Windows (CrashBandicoot.exe):
Everything new in 2.5
Two big ones this time: a brand new Vulkan renderer, and Heavy Machinery is now fully fixed in widescreen.
🚀 Vulkan renderer
- New Vulkan renderer for desktop and Android, built from scratch next to the existing OpenGL one.
- Vulkan is now the default on Windows (Settings › Graphics › Renderer › Auto). It needs a Vulkan 1.0 driver: NVIDIA GeForce 600 series, AMD Radeon HD 7000 series, Intel HD Graphics 500 (Skylake) or newer. If Vulkan is missing or fails to start, the game opens with OpenGL on its own, so nothing breaks.
- Renderer › OpenGL skips Vulkan completely if you prefer the old path.
- Linux: Auto still uses OpenGL for now. Pick Vulkan in the Renderer list to try it.
- Android: Vulkan is a switch in Settings, off by default (on the phones we tested it was no faster than OpenGL ES yet).
- Faster on every renderer: lower CPU cost for RAM write tracking and the 16:9 side rendering. On our test phone (Galaxy S24) unlocked FPS went from about 155 to about 205.
🏭 Heavy Machinery: the first truly finished widescreen level
Until now, most 16:9 fixes were generated by automatic tools and AI. They removed the worst holes, but the results were often rough: fake fills, stretched pieces, things that didn't look like the real game.
Heavy Machinery is different. Every 16:9 fix in this level was rebuilt by hand in the Wide Editor, polygon by polygon, using the real game as the reference. No automatic tools and no guessing. I went through every camera passage in the level again and again, in the editor and in game, and checked each one against what the original actually looks like.
The result is, as far as I can tell, perfect, or extremely close to it. It's what playing Heavy Machinery in 16:9 should always have looked like. This is now the standard for every other level. (#172)
Also in Heavy Machinery:
- The lift discs now draw correctly in front of the steam box and the red ring.
🛠️ Fixes
High FPS (game logic)
- Hog Wild: the final jump is no longer extremely hard or impossible at 120 FPS. (#217)
- Hog levels: Crash no longer vibrates while riding the hog. (#207)
- Vertical moving platforms: Crash no longer floats above them or sinks into them. (#193)
- Falling: Crash no longer seems to speed up when falling at 60 FPS. (#194)
- Slippery Climb: sliding off the slippery steps now matches the original. (#198)
- Road to Nowhere: the bridge planks fall on time again. (#210)
- Tawna bonus round: the invisible wall at the end is back when you try to walk back after finishing it. (#212)
- Island map: smooth camera when moving between levels, and no more jerky map rotation or unwanted full spins. (#191, #196)
Widescreen (16:9 / ultrawide)
- Heavy Machinery: fully rebuilt by hand (see above). (#172)
- The Great Gate: 3rd pass, hand-made fixes. (#205)
- Lights Out: hand-made fixes. (#209)
- Additive glows (steam, light effects) no longer hide objects behind them.
Audio
- Music timing: music no longer drifts or stutters. Audio is now generated in step with the game's frames. (#215)
- Return to launcher: no more buzzing or old audio when you start a new game after going back to the launcher. (#218)
🧰 For contributors
- Wide Editor: edits in the 4:3 centre: hand-made triangles can now also show in the 4:3 centre of the screen (optional, needs confirmation), and they are depth-tested so they stay hidden behind platforms.
- Wide Editor: "complete from twin": finds other copies of the same model in the level, previews the missing triangles in place and lets you add them in one go. You can pick single pieces by clicking, by drawing a rectangle, or select all.
- Widescreen probe: OpenGL selection, custom resolution and per-render triangle logging.