Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 - PC Port

What you need

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit, and a DirectX 12 graphics card
• The latest Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64). Most PCs already have it.
• Or 64-bit Linux (x86_64, glibc 2.35 or newer) or a Steam Deck with a Vulkan driver (experimental, see Linux and Steam Deck)
• Your own Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 Xbox Live Arcade package, this exact game version:

Game	Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Xbox Live Arcade
Title ID	584108FF
Content type	000D0000 (Xbox Live Arcade), STFS LIVE package
Media ID	191FF297
Game version	0.0.1.2
default.xex	704,512 bytes, CRC32 5E9B6313, SHA-1 048B852E52A8C776C7AE752141591701B7EA5E69, SHA-256 6D5D9980A1D17DC74B9CCF540CEC16C2E144E7CEE3A74938E78C237B8ACEEB88

The launcher checks the Title ID and content type when you pick the package, and checks default.xex after extracting it. Package containers can differ between copies, so default.xex is what identifies the version. Any other version is refused, because the port is built for this exact game code.

Installing

1. Download GeometryWarsRetroEvolved2-v0.1.0-windows-x64.zip from the latest release and extract it anywhere you can write to.
2. Run geometry_wars_retro_evolved_2.exe. The launcher opens.
3. On the Play page click Install from package... and pick your package. It is one file with a long hexadecimal name and no extension. On an Xbox 360 drive it is in Content\0000000000000000\584108FF\000D0000\.
4. Wait until Ready to play appears. The game files are copied into the game folder next to the program. The package file itself is not copied there.
5. Press PLAY.

No game files are included in the release.

Reinstall from package... repairs the game files and keeps your settings and saves.

Linux and Steam Deck

Experimental, not yet tested on real hardware. This is a native Linux build (ReXGlue's Linux runtime with Vulkan), not Proton or Wine.

1. Download GeometryWarsRetroEvolved2-v…-linux-x86_64.AppImage from the release and mark it executable (right-click > Properties > Permissions > Is executable, or chmod +x).
2. Run it, then install your package from the Play page as above. The game files go in a game folder next to the AppImage. The package picker needs zenity or kdialog.
3. On a Steam Deck (intended flow, not yet tried on a Deck), do this in Desktop Mode, then add the AppImage with Games > Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library and play it from Game Mode.

Settings and saves are in ~/.local/share/geometry_wars_retro_evolved_2 ($XDG_DATA_HOME when set), logs in logs next to the AppImage. Requirements, known limits and building the AppImage are in docs/linux.md.

Windows SmartScreen

Windows may warn the first time you run the program, because the release is not digitally signed. If you downloaded it from this repository's releases page, choose More info, then Run anyway.

The launcher

The launcher opens before the game. Your choices are saved to settings.toml in the launcher folder of your user data (Documents\geometry_wars_retro_evolved_2 on Windows). To turn the launcher off, set Show this launcher to Off on the Play page. Hold Shift while starting to bring it back. The launcher remembers its window position, size and whether it was maximized.

Play

• Install from package... with the Title ID and game version checks, and Reinstall from package...
• The Ready to play status, and the Show this launcher setting

Display

• Display mode: Windowed or Borderless Fullscreen. Press F11 while playing to switch between them.
• Window size and Monitor
• VSync on or off
• Aspect ratio: Letterbox 16:9 keeps the game's picture on any window shape; Stretch fills the window

Window size, monitor and VSync take effect when you press PLAY. If one differs from the launcher's window, the game restarts once in a new window.

Graphics

• Render resolution: Original (1280×720), 2x (2560×1440, recommended for 1440p), 3x (3840×2160) or 4x (5120×2880)
• Anti-aliasing: Off, FXAA or FXAA Extreme
• Multisampling: 2x MSAA on or off
• Texture filtering: Game, Off, 2x, 4x, 8x or 16x

Gameplay

• Frame rate: 30, 60, 90, 120, 144, 165, 240 or Unlimited. 60 is the original game and the default. The game's speed stays the same at every rate; a slower graphics card or heavier graphics settings lower the frame rate without changing the speed.
• Frame rate in title: shows the frame rate in the window title, for example Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 | FPS: 60.00
• Frame counter: shows the frame rate in the corner of the window. Press F2 while playing to show or hide it.

