A native PC port of Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation built on top of the ReXGlue SDK. The Xbox 360 PowerPC game code is statically recompiled to x86-64, while visible rendering currently remains authoritative in the vendored RexGlue/Xenia graphics backend.

This is a fork of sal063/AC6_recomp, adding Linux support. Two things differ from upstream:

• No prebuilt binaries. The ReXGlue SDK is vendored as source only; upstream's prebuilt host binaries (tools/binutils/, the Dear ImGui example libs) are removed because nothing in the build references them. See thirdparty/rexglue-sdk/VENDORED.md for the pinned commit and the full list of local patches.
• Linux port. Host-dependent code moved behind src/ac6_port/, plus fixes in the vendored SDK for POSIX signal handling, event synchronisation, sockets, and codegen.

Linux support boots and renders, with known audio and input issues — see Linux status.

This project is an unofficial, non-commercial fan effort. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with Bandai Namco Entertainment, Project Aces, or Microsoft. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation and all related assets, characters, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This repository contains source code only. It does not contain, and will never contain, any game data. To use this software you must supply your own legally obtained copy of the game. No game files, disc images, DLC packages, title updates, or console keys are distributed here, and none may be committed to this repository.

The software is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind. It is experimental: expect bugs, crashes, and visual or audio differences from the original console release. Do not redistribute builds bundled with game data.

Everything listed here is on by default unless noted, and each fix can be turned off individually. See Important console variables.

• 60 FPS. The game can now run up to 60 FPS, with the flight model corrected.
• High quality terrain. Terrain is drawn at the full resolution shipped on the disc, twice what the console rendered. Cracks and seams that appear over mountains are also removed.
• Resolution scaling. Render internally at 2× (1440p) or 3× (2160p) and beyond for a much sharper image.
• Ultrawide support. Optional hor+ widescreen in missions and cutscenes.
• AC7-like keyboard and mouse controls. Mouse steering, remappable bindings, live-reloaded from a config file. Controllers work out of the box, including a virtual pad when none is connected.
• Japanese language support.
• Texture replacement modding — see Modding docs.

Most of the known issues with the recomp have been fixed. Please report if you have found more issues.

Performance is a known issue with the recomp! Due to native renderer not yet implemented, a powerful GPU is recommended to be able to run the game at 60 FPS at high resolution!

Note that the system requirement does not guarantees that the recomp will perform well on your system!

1. Get a build. Either download from release, or build from source (see How to build).

2. Provide the game data. Put one of the following next to ac6recomp.exe:

   • the game's .iso disc image or
   • an assets/ folder containing the extracted game files.

3. (Optional) Add DLC. Extracted DLC packages can be placed next to the executable, inside a folder named dlc/.

4. Run ac6recomp.exe. On first run it creates ac6recomp.toml beside the executable, which contains the game settings.

5. In-game keys:

   • F3 - toggle FPS overlay
   • F4 - settings overlay (browse and change most options live)
   • F11 - toggle fullscreen

1. Build from source (see How to build) — or run the automated script:

   ./setup_and_build.sh          # checks prerequisites, extracts the ISO, builds

2. Provide the game data the same way: a .iso or an assets/ folder next to the ac6recomp binary.
3. Run ./ac6recomp. Keys are identical to Windows (F3 / F4 / F11).

Linux notes

• Rendering uses the Vulkan backend; D3D12 does not exist on Linux.
• Keyboard+mouse input is event-driven (X11/Wayland via GTK). Mouse-steering cursor confinement behaves like a resting mouse if the cursor leaves the window.
• The ac6_widescreen feature requires the patched vendored SDK (included) — see thirdparty/rexglue-sdk/VENDORED.md.

Settings live in ac6recomp.toml next to the executable. Most can also be changed live in the F4 overlay. Some only take effect after a restart.

For 1440p, set both draw_resolution_scale_x and draw_resolution_scale_y to 2. For 2160p or 4K, set them to 3.

For 1440p Ultrawide, it is recommended to set draw_resolution_scale_x to 3 and draw_resolution_scale_y to 2.

The Windows crash-report file is not produced on Linux (the SDK's crash reporter is Windows-only for now). Instead, the system's core dumps cover it fully — build RelWithDebInfo (the default preset), keep the build tree, and after a crash:

coredumpctl list ac6recomp          # find the crash
coredumpctl gdb                     # open it under gdb with full symbols

These are on by default and exist so a problem can be isolated. Turning one off restores the original behavior, bugs included.

Controllers work with no configuration. Keyboard and mouse are off by default. Set ac6_kbm_enabled = true to enable them.

