Case study
Starfox 64: Recompiled — an N64Recomp static-recompilation port
Uses N64: Recompiled to statically recompile the US 1.1 (Rev A) Nintendo 64 release of Star Fox 64 into a native port for Windows, Linux and macOS, rendered with RT64. Its patches and enhancements draw on headers and some functions from the separate sf64 decompilation, but the port is not compiled from that decompilation's source. The README reports high-frame-rate, widescreen and mod support, with assets loaded from the user's own ROM.
- Targets
- Game
- Category
- Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship
- Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed
Requirements & limits
- Prerequisites: Players provide the US 1.1 (Rev A) N64 ROM in the main menu; the port accepts only that ROM, converting other dump formats of it to .z64, and loads its assets from it. Building also needs a decompressed copy of the same ROM as recompiler input, identified in BUILDING.md by MD5. The repository and releases contain no game assets; CI copies the decompressed ROM from a private repository through secrets.
- Prerequisites: Runs on Windows, Linux (x64, ARM64, Flatpak, Steam Deck) and macOS 13 or newer, with a GPU supporting Direct3D 12 (Shader Model 6), Vulkan 1.2 or Metal Argument Buffers Tier 2, and SSE4.1 on x86-64. Building needs CMake, Ninja and clang (on Windows Visual Studio 2022 with its Clang and CMake components plus make; on Ubuntu SDL2, GTK 3, LLVM and lld), with N64Recomp and RSPRecomp built separately; CI pins N64Recomp at commit 98bf104.
- Scope: README describes a static recompilation, not an emulator or a decompilation-based source port: N64Recomp translates the game code in the ROM (us.rev1.toml, with symbols from the Starfox64RecompSyms submodule) and RSPRecomp the audio microcode (aspMain.us.rev1.toml), running on N64ModernRuntime with RT64. Patches use headers and some functions from the sf64 decompilation submodule. README links release 1.0.3, the latest GitHub release (2025-12-30), lists planned features and one overlay-related known issue, and calls Starship a sibling port built with different technology.
- Testing evidence: Nightly CI builds run for Windows, macOS and Linux. DOCS/fox_lore.md recounts the sf64 decompilation's matching history.
- License: COPYING is GPLv3; the original ROM and the bundled libraries keep their own terms. This is a static recompilation, not recovered authored source, and README credits the decompilation team's reverse engineering for the port's enhancements.
About this entry
The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Primary sources
- README.md GitHub · sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp · Revision f299655
- BUILDING.md GitHub · sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp · Revision f299655
- us.rev1.toml GitHub · sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp · Revision f299655
- aspMain.us.rev1.toml GitHub · sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp · Revision f299655
- .gitmodules GitHub · sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp · Revision f299655
- .github/workflows/validate.yml GitHub · sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp · Revision f299655
- DOCS/fox_lore.md GitHub · sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp · Revision f299655
- COPYING GitHub · sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp · Revision f299655
- https://github.com/sonicdcer/Starfox64Recomp/releases/tag/1.0.3
More in Games
- SVR2011-Recomp: a ReXGlue recompilation of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 · Case study
- SymphonyRecomp: a RecompOne static recompilation of Symphony of the Night · Case study
- The Darkness Recomp: an Xbox 360 static recompilation with a native D3D11 renderer · Case study
- The Simpsons Wrestling Recompiled: a psxrecomp PlayStation static recompilation · Case study
- The Two Towers Recompiled: an original Xbox static-recompilation port · Case study
- Unleashed Recompiled: translating Xbox 360 game code and shaders · Case study