Silent
@cookieplmonster.bsky.social
Game developer, modder, reverse engineer, legacy code specialist. I port games for a living and patch them as a hobby. Also known as CookiePLMonster.
https://cookieplmonster.github.io/
https://cookieplmonster.github.io/
things used to be so simple
November 14, 2025 at 7:21 PM
things used to be so simple
It's so refreshing to see a clean, smooth game without any temporal effects and high quality, detailed mirrors. No ghosting, no jittering, no building effects over multiple frames.
November 14, 2025 at 7:02 PM
It's so refreshing to see a clean, smooth game without any temporal effects and high quality, detailed mirrors. No ghosting, no jittering, no building effects over multiple frames.
"Most unhinged PC controls mapping screen of the 2020s" award goes to NASCAR 25
November 13, 2025 at 10:54 PM
"Most unhinged PC controls mapping screen of the 2020s" award goes to NASCAR 25
Not bad looking at night, very simple but with a clear and sharp image. Unfortunately, they don't even let us hide the HUD, let alone offer Photo Mode, so the only trick I got is taking screenshots directly at the start of the race...
November 13, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Not bad looking at night, very simple but with a clear and sharp image. Unfortunately, they don't even let us hide the HUD, let alone offer Photo Mode, so the only trick I got is taking screenshots directly at the start of the race...
Sounds promising! I'm slightly more interested now.
November 13, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Sounds promising! I'm slightly more interested now.
swing swing swing
November 13, 2025 at 10:26 AM
swing swing swing
Good lord though, this texture loading is SLOW, typical Unreal shenanigans, I'll never understand why UE5 doesn't let games opt-in to loading the entire thing up front, and only THEN notify about the asset loading completion. And this is running from a NVMe drive...
November 12, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Good lord though, this texture loading is SLOW, typical Unreal shenanigans, I'll never understand why UE5 doesn't let games opt-in to loading the entire thing up front, and only THEN notify about the asset loading completion. And this is running from a NVMe drive...
Graphically, it looks very simple even when maxed out, and options are as simple as it gets. No AA options, no upscalers (only a nondescript 'dynamic resolution'), nothing beyond the default options. I can't check for Lumen/CVars due to anti-tamper smacking me for code injection.
November 12, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Graphically, it looks very simple even when maxed out, and options are as simple as it gets. No AA options, no upscalers (only a nondescript 'dynamic resolution'), nothing beyond the default options. I can't check for Lumen/CVars due to anti-tamper smacking me for code injection.
NASCAR 25 appears to refuse to run on Steam Deck/Proton due to the use of some packer that either fails, or doesn't even attempt to unpack under Proton. Nasty; I don't blame them for protecting the game executable, but it would be nice if Deck/Linux didn't suffer in the process.
November 12, 2025 at 9:08 PM
NASCAR 25 appears to refuse to run on Steam Deck/Proton due to the use of some packer that either fails, or doesn't even attempt to unpack under Proton. Nasty; I don't blame them for protecting the game executable, but it would be nice if Deck/Linux didn't suffer in the process.
Ready to give a more modern NASCAR game a try, and maybe write another tech review? It's a UE5.5 game, and Monster Games' first UE5 game, so I'm curious.
November 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Ready to give a more modern NASCAR game a try, and maybe write another tech review? It's a UE5.5 game, and Monster Games' first UE5 game, so I'm curious.
Surprise! NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona is seen as one of the best classic NASCAR games, but it always had a downside of being locked to 30 FPS.
This changes today: I uncapped the physics simulation updates, achieving perfect 60 FPS, just like Heat 2002 did.
cookieplmonster.github.io/updates/2025...
This changes today: I uncapped the physics simulation updates, achieving perfect 60 FPS, just like Heat 2002 did.
cookieplmonster.github.io/updates/2025...
November 11, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Surprise! NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona is seen as one of the best classic NASCAR games, but it always had a downside of being locked to 30 FPS.
This changes today: I uncapped the physics simulation updates, achieving perfect 60 FPS, just like Heat 2002 did.
cookieplmonster.github.io/updates/2025...
This changes today: I uncapped the physics simulation updates, achieving perfect 60 FPS, just like Heat 2002 did.
cookieplmonster.github.io/updates/2025...
Ready for NASCAR 25 today?
November 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Ready for NASCAR 25 today?
OK that's rude though, look where my car is in relation to the finish line 😫
November 9, 2025 at 4:04 PM
OK that's rude though, look where my car is in relation to the finish line 😫
Super Woden GP 2's menus channel that Gran Turismo 2 energy perfectly
November 9, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Super Woden GP 2's menus channel that Gran Turismo 2 energy perfectly
It is a Rally Trophy Volvo Special Edition day
November 7, 2025 at 10:58 AM
It is a Rally Trophy Volvo Special Edition day
You don't hate Rockstar enough, once again circumstances prove that the negative stories about them aren't exaggerated, but watered down.
gtaforums.com/topic/100418...
Boeing of gaming companies.
gtaforums.com/topic/100418...
Boeing of gaming companies.
November 7, 2025 at 12:40 AM
You don't hate Rockstar enough, once again circumstances prove that the negative stories about them aren't exaggerated, but watered down.
gtaforums.com/topic/100418...
Boeing of gaming companies.
gtaforums.com/topic/100418...
Boeing of gaming companies.
Spot which of those Colin McRae Rally games didn't receive a SilentPatch:
November 6, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Spot which of those Colin McRae Rally games didn't receive a SilentPatch:
I was hoping Yakuza 0 is free of this bug, but it's there just like in Kiwami 2 - as you can't switch the filters in the PC port, it seems to have resulted in a bug where emulated arcade games randomly start with either nearest (sharp) or bilinear (blurry) filtering 😭 Looks crap
November 5, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I was hoping Yakuza 0 is free of this bug, but it's there just like in Kiwami 2 - as you can't switch the filters in the PC port, it seems to have resulted in a bug where emulated arcade games randomly start with either nearest (sharp) or bilinear (blurry) filtering 😭 Looks crap
American cars coming to Japanese Drift Master is a good excuse to try the game again (now maxed out) and tear the highways once more 🐍 I should pick the game up again and finish it, I think.
November 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
American cars coming to Japanese Drift Master is a good excuse to try the game again (now maxed out) and tear the highways once more 🐍 I should pick the game up again and finish it, I think.
You're speaking my language
November 5, 2025 at 2:26 PM
You're speaking my language
Welcome back, NFS Hot Pursuit 2 forest tracks? This looks great, I'm feeling optimistic about Screamer tbh.
November 3, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Welcome back, NFS Hot Pursuit 2 forest tracks? This looks great, I'm feeling optimistic about Screamer tbh.
RIP WOOF and MEOW (2012-2025), you have served me well in three different PCs, but it's time to replace you with a faster, bigger drive, and retire you to a secondary PC. 13 years with zero issues is a legendary run for a HDD.
November 3, 2025 at 5:48 PM
RIP WOOF and MEOW (2012-2025), you have served me well in three different PCs, but it's time to replace you with a faster, bigger drive, and retire you to a secondary PC. 13 years with zero issues is a legendary run for a HDD.
Working in support studios has its benefits, instead of working on one game for 10 games and maybe seeing it cancelled so you can't talk about, you get 20+ entries that have shipped
October 31, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Working in support studios has its benefits, instead of working on one game for 10 games and maybe seeing it cancelled so you can't talk about, you get 20+ entries that have shipped