ReC98
@rec98project.bsky.social
https://rec98.nmlgc.net
The Touhou PC-98 Restoration Project. Decompiled 100% of TH01 to provably legit C++ code, remaining games in progress. Which mods or ports do *you* want to see?
The Touhou PC-98 Restoration Project. Decompiled 100% of TH01 to provably legit C++ code, remaining games in progress. Which mods or ports do *you* want to see?
Many thanks to this month's subscribers!
The next delivery will fully cover TH03's enemy, fireball, and explosion systems.
No netplay this year though, Shuusou Gyoku replays have shaped up to be too complicated. (It might also make sense to have TH03 replays before netplay.)
The next delivery will fully cover TH03's enemy, fireball, and explosion systems.
No netplay this year though, Shuusou Gyoku replays have shaped up to be too complicated. (It might also make sense to have TH03 replays before netplay.)
![Active ReC98 subscriptions for October 2025:
• €300 from Ember2528 towards better replays for Shuusou Gyoku, followed by a long-term plan to first decompile TH03, adding replays, porting it to modern systems, and then implementing netplay (although we're also going for a more short-term option of having netplay on PC-98)
• €125 from [Anonymous] towards anything (including tooling)
• €35 from [Anonymous] towards TH03 RE
• €10 from Root towards porting SDL2 to Windows 98 to get Shuusou Gyoku running there again](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreib2f6cs74ehqhz2kos6bmg23mbbd7z3wgp2jrpnzev7smxac3rh2y@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Many thanks to this month's subscribers!
The next delivery will fully cover TH03's enemy, fireball, and explosion systems.
No netplay this year though, Shuusou Gyoku replays have shaped up to be too complicated. (It might also make sense to have TH03 replays before netplay.)
The next delivery will fully cover TH03's enemy, fireball, and explosion systems.
No netplay this year though, Shuusou Gyoku replays have shaped up to be too complicated. (It might also make sense to have TH03 replays before netplay.)
While I'm working on TH03, let's design the replay format I'll use for Shuusou Gyoku and PC-98 Touhou! If there's anything you've ever wanted to see in a replay format, now's your chance to influence the design and feature set.
github.com/nmlgc/ssg/is...
github.com/nmlgc/ssg/is...
October 21, 2025 at 8:03 PM
While I'm working on TH03, let's design the replay format I'll use for Shuusou Gyoku and PC-98 Touhou! If there's anything you've ever wanted to see in a replay format, now's your chance to influence the design and feature set.
github.com/nmlgc/ssg/is...
github.com/nmlgc/ssg/is...
A landmark Neko Project 21/W release happened yesterday! SimK has finally murdered the horrible abomination that was the secondary set of ASCII glyphs in Neko Project's old auto-generated replacement for the PC-98 ROM font.
twitter.com/simk98l/stat...
twitter.com/simk98l/stat...
SimK on X: "Neko Project 21/W ver0.86 rev96β5を公開しました。 ・代替フォント生成時に機種依存アルファベットを極力幅6pxになるようにした ・フルスクリーン時のDirect3D描画が上手く行かない場合がある不具合を修正 https://t.co/2FpJ5kktFH" / X
Neko Project 21/W ver0.86 rev96β5を公開しました。 ・代替フォント生成時に機種依存アルファベットを極力幅6pxになるようにした ・フルスクリーン時のDirect3D描画が上手く行かない場合がある不具合を修正 https://t.co/2FpJ5kktFH
twitter.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
A landmark Neko Project 21/W release happened yesterday! SimK has finally murdered the horrible abomination that was the secondary set of ASCII glyphs in Neko Project's old auto-generated replacement for the PC-98 ROM font.
twitter.com/simk98l/stat...
twitter.com/simk98l/stat...
🚚 Delivered the planned Shuusou Gyoku maintenance release. SDL 3 is now a hard dependency (even on Windows 98!), the SDL 2 code path is gone, and the Linux version now compiles with GCC ≥15.
No new features, but a few bugfixes and speedups surrounding screenshots and fonts.
