dark-render-re

Reverse-engineered video renderer proxy for DARK (2013).

Project fixes WMV cutscene playback on Proton/Linux. Original game video layer may freeze after a few seconds while audio, subtitles, cancel button, and loading flow still work. This proxy keeps original game UI/timing where possible, replaces video texture upload with frames decoded by 32-bit Windows FFmpeg, and plays extracted cutscene audio through FFplay.

Game links:

• Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/225360/DARK/
• SteamDB: https://steamdb.info/app/225360/

What It Does

• Replaces VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin with proxy DLL.
• Loads original plugin as VideoEnginePlugin.orig.vPlugin.
• Lets original plugin keep subtitles, timing, skip/cancel button, and level transitions.
• Starts ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe to decode current .wmv into BGRA rawvideo.
• Starts ffmpeg\bin\ffplay.exe for extracted .wav audio placed next to each cutscene .wmv.
• Uploads decoded frames into game texture through VTextureObject::UpdateRect.
• Handles Alt+Enter/device reset using exported vBase100.dll reset flags.
• Runs FFmpeg with low priority/single-thread mode to avoid audio stutter.

Built With

This project uses FFmpeg for WMV decoding, with a tested 32-bit Windows build from FFmpeg-Builds-Win32. Runtime testing is done on Proton-GE, using Wine/Proton compatibility layers from the Wine ecosystem.

The proxy is built with LLVM/Clang and Wine i386 import libraries. Rendering integration targets DARK's original VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin, VisionEnginePlugin.vPlugin, and vBase100.dll interfaces.

This repository contains proxy source code and an optional prebuilt proxy binary. It does not contain original DARK game files.

Current Status

Recommended runtime: Proton-GE.

This fix was developed and tested on Proton-GE. Other Proton builds may work, but are not the tested target.

Working on Proton-GE with Russian localized DARK install.

Known design:

• Cutscene audio is extracted to .wav files beside the original .wmv files and played through FFplay to avoid Proton/Wine DirectShow audio stalls.
• Video comes from FFmpeg texture hook.
• FFmpeg must be 32-bit Windows build, because game/plugin process is 32-bit.

One-Line Install

After publishing this repo, Steam Deck/Linux user can run one command:

git clone https://github.com/Lintech-1/dark-render-re.git && sh dark-render-re/install.sh

Installer does this automatically:

• finds DARK Steam install by checking DarkApp.exe, Localization_Common/, and VisionEnginePlugin.vPlugin;
• asks which install to use if multiple copies are found;
• downloads tested 32-bit Windows FFmpeg build;
• puts FFmpeg/FFplay at Dark/ffmpeg/bin/;
• extracts .wav audio beside each cutscene .wmv, except silent intro.wmv;
• replaces each processed .wmv with a muted copy and keeps original backup beside it;
• renames original plugin to VideoEnginePlugin.orig.vPlugin;
• installs proxy as VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin.

If game is in custom path:

DARK_GAME_DIR="/path/to/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Dark" sh dark-render-re/install.sh

Manual Install

1. Open game folder:

   cd "/path/to/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Dark"

2. Put 32-bit Windows FFmpeg/FFplay here:

   Dark/ffmpeg/bin/ffmpeg.exe
   Dark/ffmpeg/bin/ffplay.exe
   

   Tested layout:

   Dark/
     ffmpeg/
       bin/
         ffmpeg.exe
         ffplay.exe
    Localization_Common/
      Video/
        ru/
          comic_even_intro.wmv
          comic_even_intro.wav
   

3. Backup original plugin once:

   mv VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin VideoEnginePlugin.orig.vPlugin

4. Copy proxy plugin:

   cp dark-render-re/dist/VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin

5. Run game.

Installer Notes

Run installer from anywhere:

sh dark-render-re/install.sh

Script expects:

• dark-render-re/dist/VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin exists;
• original plugin is either VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin or already renamed to VideoEnginePlugin.orig.vPlugin.
• native Linux ffmpeg exists for preparing .wav audio and muted .wmv files.

Game root detection requires these files:

• DarkApp.exe
• Localization_Common/
• VisionEnginePlugin.vPlugin

Override FFmpeg download URL:

FFMPEG_URL="https://example.com/ffmpeg-win32.zip" sh dark-render-re/install.sh

Build

Linux build deps:

• clang
• lld
• Wine i386 import libs:
  • /usr/lib/wine/i386-windows/libkernel32.a
  • /usr/lib/wine/i386-windows/libuser32.a

Linux install deps:

• find
• ffmpeg
• awk
• curl or wget
• unzip, bsdtar, or 7z

Build:

cd dark-render-re
sh build_proxy.sh

Output:

dist/VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin

Debug log build:

LOGS=1 sh build_proxy.sh

Files

• src/VideoEnginePlugin_proxy.c - proxy implementation.
• src/VideoEnginePlugin_proxy.def - exported original plugin symbols.
• dist/VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin - ready-to-use 32-bit proxy DLL built by this project, not the original game plugin.
• install.sh - install/update helper for game root.
• build_proxy.sh - local build script.

Runtime Logs

Default release build does not write runtime logs.

If built with LOGS=1, game root may contain:

• dark_video_proxy.log
• dark_video_ffmpeg.log

These are debug logs. Safe to delete.

Credits

DARK belongs to its owners. FFmpeg belongs to FFmpeg project/build maintainers. Original DARK game files are not redistributed.

The prebuilt dist/VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin is this project's proxy binary, not the original DARK VideoEnginePlugin.vPlugin.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.