Tenchu Z - HoloCatt Recomp Project

Tenchu Z - HoloCatt Recomp Project is a work-in-progress static recompilation of Tenchu Z (Xbox 360) into a native Windows game. The game's own code runs natively on your PC, with higher resolutions, modern graphics options, mods, cheats, a speedrun timer, a photo mode and System Link co-op over the internet.

[!TIP] Press F6 in game for the Tenchu Z menu. Everything this port adds is there: online play and join codes, your player name, graphics and shader presets, controller and mouse settings, camera, cheats, photo mode, the speedrun timer and the info overlay. A hint at the top of the screen reminds you when the game starts.

The new F6 > Display tab adds named graphics profiles, monitor/window choices, menu scaling and an experimental ultrawide 3D view. The resizable launcher shares these settings and offers Safe launch for a temporary recovery run. Details and current ultrawide limitations: Display options.

[!WARNING] This is an alpha, a preview for testers. The hub and the first missions have been played; the rest of the game hasn't been played through yet on this port, so expect bugs or crashes further on. It has only been tested on one PC (Windows 11, NVIDIA). If something breaks, please report it: every report shows how far the game really works.

[!NOTE] No game files are included. You need your own copy of Tenchu Z for the Xbox 360 as a disc image (.iso) made from your own disc. This project does not include, and will not provide, game files, disc images or links to them. The setup only reads the disc image you point it to; your disc image isn't changed.

Getting started (Alpha 0.1.4, Windows)

1. Download TenchuZ-HoloCattRecomp-0.1.4-alpha-windows.zip from Releases and extract it to a folder you can write to (not Program Files). It needs about 5 GB free for the game files.
2. Put your Tenchu Z disc image (.iso) in that folder, next to tenchuz.exe.
3. Double-click Setup Tenchu Z.cmd. It checks that your disc is the supported version, copies the game files out of it into the extracted folder (a few minutes) and creates the profile the game needs. If there's no .iso in the folder, it asks you to pick one. Afterwards the .iso isn't needed any more.
4. Start the game with Tenchu Z Launcher.cmd (resolution, window, frame rate, then Play) or tenchuz.exe.
5. In game, press F6 for the Tenchu Z menu: online play, graphics, controls, cheats and the other extras.

Windows may warn that the files come from an unknown publisher (they aren't signed): choose More info > Run anyway. Windows Firewall may ask to allow tenchuz.exe the first time; allow it for online play.

Needs Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) and a graphics card with DirectX 12 or Vulkan.

What you need

• Your own Tenchu Z for the Xbox 360, USA/Europe release (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian), as a disc image (.iso). Setup checks the version; other versions (for example the Japanese release) aren't supported.
• The files go in extracted/ next to tenchuz.exe; the setup puts them there.

Status

Estimates of where each part stands. "Tested in game" is how much of the game has been played through on this port so far.

	Part	Progress	What it means
✅	Recompiler		The whole game recompiles to native x64 code (ReXGlue)
✅	Setup from your disc image		Version check and file extraction from your own .iso, no extra programs
✅	Graphics (Direct3D 12)		Hub and missions render correctly on NVIDIA; other GPUs untested
🔧	Graphics (Vulkan, work in progress)		Choose it in the launcher or F6 > Game; menus and missions render like Direct3D 12 on NVIDIA except one floor in mission 1 (purple or speckled), other GPUs untested. Falls back to Direct3D 12 if Vulkan cannot start
✅	Render scale		1x to 7x internal resolution (3x = 3840x2160)
✅	Sound and music		Including mute when the window is in the background
✅	Controllers		Any controller; button remapping, stick deadzones and rumble strength in F6 > Controller (remapping needs more testing)
✅	Keyboard and mouse		Rebind every controller input in F6 > Controller by pressing the key or mouse button; mouse look
✅	System Link co-op over the internet		Join codes, automatic router setup (UPnP), player names; tested with two copies on one PC, not yet between two PCs
✅	Shader presets		"Modern Look" (sharpening, bloom, ambient occlusion, haze, depth of field) and "Manga", with live sliders
✅	Mods		mods\ folder for replacement files and custom shaders, without touching the game files
✅	Extras		Cheats, damage multipliers, camera FOV and distance, photo mode, speedrun timer with splits, info overlay
🔧	Tested in game		The hub and the first missions; the rest is untested: report what breaks
🔧	Other graphics cards		AMD and Intel GPUs untested: reports welcome
🗺️	Voice chat		Not planned: use Discord or similar

✅ done · 🔧 in progress · 🗺️ roadmap

Playing together

Co-op uses the game's own System Link mode, over the internet. Everyone needs their own copy of the game.

