War of the Monsters Recompiled!

War of the Monsters Recompiled!

A native Windows port of War of the Monsters (PS2, 2003), built from the statically recompiled game code and easy to mod.

⬇️ Grab latest version here!

Play

1. unzip
2. open wotm.exe
3. select ISO file

More details in the README file (tools/release/README.txt).

Found a bug? Open an issue and attach wotm.log (along your save files).

Mods

PNG Textures, skins and custom monsters go in the mods\ folder next to wotm.exe. The release ships with Goliath Prime and Cerebulon as playable custom monsters (these are just for fun, don't open issues if they can't jump or can't do any other specific actions!).

To make your own mods, check the reference: docs/guides/MODS.md.

How it works

1. Static recompilation. PS2Recomp translates the whole game executable (VU0 included) into C++ that runs natively. That C++ is game code, so it never goes into this repository: everyone generates it locally from their own disc.
2. Native layer (native/). Instead of emulating the VU1, GS and IOP, the port cuts at the engine boundary and draws with the PC's GPU; sound, FMVs and input are native too. It is not an emulator.

Architecture: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md. The executable: docs/ANALYSIS.md. File formats: docs/FORMATS.md.

Building the port (Windows)

1. Clone with submodules (git clone --recurse-submodules).
2. Put your ISO in ISO/ and run powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\setup_runtime.ps1. It extracts the disc, sets up PS2Recomp in runtime/, generates the recompiled code and runs the first build. Needs git, Python 3, CMake 3.24+ and MSVC 14.40+ (VS 2022 17.10+ or Build Tools).
3. build_runtime.bat rebuilds after changes; run_live.bat -Auto 0 runs the game.

Runtime details, environment variables and the release package: docs/guides/RUNTIME.md and docs/guides/NATIVE.md.

Building the decompilation (WSL/Ubuntu)

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt update
sudo apt install binutils-mips-linux-gnu ninja-build python3-venv wine wine32:i386
python3 -m venv ~/.venvs/wotm && ~/.venvs/wotm/bin/pip install "splat64[mips]" pyelftools unicorn
sh tools/setup_toolchain.sh        # downloads ee-gcc 2.95.2 (SN ProDG) into tools/cc/

1. Put your ISO in ISO/ and extract it to disc/ (for example 7z x -odisc ISO/*.iso).
2. ~/.venvs/wotm/bin/python configure.py --split, then ninja (ends with build/SCUS_971.97.rom: OK).

Before committing changes to decompiled code, run sh tools/wsl/gate.sh (build + SHA1 check). Tools and known build pitfalls: docs/guides/TOOLS.md, docs/guides/PITFALLS.md.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. The rules in CLAUDE.md apply to humans too: no game files or game assembly in the repo, issues or PRs, and the ROM must keep matching the retail SHA1. The reference docs are in English; CLAUDE.md, TODO.md, commit messages and the dated notes in docs/investigacoes/ are in Portuguese.

License

The code in this repository is GPL-3.0. It only covers what is here (decompilation, tools, native layer) and grants no rights over the game, which still belongs to its owners.