No new features, but a few bugfixes and speedups surrounding screenshots and fonts.
October 19, 2025 at 9:55 PM
🚚 Delivered the planned Shuusou Gyoku maintenance release. SDL 3 is now a hard dependency (even on Windows 98!), the SDL 2 code path is gone, and the Linux version now compiles with GCC ≥15.
No new features, but a few bugfixes and speedups surrounding screenshots and fonts.
No new features, but a few bugfixes and speedups surrounding screenshots and fonts.
Many thanks to this month's subscribers!
The current plan for the rest of the year:
1) Shuusou Gyoku maintenance (will quickly free up some budget)
2) TH03 RE
3) Better replays for Shuusou Gyoku
4) TH03 netplay (would be nice to get it done by the end of the year)
The current plan for the rest of the year:
1) Shuusou Gyoku maintenance (will quickly free up some budget)
2) TH03 RE
3) Better replays for Shuusou Gyoku
4) TH03 netplay (would be nice to get it done by the end of the year)
![Active ReC98 subscriptions for September 2025:
• €300 from Ember2528 towards better replays for Shuusou Gyoku, followed by a long-term plan to first decompile TH03, adding replays, porting it to modern systems, and then implementing netplay (although we're also going for a more short-term option of having netplay on PC-98)
• €125 from [Anonymous] towards anything (including tooling)
• €35 from [Anonymous] towards TH03 RE
• €10 from Root towards porting SDL2 to Windows 98 to get Shuusou Gyoku running there again](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreifmcrblgiy6hac6p45spobeklkksqsqqpsewtmqgvb6wv2i6wpoki@jpeg)
September 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Many thanks to this month's subscribers!
The current plan for the rest of the year:
1) Shuusou Gyoku maintenance (will quickly free up some budget)
2) TH03 RE
3) Better replays for Shuusou Gyoku
4) TH03 netplay (would be nice to get it done by the end of the year)
The current plan for the rest of the year:
1) Shuusou Gyoku maintenance (will quickly free up some budget)
2) TH03 RE
3) Better replays for Shuusou Gyoku
4) TH03 netplay (would be nice to get it done by the end of the year)
🚚 Released the first version of the TH03 Anniversary Edition together with the first debloated builds of all five games! Primarily reduces lag in menus and cutscenes as a first step towards portability, but also comes with a single new feature.
Download: github.com/nmlgc/ReC98/...
Download: github.com/nmlgc/ReC98/...
September 30, 2025 at 2:22 AM
🚚 Released the first version of the TH03 Anniversary Edition together with the first debloated builds of all five games! Primarily reduces lag in menus and cutscenes as a first step towards portability, but also comes with a single new feature.
Download: github.com/nmlgc/ReC98/...
Download: github.com/nmlgc/ReC98/...
The end is near! >9,800 words, and probably the last big blog post for this year. I wanna code again!
Out within the next few hours…
Out within the next few hours…
September 29, 2025 at 10:41 PM
The end is near! >9,800 words, and probably the last big blog post for this year. I wanna code again!
Out within the next few hours…
Out within the next few hours…
$ git diff --stat debloated~193 debloated
[…]
259 files changed, 4145 insertions(+), 8099 deletions(-)
~4,000 lines of ad-hoc PC-98-native graphics code, bloat, landmines, bloat- and landmine-documenting comments, and binary-specific inconsistencies removed from game code 🎉
[…]
259 files changed, 4145 insertions(+), 8099 deletions(-)
~4,000 lines of ad-hoc PC-98-native graphics code, bloat, landmines, bloat- and landmine-documenting comments, and binary-specific inconsistencies removed from game code 🎉
September 29, 2025 at 7:33 PM
$ git diff --stat debloated~193 debloated
[…]
259 files changed, 4145 insertions(+), 8099 deletions(-)
~4,000 lines of ad-hoc PC-98-native graphics code, bloat, landmines, bloat- and landmine-documenting comments, and binary-specific inconsistencies removed from game code 🎉
[…]
259 files changed, 4145 insertions(+), 8099 deletions(-)
~4,000 lines of ad-hoc PC-98-native graphics code, bloat, landmines, bloat- and landmine-documenting comments, and binary-specific inconsistencies removed from game code 🎉
🚚 Part 3 is out, bringing five disconnected and small decompilations and actually shifting the percentages on the front page for a change!
