Skip to content

Native Console 0.1

Choose a tag to compare

View all tags
@RedReaper1515 RedReaper1515 released this 13 Oct 19:35
· 5 commits to main since this release
0.1
4ba73b1

The first release of Native Console: the hub and the recompilers, built for Windows x64, so that you can turn your own games into native executables without building this project first.

Native Console is experimental. Game Boy and Game Boy Color are supported; Game Boy Advance, Super Nintendo, NES, Nintendo DS and GameCube are in progress, with one commercial game each checked so far (see the README).

What you need

  1. Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
  2. Visual Studio Build Tools (or Visual Studio) with the Desktop development with C++ workload. Every game is compiled on your computer, and the hub finds the compiler, CMake and Ninja that come with it by itself.
  3. SDL2's development files for Visual C++: SDL2-devel-2.32.10-VC.zip from SDL's releases. Unzip it anywhere.
  4. Your own games, dumped from cartridges and discs you own. Nothing of any game is in this release. Please read ROMs, piracy and preservation.

Getting started

  1. Unzip native-console-0.1-windows-x64.zip and run native_console_hub.exe. Windows may say the program is from an unknown publisher, because it is not signed: choose More info, then Run anyway.
  2. Open Settings and set SDL2 CMake directory to the cmake folder of the SDL2 download. Until that is set a build stops with "SDL2 CMake directory not found". Everything else on that page should already be filled in.
  3. Drop a ROM, or a folder of them, onto the window. Each game is recompiled, compiled and added to your library; click it to play.

The hub keeps its library in %LOCALAPPDATA%\NativeConsole\Hub.

In the archive

  • native_console_hub.exe, the hub
  • the recompilers: gbrecomp (Game Boy, Game Boy Color), gbarecomp, snesrecomp, nesrecomp, ndsrecomp, gcrecomp (GameCube, and the Wii, which is not supported yet and is off until you turn it on)
  • each console's runtime as source, which every game you build is compiled with
  • SDL2.dll, and the licenses of what is included

Not in this release

  • Nintendo 64. Its recompiler is not in the archive yet; it builds from source.
  • Linux, SteamOS and macOS builds of the hub. Build from source (LINUX.md, MACOS.md); the hub on Windows can also export a game for them.

How this was checked

Built with MSVC from commit 4ba73b1, with the C runtime linked in, so no redistributable is needed. The archive passed the project's release test on Windows: unpacked somewhere else, it recompiled, built and ran a test program for every console in it. It was then unzipped on its own and used as above to import, build and run a Game Boy test ROM.

native-console-0.1-windows-x64.zip SHA-256: debddd0baa64af5dfb8fb6b799adb6cbed7e6dba49b99e500c70eaea02a0075d

Assets 3
Loading