Lavender Shift

Lavender Shift

Play the Xbox 360 version of Forza Horizon 2 natively on your Windows PC, and on Android.
You bring your own copy of the game; the launcher sets everything else up.

Download the launcher · How to play · Android · Questions

What you need

• Your own copy of the game: the Forza Horizon 2 USA disc image (.iso) and title update v2. They don't come with Lavender Shift, and we can't tell you where to get them.
• A Windows 10 or 11 PC (64-bit) with:
  • a processor from 2013 or newer (Intel Haswell, AMD Ryzen or later);
  • a graphics card that supports Vulkan (almost any from the last ten years);
  • about 20 GB of free space.

How to play

1. Download LavenderShift-<version>-windows-x64.zip from the latest release.
2. Extract it to a folder with a short path, such as C:\Games\LavenderShift.
3. Open LavenderShiftLauncher.exe.
4. Choose your disc image and the title update, then press Set up.
5. Wait while the launcher builds the game on your PC. The first time takes 15 minutes to an hour. If it stops, press Set up again and it carries on where it left off.
6. Press Play. Press F6 in game for the settings.

Your saves and settings are kept in the user folder next to the launcher.

Updating: extract the new release into the same folder and press Set up again. It only rebuilds what changed, and your saves stay.

Playing on Android

When the game works on your PC, the launcher can put it on your phone or tablet too.

Your device needs: Android 13 or newer, a recent 64-bit processor and graphics with Vulkan 1.3, and about 9 GB of free space (an SD card works). It runs at 60 fps on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 handheld.

1. In the launcher, click Android at the bottom.
2. Press Build APK. The first build takes 15 to 45 minutes and needs about 15 GB on your PC. You'll be asked to accept Google's Android licence once.
3. Then pick one:
   • Share on Wi-Fi: scan the QR code with your device, install the app from the page that opens, open Lavender Shift and type the code shown on your PC. The game files copy across your network.
   • Install over USB: connect your device with USB debugging turned on.
4. Open Lavender Shift on your device and play.

More detail is in the Android guide.

Syncing your save between devices

If you use a sync app such as Syncthing, Dropbox or OneDrive, your save and achievements can follow you between your PC and your Android device.

• On the PC: click Save sync at the bottom of the launcher and choose a folder your sync app shares.
• On Android: have your sync app (Syncthing-Fork, for example) share Android/media/studio.deimos.lavendershift/sync with that same folder.

A newer save from another device loads the next time you start the game. If you played on both devices without syncing in between, the game asks which save to keep (F6, Profile, Save sync), and the save you don't keep goes to Save backups. More in docs/SAVE_SYNC.md.

Questions

Is the game included? No. You need your own disc image and title update, and nothing from the game is in this project. Setup reads your files on your PC and never uploads them.

Which version of the game works? Only the USA disc with title update v2. The launcher checks your files and tells you if they don't match.

Something went wrong. Press Set up again first; it picks up where it stopped. If it keeps failing, open an issue and include what the launcher says.

Can I play with a controller? Yes, and it's the best way to play. On PC, keyboard and mouse work too; on Android, there are touch controls on screen.

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Lavender Shift is a fan project. It isn't affiliated with Microsoft, Xbox Game Studios or Playground Games. It's built on ShiftGlue, the same technology as Pinyon Shift (Forza Horizon 1).

Developers: see Building from a checkout and docs/LEGAL.md.