mitch030504--Wiicompiled_VR_Frame/RELEASE_VALIDATION.md

WheelWizard VR integration validation

Validated locally on Windows x64 on 2026-09-09. These are release candidates; public release acceptance is not complete.

Candidates

Product	Version	Local artifact	SHA-256
WiiCompiled OpenXR VR setup	0.2.32	Launcher/dist-vr/WiiCompiled-Setup.exe	64fdd492f6ce71fd223b49f493e0809d9a7f9ed45ebaa3605f626eb77282dbe4
WheelWizard VR	2.5.5	Launcher/dist-vr/about-update/WheelWizardVRWindows.exe	946bb530c9deea52f397689d637a4e0c10070d9c1980d7d02c4acc78f8fb7e5d

The launcher artifact is also in the launcher checkout at artifacts/about-update/WheelWizardVRWindows.exe. The updated launcher checksum is in Launcher/dist-vr/about-update/SHA256SUMS.txt. Earlier launcher copies were retained with their original checksums to avoid replacing running executables; use the about-update copy for the latest UI, VR settings, and About credit. Only these executables and their checksums are intended for distribution. The setup contains the toolkit and source payload, not a compiled game. All extracted assets, normal installation copies, compiled games, and test NANDs remain in ignored local validation directories.

The existing local setup in Launcher/dist is the user's 0.2.31 rebuild. Its SHA-256 matches the setup asset published under the VR fork's 0.2 tag. The backend fork also has tag 0.1; the launcher fork has no published release. These were checked through the GitHub API before finalizing the candidates. The next source patch versions are 0.2.32 and 2.5.5. New release tags use vX.Y.Z and must agree with the single version source in each product's Directory.Build.props.

Passed

• WheelWizard suite: 259 tests, including backend selection/migration, configuration isolation, all four backend/game launch command paths, same-version wrong-product rejection, separate release routing, exact self-update asset selection, shared NAND configuration, Mii edit blocking, and uninstall preservation of both backends' configuration, NAND, and ghosts.
• Launcher UI follow-up: rendered Home with active wheel artwork and the OpenXR settings page at the default 656×876 layout. The window title, game selector, game title and backend subtitle fit; artwork is clipped below the selector. Exercised the actual OpenXR checkbox with isolated preferences and verified it writes the configuration. Regression tests cover explicit OpenXR-off preservation during launch preparation and VR preference persistence/reset across backend changes. OpenXR now defaults on for managed installations while preserving an explicit desktop choice.
• About-page follow-up: added "OpenXR VR by iChris4" immediately below Translator Team with a native vector headset icon. Credits scroll independently of version information. Built the Windows executable, checked its release identity, and inspected the rendered About page at 656×876.
• Retro Rewind transaction tests: staged replacement, cancellation, preservation of saves/ghosts and XML save directories, current distribution ZIP layout, archive path validation, interrupted publication recovery, and a real Windows locked-file failure after one directory was published.
• Translator suite: 576 tests.
• Packaged setup self-tests, including product ownership, configuration, portable move healing, install transaction rollback, interrupted-install recovery, Retro-WFC snapshot/retry behavior, compile-input fingerprints, and product report contracts.
• Full synthetic PowerPC translation and native OpenXR runtime link. The synthetic fixture now includes the three callbacks used by the VR camera; no game translation is used for this test.
• Pinned-fact audit and setup payload boundary audit. Native dependency audit inspected 524 binaries and 5,277 imports. The pinned OpenXR SDK and static loader were built; licenses remain included. A configured bundled SDK takes precedence over a developer machine's OpenXR package.
• Executable identity/version and embedded setup payload identity/version agree. Both Windows release workflows use existing GitHub Actions versions and have no Linux/macOS release jobs.
• Final packaged setup installed both VR products from the owned clean PAL image into an isolated portable installation. Updating that installation with the final package succeeded, and both products reported current afterward.
• Real product checks after modifying isolated Retro Rewind content: an asset-only change kept both products current; a Code.pul change reported code-pul-changed for Retro Rewind and left Base current; restoring the content returned both products to current.
• Normal Base, normal Retro Rewind, VR Base, and VR Retro Rewind each stayed running during a 20-second startup observation through their installed setup host and closed with setup exit 0. Normal tests used an isolated copy of the existing normal installation. Test configurations pointed to the same isolated NAND and isolated Retro Rewind content.
• Both VR runs used a child-process-only missing OpenXR runtime override. Logs confirmed vr.enabled=true, vr.required=false, D3D12, and desktop fallback. System OpenXR registration was not changed.
• The final single-file launcher started using an isolated portable configuration, displayed WheelWizard VR as its window title, and closed with exit 0. Its startup log contained no application-start or unhandled-exception errors. Publishing succeeded with existing Windows registry platform-analyzer warnings.
• Source synchronization checked destination hashes before replacing files and retained backups. Both repositories pass git diff --check. Source changes are local and have not been committed or pushed as part of this validation.

Still required for release acceptance

• Interactive Home/settings verification and complete install/launch flows for all four selections. Command-level tests and isolated startup observations do not establish menu or race correctness.
• Headset menus and races for Base and Retro Rewind, physical headset absence, runtime loss during a session, and visual confirmation of the nonblocking fallback notification.
• Real player progress/Miis/ghosts exercised across gameplay, updates, reinstall, and uninstall. Automated preservation tests passed; live player data was deliberately excluded from smoke tests.
• Fresh installation on a clean Windows machine without developer toolchains. The tested package used its bundled tools on this workstation; a pristine-machine run has not been performed.
• Live network-interruption/download tests and interactive overlapping-launcher scenarios. File leases, content cancellation, interrupted publication, and setup rollback have automated coverage, but the complete manual matrix remains outstanding.

After acceptance, publish the VR backend first, then the launcher. The launcher release workflow downloads the published backend and checks its VR identity, capability, and tag/version agreement before publishing. Until that backend release exists, a fresh launcher install cannot resolve this local 0.2.32 candidate from GitHub automatically.

Detailed local logs and isolated installations are under .scratch/ (excluded from distribution).