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PC Port
Since the decomp project began, contributors have had several driving factors and interests in decompiling the original game:
- Game preservation
- Understanding game logic and enemy behaviours in detail
- Uncovering unused or deeply buried logic
- Learning and fun
One secondary goal which has always been a question on many peoples' mind is "will there be a [PC] port?". Here we aim to answer some frequently asked questions about a SoTN port - it is non exhaustive so please drop by on Discord if you have any questions which are not answered here.
- A working end to end port of the game based on the decomp does not currently exist. Anyone who tells you otherwise is incorrect
- It is planned, but secondary to the decompilation work, which completion is required to be complete before a full port is complete.
- There is no known release date or end date, for either the decompilation work or the porting work
- Finishing decompilation does not mean a port will become immediately available, as they are two separate pieces of work
- See above! A working end to end port of the game does not currently exist.
- We know the demand for a port is HUGE, but there is no release date at the moment, so please do not bug us about one.
- If there is decompilation remaining, efforts are most useful there. Reach out on Discord and ask what you can assist with
- For information on how to work on the port, see Development section below.
- At the most basic level the goal is to natively compile the game to target platforms other than the original, such as Mac, PC, Linux
- One big question that is always raised is around cut content - bringing PSP content to the PSX version, bringing Saturn content, making a "definitive" experience. This is something that is exciting and likely possible (with hard work)
- Additional quality of life improvements may be investigated and possibly implemented, like unlocked framerates, faster load times, performance optimisation, widescreen content etc.
- Modding of new content into the game at a deeper level than ever before - things like randomisers and mods already exist but have had limitations due to their need to find "code caves" and trampolines to insert new functionality into the game
- Future goals may be to natively port the game to other platforms like other decompilation efforts have, such as Lego Island running on 3DS - all this depends on passionate people willing to put in the work!
- Several experiments have been run on what could be doable with a full port. For example:
Note that none of these are "production ready" and are only presented here as examples of things which may be possible in future.
- A working end to end port of the game does not currently exist!!
We are not distributing pre-compiled binaries - a copy of the game is required to run the port.
If you did not do it yet, familiarize with the Build guide to generate a successful game build.
You can generate the port build with:
cmake -B build/pc -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DUSE_PLAYER_MARIA=1 && cmake --build build/pc
Run sotn and make sure that it starts.
# Run starting from the title screen
./build/pc/sotn --disk disks/sotn.us.cue
# Jump to a specified stage
./build/pc/sotn --disk disks/sotn.us.cue --stage nz0
# Play with any other character
./build/pc/sotn --disk disks/sotn.us.cue --stage nz0 --player 2
First you need to tell Cmake it exists. Add a section like this to CMakeLists.txt with all the files relevant to the stage
set(SOURCE_FILES_STAGE_WRP
src/pc/stages/stage_wrp.c
src/st/wrp/d_1b8.c
...
src/st/wrp/bss.c
)
And add it to the core files
set(SOURCE_FILES_SOTN
${SOURCE_FILES_STAGE_WRP} <- new
)
Try rebuilding.
Stubbing is a technique we use when we are missing code or data that we don't think is essential just yet, or to make incremental progress.
If a function calls another function, but it's not decompiled yet (there's an INCLUDE_ASM), we can simply put an empty version of it in src/pc/stubs.c
For example:
void func_801083BC(void) { NOT_IMPLEMENTED; }
We can do the same with missing data:
s32 D_800978B4;
It's best to import the actual data, unless it's bss, where you don't need to since it's all 0s anyway.
On PS1 u8* and s32 are equivalent and it works fine. On 64-bit platforms these are not the same and will result in a crash.
On PS1, you can deference a null pointer and it may still work since there's no memory protection. Here's an example of this sort of bug https://github.com/Xeeynamo/sotn-decomp/blob/d9f9d9c79c393c17207e9660de7698065da0416c/src/boss/mar/AFC4.c#L38
The scratchpad is a special on-chip memory area on PS1. This doesn't exist on other platforms so you need to declare storage for the types. Here's an example https://github.com/Xeeynamo/sotn-decomp/blob/d9f9d9c79c393c17207e9660de7698065da0416c/src/dra/4A538.c#L1831
Pointers are not the same length on 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. Any struct with pointers in it is going to have alignment problems. Here's an example of this sort of fix: https://github.com/Xeeynamo/sotn-decomp/blob/d9f9d9c79c393c17207e9660de7698065da0416c/include/primitive.h#L16
--demo |
Overlay | Boss / content |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | st0 |
Prologue (Richter vs Dracula) |
| 1 | bo0 |
Olrox |
| 2 | bo4 |
Doppleganger10 |
| 3 | bo1 |
Granfaloon (Legion) |
| 4 | bo2 |
Werewolf & Minotaur |
| 5 | bo3 |
Scylla |
| 6 | nz0_demo |
Alchemy Lab (Slogra & Gaibon) |
| 7 | bo5 |
Hippogryph |
| 8 | rbo1 |
Beelzebub |
| 9 | dre |
Succubus |
| 10 | nz1_demo |
Clock Tower (Karasuman) |
| 11 | rbo0 |
Trevor / Grant / Sypha |
| 12 | rbo2 |
Death |
| 13 | bo7 |
Cerberus |
| 14 | bo6 |
Richter |
| 15 | rbo3 |
Medusa |
| 16 | rbo4 |
The Creature |
| 17 | lib_demo |
Long Library (Lesser Demon) |
| 18 | rbo5 |
Doppleganger40 |
| 19 | rbo7 |
Akmodan II |
| 20 | rnz1_demo |
Reverse Clock Tower (Darkwing Bat) |
| 21 | rbo8 |
Galamoth |
| 22–26 | no0 |
Placeholder (no real demo) |
| 27 | rcen |
Shaft |
| 28 | rbo6 |
Dracula (final fight) |
| 29–31 | no0 |
Placeholder |