🐞 5 bugs
💣 3 landmines
🎺 2 quirks
🪨 24 pieces of bloat
🐞 5 bugs
💣 3 landmines
🎺 2 quirks
🪨 24 pieces of bloat
September 17, 2025 at 12:07 AM
🚚 Part 3 is out, bringing five disconnected and small decompilations and actually shifting the percentages on the front page for a change!
🐞 5 bugs
💣 3 landmines
🎺 2 quirks
🪨 24 pieces of bloat
🐞 5 bugs
💣 3 landmines
🎺 2 quirks
🪨 24 pieces of bloat
> Next post is about five small and disconnected RE tasks
> Try to write five short paragraphs with bullet points in the style of touhou-memories
> Still end up with over 2,000 words
Coming to you within the next few hours…
> Try to write five short paragraphs with bullet points in the style of touhou-memories
> Still end up with over 2,000 words
Coming to you within the next few hours…
September 16, 2025 at 4:30 PM
> Next post is about five small and disconnected RE tasks
> Try to write five short paragraphs with bullet points in the style of touhou-memories
> Still end up with over 2,000 words
Coming to you within the next few hours…
> Try to write five short paragraphs with bullet points in the style of touhou-memories
> Still end up with over 2,000 words
Coming to you within the next few hours…
Part 2 of my 4-part 2025 PC-98 Touhou portability series is out!
This one is also our second deep dive into PC-98 blitting performance with two new benchmarks, and also looks at the two libraries that ZUN used to load PI images.
Not a lot of Touhou-specific content in this one.
This one is also our second deep dive into PC-98 blitting performance with two new benchmarks, and also looks at the two libraries that ZUN used to load PI images.
Not a lot of Touhou-specific content in this one.
![Graphed results for the wide-sprite blitting benchmark, highlighting the Neko Project 21/W test at 66 MHz and showing `MOVS` winning at every width except 640 pixels, where `REP MOVS` takes the crown. The caption reads: "Number of frames required to blit [Width]×5120 pixels of a 1bpp bitmap to a byte-aligned position in VRAM, using the GRCG. The plots are relative to the respective `REP MOVS` result. Thanks to 1️⃣ オップナー2608 for the real-hardware test." Taken from the ReC98 2025-09-10 blog post.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreihjitvgyv3eunz7lvaxzrz7kwo4lwk2diny32sbr4bxtj5io5wpvi@jpeg)
![Graphed results for the wide-sprite blitting benchmark, highlighting Neko Project 21/W and showing how the optimized EGC implementation vastly outperforms not only the CPU and GRCG + CPU methods, but especially ZUN's original unoptimized code. The caption reads: "Number of frames required to crossfade [Width]×400 pixels onto all four planes of VRAM. Thanks to 1️⃣ オップナー2608, 2️⃣ Furball, 4️⃣ Will.Broke.It, and 5️⃣ spaztron64 for the real-hardware tests. Taken from the ReC98 2025-09-10 blog post.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreib5vmap5vkghnqdolaoykcy6tc2ryq5uyv34zcge56i5ae4rvtfdu@jpeg)
September 11, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Part 2 of my 4-part 2025 PC-98 Touhou portability series is out!
This one is also our second deep dive into PC-98 blitting performance with two new benchmarks, and also looks at the two libraries that ZUN used to load PI images.
Not a lot of Touhou-specific content in this one.
This one is also our second deep dive into PC-98 blitting performance with two new benchmarks, and also looks at the two libraries that ZUN used to load PI images.
Not a lot of Touhou-specific content in this one.
