DOA2U Native PC Port

A native Windows, macOS and Linux port of Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate (Xbox), built by static recompilation, with the goal of rewriting it into readable source.

Download · Features · Bring-up notes · Report a bug

Sister projects: DOA3 · DOAXBV

The DOA2 game executable on Ultimate's second disc is lifted to C with a static recompiler, then linked against a hand-written runtime that replaces the Xbox kernel imports and the game's Direct3D 8, DirectSound and input libraries (XDK build 5849) with native Windows equivalents: Direct3D 11, XAudio2 and SDL3. On macOS and Linux the same runtime renders through SDL_GPU (Metal or Vulkan) and plays through SDL3 audio. The rest of the game still runs as generated code. The plan is to replace game logic with readable, hand-written source while the game keeps running.

• The whole game, recompiled. Boot, menus, character select, Story, Watch and the attract demo run on the original game code, lifted to C.
• macOS and Linux. Native Metal and Vulkan builds through SDL_GPU, for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, Linux PCs and the Steam Deck, from the same lifted program and HLSL shaders as Windows. A gamepad settings screen works in Steam Game Mode. See building on macOS and Linux.
• Native renderer. Direct3D 11 at 480p to 4K, the game's own 16:9 widescreen camera and menus, MSAA up to 32x and SMAA Ultra. Water reflections render at the output resolution; bloom and lighting follow the game's own passes.
• Xbox-like pacing. Frames flip on the next refresh as on the Xbox, at 60 fps, including heavy rain-stage fights at 4K.
• Audio and movies. Music and voices through XAudio2, with 3D voices through the game's HRTF tables and I3DL2 reverb, in stereo or the game's own 5.1 surround mix. The intro and story movies play.
• Controllers. Xbox, PlayStation and other SDL3 controllers, and the keyboard for player 1.
• Launcher. Launcher.exe picks resolution, anti-aliasing, widescreen, an optional intro-movie skip, 5.1 surround and the unlock setting, and remembers them. DOA2U.exe plays with the same choices. On release ZIPs after 0.1.10, the settings launcher on each platform can check GitHub for a newer release and install it from its UPDATE page; Check At Start turns the start-up check off.
• Saves. Your profile and unlocks save to private\play-disc; every character and costume starts unlocked unless you choose Earn on the launcher's GAMEPLAY page. The game's soft reset (Start + Back + both triggers) restarts it.
• Built from your disc. Launcher.exe lifts the game from your ISO and refuses any executable other than the one the developers tested.

Known issues: a demanding moment on The Burai Zenin can still drop a single frame; the safari stage's heat haze does not ripple yet, and its water leaves a gap between the elephants' reflections. The game's bloom glows around bright surfaces as on the Xbox, which reads more strongly on a sharp 4K image.

On macOS and Linux, including the Steam Deck, follow building on macOS and Linux instead.

Requirements: Windows 10/11 x64, Python 3.12 or newer on PATH, CMake 3.20 or newer on PATH, internet access for the first build, and your Disc 2 ISO with about 6 GB free. The build downloads the pinned llvm-mingw compiler (190 MB) into tools\llvm-mingw and checks its SHA-256; it needs no Visual Studio or administrator approval.

1. Download the ZIP from the latest release and extract it into a new folder with a short path, such as C:\DOA2U.
2. Open Launcher.exe, drag your Disc 2 ISO onto it (or choose it on the BUILD GAME page) and choose Build. Wait for Build complete (about 15 minutes). The build stops unless it reproduces the exact program the developers tested.
3. Pick resolution, MSAA, SMAA and widescreen on VIDEO SETTINGS, stereo or 5.1 on AUDIO SETTINGS, the intro skip on MOVIES and Earn on GAMEPLAY to leave unlocks to play, then choose START GAME. A controller, the keyboard or the mouse all work. Your choices are remembered, and DOA2U.exe plays with them later.

The first launch copies about 700 MB of the game's disc archives into its hard-disk cache, which takes a few seconds. Saves and the cache live in private\play-disc. The package contains tools and source, never a prebuilt runner or game data. GitHub's automatic source archives lack the pinned lifter and extractor; use the release ZIP.

Controls: the first connected controller, or the keyboard for player 1: arrows are the D-pad, Enter is Start, Backspace is Back, Z/X are A/B, A/S are X/Y, Q/W are White/Black and E/R are the triggers.

