v0.13.0 — Language, audio and controller input

This release combines PR #156 (audio heap/window separation), #153 (language
mods, the disc's French interface and English Story subtitles), and #158
(ordered controller transitions and software input tracing).

• Heap RAM uses its first-mirror physical alias, preventing music/speech buffers
  from reading a different heap page when memory layout changes.
• Language mods contain deltas against the player's own dump and rebuild into a
  local cache. They do not change the dump; no translated game data is shipped.
• A language mod can include its own HD images beside its translation deltas.
  Its images load beneath the other texture packs when that language mod is active.
• The interface offers the game's built-in French and English subtitles in
  every Story cutscene. French voices and icon artwork remain English; some
  disc strings, including 69 gym tips, are untranslated. Choose subtitle behavior
  in the launcher under Interface / Language and subtitles.
• Rapid controller presses retain ordered transitions through guest consumption.
  Host acquisition targets 1 ms. Optional late refresh remains off by default;
  tracing measures software delivery, not physical display latency.
• Explicit pointer casts fix the new late-input path's Apple Clang/Linux build.
• Setup retains the existing local-build model for Windows x64, Apple Silicon
  macOS and Linux x64. macOS setup CI uses macos-15. The source tree also carries
  main's separation of private texture-authoring records from runtime integration.

Toolkit: d569ca10811cef67ec4e9fa2173088c2f9fd0580. New guest wrappers require
fresh analysis/lifting when building from an older checkout. Setup compiles the
player's verified supported USA Xbox dump locally. No game executable or game
assets are distributed.

Regression results and known limits

All three platforms completed their RC testing with widescreen enabled, a
2048 MiB replacement-texture cache, full local Lanczos 4x, HD Widescreen Menus
1.4.0 and HD Fighters 1.0.0. Lanczos loads first; the specialized mods take
priority. French menus and actual English subtitle captures passed visual
review on all three platforms. Saves were restored by the test guards.
Original-image goldens remain a separate stock 4:3 compatibility lane.

• Windows: full suite 16/17, four Windows-inapplicable SDL UI checks skipped.
  Units 745 passed / 28 skipped / one slow test deselected; both tracing trials
  passed 40/40 presses through nine stages. The memory gate recorded +96.7 MiB
  and +375.6 MiB on confirmation against 64 MiB. Longer combined-pack observations
  passed, while a Lanczos-only control still exceeded the limit. Historical
  failures and accepted release qualifications remain in the
  Windows report.
• macOS: initial full suite 16/21, targeted failed-check run 4/5. Build and
  sleep-affected results were qualified and rerun. The fresh awake input
  confirmation still generated only 38/40 scheduled presses with late refresh
  off; all 38 reached every downstream stage. Refresh on passed 40/40. This is
  an unresolved short-pulse script/injection observation, not proof that the
  game dropped received input. Awake memory controls passed the 64 MiB limit;
  one audio-dry control failed, then its confirmation passed. See the
  Mac report.
• Linux / Steam Deck: gameplay, French/subtitles, launcher/overlay and both
  controller-tracing trials passed. Two-match memory growth failed at +73.2 MiB
  and +67.8 MiB. Replay/repeat retain the known Deck golden difference: 79 records
  versus 80, although the two repeat runs agree with each other. See the
  Linux results
  and existing issue #98.

The platform RC runs preceded the final language-mod HD-image addition from
PR #153. That addition is checked by synthetic installer/launcher/native-language
fixtures and targeted Windows checks; those earlier platform runs do not certify
that newly activated translation-image path.

The owner approved the Windows playtest and authorized release on November 1,
2026 with these regression qualifications. Full results are not described as
all-green. The 64 MiB memory threshold and goldens were not relaxed. Local setup
install/Clean Update acceptance and a separate Deck playtest were not performed
for this train; the game-free setup builds are covered by CI.

Follow-up bugs:

• #166 — Investigate cross-platform memory-growth limits and HD scene allocations.
• #161 — SC04 audio falls behind video part way through.
• #162 — Widescreen map border does not account for the Shops area.

PR #146 and the v0.14.0 feature train are excluded. See
regression reproduction commands and
known issues for details.