[07/2024 v1.5 beta update; nearly 3 years of work, it is ~70% complete.]
This is a mod for Xenogears using Retroarch's Beetle PSX HW core real-time texture replacement option.
Duckstation does not have an equivalent to that option.
!! It requires the Vulkan driver, so make sure your graphics card supports it.
(It works on Steam Deck... but don't ask me for details in setting that up, I don't own one
)There are separate versions of the mod for both the English and Japanese versions of the game.
英語版と日本語版のMODがある。
Spoiler-free screenshots are at the bottom of this post under a "spoiler" tag just to keep the page shorter, so it loads faster.
Spoiler screenshots are in the next post under another "spoiler" tag and go into more detail about the alternate portraits.
Mod introduction:
This mod replaces every single character dialogue portrait, menu portrait, & (almost
Some portraits aren't completely finished and the green Gear UI text and save/load text isn't 1-to-1 yet; the mod is a work in progress.
There are what I refer to as "default" & "alt" (alternate) versions of portraits and UI elements.
Some characters have portraits edited from their original artwork to match their in-game sprite versions (i.e. unsmiling Citan dialogue)(all that apply are their mod "defaults") as well as the Perfect Works versions of their art portrait (i.e. light skinned Roni)("PW alts").
There are also non-canon alt portraits for various characters, just for fun.
Details on how to go about changing between default and alt textures can be found in one of the instruction files included in the ZIP.
If there is anything you don't like about it, like certain aspects of the UI, you can locate & delete that file from the folder. Everything is optional.
(if you have any questions as to what's what send me a dm on Bluesky- I'm more likely to see it there the quickest.)
~
(Note!!: If you use the PWB mod, don't apply its "Readjusted portraits" patch nor the "Graphical fixes" patch (more on this one below) when patching your rom, as those patches interfere with several of this mod's portraits texture replacing, as their files are renamed in the code.)
(!!Does not 100% work with PWB 0.4.6!! You'll have to manually rename certain files in the replacement folder, listed here in this update, a little further down in this thread.
From 0.4.7 onward these changes are applied with the "Graphical fixes" patch, so as long as you don't use that patch this doesn't apply to the latest version of PWB.)
(!!Does not 100% work with PWB 0.4.6!! You'll have to manually rename certain files in the replacement folder, listed here in this update, a little further down in this thread.
From 0.4.7 onward these changes are applied with the "Graphical fixes" patch, so as long as you don't use that patch this doesn't apply to the latest version of PWB.)
Changes made: (spoiler-free "spoiler" tags here; just to keep the page short)
General battle UI and on-foot-specific battle UI:
- Battle portraits (except the one used for Bart's men in a couple fights; there is no artwork equivalent and its much smaller than dialogue portraits that also have no artwork equivalent, like Stein)
- Circular battle palette, battle palette text, tags behind said text
- Purple/white misc text: "Combo", "Return", "Enter", "Miss", "EP"
- HP/DMG/heal/AP numbers
- HP/AP bars
- "Time", "fuel", "total damage", AP numbers, "1/2/3 point(s)", "cancel end"
- ▲ ■ ● ✖ button DeathBlow icons (includes an alt for Nintendo ABXY button layout)
- Bottom screen mid-DeathBlow ▲ ■ ✖ icons (unfortunately, there's no way to change the other mid-DB quadruple-button icons that I'm aware of)
- Combo 1-7 & Accept icons
Gear battle UI:
- "fuel" & fuel numbers
- "Fuel" popup (when using boost)
- Fuel bars (top and left)
- All green text/numbers
- Attack level numbers & ∞
- "power shut down", "camera damaged", "out of fuel", etc, statuses
- Background UI elements: Black Gear menu backgrounds, top & bottom borders and their runes, triple red triangles, Gear "lock-on" UI (unfortunately, there's no way to change the circular target part of this UI that I'm aware of. there's also absolutely no way of replacing the triple red triangles' black "backgrounds" due to its very nature- they aren't textures)
All other changes:
- All dialogue portraits
- All menu portraits
- Red menu selection triangle
- All instances of red/purple selection diamonds, both horizontal & vertical
- Red/grey spheres (in the menu/loading screen)
- ▲ ■ ● ✖ button DeathBlow menu icons (includes alt textures for Nintendo ABXY button layout & XBOX BAYX button layout)
- Walk/Gear icons
- Load/save screen: "CARD 1"/"2" text, memory card icon, load/save bar/text
- Disc 1 & 2 maps (with alt color versions; makes the area indicators harder to see though)
- NESW compass letters (unfortunately, there's no way to change the circular compass texture that I'm aware of)
Download:
!! If you're using this for your first time playing through the game and don't want to be spoiled be aware that a single glance through the folder or alternate portraits folders can quickly spoil you. There is one portrait in particular that will stand out, whether or not you're familiar with the characters.Beta 1.5 English (Not fully tested, might have some stray black/white pixels around some portraits)
Beta 1.5 日本語 (完全にはテストされていません。肖像画の周りに黒や白のピクセルがあるかもしれません。)
~
1.4 English
1.4 日本語
With any new updates, unless stated otherwise, simply DL and replace/overwrite the old replacements folder.
I recommend reading the instructions txt files I included in the ZIP if you're setting it up for the first time and/or are unfamiliar with Retroarch or emulation in general and want most all of the useful settings listed out for you.
This includes information such as how to set up .cue and .m3u files, swapping discs, renaming the texture folder, Retroarch settings and Beetle PSX HW Core settings to get the mod working, settings suggestions for making a cleaner looking and faster playing XG (YMMV), and settings to fix certain emulation issues Ive come across (freezing on fast-forward, crackling audio during 3D/effects-heavy cutscenes/gameplay, blank screen during Rico flashback, etc).
Being a real-time texture replacer, it should work with any English version of XG, both base-game and modded/patched. Any fan-translated patch using the US version as a base should also display correctly unless stated otherwise (like with PWB 0.4.6).
If you come across any instances where it doesn't work with a specific mod, please let me know.
There's a separate version for the Japanese version of the game. It may need some editing still with other characters' UI ("エーテル"/"気功"/"秘術"/etc), but for the most part its good to go in terms of battle UI. Let me know if you find any errors.
日本語版は別バージョンがあります。他のキャラクターのUI（エーテルや、気功や、秘術など）についてはまだ編集が必要かもしれないが、バトルUIに関しては大部分問題ない。間違いがあったら教えてください。
If you come across any instances where it doesn't work with a specific mod, please let me know.
There's a separate version for the Japanese version of the game. It may need some editing still with other characters' UI ("エーテル"/"気功"/"秘術"/etc), but for the most part its good to go in terms of battle UI. Let me know if you find any errors.
日本語版は別バージョンがあります。他のキャラクターのUI（エーテルや、気功や、秘術など）についてはまだ編集が必要かもしれないが、バトルUIに関しては大部分問題ない。間違いがあったら教えてください。
Spoiler-free before & after screenshots (and alt buttons/maps):
Japanese-version-specific UI // 日本語版UI:
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