The public tests need no game files or lifter checkout:

git clone https://github.com/NoRain211/doa2u-re.git
cd doa2u-re
python -m unittest discover -s tools -p "test_*.py"
python tools/public_export.py verify --require-public-tree
cmake -S recomp-runtime -B build/recomp-runtime
cmake --build build/recomp-runtime --config Debug
ctest --test-dir build/recomp-runtime -C Debug --output-on-failure

To also test real PCM consumption on this PC's audio endpoint, configure with -DRECOMP_NATIVE_AUDIO_TEST=ON. Passing tests does not establish game compatibility.

To build the game from a clone, initialize the lifter and pass your ISO:

git submodule update --init tools/xboxrecomp
python tools/package_test.py --launchers .
python tools/build_game.py <your-disc-2.iso>
python tools/run_game.py --play

The importer extracts the disc once into private/imported-disc with XboxDev extract-xiso (on PATH, or bundled in the release ZIP), selects the game executable by its SHA-256 and leaves the ISO unchanged. Only that hash is published, in tools/build_game.py. After a runtime change, python tools/build_game.py --build-only reuses the authenticated lift; --lift-only generates without building. Generated C, receipts and logs stay in private/. The lift reads the committed function list in tools/doa2u/functions; --disassemble rebuilds that list from the executable (about 25 minutes) after a change to tools/doa2u/seed_functions.json or the lifter pin.

tools/doa2u/function_status.json is the decompilation registry. It records the Ghidra name for each tracked function and, once it is more than a name, its status (named, decompiled, bound or tested). A bound or tested entry also names the host source and symbol; the runtime replacement stays in recomp-runtime/program_manual.c or the adapter's own manual lookup. Raw decompiler output, generated C and retail bytes stay under private/.

Statuses are exclusive; progress counts decompiled, bound and tested. The exporter rewrites this table from function_status.json after each refresh.

The initial decompiled entries are the named functions that already carry a Ghidra comment; the rest stay named until their bodies are worked through. python -m unittest discover -s tools -p "test_*.py" checks every registry address against the committed function list and checks bound symbols exist. Refresh names and tags with tools/doa2u/ghidra/ExportFunctionStatus.py from Ghidra's Script Manager against DOA2.xbe; add that folder to Ghidra's script directories or load it through GhidrAssistMCP. It keeps existing statuses and accepts the registry path as its first argument. Names outside tools/doa2u/functions are skipped and reported; add those addresses to seed_functions.json and regenerate the list first.

run_game.py takes the launcher's settings as switches, and --seconds <n> runs a bounded probe instead of --play:

python tools/run_game.py --play --resolution 2160 --widescreen --msaa 32 --smaa
python tools/run_game.py --play --no-widescreen --msaa 1 --no-smaa

The game picks its own 16:9 camera and menu layouts from the dashboard video setting, and the presenter shows that image at 16:9. MSAA resolves before SMAA, and gamma applies last; unsupported MSAA counts fall back to the highest count the GPU supports. Options passed to run_game.py bypass the settings window. The build fetches pinned, hash-verified copies of SDL3 and upstream SMAA.

At first launch run_game.py builds an image from private/dedication-photo.jpg (shipped in the release ZIP) with Pillow. --no-unlock-all, or Unlocks: Earn on the launcher's GAMEPLAY page, turns off the automatic character and costume unlock, so unlocks come from play; profiles already saved with the unlock keep it.

To package a release ZIP from a clean checkout:

python tools/package_test.py 0.1.11-Alpha
python tools/package_test.py 0.1.11-Alpha --platform macos
python tools/package_test.py 0.1.11-Alpha --platform linux

It zips the files of committed HEAD that building and playing on that platform need, the pinned lifter's lift and licenses, and the photo from private/release-assets/. Developer notes, tests outside the build and other platforms' launchers and backends stay out; tools/package_test.py lists them. The Windows ZIP adds extract-xiso and its license with test-release.md as README.txt; the macOS and Linux ZIPs use test-release-macos.md and test-release-linux.md.

Translation defects are fixed in the lifter and regenerated; generated game C is never patched by hand. Read bring-up and reuse before changing an adapter.

When reporting a bug, say what you did and what happened, and copy the recomp stop or crash lines from the end of the newest log in private\play-logs (or the error from the newest private\build-logs folder). Remove private paths, and never upload game binaries, generated game C, assets, extracted filenames, saves or whole logs.

This project uses large language models and AI coding agents extensively for code, reverse-engineering analysis, debugging, tests and documentation. Their output can contain mistakes; changes are reviewed and tested, and unverified behavior is tracked as such.

Original code and documentation are licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later; see also NOTICE. Third-party components keep their own licenses. The license grants no rights to the game or its assets.