Grandia III PC

Grandia III for PC

A native Windows version of Grandia III (PlayStation 2, 2005), made by static recompilation: the game's MIPS code, its sound driver and its VU1 geometry programs are translated ahead of time into C/C++ and compiled for x86-64. A small runtime stands in for the PS2 hardware the code talks to (graphics via Direct3D 11, sound, DMA, memory cards). Nothing is interpreted at run time.

No game data is included. You need your own copy of Grandia III (USA): the program reads the disc images (ISO) of disc 1 and disc 2 at run time and does not change or copy them.

This is a fan project, not affiliated with Square Enix or Game Arts.

Download and play

Get Grandia3-PC-v*.zip from the Releases, unzip it, start Grandia3.exe and choose your disc 1 image when asked - or put the image next to the exe as disc1.iso (disc 2: disc2.iso) and it is found without a file dialog (handy on the Steam Deck). Details, keys and settings: docs/README.txt (German: docs/LIESMICH.txt).

Works on Windows 10/11 (Direct3D 11.3 graphics card) and on the Steam Deck / Linux with Proton.

Optional HD texture pack (4x, unofficial, separate download, 7.5 GB): part 1 and part 2 - unzip both into the folder of Grandia3.exe so that a textures folder sits next to it; F8 switches the textures on and off. It only works with this port, not with PCSX2.

Features

• Internal resolution up to 8x, automatic choice for your screen
• Widescreen: a real 16:9 or 16:10 view of the 3D scenes, or ultrawide in the shape of the screen (21:9, 32:9); menus and text keep their 4:3 proportions
• 60 fps in the field and (optionally) in battles at correct game speed, automatic fallback to 30
• Savestates everywhere (9 slots), skippable cutscenes and movies
• Large dialogue windows for small screens (Steam Deck: automatic), sharp text, sharpening, filters
• Steam Deck: detected automatically (16:10 view, full screen, large windows, controller shortcuts)
• Languages: original English text or a complete German translation; more via lang/<code>.tsv
• Subtitles for voiced cutscenes and movies (experimental, English, so far up to Alonso's ship): the runtime follows the voice stream on its way to the sound chip (runtime/src/platform/subtitles.cpp), the timings come from the voice-over script (tools/subs)
• HD texture packs: PNG files in a textures folder replace the game's textures

How it works

Part	How it is handled
Game code (EE, MIPS R5900)	tools/recomp.py + tools/gen_all.py: one C function per game function, overlays (field, battle, flight) included
Sound driver (IOP module GS_IOP.IRX)	tools/iop_recomp.py, runs on a host thread like on the IOP
VU1 geometry programs	tools/vu_recomp.py: ahead-of-time translation of the microcode image, verified against an interpreter (--vu-verify)
PS2 kernel, IOP services	high-level replacements (runtime/src/ee/kernel.cpp, runtime/src/iop)
Graphics Synthesizer	Direct3D 11.3 renderer emulating GS blending with rasterizer ordered views (runtime/src/gs)
VIF1/VU1/GS front end	own thread (runtime/src/hw/gspipe.cpp)
Savestates	build-independent: threads resume at MIPS level (runtime/src/savestate.cpp)

Building from source

The repository contains no generated code: it is produced from your own disc.

1. Toolchain: LLVM-MinGW (llvm-mingw-*-ucrt-x86_64) and Ninja, unpacked into toolchain/ (the paths are set at the top of build.py). Python 3 for the tools.
2. Extract disc 1 (disc 2 carries the same program files): python tools/iso_extract.py "Grandia III (USA) (Disc 1).iso" extract extracted/disc1
3. Generate the game code: python tools/gen_all.py extracted/disc1 generated and python tools/iop_recomp.py extracted/disc1/GS_IOP.IRX 0x00040000 generated/iop gsiop
4. Build: python build.py (output: build/release/Grandia3.exe).
5. VU1: a build without a VU1 translation runs the microcode in the interpreter and saves the image into vu_new/; python tools/vu_recomp.py vu_new/vu1img_<hash>.bin generated/vu/vu1_<hash>.cpp and a rebuild add the translation.

Useful switches for development are listed in runtime/src/main.cpp (--perf, --vu-verify, --resume-test, --log=..., --press=... for scripted input, ...).

Credits

• Widescreen patch values from the PCSX2 patch database (SLUS-21334, by nemesis2000)
• Built with LLVM-MinGW and Ninja