akratch/goldenballoon v1.2.0

Golden Balloon 1.2.0

on GitHub

Feature release. Bring your own ROM (US 1.1 or EU 1.1) — no game data is included.

New

• Content packs — drop a folder or .zip with a pack.ini into the mods folder to replace artwork, and .wav files to replace music. Press Tab in-game to compare against the original. How to make one: docs/MODDING.md. Note: a pack applies in every mode, including Original — remove it if you need the pixel-exact picture.
• The launcher can speak — Settings → Accessibility can read the focused control out loud, and announce your position, lap, item and finish in a race. Off by default. Heard working on macOS; built for Windows and Linux but not yet heard on real hardware there — reports welcome.
• Enhancements menu — speedometer, draw distance, model detail, opponent skill. Every row says whether it changes how the game plays. All off by default.
• Developer tools — console, free camera, collision and object viewers, performance window, crash report, behind one off-by-default switch.
• ROM checker — the website can name your ROM's release and say whether the port runs it. The file is read in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
• The settings screen is rewritten: grouped by what you are trying to do, one line per setting, and the one setting that changes how the game plays is marked and kept apart.

Fixed

• Smokey Castle portraits stay inside the shrinking results frame — and every other 2D clip in the game holds now too (#25).
• Boss rematches are winnable again at 60 FPS with the Enhanced tick rate; menus no longer scroll double-speed there either (#26).
• Adventure Two no longer mirrors the tournament announcement text (#27).
• Waterfalls and fences no longer stutter under motion smoothing; rain, snow and lens flares move with the scene; hard camera cuts cut instead of blending; no more black panels in Remastered.

First launch

• macOS (unsigned): System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
• Windows (not code-signed): SmartScreen → More info → Run anyway.

Each file has a .provenance.json with its source commit and SHA-256. Full details in RELEASE_NOTES.md.