Case study
Skate 3 Recomp: a native Xbox 360 recompilation through ReXGlue
Recompiles the Xbox 360 version of Skate 3 into native Windows, Linux and macOS builds with a Skate-specific fork of the ReXGlue SDK. Since v2.0.0 a native Direct3D 12 and Vulkan renderer with ports of the game’s own material shading replaces emulation of the Xbox 360 GPU, which remains as a fallback. Game files come from the user’s disc image; the author calls the native renderer early and has not tested the game end to end.
- Targets
- Game
- Category
- Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship
- Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed
Requirements & limits
- Prerequisites: Players choose an ISO of their own Xbox 360 copy of Skate 3 for the built-in installer, and DLC needs the user’s own package files. Source codegen reads default.xex and data/webkit/EAWebkit.xex from an extracted dump and should also be given the Title Update 3 package, whose patched executables release builds require. Retail files and generated recompilation sources are git-ignored.
- Prerequisites: Builds need CMake 3.25+, Ninja and Clang 18 or newer (Clang 20 is recommended on Ubuntu 24.04); MSVC and Apple Clang are unsupported. The pinned rexglue-sdk submodule is the author’s fork on the rexglue 0.8.0 line, holding the runtime, codegen, input, timing and both graphics backends. Vulkan SPIR-V shader binaries are committed, and macOS uses Homebrew LLVM with MoltenVK.
- Scope: The latest reviewed release is v2.0.2 (July 2026) for Windows, Linux and experimental Apple-silicon macOS; the README calls Windows the most tested platform. Known native-renderer issues include streaming pop-in, skater-customization rendering, Hall of Meat highlights and skate-park parity; frame-rate and power gains over the emulated renderer are author-reported.
- Testing evidence: The reviewed tree contains no CI workflow, test suite or fidelity comparison, and the README says the game has not been played through on the native renderer. Visual-parity statements are project claims.
- License: Neither the repository nor its GitHub metadata declares a license for the project’s code; the rexglue fork carries a Xenia-derived BSD-3-Clause notice, and Skate 3 content retains Electronic Arts’ rights.
About this entry
The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Primary sources
- README.md GitHub · mchughalex/skate3recomp · Revision f6e0ae8
- CMakeLists.txt GitHub · mchughalex/skate3recomp · Revision f6e0ae8
- .gitignore GitHub · mchughalex/skate3recomp · Revision f6e0ae8
- .gitmodules GitHub · mchughalex/skate3recomp · Revision f6e0ae8
- cmake/ApplySkate3CodegenPatches.cmake GitHub · mchughalex/skate3recomp · Revision f6e0ae8
- config/skate3.example.toml GitHub · mchughalex/skate3recomp · Revision f6e0ae8
- LICENSE GitHub · mchughalex/rexglue-skate3 · Revision 7eb0faf
- https://github.com/mchughalex/skate3recomp/releases/tag/v2.0.2
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