Burnout 2: Point of Impact — Static Recompilation

An unofficial version of the original Xbox game for Windows, with experimental Linux, Steam Deck, and macOS ports, focused on fast gameplay, preserving the original's look and feel, and a variety of enhancements.

Linux, Steam Deck, and macOS builds need testing. Linux and Steam Deck still need gameplay, sound and performance checks. macOS needs those checks on both Intel and Apple Silicon.

Still in development: Slowdown, bugs, and crashes are possible. Open an issue if you experience a problem, and I'll try to respond in a timely manner. This is an independent fan project, unaffiliated with the game's owners.

AI Disclosure

Yes, AI (Codex) assisted in the development of this project. No, this project was not blindly thrown together. If you're skeptical, I implore you to try the recompilation for yourself. I take quality control quite seriously!👀

What's new in 1.14

• Added camera FOV slider to Graphics options.
• Texture packs can now be easily installed. See the Mods tab in Settings for more information.
• Added initial scripting support.

Download Installation.zip and extract it over your existing source folder, keeping build and data. Rerun Install.cmd on Windows, Install.desktop on Linux, or Install.command on macOS. Back up saves, settings, achievement progress, imported music and mods first; Updating between releases lists the locations. Your own US Xbox XISO is required. Game files are not included.

Screenshots

What happened to the original release?

The original recompilation worked, but its poor performance and growing complexity led to a fresh start. Its implementation was replaced with a smaller version focused on speed and simplicity. I couldn't bear to keep the slop version public😅

Current status

The features below have been validated primarily on Windows. Linux and macOS support is still being tested.

What works

• Startup, menus, and many levels/modes.
• Background music, menu sounds and in-game sound effects.
• Creating, saving and loading profiles through the game's Load/Save menu.
• Gamepad and keyboard input.
• Saved settings for display, audio and controls, with refresh rates from 60 Hz through Unlimited. High-refresh gameplay and menus keep normal game speed.
• Custom keyboard and controller bindings, and 1×–4× internal resolution.
• Native 16:9 and ultrawide 21:9 cameras with the HUD's original proportions and edge placement.
• Adjustable camera FOV from 50% to 150%, with the original view at 100%.
• Optional MSAA or FXAA antialiasing and anisotropic filtering up to 16×.
• Optional ambient occlusion with adjustable quality and strength.
• Optional Windows HDR output with adjustable image and highlight brightness.
• Imported custom music through the original Music Selection menu, with a saved Loop Track option in Music Selection and Pause → Options.
• Optional motion blur from the original game.
• Optional intro skipping and 2×/4× draw distance, with detailed traffic and loose car parts, plus extended loose-part ground shadows.
• Clean HUD redraws the original low-resolution interface assets with smooth edges.
• Optional fast loading skips loading transitions and frame delays.
• Ten achievements with saved progress and animated unlock notifications.
• Asset replacement mods with saved load order and conflict checks.
• Texture pack installation from Settings and sandboxed Lua scripting with supported gameplay events.
• Optional automatic muting when the game loses focus.
• Optional Discord Rich Presence with the project's icon and elapsed time.

What still needs work

• Testing all modes, tracks and saved-game progression.
• Checking sound balance and consistently smooth performance across the whole game.

Getting started

All platforms require your own copy of the US Xbox release as an XISO disc image. Game files are not included. Keep the source and build folders together.

Linux x86-64

Use a glibc-based 64-bit Linux distribution and a compatible Vulkan 1.4 graphics driver. Extract Installation.zip into a folder you will keep, then open Install.desktop. Your desktop may first require Allow Launching or Run as Program. You can also start setup from a terminal:

bash Install.sh

Setup installs missing dependencies on Ubuntu 24.04+/Debian 13+, Fedora and Arch Linux, opens a disc picker and builds the game. Installing system packages may require your password. Start the game from your application menu or run bash Play.sh. Rerun setup in the same folder to update. For other distributions and manual builds, see BUILDING.txt.

