable boots to real GPU rendering.
• The optional stub sweep (opt-in via dev_debug_runtime = true in settings/hardware.toml) logs missing addresses to logs/stub_sweep.txt; the missing-function scan logs to logs/missed_functions.txt.

Requirements

• CMake 3.25+
• Ninja
• Clang / LLVM (clang-cl works too) - MSVC alone will not build this (the generated code uses GNU/Clang builtins like __builtin_rotateleft64)
• ABGX360 to dump the Xbox 360 disc, or extract-xiso to unpack an existing ISO
• Your own legally-owned copy of Perfect Dark Zero, extracted from the Xbox 360 disc/ISO

The ReXGlue SDK release archive is auto-downloaded by the CMake configure step - see Getting the SDK.

Getting the SDK

The ReXGlue SDK version is pinned in CMakeLists.txt (REXSDK_VERSION "0.10.0"). The CMake configure step auto-downloads the matching release archive for your platform (Windows / Linux / macOS) into rexglue/<platform>/ via cmake/fetch-rexglue-sdk.cmake - no manual download needed. The SDK itself is gitignored; only rexglue/README.md is checked in.

Getting the game data

1. Dump the Xbox 360 disc with ABGX360 (verify against the hashes below) or extract an existing ISO with extract-xiso, which unpacks the disc's file tree.
2. Copy the extracted contents directly into assets/, so default.xex sits at assets/default.xex alongside the rest of the disc's files.
3. assets/ is gitignored (assets/* in .gitignore, with a couple of small tracked exceptions) - nothing from the disc is, or should be, committed to this repo.

Target retail release (verify your dump matches):

Field	Value
Title ID	4D5307D3
XEX CRC	375EC9BB
XEX Media ID	6D6481013A4FDD3DA32BD2D0-750FF1D9
DMI CRC	3B16ECC2
PFI CRC	739CEAB3

Build

cmake --preset win-amd64-release
cmake --build --preset win-amd64-release

cmake --preset linux-amd64-release
cmake --build --preset linux-amd64-release

cmake --preset mac-amd64-release
cmake --build --preset mac-amd64-release

Other presets (*-debug, *-relwithdebinfo, *-arm64) are listed in CMakePresets.json.

Codegen (translating assets/default.xex into generated/default/*.cpp) runs automatically as a build step (perfectdarkzerorecomp_codegen CMake target) whenever perfectdarkzerorecomp_manifest.toml or an included .toml changes. It can also be run directly: rexglue\win-amd64\bin\rexglue.exe codegen.

Cross-platform builds

Nothing in this repo is Windows-only - CMakeLists.txt, the generated generated/rexglue.cmake, and src/perfectdarkzerorecomp_app.h are already platform-agnostic (the one WIN32-guarded bit is the add_executable(... WIN32 ...) subsystem flag). CMakePresets.json already ships matching configure/build presets for every platform the SDK publishes: win-amd64, linux-amd64, linux-arm64, mac-amd64, mac-arm64 (*-debug / *-release / *-relwithdebinfo each) - none of that needs adding.

What's missing to actually build for one of them: download that platform's release archive to rexglue/<platform>/, add a CMakeUserPresets.json preset pointing CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH there, and actually build/run it on that OS/architecture (the real constraint - win-arm64 isn't published by the SDK at all, despite CMakePresets.json having generic presets for it).

Run

cd out\build\win-amd64-release
.\perfectdarkzerorecomp.exe

cd out/build/linux-amd64-release
./perfectdarkzerorecomp

cd out/build/mac-amd64-release
./perfectdarkzerorecomp

Both --game_data_root and --gpu_plugin are optional: OnConfigurePaths() in src/perfectdarkzerorecomp_app.h defaults game_data_root to <repo_root>/assets when it isn't set via flag/env var, and gpu_plugin = "xenos" already lives in settings/hardware.toml.

