DepotBeacon — Unsigned Windows Preview

Catch the mechanical release mistakes before your players do.

IMPORTANT — UNSIGNED WINDOWS PREVIEW/BETA

DepotBeacon is an early, unsigned Windows preview for solo developers and small teams preparing a PC game release. It inspects the artwork, Windows build, and localization files you are about to publish and produces evidence-backed HTML and JSON reports.

The executables do not have an Authenticode publisher signature. Windows or your browser may show “unrecognized app,” “not commonly downloaded,” “Windows protected your PC,” or “Unknown publisher.” Windows 11 Smart App Control, Windows S mode, company-managed PCs, WDAC, AppLocker, endpoint protection, or Store-only policy may prevent it from running.

Do not disable Microsoft Defender, SmartScreen, Smart App Control, or company policy for DepotBeacon. If your device blocks the Preview with no normal, policy-compliant continuation path, stop and use the refund route attached to your itch.io purchase.

FULLY LOCAL BY DESIGN

• No account

• No cloud

• No telemetry

• No API key

• No automatic deletion or modification of your files

WHAT IT CHECKS

Steam Asset Inspector: required Store/Library files, decoded dimensions and aspect ratios, actual formats, screenshot count, corrupt or missing images.

Windows Build Inspector: valid PE executables and architecture, package size, huge/zero-byte/duplicate files, PDB/log/tmp/crash/development artifacts, and redacted path or secret-like string candidates.

Localization Inspector: CSV/JSON missing, extra, duplicate, blank, source-equal, placeholder, tag, newline, and extreme-expansion issues.

Results are classified as ERROR, WARNING, INFO, and PASS. “Mechanical Readiness” is a preflight result, not Valve approval.

DOWNLOAD VERIFICATION — 0.2.0-beta.1

Installer (96,011,822 bytes)

SHA-256: EA77A8E901B4369E275C0E5B5154B99AF4DCF1B14C6597101F7A4D5A1E888BA6

Portable (95,742,277 bytes)

SHA-256: E3E5D6AD961C1A34692257D2D02BBB739DFD57E53ECB7B3D869C6055E1FD8190

If a hash does not match exactly, do not run that copy.

REFUND POLICY

A refund request submitted within 14 days of purchase is supported when the Preview cannot launch on a supported Windows 10/11 x64 non-S-mode PC; Smart App Control, Defender, or organization policy prevents access; a material defect prevents Analyze or HTML/JSON export; or the product materially differs from this description. Use the refund/contact route attached to your itch.io purchase or itch.io Support. Include the purchase email, Windows version, selected download, and exact warning; do not send an unreleased game, private build, localization files, or secrets. itch.io terms and mandatory consumer rights apply and take priority where required.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS / LIMITS

Windows 11 x64 non-S mode. Windows 10 22H2 x64 is a compatibility target only and requires an applicable Microsoft support/ESU path. Windows on ARM, S mode, and environments requiring signed or centrally approved software are not supported by this Preview. Custom Rules, Project Save, and license activation are not implemented.

DepotBeacon is an independent, unofficial tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Valve Corporation. Steam and Steamworks are trademarks of Valve Corporation. Final requirements and release approval remain with Steamworks.