Controls

• Xbox controllers work without setup
• Keyboard: enabled or disabled. When enabled, the keyboard and mouse emulate the controller, and the keys are listed on the page.
• Online multiplayer is not supported.

Achievements

The launcher's Achievements page lists the game's 12 achievements (200G in total) with their icons, gamerscore and unlocked state, and a progress summary. The list appears after you have pressed PLAY once, from the next time the launcher opens.

Achievements, leaderboards and Xbox Live

Everything stays offline: there is no Xbox Live connection, Microsoft sign-in or online player.

• Achievements: the game's achievements menu item and F7 open the same list in game. B, Escape or F7 closes it. Unlocks show the usual notification and are kept between runs on this PC, with no synchronization with Xbox Live.
• Leaderboards: the leaderboard screens work with your own scores only. Finished games are kept in a local file, and the boards show your row or no rows, never other players.
• Profile: the game's profile and options are saved locally.

docs/offline-live.md and docs/offline-profile.md have the details.

About

• The port version, game version and library versions
• Open the game folder, or the saves and settings folder
• Show settings file, and Reset all settings

Screenshots

Reporting problems

If the game does not start or crashes, please open an issue. Attach the newest geometry_wars_retro_evolved_2_*.log file from the logs folder next to the program, and say what you were doing when the problem happened.

Building it yourself

The recompiled C++ is generated from your own game files, so the repository does not contain it. Clone with submodules, so the TRG launcher is included:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/saulob/geometry-wars-retro-evolved-2-recompiled.git

In an existing clone, run git submodule update --init --recursive.

1. Install Visual Studio with the C++ and LLVM/Clang components. See docs/minimal-native-build.md.
2. Extract your package's files into game\extracted (.\tools\extract_stfs.ps1 -Package "<package file>" -OutDir game\extracted), so that game\extracted\default.xex exists.
3. .\tools\codegen.ps1 downloads the pinned ReXGlue SDK 0.10.0, checks default.xex and generates the C++ into generated\.
4. .\tools\build.ps1 builds build\geometry_wars_retro_evolved_2.exe. .\tools\build.ps1 -Run also starts it.
5. .\tools\package-release.ps1 builds a Release into build-release\ (add -Clean for a clean build) and makes the release ZIP and its .sha256 file in dist\.

The Linux AppImage is built on Linux or WSL with tools/package-linux.sh, after the steps above have generated the C++. See docs/linux.md.

Both packaging scripts are local only: they build and write files under dist/, and never upload, tag or publish anything. The release version is the project() VERSION in CMakeLists.txt.

How the launcher, settings and installer work is described in docs/launcher.md. The other technical notes:

• Package analysis
• Minimal native build
• First boot
• Offline profile and save
• Offline Xbox Live services
• Linux and Steam Deck

Credits

• Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 by Bizarre Creations, published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox Live Arcade (2008). This is an unofficial fan-made PC port. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by them or by any rights holder, and it contains none of their files.
• ReXGlue SDK for the recompiler and runtime (BSD 3-Clause)
• TRG Launcher, the launcher interface, pinned at v1.1.0. The referenced revision contains no explicit license file.
• The launcher and package installer follow the approach of the Hard Corps: Uprising PC port and the Earthworm Jim HD PC port
• The licenses of the libraries the release includes are in the licenses folder of the ZIP

AI disclosure

AI tools were used to assist with code analysis, development, debugging and documentation. Changes were directed, tested and reviewed by the maintainer.

License

Original code in this project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 only (GPL-2.0-only). See LICENSE.

Third-party components retain their respective licenses and notices. See licenses/ReXGlue-LICENSE.txt and licenses/THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.txt.

No game files are included. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 and its assets are not covered by this project's license.