This recompilation is a byproduct of developing psxrecomp — the games are the proving ground, the framework is the goal. These are in-development previews, not finished ports — expect rough edges, and depth will keep landing over months, not days. My time for any one title is limited, so I ask for your patience. Contributions are welcome — testing, issues, and PRs to the game or framework all help and will accelerate this game's polish. More on the why at: Recomp + AI: 5 Months Later »
Tsumu Light (Japan, SLPS-02253) statically recompiled to a native PC executable with PSXRecomp — the same framework behind MegaManX6Recomp and TombaRecomp — with a built-in English fan-translation.
Tsumu Light (つむ LIGHT) is a charming, hamster-themed falling/stacking puzzle game that only ever released in Japan. This project makes it playable on PC in English — no emulator, no disc-swapping menus, no Japanese required.
Part of the R.A.I.D. recompilation community. Come chat, get help, or follow development: https://discord.gg/Ad9BwSzctP
The headline feature. Tsumu Light never left Japan, so this build ships a runtime English localization layer that translates the game's on-screen text — the HUD, the menus, the stage-select names and high-score labels, and the memory-card save / format / quit dialogs — with no changes to the disc. You pick the language right in the launcher:
- Settings → Localization → Language: English (default) — the translated text.
- Language: Default — the original untranslated Japanese.
The translation data lives entirely in translations/tsumu.toml and is applied
at runtime; the game's own assets are never modified.
This repository contains the game-specific configuration, seeds, translation data, and build glue for running Tsumu Light on the PSXRecomp framework. The game's MIPS code is machine-translated ("recompiled") ahead of time into native C, then compiled into a real Windows program that runs the game's own logic on a faithful simulation of the PS1 hardware (GPU, SPU, GTE, memory cards) plus the real, recompiled PS1 BIOS.
It does not contain the Tsumu Light disc image, the PS1 BIOS, generated game code, or any decompiled game C. Those are produced locally from your own legally obtained assets.
Important files:
game.toml— runtime / recompiler / controller / localization config.translations/tsumu.toml— the English translation data.seeds/— Ghidra-derived function starts and game-specific seed data.docs/framework_pin_history.md— framework pin and compatibility history.DISC.md— source-disc identity and verification notes.recomp/launcher/boxart.tga— the cover art shown in the launcher.
Playable — v0.0.1. Tsumu Light boots and plays in English — through the
title, into the puzzle stages, with working input and memory-card save/load.
It boots instantly via HLE boot-skip.
| Area | State |
|---|---|
| Boot | Instant HLE boot-skip (default); real LLE BIOS boot available |
| Gameplay | Works — puzzle stages play start to finish |
| English translation | HUD, menus, stage names, card dialogs (selectable in launcher) |
| Controller | Keyboard and DualShock/DualSense (digital pad — Tsumu is a digital game) |
| Memory-card save / load | Works (standard PS1 .mcd, emulator-compatible) |
| Renderer | Software rasterizer (default) |
- English localization, selectable in the launcher. Runtime text translation (HUD / menus / stage names / card dialogs) with an in-launcher language picker — English or the original Japanese. See above.
- Graphical launcher. Pick your BIOS, disc, and memory cards; verify the
disc; choose your language and controller — then press Launch. Choices persist
to
settings.tomlnext to the exe. - Instant boot. HLE boot-skip synthesizes the post-boot kernel state and
jumps straight into the game (on by default). Opt out for an authentic BIOS
intro with
[runtime] bios_hle = falseorPSX_BIOS_HLE=0. - Controller support. Keyboard or a DualShock/DualSense (or any SDL pad), selectable in the launcher. Tsumu is a digital game, so the pad reports as a digital controller and the analog/hybrid pad-mode picker is hidden.
- Download the release from Releases and extract it.
- Run
Tsumu_Light_Recompiled.exe. A launcher window opens. - Set your PlayStation BIOS: select your legally obtained
SCPH1001.BIN(the standard NTSC-U 512 KB BIOS — see the BIOS note below). - Set the game disc: select your legally obtained Tsumu Light (Japan,
SLPS-02253)
.cue/.bin. - Under Settings → Localization, pick English (default) or Default (Japanese). Adjust controller / memory cards if you like, then press Launch. Your choices are remembered.
BIOS note. Tsumu Light is a Japanese (SLPS) disc, but with the default HLE
boot the console region/license check never runs, so the standard NTSC-U
SCPH1001.BIN is what you want — no Japanese BIOS needed. (A Japanese BIOS is
only relevant if you force the authentic LLE boot with bios_hle = false.)
Accepted disc formats: .cue + .bin (pick the .cue) and .bin. Do not
convert to a 2048-byte "cooked" .iso — that discards the XA sectors the game
streams audio from.
Builds on Windows (MSYS2 / MinGW).
Requirements:
- A C/C++ toolchain (MSYS2
mingw-w64-x86_64) and CMake 3.20+. - Tsumu Light (Japan, SLPS-02253) disc image (
.cue+.bin). Not included. - An NTSC-U
SCPH1001.BINBIOS ROM. Not included. - The
psxrecompframework linked in as thepsxrecomp-v4junction at thepsxrecomp-v4.pinSHA, plus a recompiled BIOS inpsxrecomp/generated/.
# Regenerate generated/SLPS_022.53_{full,dispatch}.c from the disc/EXE:
../psxrecomp/recompiler/build/psxrecomp-game.exe --config game.toml
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j8
./build/Tsumu_Light_Recompiled.exeBuild an optimized (Release) binary. The recompiled game is a huge block of generated C — a
-O0build runs at a fraction of full speed. The framework now defaults to Release if you omitCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE, but pass it explicitly to be sure.
| PSX button | Keyboard |
|---|---|
| D-Pad Up / Down / Left / Right | Arrow keys |
| Cross | X |
| Circle | S |
| Square | Z |
| Triangle | A |
| Start | Enter |
| Select | Right Shift |
| Fullscreen | F11 / Alt+Enter |
A DualShock / DualSense (or any SDL-recognized pad) works when connected — select it as the Player 1 device in the launcher.
Save and load work. The runtime uses standard PS1 memory-card images (.mcd)
compatible with DuckStation, PCSX-Redux, Mednafen, and similar emulators. Cards
live in the saves directory and are managed in the launcher's memory-card UI.
Memory-card files are local artifacts and are not committed.
- Use the real recompiled BIOS and real hardware simulation in PSXRecomp.
- No HLE BIOS shims, no stubs, no fake events, no hand-edited generated files. (HLE boot-skip is a QoL layer on top; LLE remains the reference and oracle.)
- Framework changes go in
mstan/psxrecomp, not here. - Game binaries, generated code, memory cards, and build outputs stay local.
- See
CLAUDE.mdfor project-specific rules.
PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. See LICENSE.
Tsumu Light is copyright its respective owners. This repository contains none of the game's original binaries or assets — no disc data and no BIOS image; those are always read from files you supply. The English translation is an original fan work applied at runtime.