Azure Dreams HD Recompilation

Azure Dreams HD Recompilation

A native Windows PC port of Azure Dreams (PlayStation, USA, SLUS-00614), made by statically recompiling the original game code to C with psxrecomp, with the recomp-ui launcher.

This repository does not contain the game. You need your own legal copy of the disc. No game data, BIOS, or recompiled game code is distributed here.

Features

All are toggles in the launcher (Settings / Mods). Defaults are the HD Widescreen setup; turn everything off for the original experience.

Feature	Default	Notes
16:9 widescreen	on	Wider town and tower view at the original proportions; HUD panel and dungeon minimap moved to the wide edges. Movies and menus stay 4:3.
HD rendering	4x	Internal resolution up to 4x.
PGXP precision	on	No polygon wobble; perspective-correct textures (separate checkbox).
Fast loading	on (uncapped)	Includes in-game saves and loads: about 2–3 s instead of 17–22 s.
Movie filter	bicubic	Smoother upscaling of movies and the title art.
Borderless fullscreen	on*	Alt+Enter toggles a maximised window; Alt+F4 quits.

* Set by the portable package; a fresh source build starts windowed.

Controllers: any SDL gamepad or the keyboard, in the original digital-pad mode (the game predates the DualShock and ignores analog-mode pads).

Building (Windows)

Tested from a fresh clone on Windows 10 with only Git and Python installed (the framework fetched its own toolchain). Please open an issue if a step fails for you.

Requirements: Git, Python 3, and your own Azure Dreams (USA).cue/.bin (the cue/bin SHA-1s are listed in game.toml under [prepare_disc]). The C toolchain (clang, CMake, Ninja, SDL3) is downloaded by psxrecomp; you do not need CMake installed.

Clone into a short folder such as C:\src. The framework has deeply nested files, and a long path fails on Windows with "Filename too long". Alternatively run git config --global core.longpaths true first.

cd C:\src
git clone --recursive https://github.com/PotionDweller/Azure-Dreams-HD-Recompilation.git AzureDreamsRecomp
cd AzureDreamsRecomp

# 1. Apply this project's framework fixes (see patches/README.md).
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\apply-psxrecomp-patch.ps1

# 2. Download the toolchain and generate the game C from YOUR disc.
python psxrecomp\psxrecomp_cli.py ensure-toolchain
python psxrecomp\psxrecomp_cli.py generate --config game.toml --project-root . --disc "C:\path\to\Azure Dreams (USA).cue"

# 3. Build (uses the framework's own toolchain).
python psxrecomp\psxrecomp_cli.py rebuild --config game.toml --project-root . --build-dir build-release --target psx-runtime --no-pgo

Then run build-release\AzureDreams_Recompiled.exe. The launcher opens; pick your disc with Browse For Disc the first time, then press PLAY.

Overlays (optional, for speed)

Azure Dreams loads extra code ("overlays") at runtime. Out of the box those run in the framework's interpreter, which works but is slower. To compile them: set overlay_cache = true (already on in game.toml), play through the areas you care about, close the game normally, then run psxrecomp\tools\compile_overlays.py --static and rebuild. Captures contain game code and are gitignored; each player makes their own.

Original or HD

presets/ holds two ready-made setups, picked with --preset:

• --preset hd: widescreen, 4x resolution, perspective-correct textures, smoothed movies, Fast Loading and 150% CPU (no slowdown).
• --preset original: plays like the PlayStation: 4:3, native resolution, original loading and speed.

Each keeps its own settings and mod choices in presets/<name>/ next to the exe; the disc choice, controls and memory cards are shared. Add --no-launcher to skip the launcher.

Release package

scripts\package-release.ps1 -Zip turns a Release build into dist\AzureDreams-HD-Recompiled-<VERSION>.zip: the exe, OpenBIOS, mods, both presets with a .bat launcher each, and a player README. It contains no game data (the script refuses to package disc images, saves, captures or box art); players pick their own disc image on first launch.

Findings

Everything discovered while making this port is written up in docs/FINDINGS.md, and you are welcome to use it for your own experiments, mods or ports: the memory addresses and original values behind the widescreen view, the HUD and minimap positions, the screen-edge checks and the loading speed-ups, plus the debug commands used to find them.

Repository layout

Path	What
game.toml	Game config: identity, video defaults, widescreen cull sites, controller
src/mod_widescreen.c	Widescreen mod plugin (view rectangle, HUD, minimap)
mods/preloaded/packages/	Mod packages shown in the launcher (widescreen; default-on overrides of Fast Loading and PGXP)
presets/	The Original and HD setups (--preset original / --preset hd)
scripts/package-release.ps1	Builds the release zip (no game data)
patches/	Fixes applied to the pinned psxrecomp framework
docs/FINDINGS.md	What does what: addresses and values behind widescreen, the HUD/minimap moves and the speed-ups, and how they were found
psxrecomp/, recomp-ui/	Framework and launcher submodules (pinned)

Credits

• psxrecomp and recomp-ui — the static recompilation framework and launcher this port is built on.
• OpenBIOS — the bundled open-source PlayStation BIOS.
• libretro-thumbnails — optional launcher box art.

This port was made with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic's AI assistant, via Claude Code). Claude helped with:

• Debugging — tracking down framework issues such as the black screen before the intro movie, controller input, fullscreen hotkeys and Fast Loading behaviour, using the framework's debug server and logs.
• Reverse engineering — tracing the game's code and memory while it runs to find what the enhancements needed: the camera view rectangle that decides which terrain is drawn, the HUD position table, the dungeon minimap's drawing routine and clip window, and the screen-edge culling checks.
• Writing code — the widescreen mod, the framework patches in patches/, and the build and packaging scripts.

All changes were tested in-game by the project owner.

If you take issue with AI-assisted recompilations, that's fine: you're free to use something else or make your own.

Legal

You must own the original game. Disc images, BIOS dumps, saves, overlay captures and generated C are gitignored and must never be committed. The bundled OpenBIOS is used by default. Azure Dreams is © Konami; this project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Konami.

Optional box art (launcher_assets/img/, not included) can be fetched from libretro-thumbnails with psxrecomp\tools\new_project_layout\fetch_boxart.py; see BOXART_SOURCE.txt.

Symbols

Progressive map: symbols.toml → python tools/sync_symbols.py → psx_symbols.h (PSX_FN_*). See psxrecomp/docs/SYMBOLS.md.