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[alphachino]

Come and get it boiz!

PC-only at the moment, but apparently works on Steam deck with a little work...

GitHub - HarbourMasters/Starship: SF64 PC Port

SF64 PC Port. Contribute to HarbourMasters/Starship development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[ReBurn]

Nintendo sending out their forces soon

 

[lordrand11]

The decompilation projects are giving me life!

 

[alphachino]

Yeah,

works on steam deck using proton experimental

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

nice!

 

[alphachino]

You need to edit the starship.json file to this info first...

then add the game as a non-steam game...

 

[CamHostage]

Nintendo sending out their forces soon

The legal battle may still be to come over decompilations, but as of yet, they can't. This isn't the game, it's a PC application that uses your own ROM (the main iffy part....) as the assets. It's not a strict infringement on materials that Nintendo owns. It's not an "emulator", but the legal protections of the app existing are in the same vicinity. Nintendo has not been able to make a move against Ship of Harkinian, and this probably will be the same situation.

 

[Luc2010]

Nice, played the first stage after extracting the assets. It was def smoother than when I played it in the 90s. lol

 

[Luc2010]

The legal battle may still be to come over decompilations, but as of yet, they can't. This isn't the game, it's a PC application that uses your own ROM (the main iffy part....) as the assets. It's not a strict infringement on materials that Nintendo owns. It's not an "emulator", but the legal protections of the app existing are in the same vicinity. Nintendo has not been able to make a move against Ship of Harkinian, and this probably will be the same situation.

Don't think this can be won in the courts.

 

[MagnesD3]

Its still drives me insane that this game is still the best one of these. Why nintendo, why.

 

[Luc2010]

I still remember loving the tank level. Shooting at the train. Just my jam!

 

[ReBurn]

The legal battle may still be to come over decompilations, but as of yet, they can't. This isn't the game, it's a PC application that uses your own ROM (the main iffy part....) as the assets. It's not a strict infringement on materials that Nintendo owns. It's not an "emulator", but the legal protections of the app existing are in the same vicinity. Nintendo has not been able to make a move against Ship of Harkinian, and this probably will be the same situation.

Did Nintendo try to go after Ship of Harkinian and fail?

 

[darrylgorn]

 

[nkarafo]

This game can now have some massive improvements other than resolution/frame rate.

Like, it could allow to move the target and ship independently, using both analog sticks.

They could also mod it to use the leaked high quality audio files.

 

[CamHostage]

Don't think this can be won in the courts.

Unfortunately, tech has a history of being tried in courts of inexpertise of subject matter. Cases get filed in friendly spaces (albeit not usually by the big guys, often it's the other way around and innovation and/or communal progress gets challenged by opportunist trolls) and judges get by on whatever previous legal precedents seem to sound like they match so that they can clear the case.

That, and/or a friendly hacker doing something for fun without profit has to comply with a cease-and-desist because they have no capacity or backing to fight the order.

Did Nintendo try to go after Ship of Harkinian and fail?

Not that I am aware of. Nintendo has launched shutdowns quickly after products with clear IP violations, but when it comes to the grey area, action takes a while if it ever does come. They do have a long memory though, and a developer doing stuff like this can never feel 100% sure about whether they're safe from a strike.

 

[CamHostage]

Great that this is happening for another N64 game (although Wiseguy/Dario's N64 Recompiled was supposed to ultimately make any N64 game rebuildable through static recompilation of the code to C, so isn't all the handmade decompliation work possibly a mute exercise?)

I do wish there was more progress of this type on PS1 games or other platforms though. PS1 emulators have made great strides in allowing asset pack swaps and eliminating some of the ugly (although characteristic) graphical issues PS1 had like jitter without FPU, but these completely decompiled ports can work miracles. The ReDriver/Open Driver project did some amazing things for the otherwise tough-to-play Driver 2, for instance.



There's a handy list of known game projects out there on the RetroReversing website:

Decompiled Retail Console Games - Retro Reversing (Reverse Engineering)

The home of reverse engineering enthusiasts. Learn about RetroReversing and join the community today!

www.retroreversing.com

 

[RCX]

Starfox has been near the top of my wishlist for a PC port for a long time. Nice work.

 

[Soodanim]

Great that this is happening for another N64 game (although Wiseguy/Dario's N64 Recompiled was supposed to ultimately make any N64 game rebuildable through static recompilation of the code to C, so isn't all the handmade decompliation work possibly a mute exercise?)

