#xenia canary

[henshin-4]

There are many Saints Row fans that only like the first 2 games, and I can see why, it became a bit of a circus from 3 on but, honestly, I enjoy playing the circus that is Saints Row The Third, IV and Gat out of Hell. But... I do hate what happened after that... Agents of Mayhem and especially that fucking Saints Row reboot... idc about em, and it's sad cause Gat out of Hell had 5 endings, it's fun and all that they made the "rebuild the planet" ending canon but, first of all, they could have done that better... they could have remade the original SR1 with changes, making it just different enough to be worth playing instead of the original SR1 which is almost lost now as it was Xbox only (*cough* play it on an emulator *cough*) but from the "find a new home planet" and "let Johnny Gat be the new leader of Hell" they could have made games too. On the new home planet ending Kinzie said it'll be our toughest fight yet... I wanna play that. And Johnny as the new leader of Hell? I loved Gat out of Hell, even tho it is really short... I would have loved more of that... they really did the worst possible thing with that reboot... give me Johnny as the new Satan or let me take over a new planet with the crew 😭

[antirepurp]

a small masterpost of what you need to get unleashed to behave in xenia for the parties who are interested:

this written gamebanana tutorial. it looks intimidating as shit but i promise it's not That hard. includes downloads to required patches

this video showing how to convert your games between The Shit Your Xbox Spits Out On A USB Stick (GoD), ISO, and XEX. you need xex for the fixes and tweaks, and need an ISO to convert into it. i have confirmed that the links in the description lead to forum threads that contain seemingly safe downloads to all required programs

xenia quickstart guide for the links to the latest canary build that you need, ft system requirements and written instructions for ripping 360 games with photos

if using a non-xbox controller such as a dualshock find a program that spoofs it into an xbox controller such as ds4windows

this other gamebanana guide for adjusting xenia's settings to fix graphical bugs after you've got everything else working fine

you do not need DLC or update files for just the patches, those are mostly used in the modding scene. the game will also have glitches and emulation errors but if i can get through windmill isle act1 during a geometry explosion so can you, i believe in you. happy unleashing!

[skyboxeye]

Capturing the ambience of Gears of War (2006)

The original Gears maps have stylized yet beautiful look that still holds up today. This guide will look at the abandonware 2007 Windows release, and the 2006 Xbox 360 original, rather than the remastered Ultimate Edition.

Obtaining the game

If you’re only concerned with capturing the multiplayer maps, you can download the standalone AI Bot version of Gears (it’s also great fun!). For vanilla versions of the game, check out pinned messages in the Gears PC Community discord. Refer to PCGamingWiki for troubleshooting on getting the game running.

Extracting sounds

Use umodel to extract UPKs in Gears’s Sounds directory e.g. G:\Microsoft Games\Gears of War\WarGame\CookedPC\Sounds.

Enabling console commands

Inside your WarInput.ini file:

[Engine.Console] ConsoleKey=Tilde TypeKey=Tilde MaxScrollbackSize=1024 HistoryBot=-1 bEnableUI=True

This will enable the console, with history and output display included.

Capturing footage

Open your console, and use TOGGLEUI command to hide the HUD. ghost and walk will toggle between free camera mode and normal player control, respectively. 

You can also load into a given map with open or servertravel, e.g. open <map name e.g. mp_process>.

I found on some versions of the game, this loaded with player-character control, while others loaded into a free-camera mode. I believe this has something to do with Debug vs Retail versions of the game.

It's trivially possible to activate spectator mode inside the editor (see below) by holding Ctrl and pressing the playtest button. However I found this only offered a window display, and there were rendering artifacts on some maps.

Identifying sounds

By passing certain launch options, we can open the game’s editor to inspect how sounds are configured on each map. Example shortcut:

"G:\Microsoft Games\Gears of War\Binaries\Startup (No-Cd).exe" editor -cookededitor -installed

To find each map's random ambient audio events, open the Kismet panel:

Click Level tab in main browser window2. K -> button on the level box

These random sounds emit from a set of target objects on the map, using the options visible in the event’s panel (e.g. below, volume of 0.25 and pitch of 1.0).

We can also use the LISTSOUNDS and LISTWAVES console commands during gameplay to see which sounds are loaded and currently playing respectively. The latter also shows the sound’s current playback volume.

Always take care to note each sound’s configured pitch in the Editor, as it can vary! Indeed, you’ll find that Gears’s maps create their immersive soundscapes by permuting the position and pitch of only a small number of assets.

New Hope project

This is an ambitious mod for Gears 1 which may make the above easier.

