CR1-U

CR1:U - Chaos Rings, reimplemented

CR1:U is a new, native version of Chaos Rings (Square Enix / Media.Vision, 2010) for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. It was rebuilt from scratch by studying the iPad's Chaos Rings HD 1.0.1, and it plays the whole game: field, story scenes, battles, menus and all 64 puzzle rooms, checked against the original's code and a reference playthrough.

No game data is included. The engine is new code; it loads the game from your own copy when it starts. Nothing of the game - art, audio, text, scripts or code, or anything made from them - is in this repository or in the downloads.

• What you need
• Install and first start
• Controls
• Settings worth knowing
• Extras: Vita saves, trophies, HD textures and models
• Troubleshooting
• Building from source
• Credits and licence

What you need

A copy of Chaos Rings from any of these releases. One is enough:

Release	What to have	Notes
iPad Chaos Rings HD 1.0.1	the .ipa, or its unpacked ChaosRingsHD.app	the release the port was built from
iPhone 2.2.0	the .ipa, or its unpacked ChaosRings.app	voiced; iPhone screen layout
Android 1.1.1 (Google Play)	the APK and main.100.com.square_enix.chaosrings.googleplay.obb	sharper textures, its own art
PlayStation Vita (PCSG00497)	the installed game (as Vita3K installs it), or a NoNpDrm dump	voices, ATRAC9 music, scripts in eight languages, lossless art; a 960 x 544 layout

The Vita game can also come from the Prequel Trilogy (PCSG00457): its add-on holds the game's data and is merged in.

Having more than one helps. With several copies, the iOS one is the game and the others add to it - the Vita's voices, music, languages and lossless art, the Android release's sharper textures and art. Each add-on can be switched off in Options, Game (Vita Assets / Android Assets). Without an iOS copy, the Vita copy alone is the game; without either, the Android release is.

Install and first start

1. Download the file for your system from the releases and unzip it.

2. Start chaosrings.

3. If it doesn't find your game, it asks for it. Pick your copy in the window it opens:

   • iOS: the .ipa (or any file inside the unpacked .app);
   • Android: the APK and the OBB, both at once;
   • Vita: Vita3K's folder with the game installed (or its ux0), the game's PCSG00497 folder, or a NoNpDrm dump - as a folder or packed as .zip, .rar, .7z or .vpk. Dumps are decrypted for you, as Vita3K's install does.

   You can add several before pressing Start. The files the port needs are copied into the game folder (or the profile folder, if the game folder can't be written), so the originals can be moved or deleted afterwards.

• Windows: if SmartScreen warns about an unsigned program, choose More info, Run anyway.
• macOS: right-click chaosrings.app and choose Open (it isn't signed).
• Linux: chmod +x the AppImage, then run it.
• iPhone / iPad (iOS 15+): the download's .ipa is unsigned: sideload it with AltStore, Sideloadly or the like (they sign it with your Apple ID). Put your copy into the app's folder in the Files app (On My iPhone / iPad > Chaos Rings, or Finder's Files tab with the device connected): ios/ (the .app, or the .ipa itself - unpacked when the game starts), android/ or vita/, then Look again. It runs at the display's rate (120 Hz on ProMotion screens), keeps the menus clear of the camera's notch or punch hole, and with Layout on Auto takes the iPhone layout on a small screen and the iPad layout on a large one - on a foldable it changes as you fold or open it. Tried on an iPhone Duo (both screens). The first start's setup offers a file picker too.
• Android: install the APK. The first start's setup works on the phone too (it picks files; folders are copied in over USB). Or copy your files over USB into Android/data/local.preservation.chaosrings/files/, in an ios/, android/ or vita/ folder.

Putting the files in by hand

Instead of the setup you can place your copy in the game folder yourself - the folder that holds chaosrings / chaosrings.exe, the .AppImage or chaosrings.app (on Android, the folder above). The release downloads already have these folders, each with a README.txt:

<game folder>/
├── ios/        ChaosRingsHD.app/ (iPad 1.0.1), ChaosRings.app/ (iPhone 2.2.0), Payload/... as unpacked - or the .ipa itself, unpacked there when the game starts
├── android/    the OBB and the 1.1.1 APK (or the APK's classes.dex) - or its .xapk / .apks, unpacked there when the game starts
├── vita/       PCSG00497/ as installed - or a NoNpDrm dump's app/ (and addcont/), decrypted there when the game starts
├── translation/ optional: a fan translation (Russian), or the archive it comes in - see Fan translation
├── fsr4/       optional: AMD FSR 4's files (see Settings)
├── textures/   optional: export/ and hd/ for HD textures
└── models/     optional: export/ and hd/ for HD models

A hand-placed .ipa or Android .xapk / .apks is unpacked once, under a progress window, by the start that finds it - which then goes on with it (listed in that folder's .unpacked, so it isn't unpacked again); it can be deleted afterwards. Each release may sit one or two folders down (as it was unpacked or installed), and the folder names below ios/, android/ and vita/ don't matter. Older places still work too: dataHD/, data/, ChaosRingsHD.app/ or Payload/ straight in the game folder.