• Host: F6 > Online > Get my join code. The game opens its ports on your router (UPnP) and shows a code like K3F9-2QX7. Press Copy and send it to your friends, then host in Mode Select > System Link. The code stands for your internet address, so only share it with people you play with.
• Friends: F6 > Online > Join a friend: paste the code (Paste button or Ctrl+V), press Join, then search in System Link.
• Set your name in F6 > Online > Your name.

If the host's router doesn't allow UPnP, forward UDP 1000, 1001, 1004 and TCP 1003 to the host's PC, or use a virtual LAN (ZeroTier, Radmin VPN, Tailscale). All details: docs/multiplayer.md.

Controls

Any controller works. Keyboard and mouse: change any key in F6 > Controller > Keyboard & mouse keys. Press Set and then the key or mouse button you want (Shift/Ctrl/Alt + key works too, and so do Shift, Ctrl or Alt on their own); + adds a second key for the same input. Mouse look is in F6 > Camera. The defaults:

Xbox button	Keys	Xbox button	Keys
Left stick	W A S D	Right stick (camera)	Arrow keys, or the mouse (F6 > Camera > Mouse look)
A	Space or ;	B	Backspace or '
X	L	Y	P
LT	Q or I	RT	E or O
LB	1	RB	3
Left stick press	F	Right stick press	K
D-pad	Shift + arrow keys	Start / Back	Enter or X / Tab or Z

Hotkey		Hotkey
F6	Tenchu Z menu	F8	God mode on/off
F5	Refill health	F9	Pause / resume mouse look
F10	Photo mode (free camera)	F1 / F2	Save / load position (practice)
F11	Hide / show the game's HUD

Keep the frame rate at 60 Hz with vsync on (the launcher's default): the game runs its clock off the frame rate, so the game shows 30 fps as on the Xbox 360. For 60 fps in missions, turn on 60 fps (experimental) in the launcher or F6 > Game; menus stay at 30.

Reporting bugs

Open a bug report and attach logs\tenchuz.log from the game folder. Say where in the game it happened and what your PC is (Windows version, graphics card). Screenshots or a short video help a lot.

Building from source

Everything needed is here: the game-specific code (tenchuz-recomp/src), the recompiler manifest, the changes to the ReXGlue SDK (tenchuz-recomp/sdk_patches) and the tools. The game code itself is generated on your machine from your own default.xex. Steps: docs/building.md. Pull requests are welcome.

Respect copyright

• Tenchu Z is © 2007 FromSoftware, Inc. It was developed by K2 LLC and published by FromSoftware and Microsoft Game Studios. This is a fan project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by FromSoftware, K2, Microsoft or any other rights holder. Tenchu is a trademark of FromSoftware; Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of Microsoft.
• This repository contains no game files and no game code: no disc images, no assets, no music, no video, no text, and not the C++ code the recompiler generates from the game (it is made on your machine and ignored by git).
• The release's tenchuz.exe is built from that recompiled code. It contains no assets and can't run without the files from your own disc.
• Issues or discussions that contain game files, disc images or links to copies of the game will be removed. Piracy isn't supported in any way.
• Follow the copyright laws of your country. Making a disc image of a game you own for personal use is legal in some countries and not in others; that's your responsibility.

Credits

• ReXGlue SDK - the Xbox 360 recompiler and runtime this project is built on (BSD 3-Clause), which builds on the Xenia emulator's work (BSD 3-Clause).
• Libraries, under their own licenses (texts in the release's licenses folder): SDL 3 (zlib), FFmpeg (LGPL 2.1), Dear ImGui (MIT), fmt (MIT), spdlog (MIT), toml++ (MIT), xxHash (BSD), SIMDe (MIT), libmspack (LGPL 2.1) and others.
• The release includes Microsoft's Visual C++ runtime DLLs, redistributed as Microsoft permits.

License

This project's own code and documentation are open source under the MIT License: take it, change it, make it better. The license covers this project's code only; it grants nothing for Tenchu Z, which you must supply yourself. The ReXGlue SDK and the libraries keep their own licenses.

Changes

See CHANGELOG.md. Everything the port adds, with its test status: FEATURES.txt.