N3 Recompiled

N3 Recompiled

A native Windows recompilation project for N3: Ninety-Nine Nights, built from the Xbox 360 executable with ReXGlue. PowerPC game code is translated to C++ ahead of time. ReXGlue supplies the Xbox runtime and its Xenos GPU plugin uses Direct3D 12.

The generated game code is already C++. Development replaces its register and guest-memory operations with readable, typed engine interfaces and explicit state. Python remains part of build/release tooling, separate from game logic.

Windows alpha: the opening mission has been completed, the following cutscene played, and saving and loading progress work on the tested opening route. Full-game coverage remains unvalidated. See development status.

No game assets, original executable, generated game translations, or downloaded toolchain binaries are tracked. Supply your own game data. The supported executable is identified in game-build.json.

Play the Windows alpha

Download for Windows (x64)

Extract the whole ZIP and run n3.exe. Select an ISO made from your own disc, or default.xex in your own extracted game folder with data/ beside it. Setup checks the executable's SHA-256 and remembers the local folder. Importing an ISO needs about 5.8 GB of free space; the original image stays unchanged.

The supported USA/Europe executable is version 0.0.0.3. Other revisions are rejected. Windows 10/11 x64, Direct3D 12, and an Xbox-compatible controller are the current target. No Node.js, Python, or build tools are needed to play.

The app defaults to a 1280 x 720 window. Saves, settings, imported data, caches, and logs default to %LOCALAPPDATA%\N3Recompiled. Keep this profile folder when updating; replace the application folder with the new release. An existing extracted game folder is linked in place. The package contains no game assets or original executable. See the release guide.

Release notes, checksums, and optional developer sources are available separately. Only the Windows ZIP is needed to play.

Alpha 12 converts fourteen related state-query entries, bringing development to 60 native C++ entry points. Eleven share a kind-bit lookup; the others preserve identity/category gates and byte-valued overrides. Explicit flags and identities can be inspected and edited in native code while unused memory reads stay skipped. All 58 memory-backed typed entries have mapped-address checks and high-address fixtures; two use only scalar registers. Full game-code conversion remains in progress. Filtering uses numeric 1x/2x/4x/8x/16x choices. Windows still uses Direct3D 12. This engine work does not claim a speedup or fix higher-FPS animation timing.

The emerald N3 icon is embedded in n3.exe and appears on the application window and Windows shortcuts made from it. To add a desktop shortcut, right-click n3.exe, choose Show more options on Windows 11, then Send to → Desktop (create shortcut). Keep the extracted application folder in its chosen location.

Run a development build

Double-click N3 Recompiled on the desktop, or run:

pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/launch.ps1

The launcher defaults to a 1280 x 720 window, keeps fullscreen off, and stores saves, profile data, and caches under private/. Runtime logs go under logs/. The shortcut follows the stable launcher and build path, so rebuilding updates what it launches. Refresh the shortcut after moving the project folder:

pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/install-shortcut.ps1

Graphics

Select Graphics below Tutorial on the main menu. This opens a separate page using the game's Options layout, fonts, arrows, and controller navigation. Use up/down to select a row and left/right to change its value. B returns. Changes apply immediately and are saved to the local profile.

• Frame rate: 30, 40, or 60 FPS; 30 is the default.
• Anisotropic filtering: 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, or 16x.
• Display resolution: 720p, 1080p, 1440p, or 4K window/output size.
• Render resolution: 720p (1x), 1440p (2x), or 4K (3x) internal rendering.
• VSync: On or Off, applied live to Windows presentation. On synchronizes presentation without blocking menu input; Off allows tearing when supported. This is separate from the game's vblank clock.

Filtering overrides apply to eligible mipmapped textures. The renderer retains the game's filtering for textures outside that policy. The original Options page continues to provide the existing audio, camera, vibration, and contrast settings. No restart is needed for the Graphics controls. Render changes rebuild the scale-dependent GPU caches at a completed frame boundary; a brief pause while resources and shaders are prepared is possible. Unsupported changes retain the previous render scale. A short confirmation reports when settings are saved.

Display size and internal rendering are independent. The app restores maximized/fullscreen windows when a display preset is selected and apply exact physical client dimensions. A large window can extend beyond the desktop when its client size plus borders will not fit. The renderer supports integer scales, so 1080p is available as a display size, with 720p/1440p/4K render choices. Saved display settings apply on the next launch; explicit launcher -Width/-Height arguments override them for that launch.

The new menu is derived locally from the player's own data into the profile's ui/ cache. Original game files are read only; no menu assets are bundled.