For a copy kept elsewhere, use --data <iOS data>, --vita <PCSG00497 folder> or --android <folder> (or the variables CR_DATA, CR_VITA, CR_ANDROID), or pick the folder in Options, Game; --vita none / --android none start without that add-on. If nothing is found, the program tells you where it looked.

Fan translation

metastigma's Russian translation (a rePatch for the Vita release, PCSG00497) is a language of its own here rather than a replacement: put its .7z (or its PCSG00497 folder) into translation/ - the archive is unpacked into translation/ru/ on the next start - and choose Русский (fan translation) after the game's eight languages in Options, Game, Language. English and the rest stay as they were: the game's files aren't touched, and the translation's text and redrawn art (message window, menu names, titles) are read from it only while it is the language. It works over the iOS copy, the Vita copy or both (the Vita copy as the game shows its translated title screens too). --translation <folder or cr1.psarc> (or CR_TRANSLATION) gives one from elsewhere; --language 8 starts in it.

Settings and saves live in your profile folder, not the game folder: ~/.local/share/preservation/ChaosRingsHD/ (Linux), %APPDATA%\preservation\ChaosRingsHD\ (Windows), ~/Library/Application Support/preservation/ChaosRingsHD/ (macOS).

All four ports (CR1:U, CRO-U, CR2-U, CR3-U) find their copies the same way.

Controls

A controller plays as the Vita release does. The face buttons go by position, so on an Xbox pad ○ is B, × is A, △ is Y and □ is X. ○ confirms and × cancels, as in the Japanese release; Options, Game, "Swap ○ and ×" turns that round. Tested with a Steam Controller (through Steam Input).

Button	On the field	In menus and dialogue	In puzzle rooms
Left stick / D-pad	walk (the stick past half way runs; the D-pad runs, as on the Vita)	move the cursor (held, a list repeats)	walk
○	examine / talk	confirm, turn the page	examine
×	-	cancel, back	-
△	open the Camp (the Vita copy: the corner bar - D-pad or stick picks, ○ presses, × shuts)	close the Camp (not in the Vita copy: × does)	open the Camp
□	-	skip a scene's text (until a choice); hold for a fast staff roll	use the pair's ability
L / R	-	previous / next page; the Camp's categories, member and Status views, the shop's member, a count (held, it repeats)	-
START	Options	close Options	restart the puzzle
SELECT	the corner bar (Camp, Save, Map, encounters)	-	the puzzle's help
Right stick / R3	-	-	a touch pointer: the stick moves it, R3 held is the finger (lift and swipe blocks, tap anything)

Keyboard / mouse
W A S D (Shift runs)	walk; in menus, the cursor as the arrow keys
E / Enter / Space	examine, confirm, turn the page
Esc / Backspace	cancel, back, answer No (on the field itself Esc quits)
K	the Camp
R	the corner bar; J switches this pair's encounters once skill 170 is known
X	skip a scene's text
V	Options
PgUp / PgDn (Q / E in Options)	pages
T, F5, F6	puzzle rooms: the ability straight ahead, retry, help
F3	toggle Control Hints (also in Options, Game; saved between runs)
F11 or Alt+Enter	windowed / fullscreen (Options, Display page's Display row; the fullscreen kind last chosen there, borderless at first; saved between runs; desktop only)
Mouse	everything the original takes by touch: plates, buttons, the dialogue, the corner button; drag to push a block in puzzle rooms

Touch (or the mouse) works as in the original: put a finger down anywhere on the field and drag - a pad appears there and the leader walks the way you point, running when you pull further. Next to something you can use, the "!" button in the bottom right corner (or a tap on the "!" above it) examines or talks.

Settings worth knowing

The defaults are the original's presentation, drawn at 60 frames a second; Options changes it. A few highlights:

• Game: Language, Field Speed and Battle Speed (Off or 2x - 5x; walking and battles only - scenes, talk and menus keep their pace; --field-speed n / --battle-speed n for one run), Swap ○ and ×, Control Hints, Vita / Android Assets, Import Vita Saves, the Instruction Manual.
• Display: resolution and window mode, 4:3 or Wide (the menus stay at the screen's edges, as the later widescreen release does), Layout (Auto, iPad, iPhone or Android screens), Painted Rooms (Original, or Fill to zoom the painted rooms to cover a wide screen), VSync and Frame Rate (30 / 60 / 120 / 144 / unlimited - the game runs at its own 20 steps a second and the port draws the movement in between). "Original Presentation" puts it all back.
• Detail: HD Textures, HD Models, Smooth Models (rounder silhouettes), anisotropic filtering, Smooth or Sharp texture filtering.
• Graphics (Vulkan): Render Scale, anti-aliasing (MSAA, FSR Native AA, DLAA) and an Upscaler - FSR 3.1 (built in), FSR 4, DLSS or MetalFX - with Upscale Mode and Sharpness.

Notes on the upscalers:

• FSR 4 (Linux and Windows, AMD RX 6000 series or later) needs AMD's own files in the fsr4/ folder; AMD's licence doesn't let the port include them. Its README.txt says where each comes from; on Linux they run natively through ffx-vk-linux, no Wine. Without them you have FSR 3.1.
• DLSS isn't in the downloads: NVIDIA's library is proprietary and can't ship with GPL code. You can build it in for your own use (see Building from source).
• MetalFX (macOS 13+) is built but hasn't been tried on a real Mac yet.

