HP2-Recompiled

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — Xbox to PC port

A native Windows port of the original Xbox game Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), made by static recompilation: the game's x86 code is translated to C and compiled for Windows, with the Xbox kernel, Direct3D 8, DirectSound and input replaced by native code. No emulator. Part of Barthes Recompiled, beside Philosopher's Stone and Prisoner of Azkaban.

Current release: 1.0.2, for the USA and PAL discs. Built on, and with endless thanks to, MiddleDucky's port.

Features beyond the original:

• Picture: resolutions up to 4K with MSAA/SMAA and anisotropic filtering, and true 16:9 (widened 3D, with 2D and cutscene shots kept in shape).
• Display: windowed, borderless or fullscreen.
• Sound: 5.1 surround output.
• Controls: keyboard and mouse with rebinding and a movement pace on the mouse wheel; controller remapping, deadzones and vibration strength.
• Accessibility: colour-blind correction filters.
• In the game's own menus: Settings pages in the title and pause menus, Button Mapping, Quit To Desktop.
• Quicker play: cutscene fast-forward and start-up logo skip.
• Smooth play: shaders prepared ahead.

This repository contains no game content. To play or build it you need the files from your own copy of the Xbox disc. The build regenerates the recompiled code from your default.xbe.

Quick start

1. Download BarthesLauncher-windows-<version>.zip from the Barthes Launcher releases and unzip it somewhere of its own, for example C:\Games (it makes a BarthesLauncher folder).
2. Start barthes_launcher.exe, pick Chamber of Secrets on the shelf and press Install.
3. Press Add disc image or folder... and choose your .iso / .xiso, or the default.xbe of a disc you already extracted. The launcher checks that it is this game's disc, unpacks it, checks every file and installs the build for your disc (PAL or USA).
4. Press Play.

The launcher keeps the port up to date from this repository's releases and never touches your disc files, saves or settings when it updates.

Setting up by hand

1. Download the latest release for your disc: USA for the North American disc, PAL for the European one. Unzip it into a folder of its own, for example C:\Games\HP2.
2. Make a folder named game beside hpcos.exe and put your disc's files in it, so that game\default.xbe exists. A disc image has to be extracted first (the Barthes Launcher does this for you; extract-xiso works too).
3. Start hpcos.exe.

C:\Games\HP2\
  hpcos.exe
  README.txt, CHANGES.txt, licenses\
  shadercache\         shaders and pipelines (shipped ones, plus those built on your PC)
  game\default.xbe     ... and the rest of your disc
  hpcos.toml           your settings (made on the first start)
  saves\               your saved games, and the game's Xbox disk images in saves\xbox

To update by hand, unzip the new release over the old one; hpcos.toml, saves\ and shadercache\ stay as they are. The whole folder is portable: move it or back it up as it is.

Requirements: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), a DirectX 12 graphics card (GeForce GTX 600, Radeon HD 7000, Intel HD 500 or newer) with a current driver, 4 GB RAM, about 3 GB of disk. Keyboard and mouse, or an Xbox 360 / One / Series controller (other pads through Steam Input or DS4Windows).

Which disc

Both editions work: the North American (NTSC-U) disc, which the code is written for, and the European (PAL) disc, whose code sits at different addresses and is built through the region profiles in port/region/. A build is made for one disc and says so if it is given the other, so each release has a USA and a PAL download.

Settings

• Settings in the title menu and the pause menu: Gameplay, Graphics and Controls pages in the game's own font, including Button Mapping (press the action, then the controller button).
• F10 anywhere: every option, over the game.
• Alt+Enter switches windowed / borderless; Alt+F4 quits, as does Quit To Desktop in the menus.

Both change the same settings and save them to hpcos.toml. Highlights: resolutions up to 4K with MSAA, SMAA and anisotropic filtering; true 16:9 with the original cutscene bars kept; windowed, borderless or fullscreen; keyboard and mouse with rebinding; controller remapping, deadzones and vibration strength; colour grading, vignette and film grain; colour-blind correction filters; 5.1 surround; cutscene fast-forward (hold Start or Back) and start-up logo skip, both on by default; and two experimental extras from MiddleDucky, Explore Hogwarts Grounds (walk the whole grounds without the paths' fades) and Land the broom on any flat surface. Every option and the default keys are listed in port/README.txt, which also ships in the release.

Archipelago

An Archipelago multiworld randomizer for Chamber of Secrets is being built and is coming soon. When it lands, it will be set up the same way as Philosopher's Stone's: on the game's Archipelago page in the Barthes Launcher.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
"Failed to load default.xbe"	The disc files are missing: check that game\default.xbe exists beside hpcos.exe.
The game says it is the wrong disc	Download the other build (PAL or USA), or let the Barthes Launcher pick it.
Crashes, missing sound or pictures in one place	A disc file may be damaged: Verify files on the game's page in the Barthes Launcher names it; add your disc again to repair.
The game won't start or closes at once	Update your graphics driver (DirectX 12 is required). Every start writes hpcos_run.log beside hpcos.exe; send it with your report. F10 > Debug > Open logs folder opens the folder it is in.
A short pause the first time you enter an area	Shaders are being built for your card. The port ships shaders made ahead, and from the second start it prepares everything it has seen while you are in the menus.
Keyboard doesn't move Harry while a pad is plugged in	Turn off F10 > Controls > Use controller.

Problems and questions: open an issue. What changed in each release is in port/CHANGES.md.

Building

See port/DEVELOPING.md: setup, regenerating the code from the XBE, building and making a release.

Thank you, MiddleDucky

This fork exists only because of MiddleDucky, who made the port itself: the recompilation, the renderer work, the launcher, and every fix and option in HP-COS-Xbox-Recomp. Everything here is built on that work, and each upstream release (v0.2.0 most recently, with its open Hogwarts grounds and broom landing) is merged in with gratitude. Thank you, MiddleDucky, for bringing this game to the PC and for sharing it so generously. The fork only adds a few things on top (the PAL disc, settings pages inside the game, cutscene and logo skips, and soon Archipelago). If you enjoy this port, go and star MiddleDucky's repositories: it is their work you are playing.

Credits and licences

The port's own code is MIT licensed, © 2026 MiddleDucky (LICENSE). The parts below keep their own licences and copyright.

• xboxrecomp — the static recompilation toolkit this port is built on (runtime, kernel layer, pipeline), MIT, by sp00nz. Its own readme: README.xboxrecomp.md; licence LICENSES/xboxrecomp-MIT.txt; third-party parts (including LGPL code from xemu) in NOTICE and LICENSES/.
• The Direct3D 12 renderer by TGP482 and Joshhhuaaa — the D3D8-to-Direct3D 12 renderer the port's graphics are based on, MIT (port/src/renderer/LICENSE, port/NOTICE).
• Dear ImGui (MIT, port/third_party/imgui) and SMAA (MIT, Jorge Jimenez et al.).

Thanks

These projects were references for hardware behaviour, XDK details or fixes (no code taken unless listed above):

• xemu — Xbox hardware behaviour; the APU code listed in NOTICE
• XbSymbolDatabase — XDK function addresses
• Cxbx-Reloaded and xboxdevwiki — kernel and hardware reference
• DefJamFFNY-recomp — single-core guest thread pinning
• Unicorn Engine — the debug-only difftest build

Harry Potter and all related names and artwork are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. The game is © Electronic Arts. This is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Warner Bros., Electronic Arts or Microsoft.

This project has been aided by Claude Code.