ApeEscapeRecomp

This recompilation is a byproduct of developing psxrecomp — the games are the proving ground, the framework is the goal. These are in-development previews, not finished ports — expect rough edges, and depth will keep landing over months, not days. My time for any one title is limited, so I ask for your patience. Contributions are welcome — testing, issues, and PRs to the game or framework all help and will accelerate this game's polish. More on the why at: Recomp + AI: 5 Months Later »

Ape Escape (USA, SCUS-94423) statically recompiled to a native PC executable with PSXRecomp — the same framework behind TombaRecomp and MegaManX6Recomp.

Known issues live in ISSUES.md.

What This Is

This repository contains the game-specific configuration, seeds, tools, and build glue for running Ape Escape on the PSXRecomp framework. The game's MIPS code is machine-translated ("recompiled") ahead of time into native C, then compiled into a real Windows program that runs the game's own logic on a faithful simulation of the PS1 hardware (GPU, SPU, GTE, memory cards) plus the real, recompiled PS1 BIOS — no high-level emulation shims.

It does not contain the Ape Escape disc image, a retail PS1 BIOS, generated game code, or any decompiled game C. Release builds include the MIT-licensed OpenBIOS from PCSX-Redux; game data and an optional retail BIOS come from your own legally obtained assets.

Important files:

• game.toml: runtime / recompiler / video / controller / widescreen config.
• mods/preloaded/: built-in, default-off mod packages shown by the launcher.
• seeds/: Ghidra-derived function starts and game-specific seed data.
• tools/regen.ps1: regenerates the recompiled C output.
• tools/package_release.ps1: builds the redistributable release zip.
• psxrecomp-v4.pin: framework commit this project is known-good against.
• ISSUES.md: game-specific issue log.
• DISC.md: source-disc identity and verification hashes.

Status

Playable preview — v0.1.1. Ape Escape boots from the PS1 BIOS and plays — through the intro, the title, and into gameplay, with dual-analog controller input including L3/R3 stick clicks (added in v0.0.3), a controls fix so the analog stick no longer spins the camera (v0.0.5), working memory-card save/load (fixed in v0.0.2), and no known crashes. It has not yet been verified all the way to the end, so treat it as a very playable preview rather than a certified full playthrough.

Area	State
Boot (real PS1 BIOS)	✅ Boots to intro / title / gameplay
Rendering	✅ OpenGL (default) and Software backends
Controller	✅ DualShock analog (auto-bound; the net/movement scheme is dual-stick)
Memory cards	✅ Standard PS1 .mcd save/load
FMV / audio	✅ MDEC video + XA/SPU audio (auto-skip FMV optional)
Mods	✅ Built-in catalog with widescreen and temporal-blending experiments
Widescreen 16:9 / 21:9 / Adaptive	⚠️ Experimental (opt-in) — see below
Temporal frame blending	⚠️ Experimental display-refresh / 60 / 120 / 144 / 165 picker with motion-adaptive clarity
Full playthrough	⚠️ Not yet verified end-to-end

Built-in mods

The launcher's Mods page includes three default-off enhancements:

• Ape Escape Widescreen moves the existing game-specific enhancement out of generic Video settings. Its picker offers 16:9, 21:9, and Adaptive (live window aspect from 4:3 through 21:9).
• Ape Escape Frame Rate leaves the game's executable and stock simulation cadence untouched, then blends completed frames at the display refresh (recommended) or a fixed 60, 120, 144, or 165 presentation rate. Clarity mode suppresses blending on large pixel changes to reduce double-image trails. This is temporal blending, not motion-vector frame generation, so it cannot reconstruct true in-between object positions.
• Skip FMVs ends movies through the game's normal completion path.

The widescreen mod uses Ape Escape's stable GTE projection-and-stretch path for a wider 3D field of view. HUD/UI proportion correction is enabled for its front ordering-table layer; remaining draw-distance and scene-culling limits are tracked in ISSUES.md. With the mod disabled, 4:3 presentation is unchanged.

The launcher's Video page exposes Supersampling (1x-4x), Antialiasing, and Texture filtering. On OpenGL, supersampling is true ordered-grid SSAA: geometry and shading are rasterized at a higher internal resolution and resolved to the window, while native PSX VRAM remains the authoritative game-visible buffer. Antialiasing controls the linear SSAA resolve and final presentation filtering; it is not RT64-style MSAA. Try 2x first on a discrete GPU, keep texture filtering at Nearest for the authored PSX look, and return to 1x if a demanding scene misses full speed.

Playing

1. Run ApeEscapeRecomp.exe. A launcher window opens.
2. OpenBIOS is selected automatically. Optionally select your legally obtained SCPH1001.BIN in the BIOS row.
3. Set the game disc (a legally obtained Ape Escape (USA, SCUS-94423) image — .cue+.bin, pick the .cue). Do not convert to a 2048-byte "cooked" .iso; that discards the XA sectors used for FMV/audio.
4. Adjust display options and select any experiments on the Mods page, then press Launch.

Ape Escape is a dual-analog title — the right stick swings the catch net — so an analog controller is strongly recommended. Any plugged pad is auto-bound and presented to the game as a DualShock; a keyboard folds onto the analog stick. The disc path, optional retail BIOS choice, and options are saved next to the exe. Clear the BIOS row to return to OpenBIOS.

Development Rules

• Use the real recompiled BIOS and real hardware simulation in PSXRecomp.
• No HLE BIOS shims, no stubs, no fake events, no hand-edited generated files.
• Framework changes go in mstan/psxrecomp, not here.
• Game binaries, generated code, memory cards, Ghidra databases, and build outputs stay local.
• See CLAUDE.md for project-specific rules.

License

PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. See LICENSE.

Ape Escape is copyright Sony Computer Entertainment / SIE. This repository contains none of the game's original binaries or assets. Release packages include PCSX-Redux OpenBIOS under the MIT notice in bios/OpenBIOS.LICENSE; they contain no retail BIOS, game assets, or disc data. The release executable contains a statically recompiled (machine-translated) build of the game's code.

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