Animal Crossing PC Port

A native PC port of Animal Crossing (GameCube) built on top of the ac-decomp decompilation project.

The game's original C code runs natively on x86, with a custom translation layer replacing the GameCube's GX graphics API with OpenGL 3.3.

This repository does not contain any game assets or assembly whatsoever. An existing copy of the game is required.

Supported versions: GAFE01_00: Rev 0 (USA)

Quick Start (Pre-built Release)

Pre-built releases are available on the Releases page. No build tools required.

1. Download and extract the latest release zip
2. Place your disc image in the rom/ folder
3. Run AnimalCrossing.exe

The game reads all assets directly from the disc image at startup. No extraction or preprocessing step is needed.

Building from Source

Only needed if you want to modify the code. Otherwise, use the pre-built release above.

The PC port is 32-bit only (the decomp relies on pointer-to-u32 patterns). On 64-bit Linux you need multilib (gcc -m32) or an i686 cross toolchain, plus 32-bit SDL2 and OpenGL development libraries.

Requirements

• Animal Crossing (USA) disc image (ISO, GCM, or CISO format)
• Windows: MSYS2 with the MINGW32 (32-bit) environment
• Linux: a 32-bit-capable GCC/Clang toolchain, 32-bit SDL2, and 32-bit OpenGL/Mesa dev packages (see below)

Windows (MSYS2)

Open MSYS2 MINGW32 from your Start menu and install:

pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-gcc mingw-w64-i686-cmake mingw-w64-i686-SDL2 mingw-w64-i686-make

Build:

1. Clone the repository and cd into it.

2. From the MINGW32 shell:

   ./build_pc.sh

3. Place your disc image under pc/build32/bin/rom/ (for example YourGame.ciso).

4. Run:

   pc/build32/bin/AnimalCrossing.exe

Linux (native)

The shipped executable is always 32-bit x86 (i686). On x86_64 Ubuntu it runs fine; you need multilib / i386 build libraries and, to run it, matching i386 runtime libraries (SDL2, OpenGL).

Ubuntu on x86_64 (do this first)

1. Clone the repo and cd into it.

2. Install build dependencies (adds i386 if needed, prefers gcc -m32, otherwise installs i686-linux-gnu-*). Add --runtime to also install the 32-bit SDL/OpenGL libraries required to run the game:

   ./scripts/install-linux-pc-deps.sh --runtime

   Or manually:

   sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386   # once, if not already
   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install build-essential cmake ninja-build pkg-config \
     gcc-multilib g++-multilib \
     libsdl2-dev:i386 libgl1-mesa-dev:i386 libcurl4-openssl-dev:i386

3. Build (or run ./compile.sh — it picks native build on x86_64 and Docker on ARM):

   ./build_pc.sh

4. If you used ./scripts/install-linux-pc-deps.sh without --runtime, install 32-bit runtime libs (x86_64 Ubuntu only):

   ./scripts/install-linux-runtime-i386.sh

   (or: sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0:i386 libgl1:i386)

5. Optional: install a launcher — see packaging/linux/README.md.

6. Put your USA disc image under pc/build32/bin/rom/ (.iso, .gcm, or .ciso).

7. Run from the repo root (sets X11 + sane LD_LIBRARY_PATH, and uses the correct working directory for rom/):

   ./scripts/play-native-linux.sh --verbose

   Or from the game directory:

   cd pc/build32/bin
   ./AnimalCrossing --verbose

   Current builds use a non-PIE i386 link by default, which fixes common Mesa + libLLVM crashes on Ubuntu 25.10 and similar (AMD/Intel). If you still see a segfault right after keybindings, see Segmentation fault below.

If CMake cannot find SDL2, ensure PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR points at the directory that contains sdl2.pc for i386 (often /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/pkgconfig); see pc/cmake/Toolchain-linux32.cmake.

Raspberry Pi and other ARM64

There is no ARM-native target in this repository yet (the game code assumes x86 and 32-bit pointers). A Raspberry Pi cannot run this binary natively.

• Playing on a Pi: use remote desktop / game streaming from an x86_64 machine that runs the game, or third-party x86 emulation (e.g. Box86, qemu-user) — unsupported here and often too slow for this title.

• Building on a Pi: host apt cannot install libsdl2-dev:i386 like on amd64. Use a linux/amd64 container (slower on ARM):

  ./scripts/docker-build-linux-amd64.sh

  The result is still an x86 binary; copy it to an x86_64 Ubuntu/PC to run.

"Unable to locate package libsdl2-2.0-0:i386"

Run ./scripts/diagnose-apt-i386.sh.