I do wish there was more progress of this type on PS1 games or other platforms though. PS1 emulators have made great strides in allowing asset pack swaps and eliminating some of the ugly (although characteristic) graphical issues PS1 had like jitter without FPU, but these completely decompiled ports can work miracles. The ReDriver/Open Driver project did some amazing things for the otherwise tough-to-play Driver 2, for instance.



There's a handy list of known game projects out there on the RetroReversing website:

Decompiled Retail Console Games - Retro Reversing (Reverse Engineering)

The home of reverse engineering enthusiasts. Learn about RetroReversing and join the community today!

www.retroreversing.com

Recomp is a nice idea that doesn’t seem to have taken off. It’s far less work for somewhat less reward when compared to decomp.

I don’t know if anyone hit walls with recomps, or maybe it’s just that projects were already quite far along.

Either way, a Starfox 64 decomp is a welcome gift. Now we can do high quality barrel rolls.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Recomp is a nice idea that doesn’t seem to have taken off. It’s far less work for somewhat less reward when compared to decomp.

I don’t know if anyone hit walls with recomps, or maybe it’s just that projects were already quite far along.

Either way, a Starfox 64 decomp is a welcome gift. Now we can do high quality barrel rolls.

Not sure what abstract difference we make when we say decompilation vs recompilation in this case. It seems to be a bit hand wavey. Is there somewhere it is actually detailed?

 

[Come On Tars]

So sick. I’ll throw it on the steamdeck soon. Still waiting for the banjo kazooie port

 

[Soodanim]

Not sure what abstract difference we make when we say decompilation vs recompilation in this case. It seems to be a bit hand wavey. Is there somewhere it is actually detailed?

I’m in a bit of a rush so can’t look for more links, but the Zelda Recomp page has some in the FAQ section:
https://github.com/Zelda64Recomp/Zelda64Recomp

Decompilation is (to my limited understanding) the lengthy process of recreating source code by manually writing new code that gives an identical output to the game on a byte level. Intelligent brute forcing, in a way.

Recompilation is is probably something more akin to a translation layer. It’s not emulating, it’s somewhere between the two.

 

[Wonko_C]

If they add a VR mode for this port it would be a dream come true. The game already has a cockpit view so no extra effort in designing one needed.

 

[Codiox]

damn cant wait when this is working with uncompressed audio, 4k textures and RTX. will be glorious!

 

[touchfuzzy]

Its still drives me insane that this game is still the best one of these. Why nintendo, why.

Not only that, nothing has even come close. 8 year old me would be so disappointed in 1997 to know that Star Fox had peaked already.

 

[ChoosableOne]

I've never understood why this game is so loved. I guess you had to be a kid with an N64 at the time to get it.

 

[nkarafo]

I've never understood why this game is so loved. I guess you had to be a kid with an N64 at the time to get it.

Ah, another N64 footage where the game looks completely wrong, in this case the gamma VI filter is not emulated so the game looks too dark.

 

[ChoosableOne]

Ah, another N64 footage where the game looks completely wrong, in this case the gamma VI filter is not emulated so the game looks too dark.

Graphics don't matter; the gameplay doesn't look good.

 

[nkarafo]

Graphics don't matter; the gameplay doesn't look good.

What exactly doesn't look good to you?

It's an on-rails shooter with some free roaming levels. IMO one of the best of it's kind.

 

[salva]

Nintendo Hit Squad as soon as you boot this up

 

[Luc2010]

Ah, another N64 footage where the game looks completely wrong, in this case the gamma VI filter is not emulated so the game looks too dark.

That is how they encoded it on their machine. I played it on my PC and it was bright and vibrant.

 

[nkarafo]

That is how they encoded it on their machine. I played it on my PC and it was bright and vibrant.

Pretty sure it's an emulation issue. I remember bumping at it at some point in an old emulator/plugin. It's been fixed since a long time now though and it's not an issue on more accurate emulators.

This particular game is one of the very few that uses the gamma VI filter so if it's not emulated it will always look dark.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Graphics don't matter; the gameplay doesn't look good.

It's Star Fox, gameplay for the original Star Fox was pretty simple. If you compare with modern games you won't see the point though.

 

[Drake]

Serious question, what's the point of something like this other than to just say they did it? Is it to take out the middle man of emulators, so that they can just run every nintendo game natively on PC?

 

[nkarafo]

If you compare with modern games you won't see the point though.

