With this patched executable the game is now rendering in native 1920x1080. Also adds V-Sync support via dxwrapper.
I am not associated with Eidos Interactive in any way. All rights of the game and assets belong to them.
It is highly recommended that you install the dxwrapper dlls for better performance and v-sync support. You only need the main dxwrapper and ddraw dlls. A configured dxwrapper.ini is provided in the repository. https://github.com/elishacloud/dxwrapper
Under the Folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Eidos Interactive\Beach Life
- Replace the main executable (beachlife.exe) and beachlife.ini file
- Install dxwrapper and ini file (copy dxwrapper.dll, ddraw.dll and dxwrapper.ini there)
- Replace Files from the /Data directory with the files from the repository
- Enjoy! Everything should be working.
Possibly unfinished, buggy or crashing
- The background bitmaps had to be extended otherwise it crashes. I tried my best, but i am by no means a graphics designer.
- Only the game is rendered at higher resolution, the assets are still the same quality.
- Only tested on a FullHD monitor. Thanks to dxwrapper it should scale the image accordingly at any higher resolution.
- Do not try to change the resolution in-game.
- Completing a level after 0 (first real level) may crash the game. WIP
The IDA database is provided. Note that the intro video cannot be played during debugging. Disable it in Data/Script/GameParameters.pis (Text File). Also the patched version does not work inside a VM because the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter only supports a maximum resolution of 1280x1050. The display initialisation IDirectDraw7::setDisplayMode() will fail. You have to use a "real" GPU driver.
The UI and probable many mechanics are defined via .ble file inside Data/Script/. These files are "encrypted" (byte-wise not) and are basically text definitions. The provided bleCoder.jar programm can en-/decode these files.
A wrong media format crashes the game, otherwise it will be rendered appropriately.
ffmpeg -i .\SomeVideo.mpg -c:v mpeg1video -c:a mp2 -ar 44100 -b:a 224k CompatibleVideo.mpg
TGA 24bit 256-Indexed, In GIMP remove the alpha channel to get 24bit. Be aware that the default in GIMP for indexed Color is 255 not 256. After saving check with a hex editor for the correct header:
| Offset Byte address | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 05 | 0x00 | Lower byte color palette size |
| 06 | 0x01 | Higher byte color palette size (256) |
| 07 | 0x18 | 24bit color |
Sometimes GIMP doesn't export the file correctly, in that case, save as png, close GIMP, open, load png and try exporting again.
Thanks to the team at elishacloud for developing the dxwrapper and to my friends for giving me new inspirations when i was stuck reverse engineering. And of course all the credits to the people at Eidos and DeepRed for developing the game in the first place.