Second part is in proofreading. Over 9,300 words about PC-98 blitting and the .PI format, coming to you within the next few hours…
September 10, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Second part is in proofreading. Over 9,300 words about PC-98 blitting and the .PI format, coming to you within the next few hours…
📝 Wrote a post about the various strategies of porting PC-98 Touhou to modern platforms! Also clears up common misconceptions about the performance of the PC-98 originals.
This one is required reading for anyone who wants to see these games ported.
Link: rec98.nmlgc.net/blog/2025-09...
This one is required reading for anyone who wants to see these games ported.
Link: rec98.nmlgc.net/blog/2025-09...
September 6, 2025 at 3:48 AM
📝 Wrote a post about the various strategies of porting PC-98 Touhou to modern platforms! Also clears up common misconceptions about the performance of the PC-98 originals.
This one is required reading for anyone who wants to see these games ported.
Link: rec98.nmlgc.net/blog/2025-09...
This one is required reading for anyone who wants to see these games ported.
Link: rec98.nmlgc.net/blog/2025-09...
Trying something new this time! The next release touches on so many topics that one blog post would have been way too intense for everyone.
So I'm splitting it up into 4 posts, with each focusing on a different topic.
First part (~8,000 words) coming within the next few hours…
So I'm splitting it up into 4 posts, with each focusing on a different topic.
First part (~8,000 words) coming within the next few hours…
September 6, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Trying something new this time! The next release touches on so many topics that one blog post would have been way too intense for everyone.
So I'm splitting it up into 4 posts, with each focusing on a different topic.
First part (~8,000 words) coming within the next few hours…
So I'm splitting it up into 4 posts, with each focusing on a different topic.
First part (~8,000 words) coming within the next few hours…
Many thanks to this month's subscribers!
Code is done escalating, and now it's the blog post's turn. Got >13,000 words now and it's still missing lots of content… I'll be so relieved once I get to spend the rest of the year on TH03 and Shuusou Gyoku with no more distractions.
Code is done escalating, and now it's the blog post's turn. Got >13,000 words now and it's still missing lots of content… I'll be so relieved once I get to spend the rest of the year on TH03 and Shuusou Gyoku with no more distractions.
![Active ReC98 subscriptions for August 2025:
• €300 from Ember2528 towards better replays for Shuusou Gyoku, followed by a long-term plan to first decompile TH03, giving it a single Anniversary Edition release on PC-98, adding replays, porting it to modern systems, and then implementing netplay (although we're also going for a more short-term option of having netplay on PC-98)
• €125 from [Anonymous] towards anything (including tooling)
• €35 from [Anonymous] towards TH03 RE
• €10 from Root towards porting SDL2 to Windows 98 to get Shuusou Gyoku running there again](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreie7b7by64xiycpitnyqh3czag4k4yj75mkkvaq2oqquptp3f2hjui@jpeg)
August 31, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Many thanks to this month's subscribers!
Code is done escalating, and now it's the blog post's turn. Got >13,000 words now and it's still missing lots of content… I'll be so relieved once I get to spend the rest of the year on TH03 and Shuusou Gyoku with no more distractions.
Code is done escalating, and now it's the blog post's turn. Got >13,000 words now and it's still missing lots of content… I'll be so relieved once I get to spend the rest of the year on TH03 and Shuusou Gyoku with no more distractions.
Here's all the ZUN quirks, bugs, landmines, and bloat from previously RE'd code that I missed or got wrong in previous pushes and fixed for the upcoming ones.
Reverse-engineering is hard.
Reverse-engineering is hard.