Fonts: the game draws its text in the system's fonts - Arial's widths (Arial, Liberation Sans or Arimo) and a CJK font (Noto Sans CJK, Hiragino, Yu Gothic) for Japanese, Chinese and Korean. To use your own, put .ttf / .otf / .ttc files in the game folder's font/: one with CJK characters replaces the CJK font (a second named ...bold... the Japanese bold), one without replaces Arial. Its README.txt has the details; with the folder empty nothing changes.

With Vulkan, the profile folder keeps vulkan-pipelines.bin so later starts and new screens don't compile the graphics pipelines again. It is safe to delete; a new GPU or driver starts it afresh.

Extras

Vita saves. Bring your Vita progress over: on the title screen, Options, Game, Import Vita Saves, then choose the decrypted, exported save folder and confirm. Your current saves are backed up first, and no Python is needed. CR1 supports level 100. Details and an optional command-line converter: docs/VITA_SAVES.md.

Trophies. The Vita release's 16 trophies unlock as you play, whichever copy is the game, with a notification like the Vita's. Their names and pictures come from the Vita copy when you have it.

HD textures. Make upscaled textures from your own copy and the game draws them instead:

1. chaosrings --export-textures writes every picture to textures/export/.
2. python3 tools/hd_textures.py <game folder> upscales them into textures/hd/ with waifu2x or Real-ESRGAN (needs Python 3 with NumPy and Pillow). Any upscaler or image editor works too: save the result under the same name.
3. Start the game: with textures/hd/ present, HD Textures turns on (Options, Detail).

HD models. chaosrings --export-models writes every model as glTF (.glb) to models/export/, ready for Blender, animations included. Edit one, keeping its armature, save it to models/hd/<package>.glb and switch on Options, Detail, HD Models.

Both are for personal use: what you make comes from the game's art, so keep it out of anything you share. The rules (sizes, names, the Vita's .cralias links, what the model loader reads) are in docs/HD_ASSETS.md.

Troubleshooting

• "No copy found" / the setup opens every time: check the folder layout above; the program lists where it looked. A release can be one or two folders down, not deeper.
• A Vita dump isn't picked up: a dump in vita/ is decrypted when the game starts and needs room for the decrypted copy. An archive (.zip, .rar, .7z, .vpk) has to go through the setup.
• Vulkan doesn't start: the game falls back to OpenGL by itself; --renderer gl forces it.
• FSR 4 isn't offered: Options, Graphics says why next to the Upscaler, and the game's log says which FSR AMD's files picked; without AMD's driver DLL only FSR 3.1 is available.
• An HD texture doesn't show: a picture whose shape doesn't fit is skipped, and the log says which and why (see docs/HD_ASSETS.md).
• Android, updating from v0.4.5 or earlier: those builds were signed with a different key - uninstall the old version first, once. That removes the copied game files and your saves, so keep a copy of the game files.
• Tested on: Linux (played) and Windows (under Wine). The macOS and Android builds are made by CI but haven't been run on real hardware yet - reports are welcome.

Building from source

cd engine
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo
cmake --build build
build/chaosrings

You need a C++17 compiler; CMake downloads and builds SDL3 if it isn't installed. Vulkan 1.3 is the default renderer (OpenGL 3.3 / ES 3.0 with --renderer gl, or when Vulkan can't start). Put your copy in engine/build/ (or wherever you start it from) as described above.

Every push is built by CI (.github/workflows/build.yml) for Linux (AppImage), Windows, macOS (universal .app), Android (APK) and iOS (unsigned .ipa). The Windows, macOS, Android and iOS builds, DLSS, FSR 4, -DCR_GLES=ON, the tools, the self-test (--selftest), the self-playing --explore and --capture are covered in docs/ENGINE.md.

Document	What's in it
docs/ENGINE.md	building in detail, the tools, debugging switches, and the full status list of what the port does
docs/HD_ASSETS.md	HD textures and models in detail
docs/FORMATS.md	the game's file formats and systems, as reverse-engineered
docs/ANDROID.md	the Android release's APK and screen layout
docs/VITA_SAVES.md	importing Vita saves

Repository layout: engine/ (the C++17 / SDL3 engine and crtool), docs/, tools/ (analysis and extraction tools that work on your own copy), android/ and packaging/. Local reverse-engineering output (re/, extracted/) is never committed or shared.

Credits and licence

• By DuIslingr, with fixes and testing by metastigma.
• Chaos Rings is by Square Enix and Media.Vision. This is a fan preservation project, not affiliated with either. The engine's source holds facts read out of the original (file names, flag numbers, screen positions, formula constants) where the port needs them, but no game data.
• Licence: GPL-2.0-or-later (LICENSE). The bundled libraries keep their own licences (THIRD_PARTY.md); the macOS and iOS apps are GPL-3.0 because of MoltenVK. A build with DLSS links NVIDIA's proprietary library and is for your own use only.