Xbox 360 version

The Windows version's presentation differs slightly from this original. Access free camera mode by using Heebo's tools. If you can't get these working, be sure you are running the required version of Xenia Canary. Also enable all Extra Custom Types, and enable MEM_MAPPED in Scan Settings.

Putting it all together

Combine your static positional sounds, randomized Kismet sounds, and captured footage using an editor like Shotcut.

[rotten-dan]

aha, but dan, you have fallen into my trap, for i do not speak of an n64 emulator!

i was gonna suggest you get "xenia canary", it's an xbox 360 emulator. it's good in general, but i particularly got it for the xbox live arcade version of banjo-kazooie. it's actually on the internet archive. it has some nice quality of life stuff, native widescreen, modern controller mapping + prompts, you don't lose notes when you die or leave levels, etc. and there's a patch for 60fps!

nyaaa? for the xbox?? i dont rlly like that idea....................i prefer to play the original!! i like a challenge!!!1 BUT THANK YOU ANON!!!!

[borrelia]

was enjoying experiencing 06 through several degrees of separation, ie watching a longform highlights comp of wayneradiotv playing it, and realized huh, this looks a lot more responsive than it was when i was playing it. so i tried playing with xenia canary instead and idk if that made it faster at all but it sure seems like my only way to play that game is Sluggish and Frustrating so. oh well no redemption arc

[bakedbakermom]

trying to emulate fable 2 with xenia (canary) and it's. wow. my character is a black void and the game has crashed 4 times in 20 minutes. never should have sold my old xbox 360.

[mistress-light]

hi again! i was wondering about how you said xenia runs lost odyssey better now. did you have to download a new version of it on the xenia site? like, is it the most recent version on there i suppose is what im asking.

Hi!

Yes, you'll need to download the latest version of xenia-canary. Also be sure to use these settings in the 'xenia-canary.config':

draw_resolution_scale_x = 2

draw_resolution_scale_y = 2

[techgeeksite]

How to Emulate Xbox 360 Games on Your Steam Deck

Quick Links How to Emulate Xbox 360 Games on a Steam Deck Running SteamOS How to Emulate Xbox 360 on a Steam Deck Running Windows Key Takeaways To emulate Xbox 360 Games on a Steam Deck running SteamOS: In Desktop mode, download and unpack Xenia Canary Build. Configure Xenia to run using Vulkan. Add your Xbox 360 games to Steam with Steam ROM Manager. In Game Mode, find your Xbox 360…

[aroacegundamalex]

I’ve really gotta start leaving notes for myself to never, ever update Xenia Canary, because every time I do, it absolutely murders the performance of AC4 and AC4A.

[joaozin1212]

Xenia-canary (canary_experimental@eOfOdc7f3 on Dec 23 2023) | [4D53082D ...

[caffeccino]

I was having some success on AC:V with the current Xenia Canary build, tho there are some settings to change, and the first mission sometimes has an issue that required some other settings... but I am kind of able to play missions! But things can get weird and crash, especially on the story missions. I haven't been able to finish the first story mission, tho I did finish the second lol.

No such luck on Verdict Day, as no one has that one working right yet, so apparently the thing to do with that is to get yourself an xbox 360 and download it for $20 on the xbox store 8D ... who knows... maybe its servers are still up even!

The AC:V mechs are kinda short stacks with the reverse joint legs ...///

I got Armored Core brainworms, but I can't just be into the new one.... 🙄🙄

[marioclash]

holy shit im amazed with how well proving ground is performing on the new xenia canary update

[jonvir]

❎MASSIVE Xbox 360 Emulation | Xenia Canary - 50 Games Tested ASUS ROG Al...

[skyboxeye]

Capturing the ambience of Banjo-Kazooie

While BK’s soundtrack is rightly celebrated, there is more to each level’s soundscape than just its music. This post will explore how best to bring those “other” background sounds to the fore.

Capturing footage

I looked at three options: emulating the N64 release, emulating the XBLA release, and using the noclip.website viewer. While noclip offers freecam for optimal angles, its level renders include a lot of object clutter that I don’t care for. Modifying the scenes wouldn’t be overly difficult, as the project is open-source, but I didn’t want to spend the time.

Instead, I settled on the Xbox version. This release offers higher-resolution textures and miscellaneous graphical fixes over the N64 version. Plus, when emulated via Xenia Canary, we get access to interesting graphical hacks for the title - namely 60fps and LoD enhancements. Be sure to increase Xenia’s resolution scale to achieve renders beyond 720p, and disable screen tearing for D3D12 and/or Vulkan.

Getting rid of the HUD in any version is easy: just enter first-person mode.

