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Daniel Nylander edited this page Aug 1, 2026 · 1 revision

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Firestaff.

Where do I get the game data files?

Firestaff does not include any original game data. You must provide your own legally obtained game files. Sources include:

  • Original retail discs (DOS, Saturn, PC Engine).
  • Digital storefronts that sell the original games.
  • Your own legally made backups.

Place game files under ~/.firestaff/data/ organized by game:

~/.firestaff/data/dm1/
~/.firestaff/data/csb/
~/.firestaff/data/dm2/
~/.firestaff/data/theron/
~/.firestaff/data/nexus/

Firestaff identifies files by content hash, so exact file names and folder names do not matter as long as the file contents match a supported version. See Game Data for details.

Which versions of the games are supported?

Game Supported Version
Dungeon Master PC 3.4 (DOS)
Chaos Strikes Back PC 3.4 (DOS)
DM2: Skullkeep PC (DOS)
Dungeon Master Nexus Sega Saturn (Japan)
Theron's Quest PC Engine / TurboGrafx-CD

Firestaff targets specific releases and verifies game files by hash. Files from other versions or platforms may not be recognized. See Game Data for the list of verified hashes (165+).

Can I use my Amiga or Atari ST game files?

Firestaff targets the PC (DOS) releases of DM1, CSB, and DM2. Amiga and Atari ST versions use different file formats (for example, CSB Amiga uses IMG1 nibble RLE graphics instead of PC IMG3). These files will not be recognized by the hash verification system.

If you only have Amiga or ST files, you will need to obtain the PC versions to use with Firestaff.

What platforms does Firestaff run on?

  • macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon)
  • Windows (64-bit)
  • Linux (x86_64, ARM64)
  • Steam Deck (see Steam Deck)

Firestaff is a native application built in pure C with SDL3. It does not require an emulator, virtual machine, or DOSBox.

How do I report bugs?

Open an issue on the Firestaff GitHub repository. Include:

  • Your Firestaff version (shown on the title screen or in --version output).
  • Your operating system and version.
  • Which game and what you were doing when the bug occurred.
  • Any error messages or screenshots.
  • Whether the issue happens with Original or Custom presentation mode.

Is multiplayer supported?

No. None of the original Dungeon Master games had multiplayer, and Firestaff does not add multiplayer functionality.

Is Dungeon Master Java (DMJava) supported?

No. Firestaff reimplements the original C-based engines (DM1, CSB, DM2, Nexus, Theron's Quest). It does not support or interact with the Java-based Dungeon Master implementations.

Why are some tests failing?

Some tests require original game data files to run. Tests that need game data will fail or time out if the files are not present under ~/.firestaff/data/. This is expected behavior. See Known Issues for details.

Run only tests that do not need game data:

ctest --test-dir build -j4 --output-on-failure -E "viewport|boot"

How do I build from source?

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=cc -G Ninja
ninja -C build
ctest --test-dir build -j4 --output-on-failure

Requirements: CMake 3.20+, a C11 compiler (system cc), SDL3, and Ninja. See Install Firestaff for platform-specific dependency installation.

What is "source-locked"?

A feature is source-locked when its behavior has been verified to exactly match the original game and is protected by regression tests. Source-locked features have both passing tests and parity-evidence documentation. There are 960+ parity-evidence documents in the project. See Architecture for details on the parity-evidence system.

Can I contribute?

The project is hosted on GitHub. Check the repository for contribution guidelines and open issues.

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