• If apt prints Ignoring file ... invalid filename extension for ubuntu.sources.bak-before-i386-* (or other *.sources.bak*), run sudo ./scripts/apt-cleanup-sources-list-d.sh (default: only those patterns). Use sudo ./scripts/apt-cleanup-sources-list-d.sh --all-bak only if you also want *.list.bak, *~, *.old, etc. moved to /var/backups/apt-sources/ (recover from there if needed).
• If dpkg --print-architecture is arm64, you are on ARM64 — run the game on x86_64 Linux.
• On amd64, Ubuntu 22.04+ often stores mirrors in *.sources (DEB822) with Architectures: amd64 or amd64 arm64 and no i386, so apt never downloads the i386 package index. dpkg --add-architecture i386 alone is not enough.
  Fix: sudo ./scripts/fix-ubuntu-apt-i386.sh then sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0:i386 libgl1:i386
• Legacy deb lines instead need [arch=amd64,i386] on archive.ubuntu.com entries.

Build fails: SDL_HINT_VIDEO_DRIVER undeclared

SDL2 defines SDL_HINT_VIDEODRIVER (no underscore between VIDEO and DRIVER). If you see this error, pc/src/pc_main.c is out of date — sync with upstream or replace the wrong token with SDL_HINT_VIDEODRIVER.

Segmentation fault immediately on launch

• From pc/build32/bin, run ./AnimalCrossing --verbose and note the last line printed before the crash.
• Linux i386 (rebuild with current CMake): the binary is linked non-PIE (-fno-pie / -no-pie) by default, which avoids many PIE + libLLVM i386 crashes during glXChooseVisual (relevant for AMD/Intel Mesa as well as NVIDIA). If libGLX_nvidia.so.0 exists under /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/, the game sets __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia so Mesa never loads — on AMD-only machines that file is absent and this branch is skipped; use PC_SKIP_NVIDIA_GLX_VENDOR=1 if you need to force Mesa on a hybrid box. To keep a PIE executable instead: configure with -DPC_LINUX_FORCE_PIE=ON.
• Linux i686 (current pc_main.c): only SDL_INIT_VIDEO runs until after gladLoadGL; then audio/timer/gamecontroller subsystems start. Optional LLVM preload: set PC_LLVM_PRELOAD=1 to dlopen libLLVM with RTLD_GLOBAL before SDL_Init (can help on some Mesa setups; on others the first dlopen of libLLVM SIGSEGVs in LLVM static init — then leave it unset). Rebuild with ./build_pc.sh. To try EGL on X11 instead of GLX: PC_X11_EGL=1 or ./scripts/run-pc-linux-x11-egl.sh (still loads LLVM via Mesa on many drivers). Container workaround: ./scripts/docker-run-pc-ubuntu2404.sh builds and runs with 24.04’s i386 GL stack.
• If gdb still shows libLLVM and llvm::ManagedStaticBase::RegisterManagedStatic while glXChooseVisual (GLX) or eglGetProcAddress (EGL) is on the stack, the fault is still in Mesa’s i386 stack (not game logic). A typical stack ends with dlopen → libGLX.so → glXChooseVisual → libSDL2 → pc_platform_init → main. Some Ubuntu versions (e.g. 25.10) may not publish mesa-utils:i386 / glxgears:i386; rely on gdb on AnimalCrossing instead. For a distro bug report, capture: dpkg-query -W libllvm20 libgl1-mesa-dri libglx-mesa0 mesa-libgallium (exact names vary) and apt policy libllvm20:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386. Further mitigations: different Mesa/LLVM combo (another Ubuntu release, container, or older libllvm*t:i386 / libgl1-mesa-dri:i386), or a machine where i386 GL is known good.
• If gdb shows the fault in /opt/amdgpu/.../libLLVM.so.*amdgpu while glXChooseVisual / libGLX is dlopen-ing the driver, the AMDGPU i386 stack is being loaded (often broken vs Ubuntu 25.10 + Mesa). LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 alone does not fix that because GLX still pulls AMDGPU first.
  • The game used to export DRI_PRIME=1 on every Linux launch; that can trigger the bad GLX path on 32-bit. Current sources skip that on i686 (use PC_USE_DISCRETE_GPU=1 if you need prime on a laptop). Rebuild with ./build_pc.sh so that fix is in your binary.
  • Wayland + 32-bit SDL often crashes on Ubuntu; force X11: SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11. Try ./scripts/run-pc-linux.sh (GPU Mesa) or ./scripts/run-pc-linux-safegl.sh (llvmpipe). Both set X11 + DRI_PRIME=0 + Mesa-friendly LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
  • Multisample (MSAA) is off by default on Linux (even if settings.ini says msaa=4); set PC_MSAA=1 to opt in. If it still dies in pc_platform_init, try ./scripts/run-pc-linux.sh or the software GL one-liner below.
  • ninja: mkdir(/src): Permission denied means pc/build32 was configured inside Docker (/src/pc). ./build_pc.sh removes that tree when the cache path mismatches; if you see rm: ... Permission denied, the tree is root-owned: run sudo rm -rf pc/build32, then ./build_pc.sh. New docker-build-linux-amd64.sh runs chown on pc/build32 after the build so this should not recur.
  • After removing amdgpu-lib32, run sudo apt autoremove so orphaned libllvm*-amdgpu:i386, mesa-amdgpu-libgallium:i386, etc. are not still pulled into the process.
  • One-liner (software): SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 DRI_PRIME=0 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=mesa LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/dri LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/lib/i386-linux-gnu:/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 ./AnimalCrossing
  • Last resort for 32-bit GL only: remove AMDGPU’s i386 GL packages, e.g. sudo apt remove libgl1-amdgpu-mesa-dri:i386 (and related mesa-amdgpu-*:i386 if you do not need them); keep the normal libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 stack.
• Rebuild on the same OS so libc/SDL match: ./build_pc.sh after install scripts.
• For a backtrace: from the repo root run ./scripts/gdb-pc-linux.sh --verbose, then at the (gdb) prompt type run, and after the fault bt.
  You must pass the real path to the binary (e.g. ~/cozyacres/pc/build32/bin/AnimalCrossing): gdb /pc/build32/... is wrong because /pc is not your home directory.
  Do not type gdb /path inside (gdb) (that is not a shell). Use file /path/to/AnimalCrossing to switch executables, or quit and run the helper again.
• To attach debug symbols to the game binary (not Mesa): rebuild with COZY_PC_GDB_SYMBOLS=1 ./build_pc.sh (adds -g, keeps default -O0 from this project’s CMake setup).
• For a Launchpad / distro bug about the libLLVM + glXChooseVisual crash, run ./scripts/collect-pc-linux-gl-bug-info.sh and paste the output.
• Workaround host: ./scripts/docker-run-pc-ubuntu2404.sh, or a 24.04 VM / distrobox, with i386 GL packages; questing (25.10) has been observed to fault in libLLVM.so.20.1 during the first Mesa load (GLX or EGL).

