ClassicWasTaken--HaloSteamFrameMod/docs/RELEASE_NOTES.md

Halo CE Steam Frame VR Mod 1.4.3

Download Halo-Steam-Frame-Mod-Setup-1.4.3.exe for Windows 10/11 x64. One EXE includes the installer runtime and USB tools. The release page lists its checksum; verify release provenance.

This release promotes the headset-tested 1.4.3-Test9 gameplay patch without changing its bytes.

• Menus and tracking: gameplay hands and weapons hide while a menu is open, while the controller pointer and Xbox navigation remain available. Menus stay upright when your head tilts. Valid offscreen controller poses keep tracked aiming; unavailable poses hide the reticle until recovery rather than producing a centered fallback. Malformed left-hand poses hide only that hand.
• Vehicle controls: in the Warthog driver seat, hold A for forward, hold B to brake, and steer with the left stick. Backward selects reverse; B takes priority over gas and reverse. Optional two-grip steering works with the same gas/brake buttons. Other vehicles keep their own throttle, steering and turret controls. Vehicle controls.
• Vehicle views: a separate seated reference uses the authored seat camera and follows the vehicle's full tilt and bounce. Physical head movement remains free, acceleration-animation sway is excluded, and the occupied Warthog windshield is cleared locally.
• Aiming and presentation: first-person scripted arrivals retain controller hands without enabling gameplay inputs. Stock zoom and direct controller aiming replace the experimental gun-mounted scope. Install/Repair disables the old optical settings, enables physical melee, and retains standing and snap-turn defaults.
• Rendering: stereo visibility bounds include both eyes near the camera. Invalid framebuffers are retried, incomplete frames are not submitted, and unfinished GPU buffer slots get fresh storage. The compositor receives the exact eye pose used to render the completed frame.
• Setup reliability: remote source is delivered without an oversized shell argument; cancellation reports unconfirmed remote stopping accurately. A temporary idle/sleep inhibitor covers native compilation when available and is released afterward. Setup prevents concurrent installer builds and runs the current 22 engine checks with compiler/linker names resolved from PATH.

Updating: close Halo, select its existing Internal/SD storage location, then choose Repair to rebuild with verified maps without another ISO. Existing 1.4.x profiles and saves stay on the selected location. Upgrading from 1.3.5 retains old saves but requires a new profile and campaign. SD installation, Steam artwork/Notes and the earlier tutorial, flashlight, sun-glow and online campaign fixes remain included.

The tester confirmed Test9 worked on their Frame. Local verification passed 1,034 installer tests (14 skipped), all 22 engine checks, ARM64 compilation and partial linking, plus the frozen EXE smoke test. Public publication additionally requires the repository's Windows/Linux, rootless-container, complete native ARM64 link and attested Windows EXE checks. No measured FPS improvement or complete multiplayer/hardware matrix is claimed.

Engine source remains pinned to 2ae0ee4e3e8a4dfdadfd528a5b085ca699fc9ea4, native peer protocol 17. Use matching builds and maps for LAN/online co-op. Retail PC and Custom Edition servers remain incompatible; restrictive NAT can prevent Internet connections because there is no gameplay relay.

Supply your own authorized original Xbox Halo CE data. No retail executable, ISO, maps, keys or soundtrack is bundled or downloaded. Halo artwork and licensed components retain their notices. Sources and credits · Third-party notices.

1.4.2

Download Halo-Steam-Frame-Mod-Setup-1.4.2.exe for Windows 10/11 x64. This is the release's only installer asset. Its SHA256 is listed on the release page; matching installer source is in the v1.4.2 tag. Verify release provenance.

• SD-card installation: choose Internal storage or SD card on Connect Frame, click Refresh storage, and select the detected card. Install, Repair and Uninstall use the selected location. SD cards need a mounted, writable, executable ext4 or f2fs filesystem and 12 GiB free. Setup does not format or mount cards. Missing or changed cards stop the operation; other installations are kept. SD-card guide.
• Separate SD library entry: Halo: Combat Evolved VR (Native, SD card) coexists with the internal Halo: Combat Evolved VR (Native). A new SD installation starts separate profiles and campaign saves in its own save-v1.4. There is no automatic campaign migration between drives. Steam artwork and Notes stay with your Steam account; Podman's container storage can still use internal space.
• Menus in front of you: opening a menu uses your current headset position and gaze. It stays in place while open after walking or turning; closing and reopening captures your new view. Recentring deliberately places an open menu in front again.
• Cancellation and progress: a completed user cancellation reports Setup cancelled. Genuine failures, unconfirmed remote stopping and failed disconnect cleanup still need attention. Password redaction no longer interferes with progress-phase lookup. Fixes #10 and #12.
• Steam choices preserved: re-registering an existing shortcut keeps hidden status, desktop configuration, overlay and devkit choices. The VR-library flag remains enabled. Fixes #11.
• Safe repair and upgrade recovery: malformed or unsupported configuration is rejected with readable preservation messages. An interrupted 1.3.5 upgrade can resume when the owned cache, original backups and replacement files provide consistent proof. Keep those records; damaged or ambiguous evidence requires manual recovery. Fixes #13 and #18.
• Bounded SSH waits: command and SFTP setup handshakes can be cancelled and have deadlines. Continuous or newline-free output cannot indefinitely postpone cancellation or grow its retained buffer. Fixes #19 and #20.
• Verified USB tools first: an explicit adb.exe selection takes priority, followed by the verified bundled tools. SDK/PATH discovery is a fallback when the bundle is absent; a damaged bundle fails closed. This does not authenticate an already-running ADB server. Fixes #21.

Thanks to Dime (dime-online) for the installer fixes in PR #14, #15, #16, #17, #23, #24 and #25.

Updating: save and close Halo, select its storage location, then choose Repair to rebuild using verified Xbox maps without another ISO. Existing 1.4.0/1.4.1 profiles and checkpoints on that location stay in save-v1.4. The 1.4 engine cannot load old checkpoints from 1.3.5: that upgrade retains old saves and backs up the original config/program, but requires a new profile and campaign. Separate 1.4.0a2–a5 Experimental installations stay untouched.

The 1.4.1 tutorial, tracking and unarmed-flashlight fixes remain included, with standing mode and snap turning applied on Install/Repair. Source stays pinned to 2ae0ee4e3e8a4dfdadfd528a5b085ca699fc9ea4, native peer protocol 17. LAN/online campaign, head-directed walking, Xbox buttons, render-rate reticle and half-strength stereo sun glow are retained. Use matching builds/maps for co-op; retail clients cannot join. Restrictive NAT can prevent Internet connections because there is no gameplay relay.

The user confirmed the private build's SD installation and menu placement on their headset. Earlier testing confirmed the 1.4.0 baseline's reticle motion and LAN/online campaign. No measured FPS, frame timing or complete new multiplayer/hardware matrix was supplied. See release provenance for verification of the exact source commit, build and downloaded artifact.

Supply your own authorized original Xbox Halo CE data. USA Rev 2 was validated with the stable installer. No retail executable, ISO, maps, keys or soundtrack is bundled or downloaded. Halo artwork and licensed components retain their notices. The EXE is unsigned; use the checksum and provenance verification instructions to check its source and artifact.

Setup guide · Controls · Sources and credits · Third-party notices