SulphurS16 / ACFA-Port

# ARMORED CORE for Answer: unofficial PC port
A native Windows version of ARMORED CORE for Answer (PS3, USA, BLUS30187). The game's own PS3 code is translated into a real Windows program, built on your PC from your own copy of the game. This project contains no game data, no game code and no keys, and it decrypts nothing.
Not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by FromSoftware, Ubisoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment or any other rights holder. ARMORED CORE is a trademark of its owners.
## Highlights
- Native, not emulated. The whole game runs as a 64-bit Windows program.
- Resolution options. The game draws at your screen's own resolution, in borderless, windowed or fullscreen.
- Render scale from 50% to 200%.
- High frame rates. 30, 60, 120, 144, your monitor's refresh rate or uncapped and the same game speed at every frame rate. Menus and movies stay at 60.
- Full mouse support. The mouse moves the camera with raw input. Your AC turns after it at its own speed, as with the stick.
- PC SETTINGS inside the game. An entry in the game's own SYSTEM menu, where HDD INSTALL was on the PS3: display, frame rate, mouse and keys settings all ingame.
## How it works
Static recompilation. A recompiler reads the game's ~4.5 million PowerPC instructions and turns them into C++: about 71.000 functions, with every indirect jump resolved. Your PC's compiler then builds a native 64-bit Windows program.
SPU programs are translated ahead of time too, with an interpreter as a safety net. The RSX command stream becomes Direct3D 11, and the game's shaders become HLSL, drawn at your resolution. Graphics, audio, input, files and saves are reimplemented in C++. a few complex firmware parts run as recompiled code from your own system files, so they behave exactly as on the console: the SPU task system and the movie and audio decoders.
It shares this runtime with the Armored Core 4 port. The two games share an engine family and middleware.
Nothing from the game is in this repository. Everything game-derived is generated on your PC from your own copy. Setup downloads a compiler toolchain (about 250 MB) once and takes a few minutes.
## Install
### What you need
- Your own copy of ARMORED CORE for Answer (US disc, BLUS30187). You need the disc's files, meaning the folder that contains 'PS3_GAME'.
- RPCS3, used once during setup to decrypt a few of your game files.
- The PS3 system software 4.93 file 'PS3UPDAT.PUP' from Sony's PS3 system software page.
- Optional: the game's update 01.35 package, placed in the game folder or next to 'PS3UPDAT.PUP'.
- About 4 GB of free disk space and an internet connection.
### Steps
1. Download `ACFA-Port- .zip` from Releases.
2. Right click the zip, choose **Extract All...**, and pick a folder with enough space, for example 'C:\Games\ACFA-Port'.
3. Open that folder and start 'ACFA-Launcher.exe'.
4. Under **Game folder**, choose the folder that contains 'PS3_GAME'.
5. Click **Prepare files** and choose your 'rpcs3.exe' and 'PS3UPDAT.PUP'.