![Commit subject lines:
• [Research] [th01] Packfiles: Document landmine when loading nonexistent files
• [Research] [th01] Document palette oddities in boss setup code
• [Research] [th01] Resident structure: Document the allocation failure landmine
• [Research] [th01/th02/th03] graph_putsa_fx(): Note illegal Shift-JIS landmine
• [Research] [th02] Staff Roll: Suggest the EGC for the version string animation
• [Research] [th02] Staff Roll: Fix wrongly interpreted bottom shift coordinate
• [Research] [th02] Verdict: Remove bloat label from skill capping
• [Research] [th03/th04/th05] Cutscenes: Document screen tearing landmines](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreice5cgl6454tof3t23qyqvcjkryw2sg2kx3kplbvalcaww7b4npma@jpeg)
![Commit subject lines:
• [Research] [th02/th03/th04/th05] Document remaining tearing landmines in menus
• [Research] [th02] High Score viewer: Document the 50% page landmine on exit](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreifacyfisod6ehedfgelcu3dydgwuldzjkw5jwyh6ujy2jdzfcxz2m@jpeg)
![Commit subject lines:
• [Research] [th03] High Score menu: Note excessive unblitting for rows
• [Research] [th04/th05] High Score menu: Clarify GENSOU.SCR load TOCTOU issue
• [Research] [th04] GENSOU.SCR: Document the recreation landmine in `OP.EXE`
• [Research] [th05] Title screen animation: Upgrade fade cel landmine to a bug
• [Research] [th03] YUME.NEM: Remove incorrect comment about file recreation
• [Research] [th03] YUME.NEM: Document the `MAINL.EXE` clear flag landmine](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreie4cdstqndvskji2r427ukedg5xxlswqqlkgv45d6otdhch25jvei@jpeg)
![Commit subject lines:
• [Research] [th03] Main menu: Document the initial held key quirk
• [Research] [th03] Main menu: Remove bloat label from difficulty strings
• [Research] [th03] Main menu: Remove bloat label from seen opponent array
• [Research] [th03] Main menu: Document the box unblitting region bloat
• [Research] [th03] VS menu: Document the initial held key quirk
• [Research] [th03] Main menu: Document gaiji restoration landmines
• [Research] [th03] Character selection: Document the 1P vs. CPU delay quirk
• [Research] [th03] Character selection: Note integer division in curve plotting
• [Research] [th03] High Score menu: Document how sorting ignores the last digit](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreigo7myfiz5ymw63oe736mkj5uhlhldukviygmyfnbmi5ova74e2q4@jpeg)
August 28, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Here's all the ZUN quirks, bugs, landmines, and bloat from previously RE'd code that I missed or got wrong in previous pushes and fixed for the upcoming ones.
Reverse-engineering is hard.
Reverse-engineering is hard.
Here's a funny script bug in TH04's Good Ending for Reimu A that I just stumbled over.
",4魔理沙"?! 🎺
(Third-party clip from 2013 for proof: www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxUo6...)
",4魔理沙"?! 🎺
(Third-party clip from 2013 for proof: www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxUo6...)
August 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Here's a funny script bug in TH04's Good Ending for Reimu A that I just stumbled over.
",4魔理沙"?! 🎺
(Third-party clip from 2013 for proof: www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxUo6...)
",4魔理沙"?! 🎺
(Third-party clip from 2013 for proof: www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxUo6...)
⚠️ Another Shuusou Gyoku Extra Stage replay desync bug?
This time though, it's the actual catastrophic kind: An accidental fork of Marisa's gameplay that might invalidate replays recorded on any ReC98 build from the last 10 months, now that I've restored the original behavior.
This time though, it's the actual catastrophic kind: An accidental fork of Marisa's gameplay that might invalidate replays recorded on any ReC98 build from the last 10 months, now that I've restored the original behavior.
August 12, 2025 at 8:58 PM
⚠️ Another Shuusou Gyoku Extra Stage replay desync bug?
This time though, it's the actual catastrophic kind: An accidental fork of Marisa's gameplay that might invalidate replays recorded on any ReC98 build from the last 10 months, now that I've restored the original behavior.
This time though, it's the actual catastrophic kind: An accidental fork of Marisa's gameplay that might invalidate replays recorded on any ReC98 build from the last 10 months, now that I've restored the original behavior.
Many thanks to this month's subscribers!
