recomp.party
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Explained

Three ways to play an old game on a new machine.

Every route starts from your own copy of the game. Pick one and walk it step by step.

Where every route starts. A cartridge dump, a disc image or the console's own executables.

The developer published the code. Doom (1997), Quake and a few others.

  • +No decompiling: porting starts right away
  • −Most console games never get this

Pretends to be the console.

  • +Works with almost any game on day one
  • +One program plays a whole library
  • −Newer consoles need a strong PC
  • −Widescreen and mods need hacks

Machine code becomes C before you ever press start.

Tools: N64: Recompiled, XenonRecomp, ReXGlue and more.

  • +Nothing to translate while you play
  • +Much faster to make than a decompilation
  • −Each game still needs weeks to months of fixes
  • −Only for consoles that have a recompiler

Function by function, until it compiles back to the identical game.

  • +Ends in source code anyone can read
  • +Then anything about the game can change
  • −Often takes years
  • −Needs a large, patient community

Registers and memory addresses instead of names.

  • +Faithful to the original, bug for bug
  • +Mods can hook into it
  • −Hard to change by hand

Code people can read and change.

  • +New renderers, features and fixes are ordinary programming
  • +Can be ported to almost any platform
  • −Someone has to keep maintaining it

A compiler builds the C; a runtime stands in for the console's hardware.

  • +Modern graphics: Vulkan, Metal, DirectX
  • +Any controller, saves as plain files
  • −Console graphics tricks have to be recreated by hand

For Windows, Mac, Linux, sometimes phones.

  • +Runs light, at native speed
  • +Widescreen, high frame rates and mods built in
  • −Each game is its own project

Every route ends here. Emulation gets there first; recomps and ports run lighter and go further.

All routesPick a route to walk through it step by step, or click any box.

What recomp.party lists

🤖Static recompilationswith a release you can download.
✍️Source portswith a release you can download.
🚫Not emulatorsThey're great, and well covered elsewhere.
💿No game filesEvery project needs your own copy of the game.

Read and watch more

Ready to play? Browse the games or see the toolchains behind them.