santiquiroz/gears-of-war-2-pc-port v0.4.0

v0.4.0: HDR10, FSR 3 frame generation, F12 screenshots and mods

on GitHub

What's new

All of these are off by default (except F12 screenshots and the 16:10/4:3 change) and need testers on more PCs. Each one has a testing thread: please report there.

• HDR10 output (Direct3D 12). PC Options > Display > HDR, then restart, with HDR on in Windows. HDR brightness (paper white) and HDR peak brightness are adjustable. The log says HDR10: on (...) or why it stayed off. Testing thread: #47.
• F12 screenshots. F12 saves the game picture, without menus, as a PNG in Pictures\Gears of War 2 PC. PC Options > System > F12 screenshots turns it off. Testing thread: #47.
• FSR 3 frame generation (Direct3D 12). PC Options > Graphics > Frame generation = FSR 3, with the FSR 3.1 or FSR 4 upscaler, then restart. It doubles the displayed frame rate. The log says frame generation: on (...) or why it stayed off. Testing thread: #48.
• VRR frame cap. PC Options > Display > Frame rate limit = Monitor refresh - 3 (VRR) (gow2_fps_cap = -1, needs Unlock frame rate) keeps the frame rate inside the VRR range; with frame generation on the cap is halved.
• Mods folder. A mods folder next to gow2.exe: each subfolder is one mod, loaded in name order (a later mod wins). Mods can carry loose game files in the same GearGame\... layout COGBox uses, and texture packs. Nothing touches your game files: delete a mod folder to undo it. Guide: docs/MODDING.md. Testing thread: #49.
• Stacked texture packs. Texture packs from mods stack with the pack chosen in PC Options; when two packs replace the same texture, the later mod wins and mods win over the chosen pack. The log counts replacements per folder, and a DDS without a full mip chain now says how to fix it (texconv -m 0).
• Keep original menus and text (experimental). PC Options > Graphics: texture packs leave the menus, HUD and text untouched and replace the rest. Takes effect at once. Testing thread: #49.
• 16:10 and 4:3 monitors. With PC Options > Display > Aspect ratio on Automatic, a 16:10 or 4:3 monitor now gets Vert+ (more picture above and below instead of a cropped 16:9).
• Menu size. PC Options > Display > Menu size scales the PC Options menu from 75 to 125 %.
• DLSS stays out of the release (NVIDIA's DLSS SDK license does not allow it in an open-source release). You can add it yourself: OptiScaler with FSR 3.1 or FSR 4 selected in the port, or build the SDK DLLs with your own copy of the DLSS SDK (see the README).

How to update

1. Download gow2-recomp-0.4.0-win64.zip below.
2. Open the zip and copy everything inside its gow2-recomp-0.4.0-win64 folder into your game folder, replacing the files. Your gow2.toml stays.

Tested

• Host tests: all pass (options catalog, frame cap, widescreen math, mods planner, game patches).
• The release build boots to the title screen at 60 fps on an RX 7800 XT with the defaults, and a texture pack still loads.
• HDR10, frame generation, the mods folder and Keep original menus and text have not had a full play session yet. That is why they are off by default and why the testing threads exist.

Known issues

• Missing characters and flickering weapons on an RTX 3070 Ti with Emulated (EDRAM) at 21:9. Not fixed yet, and not reproduced on our AMD card. If you see it, please open an issue with a screenshot or a short clip, the chapter and your log.
• White textures now and then on an RTX 3070 Ti with Emulated (EDRAM) the first time a chapter runs, while the shader cache is still empty.
• Death after being knocked down (issue #38): still needs a log from this port from a run where it happens.
• Vulkan on Radeon Vega (issue #34): after quitting to the main menu, the menu text can turn invisible.
• HDR10 and frame generation need Direct3D 12; on Vulkan they stay off.
• Coalesced*.bin files in mods are not loaded yet.
• Every player in a System Link or co-op session must run the same release.

Downloads

• gow2-recomp-0.4.0-win64.zip: Windows 10/11 x64. Bring your own game files: your .iso or an extracted folder (see QUICKSTART.txt).
• No new Android APK in this release: the new features are for Windows. Android players stay on the 0.3.18 APK.

The zip was scanned with Microsoft Defender before upload. Windows 11 "Bad Image ... 0xc0e90002" is Smart App Control blocking the unsigned DLLs (see the README).