Identifying ambient sounds

The XBLA release has a menu option to disable the music, but since a lot of BK’s ambience is baked into the music sequences (some examples: the waves on Treasure Trove Cove, the snakes on Gobi’s Valley, or the crickets on Click Clock Wood) we can’t rely on this. Instead, we need to modify the music tracks to skip instrumental cues, and then record the results.

After my difficulties with Diddy Kong Racing, I didn’t want to attempt offline rendering of BK’s MIDIs. I decided to simply record in-game instead, despite the low volume ambient sounds are played at (with its “Lighthouse Winds” track, a delisted Grant Kirkhope soundtrack release called Everything and The Kitchen Sink shows what a full-volume ambient rendition could sound like).

It’s unclear if the CTL/TBL pair of samples packaged with the XBLA release offer high-quality samples than that found in N64. Regardless, after reading that XBLA suffers from playback bugs in a few areas, I settled on the N64 version for audio recording.

Modifying the sound font

Using N64 Sound Tool, we can easily identify instrument samples and replace all of them with completely silent WAV files. This process is more fun than it sounds - I promise you will learn a thing or two about the instruments used to create BK’s iconic music! For example, you’ll want to leave the “Crash Cymbal” samples as-is, as they are stretched to create the lava groans in Grunty’s Furnace Fun.

Two "gotchas” I’ll mention: your replacement sound must be no longer than the one you are replacing, and you need to click Inject in Place before saving your modified ROM.

We can now boot the modified ROM with our preferred emulator, and configure the emulator to send its audio output to a WAV file. I recommend this over internal OS-level recording because that method is subject to pacing problems, noise, and random artifacts (e.g. popping).

Capturing variants

Tracks on Banjo-Kazooie’s soundtrack can change their layers dynamically depending on player actions. This is most obvious while exploring the various areas of Gruntilda’s lair, but applies to many levels as well. For example, triggering the church door in Mad Monster Mansion will add a bell layer to the stage’s music. This state only lasts for 15 seconds normally, but we can use Gameshark-style codes to freeze the timer and allow extended recording:

cheat49_desc = "Infinite Time On Jigsaw Puzzles" cheat49_code = "81385F32 1726" cheat49_enable = false

There is a known music modifier cheat (8128189A 000F for MMM) but it doesn’t allow us to influence layers.

Putting it all together

Now, all we need to do is overlay our N64 emulator audio with matching footage collected on Xenia. You can decide which scenes are worth capturing, and also which sounds qualify for inclusion (for example, the melodic frogs on Bubblegloop Swamp’s main track, or the bee choir of Click Clock Wood’s summer, are arguably part of the music).

[borrelia]

When you played sonic unleashed, did you play it on console or emulate it? Just curious cause I know a lot of the emulated versions of it have issues so if you did emulate it I was curious which one you got to work

I emulated it with xenia canary! baseline xenia has unavoidable crashes starting near the end of the tutorial level, so ppl used to just load a 100% save and play the levels that don't crash. xenia canary is actually playable! there are apparently one or two crash sites but they are out of the way. it does have quite a few visual glitches, lots of pylons in adabat day and mazuri day especially, as well as texture glitches sometimes, but it is very much playable :)

[theweekinarrowfic]

Completed Arrow Multichapters on AO3, December 20-26, 2020

NOTE: I’m now crossposting to https://theweekinarrowfic.dreamwidth.org. Also, I'm looking for volunteers to test out my fic recommender! Need more Arrow in your life? Why not try one of the multchapter fanfics recently completed by our talented fic writers?

Olicity

Initial Contact by sidhe_faerie (2/2, 21 Dec 2020) - Hacker and Assassin verse

Contac: Hiding: Out by sidhe_faerie (2/2, 21 Dec 2020) - Yahtzee Set 2 Large straight all five connected in one story,

my love had been frozen deep blue (but you painted me golden) by MagusLibera for damnsmoaky (4/4, 22 Dec 2020) - Twenty-five years after Sozin's Comet was used to wipe out the airbenders, the war is making it's way to the Earth Kingdom. After realising that the cause he was fighting for was a lie, Oliver defected from the army to fight against his own people with his team - an earthbender, two former army comrades and a girl from the Southern Water Tribe. But his mission is interrupted when news from the Fire Nation reaches him, forcing him to head home for the first time in five years.; Set during the Hundred Year War from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Knowledge of the show will enhance the story but is not necessary to read it as this is set before the first episode.

all I want for Christmas is a divorce (is you) by thecomebackkids99 (6/6, 24 Dec 2020) - Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak divorced over a year ago. But just a few days before Christmas, the tabloids dig up a juicy tidbit: the divorce was never finalized. Which causes a few fights, an exasperated friend or two to say something crazy, and an awkward car ride that brings the bitterness, the pain, and the truth to light.; Because Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak are technically still married.