Linux uses Vulkan through DXVK Native and runs without Wine. Desktop gameplay, sound and graphics performance still need testing; the existing WSL software rendering result does not measure native GPU performance.

macOS Intel and Apple Silicon

Building requires macOS 15.2+ and Xcode 16.3+; the game targets macOS 14+ and a compatible Metal 3 GPU. Install Xcode and open it once to finish its setup. Extract Installation.zip into a folder you will keep, then double-click Install.command. Setup installs Homebrew and the missing build tools, opens a disc picker, builds for your Mac and adds Burnout 2 Recompilation.app to your home Applications folder. You can also start setup from a terminal:

bash Install.command

Intel and Apple Silicon use separate native builds. Graphics run through DXMT and Metal, without Wine or Rosetta. Both architectures still need real gameplay, visual, audio and performance testing. No Mac gameplay result is available yet. CI compiles the full game on both architectures. Its Intel virtual GPU lacks the features required by the Metal backend, so Intel graphics need testing on a compatible physical Mac. Run ./build/macos/Release/b2-tool inspect-metal to check GPU support.

Linux and macOS do not support WARP, D3D11 debug layers or hardware memory watches. Custom music imports require FFmpeg.

Steam Deck / SteamOS

In Desktop Mode, extract Installation.zip into a permanent folder, then open Install.desktop. Setup detects SteamOS and installs its build tools and runtime through Flatpak in your user account. It leaves SteamOS's system files alone. The first installation needs internet access and several GB of free space.

Launch from the application menu, or add Burnout 2: Point of Impact to Steam as a non-Steam game for Gaming Mode. Leave the compatibility-tool override off. You can also run bash Install.sh --steamdeck and later bash Play.sh --steamdeck. Keep the installation folder and XISO in place. Steam Deck support is experimental; gameplay, sound and performance still need checking on physical hardware.

Windows x64

You need a 64-bit Windows PC and a graphics card that supports DirectX 11.

1. Download Installation.zip and extract it into a folder you will keep.
2. Double-click Install.cmd and select your US Xbox XISO disc image (.iso or .xiso). Use an XISO; full-disc dumps need conversion to XISO first. Setup automatically downloads missing tools and builds the game. If Microsoft C++ tools are missing, approve the Windows permission prompt for their installer. The first installation needs internet access and can take a while; progress and download sizes appear in the setup window.
3. Click Launch game. For later launches, open build/windows/Release/b2.exe.

There are no separate tool downloads, commands to type or PATH changes to make. Compatible installed tools are reused; portable tools stay in build/deps/windows. The full Visual Studio editor is not required. Build.cmd also opens the same installer. If setup asks for a restart, restart Windows and run Install.cmd again. Verified downloads and completed build work are kept for retries. If building fails, click Open build log. The developer build instructions also cover offline debugging.

Updating between releases

Keep your source folder in place so the application shortcut remains valid. The backup paths below are relative to the folder containing b2.exe (Windows) or b2 (Linux/macOS), normally build/windows/Release, build/linux/Release, build/steamdeck/Release or build/macos/Release.

1. Close the game and builder.
2. Back up data/user, data/local/settings.cfg and, if present, data/local/achievements.cfg. These contain your saves, settings and achievements. If you imported music, also back up data/local/custom-music. Back up the mods folder as well if you added mods.
3. Download the latest Installation.zip and extract it into your existing source folder—the folder containing Build.cmd—replacing the source files. Keep the existing build and data folders.
4. Rerun Install.cmd (Windows), Install.desktop (Linux/Steam Deck) or Install.command (macOS) and select your own US Xbox XISO. Setup prepares missing tools, rebuilds the game and updates game-file locations while preserving your other settings, saves, achievement progress, imported music and mods. Game files are not included in the download.

For a new-folder installation, build it first, then restore your backups to the same locations beside the new executable. Rerun your platform's installer to refresh game-file locations while keeping the restored settings. After moving an installation folder, rerun setup to rebuild and refresh shortcut paths. bash Install.sh --shortcuts-only recreates a Linux/macOS shortcut without rebuilding an installation that remains in place.

Game settings

Click Start game to play; press Esc to open or close settings. Changes save automatically. Graphics, controls and enhancement changes apply during play. Mods and imported music use a game restart. Hover over options for details.