If you ran fix-ubuntu-apt-i386.sh before backups were moved to /var/backups/apt-sources, remove any stray ubuntu.sources.bak-before-i386-* file still under /etc/apt/sources.list.d/. Apt will ignore files there with extensions it does not recognize and may print Ignoring file ... invalid filename extension — move those backups to /var/backups/apt-sources/ (or delete them if you no longer need them).

Controls

Keyboard bindings are customizable via keybindings.ini (next to the executable). Mouse buttons (Mouse1/Mouse2/Mouse3) can also be assigned.

Keyboard (defaults)

Key	Action
WASD	Move (left stick)
Arrow Keys	Camera (C-stick)
Space	A button
Left Shift	B button
Enter	Start
X	X button
Y	Y button
Q / E	L / R triggers
Z	Z trigger
I / J / K / L	D-pad (up/left/down/right)

Gamepad

SDL2 game controllers are supported with automatic hotplug detection. Button mapping follows the standard GameCube layout.

Command Line Options

Flag	Description
--verbose	Enable diagnostic logging
--no-framelimit	Disable frame limiter (unlocked FPS)
--model-viewer [index]	Launch debug model viewer (structures, NPCs, fish)
--time HOUR	Override in-game hour (0-23)

Settings

Graphics settings are stored in settings.ini and can be edited manually or through the in-game options menu:

• Resolution (up to 4K)
• Fullscreen toggle
• VSync
• MSAA (anti-aliasing)
• Texture Loading/Caching (No need to enable if you aren't using a texture pack)

Texture Packs

Custom textures can be placed in texture_pack/. Dolphin-compatible format (XXHash64, DDS).

I highly recommend the following texture pack from the talented artists of Animal Crossing community.

HD Texture Pack

Save Data

Save files are stored in save/ using the standard GCI format, compatible with Dolphin emulator saves. Place a Dolphin GCI export in the save directory to import an existing save.

Credits

This project would not be possible without the work of the ACreTeam decompilation team. Their complete C decompilation of Animal Crossing is the foundation this port is built on.

AI Notice

AI tools such as Claude were used in this project (PC port code only).