Useful extra flags/env vars while developing:

Flag / env var	Effect
--game_data_root <path>	Overrides the default <repo_root>/assets game-files location.
--gpu_plugin xenos	Overrides settings/hardware.toml's gpu_plugin. Only needed if you want a different plugin than the file specifies.
--graphics_backend d3d12|vulkan|any	Forces the graphics API rexgpu-xenos uses (cvar, default "any", which picks D3D12 first). See settings/README.md.
--pdz_fps60_unlock=true	Ported xenia-canary game-patches "60 FPS" patch for PDZ retail. Enabled by default in settings/hardware.toml. See settings/README.md.
--pdz_aspect_ratio_16_9=true	Ported xenia-canary game-patches "Aspect Ratio" patch. Off by default. See settings/README.md.

Logs are written to out\build\<preset>\logs\*.log (the exe is built WIN32, so nothing prints to the console).

Configuration

Rendering/window/vsync and input-backend defaults are checked in under settings/ (hardware.toml / mapping.toml), loaded automatically at startup. CLI flags and REX_* environment variables always override them - see settings/README.md for the full reference and precedence rules.

How this project was set up (history)

1. rexglue init --project-name PerfectDarkZeroRecomp --xex-path assets\default.xex generated CMakeLists.txt, CMakePresets.json, perfectdarkzerorecomp_manifest.toml, generated/rexglue.cmake, src/main.cpp, src/perfectdarkzerorecomp_app.h.
2. First rexglue codegen failed analysis with 1 UnresolvedCall error (a plain b branch to an address the auto-analyzer never registered as a function). Fixed by adding 0x8250B06C = {} to default_functions.toml under [functions] and including that file from the manifest (includes = ["default_functions.toml"]).
3. Added CMakeUserPresets.json (local-debug/local-release/local-relwithdebinfo) so CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH finds the SDK without touching the generated, overwritable CMakePresets.json.
4. Added GPU_PLUGINS xenos to the rexglue_setup_target() call in CMakeLists.txt so rexgpu-xenos*.dll gets staged next to the exe, plus a post-build step to stage settings/gamecontrollerdb.txt next to the exe for SDL gamepad mapping fallback.
5. Hooks into PerfectdarkzerorecompApp: two-pass settings loading (OnConfigurePaths + OnPostSetup), the graphics_backend cvar (forces Vulkan/D3D12 via OnPreSetup), and the stub-sweep safety net.
6. First build failed to compile (not just analyze) with two "use of undeclared label" errors in generated/default/perfectdarkzerorecomp_recomp.190.cpp
   • "Codegen edge case: cross-function tail jumps".
7. First runtime boot's stub sweep needed its code-range constants derived: ran once with an intentionally oversized placeholder range, took the first SetFunction: address ... outside all registered module ranges log line as the real end boundary, then narrowed the range and reran to confirm zero out-of-range hits.
8. Ported two optional gameplay patches from xenia-canary's game-patches repository (60 FPS, Aspect Ratio) as cvars. The 60 FPS patch is enabled by default in settings/hardware.toml; the Aspect Ratio patch is off by default.

Known issues and difficulties encountered

• Manual function boundaries are an ongoing, iterative process.
• Codegen edge case: cross-function tail jumps. PPC compilers sometimes emit a shared tail block split across two functions by rexglue's Discover/Merge phases - a goto across that boundary doesn't compile ("use of undeclared label"). The build now auto-patches these after every codegen run via cmake/fix-unresolved-tail-jumps.cmake: each broken goto is replaced with a logged early return. Duplicating or refactoring the shared tail block correctly would need much deeper disassembly work than this bring-up pass covered.
• Stubbed-function access violations. When the stub sweep is enabled (dev_debug_runtime = true), stubbed functions return garbage that can be dereferenced downstream, producing access violations like Unhandled guest access violation: read of guest 0x00000000. logs/stub_sweep.txt is the starting point: find the addresses it logged, work out which ones are real, add them to default_functions.toml, rebuild, repeat.

Credits

• ReXGlue SDK (releases)
• ABGX360 - used to dump the Xbox 360 disc
• extract-xiso (releases) - used to unpack the Xbox 360 ISO into the file tree copied into assets/
• xenia / xenia-canary - ReXGlue's runtime is derived from Xenia's
• xenia-canary/game-patches - source of the ported pdz_fps60_unlock / pdz_aspect_ratio_16_9 patches
• mdqinc/SDL_GameControllerDB - settings/gamecontrollerdb.txt