For a single launch, development overrides remain available:

pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/launch.ps1 -FrameRate 30
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/launch.ps1 -FrameRate 40
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/launch.ps1 -FrameRate 60
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/launch.ps1 -FrameRate Original

Development caveat: higher frame-rate modes remain experimental. Initial 60 FPS testing is smooth, but animations appear accelerated. Animation/combat timing is still under investigation; a requested limit does not guarantee that all scenes achieve it. Movie/audio clocks remain unchanged and prerecorded videos can retain their original rate. Use the Original override for timing comparisons against unmodified game pacing. The Graphics menu was introduced in alpha 2; VSync and the audit corrections are included from alpha 3.

Build from a fresh checkout

Windows x64 is the platform tested so far. Setup needs PowerShell 7, Node.js 18+ for disc extraction, Python 3.10+ for portable Microsoft tools, and 7-Zip for unpacking the LLVM installer. Setup extracts tools locally; it does not install Visual Studio globally. Download sizes total roughly 1 GB, plus extracted tools and approximately 5.8 GB of game files.

# AcceptVisualStudioLicense accepts Microsoft's development-tool licence.
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/bootstrap.ps1 -AcceptVisualStudioLicense -Python python

node tools/disc.mjs extract "path/to/your-disc.iso" private/game private/disc-manifest.json
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/build.ps1
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/launch.ps1

Alternatively, supply an existing VS 2022 x64 development environment and use bootstrap.ps1 -ToolsOnly. Tool versions, download URLs, and archive checksums are in toolchain.lock.json. The Microsoft downloader pins VS 2022 / MSVC 14.44 / Windows SDK 26100; Microsoft's servicing manifests can update the patch versions within those selections.

Extraction refuses an existing output directory. Each extracted file receives a SHA-256 hash in the local disc manifest. Build/codegen verifies the expected default.xex hash before using the build-specific function hints.

Development commands

node --test tools/disc.test.mjs
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/codegen.ps1 -Regenerate
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/build.ps1 -Configuration RelWithDebInfo -Jobs 4
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/smoke.ps1 -Seconds 30
pwsh -NoProfile -File tools/symbolize-fault.ps1

The build runs native clock, geometry, vector, delay/mixing/feedback, table-derived value, percentage/modifier, capped accumulation, handle lookup, payload transfer/installation, direction normalization/accumulation/basis and countdown/scalar/bit tests, plus callback floating-point, disc importer, game-path, crash-report, frame-rate, menu-layout, profile persistence, and host presentation regression tests. The Xenos GPU plugin is rebuilt from the pinned SDK source with the local live-resolution extension in tools/gpu/. The first build downloads the corresponding SDK sources when necessary; -Python selects the Python executable for preparation. For an isolated developer profile, --graphics_audit --graphics_trace --frame_pacing_trace cycles controls without saving. After at least 50 seconds, python tools/verify-graphics-audit.py path/to/the-log checks actual window, render-source, sampler, and presentation evidence. Use a separate test profile; the probe deliberately changes live settings. Prerecorded videos retain their own frame rate, so gameplay pacing needs a separate check. Smoke tests stop their own child process at the deadline and record the result under logs/; survival alone does not establish correct rendering or gameplay. Smoke runs use the same local profile as the launcher, so use separate profile copies for future save regression testing.

FP fault reports live in the active profile's logs/ folder and contain module basenames and offsets. The symbolizer defaults to the local RelWithDebInfo build; pass -Executable when resolving a report against a different binary/PDB.

Analysis hints belong in n3_manifest.toml, and runtime fixes belong in src/. Do not hand-edit generated translations. generated/rexglue.cmake is SDK build integration boilerplate and is the only tracked file in generated/.

For a Windows release, build the Release configuration, run python tools/bundle-sdk-source.py, then python tools/package-release.py. The packaging tool admits an explicit set of runtime files, carries third-party notices, scans binaries for local identifiers, and writes ZIP checksums under out/release/. Inspect and test that package before publishing.

References

The native engine module notes describe the typed frame clock, geometry, vector, delay/mixing/feedback, table-value, handle, payload, direction normalization/accumulation/basis, countdown, scalar and bit-field routines, guest-memory boundaries, and comparisons against the translated game code.

The game-code conversion plan tracks the typed interfaces and remaining subsystem work separately from generated translations and development tooling. Development includes 60 typed native entry points, checked against the retained translations and included in Alpha 12. See status for the checks and their limits.

The next platform work targets Vulkan and Apple Silicon. Portable native components can already build without game data or the Xbox runtime; the full game remains Windows-only. See the native code and porting roadmap.

LostOdysseyRecomp and UnleashedRecomp are the reference projects for development practices and the longer-term port experience. See reference notes and third-party notices.