What does that even mean?

I find SF64 far more enjoyable than the majority of modern games myself. So i guess i'm missing some sort of point?

Serious question, what's the point of something like this other than to just say they did it? Is it to take out the middle man of emulators, so that they can just run every nintendo game natively on PC?

Because something running natively on hardware is better and faster than emulation.

It also means it's much easier to make modifications and changes to it such as running it at a high frame rate.

 

[ReyBrujo]

I find SF64 far more enjoyable than the majority of modern games myself. So i guess i'm missing some sort of point?

As you say, it's an on-rails shooter, it can't be simpler for a shump. Back then the selling point was having 3D graphics in SNES. Other than that it was a pretty straightforward concept (which I guess is why Nintendo never really pushed that franchise as much as many others).

 

[nkarafo]

As you say, it's an on-rails shooter, it can't be simpler for a shump. Back then the selling point was having 3D graphics in SNES. Other than that it was a pretty straightforward concept (which I guess is why Nintendo never really pushed that franchise as much as many others).

Pretty much every shmup is on rails.

Also, SF64 has deeper scoring mechanics than the original, which makes the game much more interesting to progress.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Star fox 64 is the one game you can beat in one sitting, the attractive gameplay, the competitive AI it just hits on all cylinders.

 

[MagnesD3]

Not only that, nothing has even come close. 8 year old me would be so disappointed in 1997 to know that Star Fox had peaked already.

It's literally my 3rd favorite game ever. I still swear by it being Nintendo's franchise with the most potential but at this point I just want a sequel that isn't mid :S. There absolutely another timeline where Star fox was like number 3 or 4 in nintendo's line up.

 

[Alexios]

I mostly play such oldies in native settings (though better performance is always welcome). The low res, blur and crt (real or shader) hide the low quality assets, lods, pop in, etc., in appealing ways. I mostly go full high res Dreamcast onwards (though I can go either way per game and current mood).

Also for consistency of display and texture res, hud elements, effects etc. (mods with AI upscales or unfaithful HD texture packs juxtaposing low poly models/low end scope/scale/effects don't solve it). I didn't even like N64 emulation before recent updates added faithful blur, sharp & clean is garish.

It's cool on 3DS of course, I guess we may see PC mods use those assets but, those are made for a low res too (and a fully remastered game to match their quality in every way, the above statements are for the original).
​

 

[CamHostage]

Pretty much every shmup is on rails.

And sadly, pretty much every SHMUP franchise is now niche, if it is even around anymore, and the downward trend on SHMUPs happened around the same time StarFox peaked. Rather than being a revolution in the genre for adding a proper third dimension of movement (cockpit-style and forward-scrolling flight shooters existed before StarFox, of course, but this was a biggie,) this series seemed to suggest that there wasn't a lot more to do with the franchise even with smart scoring systems and cool defense moves. Few games followed in the StarFox path, and StarFox itself peaked arguably with the second (or third, depending on your timeline) game. Meanwhile, the SHMUP genre had some nice attempts to find itself in the arrival of 3D graphics (and also had a few games in 2D by using the advanced hardware to extreme degrees; we also saw the arrival of the bullet-hell genre, which seemed to push things to the very pinnacle of capabilities of the genre by leaving practically no pixel on the screen untouched by a bullet,) but the genre as a whole was not able to transition well and has mostly struggled for attention in the past 4-5 generation of gaming platforms.

 

[Alexios]

And sadly, pretty much every SHMUP franchise is now niche, if it is even around anymore, and the downward trend on SHMUPs happened around the same time StarFox peaked. Rather than being a revolution in the genre for adding a proper third dimension of movement (cockpit-style and forward-scrolling flight shooters existed before StarFox, of course, but this was a biggie,) this series seemed to suggest that there wasn't a lot more to do with the franchise even with smart scoring systems and cool defense moves. Few games followed in the StarFox path, and StarFox itself peaked arguably with the second (or third, depending on your timeline) game. Meanwhile, the SHMUP genre had some nice attempts to find itself in the arrival of 3D graphics (and also had a few games in 2D by using the advanced hardware to extreme degrees; we also saw the arrival of the bullet-hell genre, which seemed to push things to the very pinnacle of capabilities of the genre by leaving practically no pixel on the screen untouched by a bullet,) but the genre as a whole was not able to transition well and has mostly struggled for attention in the past 4-5 generation of gaming platforms.