Bindings live in ac6_input.toml, created next to the executable on first run after ac6_kbm_enabled is enabled. By default, the keybinds are similar to Ace Combat 7.

Mouse steers the aircraft. Hold Left Alt (camera control) to look around with the mouse instead of steering.

Camera: Numpad 8 / 2 / 4 / 6 — up / down / left / right.

Wingman commands: arrow keys.

Work in progress, but it boots and renders. The Linux build reaches the intro cutscenes at roughly 30 FPS.

Known issues:

• Performance is well below the 60 FPS target.

Keyboard input is off by default — both keyboard paths are opt-in, on every platform. Set one of these in ac6recomp.toml:

mnk_mode = true          # SDK keyboard/mouse -> virtual pad
ac6_kbm_enabled = true   # AC6's own AC7-style keyboard+mouse controls

Note that with ac6_kbm_enabled the AC6 mapper installs itself from a hook on the guest's CGaUserInput::Update; if that hook never runs, its binding file (ac6_input.toml) is never written and the mapper stays inert. mnk_mode does not depend on that hook.

Debugging notes:

• ptrace_scope is often 1, so gdb -p on a running instance fails. Take a core instead: the process ignores SIGQUIT, so use kill -ABRT with ulimit -c unlimited and open the core with gdb ./ac6recomp core.N. coredumpctl only works if you actually have systemd-coredump.
• Killing the runtime with SIGKILL leaks its /dev/shm/xenia_memory_* mapping (~4.8 GB each). They accumulate and fill /dev/shm, after which guest memory allocation fails with a SIGBUS that looks like a real crash. Clear them between runs: rm -f /dev/shm/xenia_memory_*.
• log_level = "info" in ac6recomp.toml is needed for the boot log to be useful.

The automated build script handles environment setup, ISO extraction, and the multi-step CMake build:

1. Place your legally obtained Ace Combat 6 ISO in the repository root directory.
2. Run setup_and_build.bat. The script locates Visual Studio, extracts the assets, runs codegen, and builds the runtime using the MSVC backend.
3. Copy the compiled executable and default config to the root directory to run:

   Copy-Item out/build/win-amd64-relwithdebinfo/ac6recomp.exe . -Force

4. Run ac6recomp.exe directly from the root directory.
5. Optionally create a shortcut to the executable.

./setup_and_build.sh

Same flow: prerequisites check, ISO extraction (extract-xiso), codegen, build. The script stages ac6recomp in the repository root. Pass --clean to wipe out/ first.

cmake --preset win-amd64-relwithdebinfo
cmake --build --preset win-amd64-relwithdebinfo --target ac6recomp_codegen
cmake --preset win-amd64-relwithdebinfo
cmake --build --preset win-amd64-relwithdebinfo

The executable is placed at out/build/win-amd64-relwithdebinfo/ac6recomp.exe.

On Windows, use the preset commands above rather than plain cmake -L in the repo root. If you previously configured from an x86 Visual Studio prompt or with the wrong compiler on PATH, delete out/build/win-amd64-relwithdebinfo and re-run the preset from a normal 64-bit PowerShell/CMD window or an x64 Native Tools prompt.

cmake --preset linux-amd64-relwithdebinfo
cmake --build --preset linux-amd64-relwithdebinfo --target ac6recomp_codegen   # needs assets/default.xex
cmake --preset linux-amd64-relwithdebinfo
cmake --build --preset linux-amd64-relwithdebinfo

The executable is placed at out/build/linux-amd64-relwithdebinfo/ac6recomp. The Linux presets use unversioned clang/clang++ (Clang 18 or newer; on Ubuntu/Debian you may need the clang-XX packages with CC=/CXX overrides or symlinks).

This repository contains source code only.

Do not commit or redistribute:

• retail game data
• default.xex
• disc images, packages, title updates, or firmware files
• console keys or any other proprietary Microsoft / publisher material

Users must supply their own legally obtained game files locally.

• Texture Swap Modding Guide
• Texture Swap Reference

AC6_recomp/
|- src/
|  |- ac6_backend_fixes/       AC6-specific backend diagnostics and fix routing
|  |- ac6_native_graphics.*    AC6 frame-boundary analysis and overlay status
|  |- ac6_port/                Host-platform services (memory scan, window, DXGI types)
|  |- d3d_hooks.*              Guest D3D capture and shadow-state hooks
|  `- render_hooks.*           Timing and frame pacing hooks
|- thirdparty/rexglue-sdk/     Vendored RexGlue SDK (see its VENDORED.md)
|- generated/                  Generated recomp sources
|- assets/                     Local game files, not kept in repo
`- docs/RENDERER_ARCHITECTURE.txt

See LICENSE.