384 commits across 10 pushes coming your way soon… (Hopefully)
384 commits across 10 pushes coming your way soon… (Hopefully)
![Active ReC98 subscriptions for July 2025:
• €300 from Ember2528 towards better replays for Shuusou Gyoku, followed by a long-term plan to first decompile TH03, giving it a single Anniversary Edition release on PC-98, adding replays, porting it to modern systems, and then implementing netplay (although we're also going for a more short-term option of having netplay on PC-98)
• €125 from [Anonymous] towards anything (including tooling)
• €35 from [Anonymous] towards TH03 RE
• €35 from Yanga towards TH02 RE
• €10 from LeyDud towards TH03 AI/Enemy/Pattern RE > Gameplay RE > MAIN.EXE > anything
• €10 from Root towards porting SDL2 to Windows 98 to get Shuusou Gyoku running there again](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2x2pqdubxk2zuynnh4277zle/bafkreifixm2unarhwdt3awrucvgwm7hjwwr4koxwfzv5ozw7shtl3yip6a@jpeg)
July 31, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Many thanks to this month's subscribers!
384 commits across 10 pushes coming your way soon… (Hopefully)
384 commits across 10 pushes coming your way soon… (Hopefully)
Alright, got to where I wanted to be. Merged the OP and MAINL/MAINE binaries of TH02-TH05 into a single one that's smaller than either of the original ones. No compression.
And yes, they spawn missing drivers as needed. No GAME.BAT necessary. Also works with any PMD/MMD version.
And yes, they spawn missing drivers as needed. No GAME.BAT necessary. Also works with any PMD/MMD version.
July 31, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Alright, got to where I wanted to be. Merged the OP and MAINL/MAINE binaries of TH02-TH05 into a single one that's smaller than either of the original ones. No compression.
And yes, they spawn missing drivers as needed. No GAME.BAT necessary. Also works with any PMD/MMD version.
And yes, they spawn missing drivers as needed. No GAME.BAT necessary. Also works with any PMD/MMD version.
Yup, we're going there again.
July 24, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Yup, we're going there again.
TH05's title screen crossfading effect is probably the most visible case of lag reduction in the upcoming ReC98 builds.
Here's how the original game looks on Neko Project 21/W with a 66 MHz CPU, which is the usual recommended clock speed for emulating PC-98 Touhou:
Here's how the original game looks on Neko Project 21/W with a 66 MHz CPU, which is the usual recommended clock speed for emulating PC-98 Touhou:
July 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
TH05's title screen crossfading effect is probably the most visible case of lag reduction in the upcoming ReC98 builds.
Here's how the original game looks on Neko Project 21/W with a 66 MHz CPU, which is the usual recommended clock speed for emulating PC-98 Touhou:
Here's how the original game looks on Neko Project 21/W with a 66 MHz CPU, which is the usual recommended clock speed for emulating PC-98 Touhou:
The upcoming ReC98 builds will not only come with reduced lag in TH02-TH05 menus and cutscenes, but also bring a highly important quality-of-life feature to TH03:
🥁
Quitting out of the VS Start menu without going through the Select screen. 🙌
🥁
Quitting out of the VS Start menu without going through the Select screen. 🙌
July 22, 2025 at 6:46 AM
The upcoming ReC98 builds will not only come with reduced lag in TH02-TH05 menus and cutscenes, but also bring a highly important quality-of-life feature to TH03:
🥁
Quitting out of the VS Start menu without going through the Select screen. 🙌
🥁
Quitting out of the VS Start menu without going through the Select screen. 🙌
Fun fact: A TH04/TH05 GENSOU.SCR file that consists entirely of 00 bytes is valid and passes the game's checksum validation.
Here's how such a file looks like in the High Score viewer, after the game spent way too much time rendering garbage data:
Here's how such a file looks like in the High Score viewer, after the game spent way too much time rendering garbage data:
July 12, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Fun fact: A TH04/TH05 GENSOU.SCR file that consists entirely of 00 bytes is valid and passes the game's checksum validation.
Here's how such a file looks like in the High Score viewer, after the game spent way too much time rendering garbage data:
Here's how such a file looks like in the High Score viewer, after the game spent way too much time rendering garbage data: