Space Ranger

Space Ranger is a native Windows port of Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue for Nintendo 64 that offers high framerate support, widescreen, and full draw distance.

README

SpaceRanger

SpaceRanger is a project that uses N64: Recompiled to statically recompile Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (Nintendo 64) into a native Windows port, rendered with RT64.

Check out the latest release here.

This repository and its releases do not contain game assets. The original game is required to build or run this project.

Status: early pre-release (v0.1.0). The game is playable from start to finish, but still has work ahead of it, so expect rough edges. See Known Issues.

Table of Contents

System Requirements

  • Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
  • A GPU supporting Direct3D 12.0 (Shader Model 6) or Vulkan 1.2.

If the game crashes on startup, make sure your graphics drivers are fully up to date.

Features

Plug and Play

Run SpaceRanger.exe, choose Load ROM on the title screen and select your copy of the North American (USA) version of the game, then start playing. There is no separate extraction step: assets are loaded from your copy of the game. .z64, .n64 and .v64 dumps all work. You can also place the ROM next to SpaceRanger.exe before the first launch and it will be found automatically.

High Framerate Support

The game logic still runs at its original rate, and RT64 generates in-between frames up to your monitor's refresh rate.

Widescreen

The view expands to fill widescreen displays.

Full Draw Distance

The original game's distance culling is removed, so objects and enemies are drawn across the whole level.

Easy-to-Use Menus

An animated title screen, plus in-game menus for graphics, controls and sound: resolution scaling, MSAA, refresh rate, window mode, and controller and keyboard bindings.

Planned Features

  • Interpolation for the remaining effects (particles, projectiles, HUD slides)
  • Testing and fixes across every level
  • Linux support
  • Cheat codes
  • Randomizer

FAQ

What is static recompilation?

Static recompilation is the process of automatically translating an application from one platform to another. For more details, check out N64: Recompiled.

Is this an emulator?

No. The game's code was translated to native code ahead of time. It is not an emulator, and it cannot run any arbitrary ROM.

Where is the savefile stored?

In the spaceranger-config folder next to SpaceRanger.exe, along with your settings and the validated copy of your ROM. The game always runs portably from its own folder.

How do I choose a different ROM?

You don't. This project only supports the US version of the N64 release of Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue. ROMs in byteswapped formats are converted automatically if they're the correct version. To start over with a fresh ROM, delete the spaceranger-config folder.

Known Issues

  • Buzz can show a thin dark band around his waist.
  • Some particles, projectiles and HUD slides still move at the original frame rate instead of being interpolated.
  • Frame pacing has mostly been tested on one PC. If you see stutter, please open an issue with your GPU and refresh rate.
  • Overlays such as MSI Afterburner can cause performance issues.
  • Sound effects can sometimes go away.

Building

Building is not required to play this project; prebuilt binaries, which do not contain game assets, are on the Releases page. To build it yourself, see docs/BUILDING.md. You'll need your own ROM, since the recompiled game code is generated locally from it and is never committed.

Contributing

Pull requests and bug reports are welcome; see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Libraries Used and Projects Referenced

How This Was Made

SpaceRanger was built with heavy help from AI coding assistants: Anthropic's Claude (recompilation setup, renderer and frame-interpolation work, testing tools, the title screen and its art, packaging), along with OpenAI's ChatGPT/Codex. All of it was directed and play-tested by the project's author.

License

This project's own code and title-screen art are released under the GPL-3.0 license, the same as Zelda64Recomp and BanjoRecomp. Dependencies and fonts keep their own licenses (see THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES).

SpaceRanger is an unofficial fan project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Disney, Pixar, Activision, Traveller's Tales or Nintendo. Toy Story and all related names are trademarks of their respective owners.