It did add that with the All-Range mode which made for some pretty ace sections. But if you want a 6DOF type shooter tons came before/after (and became niche too so clearly it's not just the restriction or lack of deciding trends). You don't have to convert this (or Panzer Dragoon). The genre dying has probably as much to do with trends as it has with very few devs knowing how to make them. I mean even Star Fox only got a few solid entries, as did Panzer Dragoon, then there was one attempt on PlayStation with Omega Boost before the studio became a Gran Turismo grind and little else. It's ok for genres and trends to change in popularity, it doesn't mean everything has to change to follow the current. Well, Star Fox did get third person shooter and action adventure entries and they're hardly more fondly remembered than the rail shooters nor led to some revelation in popularity. Fans are still happy when they get a good solid game in a genre not many developers or gamers care for. Not that I expect things to change for shmups and rail shooters and lightgun games but I guess you never know, it wasn't so long ago solid CRPGs were few and far between, now we're spoiled.

Edit: I'm awful and forgot the amazing Sin & Punishent 2 as well as the original on the N64, it's awesome. Also Kid Icarus on 3DS. Off topic-ish but I only just realized that Rogue Squadron's developers basically made a whole game out of Star Fox 64's All-Range mode giving it a Star Wars skin. Doh!

 

[touchfuzzy]

It's literally my 3rd favorite game ever. I still swear by it being Nintendo's franchise with the most potential but at this point I just want a sequel that isn't mid :S. There absolutely another timeline where Star fox was like number 3 or 4 in nintendo's line up.

Absolutely, it's in my top ten of all time somewhere -- I played it again on original hardware last year and it even still holds up, a rare N64 game that's still fun in 2024. I always hate people that are like "wElL, you can't just make an on-rails shooter in this day and age" -- and I'm like, why the hell not? Why did Star Fox have to turn in to this series they experiment with all these janky dumb ideas?

 

[CamHostage]

The genre dying has probably as much to do with trends as it has with very few devs knowing how to make them. I mean even Star Fox only got a few solid entries, as did Panzer Dragoon, then there was one attempt on PlayStation with Omega Boost before the studio became a Gran Turismo grind and little else. It's ok for genres and trends to change in popularity, it doesn't mean everything has to change to follow the current...Fans are still happy when they get a good solid game in a genre not many developers or gamers care for.

Yeah, I don't mean to demean the genre (still love it and would be quite happy if some developer figured out how to refresh SHMUPs, we did have Chorus and Cygni trying new things as well as Returnal doing the genre well on foot.) Just pointing out that it is what it is, and that there's reasons for possibly why StarFox only had a short run on top and since then has been off-and-on from Nintendo.

The fans are still out there, and there are still every once in a while real heaters for SHMUP players.

Not that I expect things to change for shmups and rail shooters and lightgun games but I guess you never know, it wasn't so long ago solid CRPGs were few and far between, now we're spoiled.

It'd be nice to be surprised by an uptick or a reinvention of the genre...

Geometry Wars was actually kind of that for a hot minute, where gamers figured out that pressing the "Fire" button to blow crap up can be peak delight. The arcade-style rebirth of the genre with Super Stardust and Everyday Shooter and stuff like that was real fun, but sadly we again lost our taste for little adrenaline-popping games after the short window of downloadable games needing to be download-scale projects.

If it happens again, I'd like to see it go the other way, less pure-arcade and more epic-adventure-with-a-lasergun, which brings us back to the space opera shoot-em-up StarFox...

 

[BlackTron]

Freakin finally.

 

[evanft]

Got it up and running. Works beautifully. Can't wait for mods to come out. I'm sure we'll see texture packs get ported soon.

 

[John Bilbo]

I just finished my first run. Game of the year!

I love how you can customize the controls and even the deadzones in the sticks.

 

[8bitGamer]

Anyone know where to download a MAC (M2) compatible executable? I'd like to play it, but I don't really have the compilers or knowhow to build the application myself.

 

[ConkerTheSquirrel.]

Graphics don't matter; the gameplay doesn't look good.

I don't get this mentality.

 

[Dacvak]

Graphics don't matter; the gameplay doesn't look good.

 

[Dacvak]

Speaking of Star Fox hacks, I played through Star Fox Zero (the awkwardly-controlling Wii U game) earlier this month, and it’s actually a fantastic Star Fox game. It just has stupid, awkward controls.

I really hope someday modders get in and fix that game and make it a single-screen experience.