• General: Set the refresh rate or Unlimited, show FPS, and enable Discord Rich Presence. Presence is off by default and requires Discord desktop.
• Graphics: Choose resolution, aspect ratio, camera FOV, V-sync and Windows HDR output. Camera FOV uses percentages (50-150%). 100% or Reset restores the original view. Camera zoom effects are preserved. Changes apply immediately. Enable HDR in Windows first; hover over its controls for brightness guidance.
• Enhancements: Set antialiasing, texture filtering, ambient occlusion and draw distance. Miscellaneous contains Clean HUD, Fast load, Motion blur and intro skipping. Higher quality and distance use more resources.
• Audio: Set volume and muting, including Mute on focus loss. Browse for songs, click Import music, then choose the collection in Music Selection. Loop Track is in Music Selection and Pause → Options.
• Controls: Select Keyboard or Controller 1–4, click a binding, then press the new control. Each player keeps separate mappings. Esc cancels capture.
• Achievements: View progress, pause tracking or reset achievement progress.
• Mods: For texture packs, extract the download, click Install texture pack..., and select the folder containing mod.cfg. The pack is installed and enabled automatically; start or restart the game to apply it. Use the checkboxes to disable packs and the arrows to change priority. Lower enabled packs/mods take priority; Check mods validates images and reports conflicts. Game file mods can still be added through Open folder, then Refresh. Sandboxed Lua scripts can set session FOV, display messages and react to supported gameplay events. Test Mod shows a confirmation at startup and your finishing position after a race. Executable patches and arbitrary game-memory access are unsupported. See BUILDING.txt.
• Diagnostics: View logs, capture frames or record performance.

Press F9 to start or stop a performance recording. Reports are saved under build/captures/performance-*; include the whole folder when reporting a slowdown.

Achievements

Achievements unlock as you play and are shared across game profiles in the same installation. Progress is saved in data/local/achievements.cfg beside the game executable. Loading an existing save does not immediately award achievements; previous medals and completions count toward aggregate goals when you next finish a relevant event.

Achievement	Requirement
Crash + Burn	Earn bronze or better on any Crash Zone.
See You in Hell	Earn gold on all Crash Zones.
Dangerous Driving	Earn gold on all Offensive Driving 101 lessons.
You're Winner !	Earn first place in any race.
Copped Cars	Complete Pursuit 1, Pursuit 2, and Pursuit 3 in Championship mode.
Burnout Big Leagues	Complete Championship mode.
Burnt Out	Complete Custom Series Championship mode.
Started in Second Gear	Activate a starting boost.
Burnout x Achievement	Achieve a Burnout x 15 or higher.
Stay Frosty	Achieve a time of 0:40.00 or faster on Crystal Summit Peak in Time Attack mode.

Controls

Connected gamepads work automatically. Keyboard controls are enabled by default. Remap either in Settings → Controls; settings navigation keeps its standard controls. The default keyboard bindings are:

Action	Key
Accelerate	W
Brake	S
Steer	A / D
Move through menus	Arrow keys
A button / Confirm	Space
B button / Back	Left Shift
Black button	R
White button	F
Start / Pause	Enter
Toggle settings	Esc (or F1)
Capture frame	F8
Record / save performance	F9

Black and White refer to the original Xbox controller's extra face buttons. On modern gamepads, Black defaults to RB / R1 and White to LB / L1.

Resources and credits

The project builds on preserved research from the first recompilation and checks discoveries against the game's original executable. Original Xbox video screenshots provide the visual reference.

• XboxDevWiki and nxdk: Xbox hardware and system interfaces.
• xemu and Cxbx-Reloaded: references for graphics, sound and Xbox system behavior.
• DSP56300 manual and mborgerson's DSP56300 toolkit: the original sound processor and its instructions.
• SDL3, Dear ImGui and Zydis: windows, input, audio, settings and instruction decoding during the build.
• Microsoft's Direct3D 11 documentation and Windows API documentation: the Windows graphics and system backend.
• DXVK Native and DXMT: native Vulkan and Metal graphics backends.
• Berkeley SoftFloat and MPFR: floating-point support for Apple Silicon.
• XeGTAO: reference for ambient occlusion.

See third-party notices for dependency licenses and research notes for detailed findings and source links.