The Trouble With Tabloids by starrnobella (24/24, 26 Dec 2020) - All that tabloids are good for is to spread rumors.

Other Ships/Characters

As Long as it Takes by mizar24 (Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel, 2/2, 26 Dec 2020) - laurel thinks that if they date, dinah will eventually end up leaving her so dinah's going to prove her wrong - as long as it takes

Dysfunctional Families by KleptoElf (Laurel/Oliver, 3/3, 23 Dec 2020) - Oliver just wants to get away from his life for a few hours. Laurel just wants a distraction from having to spend another Christmas with her dysfunctional family. Maybe they can both get what they want.

Scientific Method by kitkatt0430 (Barry Allen/Oliver, 5/5, 21 Dec 2020) - Barry Allen arrives in Starling City intending to get his foot in the door on a particularly unusual and interesting case. Maybe find out a little more about the Starling City Vigilante if the topic happened to come up.; He did not expect to be saving that Vigilante's life, but the world is a weird place. Barry's known that much for a very long time, after all.

The scientist and the dog by 47652 (Barry Allen/Felicity, 6/6, 22 Dec 2020) - Basically a AU of the scientist where Berry Allen has a service dog.; This Follows the events of the scientist (season two episode eight of arrow)

An Arrow Christmas Carol by Xenia (Laurel/Oliver, 7/7, 24 Dec 2020) - Oliver is trying to make things work with Felicity. Tommy, his parents and Shado think that Felicity isn't right for him. And what better period for some friendly ghost visit?

Crisis on Infinite Earths by IAmMattis (James "Bucky" Barnes/Laurel, 10/10, 26 Dec 2020) - The time has come. Worlds will live, worlds will die and the Universe will never be same. Discontinued. Final chapter and epilogue are now posted.

Byline by Write_To_You (Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow, Oliver listed as character, 11/11, 25 Dec 2020) - “Flash Missing, Vanishes in Crises, by Iris West,” Caitlin repeated. “Thursday, April 25... 2018.” She stumbled a step back, blood draining from her face. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered. “That’s next week.”; OR the third installment in the Flux series, in which Team Flash realizes that Crisis is coming a lot sooner than they ever thought.

Attack on two earths by Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen (Steve Rogers/Caitlin Snow, Sara/Oliver and Thea/Roy among side pairings, 12/12, 21 Dec 2020) - Sequel to 'Torn between two timelines'. Two months after their engagement, Steve and Caitlin's closest friends all gather for their wedding. Unfortunately, ghosts from the past are unwilling to let the happy couple celebrate this moment in peace.

Bird in a Storm by Ray_Writes (Laurel/Oliver, 17/17, 26 Dec 2020) - The confrontation between the Hood and SWAT on the roof of the Winick Building goes differently, altering the course of Laurel's career, relationships and efforts to save her city forever, the shockwaves of such an altered path making themselves felt throughout her family and friends.

The Traveler by Darth_Rainbow_Queen_Of_Coconuts (OFC-centric, Oliver listed as character, 32/32, 25 Dec 2020) - Lucie Aconite ran away from home.; The trained hunter away from past traumas, ran away from dark memories, ran away from a twisted family. She joined the Travelers, an organization that exist outside of any temporal zones and made of people who will never matter. Their purpose? Lend a hand to heroes in need, make sure those are the ones history will remember.; So now, Lucie travels. To very, very, different places. Different universes, different worlds. Along her way, she met Shadowhunters, Demigods, Werewolves, Warlocks, Seelies, Emissaries, Vampires, Passlings, etc. But no matter how far she goes, something will always take her back right where she started...; I own nothing but Lucie and the adventures she will live.; [AU including Shadowhunters, Teen Wolf, The Chronicles of Narnia, TVD, The Originals, Charmed, PJO/HoO/Kane Chronicles, and others. Very freely inspired though.]

Vigilantes' Dawn by Kylia (Laurel/Oliver, 32/32, 20 Dec 2020) - What if Oliver Queen hadn't let his commitment issues sabotage things with Laurel? What if he'd invited Laurel onto the Queen's Gambit, instead of Sara? And what happens in Starling City when, five years later, The Arrow and the Black Canary, together, go after the List and the rest of the City's criminals? And what happens when Detective Sara Lance finds out her sister is one of the two Vigilantes that are bringing on the dawn of a new age?