MS-DOS games on PC

Transport Tycoon Deluxe (OpenTTD)

OpenTTD/OpenTTD

OpenTTD: an open-source transport simulation game based on Chris Sawyer’s Transport Tycoon Deluxe that tries to mimic the original as closely as possible while extending it with new features, many inspired by TTDPatch. It allows maps up to 64 times larger and stable multiplayer for up to 255 players in 15 companies, with dedicated servers. It adds new pathfinding algorithms, mammoth and multi-headed trains, conditional orders, pre-signals and path-based signalling, canals and ship lifts, larger stations that can be joined, longer and higher bridges, building on slopes, drive-through road stops for articulated vehicles and trams, and zooming further out. It supports TTDPatch NewGRFs to change graphics and behavior, player-written AIs, and game scripts, and it downloads add-on content from inside the game. It’s translated into more than 50 languages, there are Windows, macOS, and Linux builds, and it’s also distributed for free on Steam, GOG, and the Microsoft Store. The stable release is 15.3 (April 4), and 16.0 is in testing: its beta4 came out on September 20. Its contribution guidelines forbid submitting AI-generated code.

You needNo copy is needed: it runs on OpenGFX, OpenSFX, and OpenMSX, the free graphics, sounds, and music the project publishes, and the Windows installer can download them. If you have Transport Tycoon Deluxe, for DOS or Windows, it can use its graphics and sounds (sample.cat and the trg*.grf files) and its music; the Windows installer can copy them. Plus Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Theme Hospital (CorsixTH)

CorsixTH/CorsixTH

CorsixTH: an open-source reimplementation of Theme Hospital, Bullfrog’s hospital management sim, that loads the graphics, sounds, levels, and movies from the original game’s files. It’s written in C++ and Lua, which holds most of the game logic, and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and BSD. According to the project, the whole campaign can be completed: every disease, object, and room is in, as are all events (emergencies, earthquakes, epidemics, VIP visits), the management windows, the music, and the movies. Still missing are multiplayer, the AI-run rival hospitals, the rats and their bonus level, vomit waves, and the level-won video and letter. It adds Full HD and 4K resolutions, zooming, UI scaling, subtitles, more than 20 languages, custom levels and campaigns with a built-in map editor, unlimited save files, your own music, building while paused, and rebindable hotkeys. Version 0.70.0 (July 10) added the official Russian Soft Club edition, 2x and 3x UI scaling, subtitles for the announcer, an option to turn off screen shake, MIDI devices, and an adviser message history; the latest release is 0.70.1 (August 28). It has rules for AI agents in its AGENTS.md file, and one of its more than 5,800 commits, from August and about the Windows ARM64 build, lists Copilot as a co-author.

You needThe files from your own copy of Theme Hospital, from the CD (the HOSP folder) or the GOG or EA release; on Linux they can be extracted from the GOG installer with innoextract. The demo, which the project offers on its website, works too, though it has a single level and lacks most management screens. Plus Windows, macOS, or Linux (as an AppImage, Flatpak, Snap, or distro packages).

Heroes of Might and Magic II (fheroes2)

ihhub/fheroes2

fheroes2: a from-scratch recreation of the Heroes of Might and Magic II engine that uses the original game’s resources without modifying any of its files. It reproduces the game without changing its balance, and adds high resolutions, a rewritten AI that makes better decisions without the original’s hidden advantages (seeing the whole map or getting extra weekly creatures), many fixes, and interface improvements: more information on creatures and spells, instant or restartable battles, rebindable hotkeys, and more, listed on a page of its documentation. Both The Succession Wars and The Price of Loyalty campaigns are playable, and it has hot-seat games, a battle-only mode, a random map generator, and its own map editor. It’s translated into more than 20 languages and doesn’t load the original game’s saves. There are builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and for Android, PS Vita, and Switch too. Version 1.0.0 came out on December 21, 2022 and the latest, 1.1.17, on June 30, with a first version of automatic map playtesting in the editor and AI improvements. If you don’t own the game, the Windows installer and a bundled script offer to download the free English demo from archive.org and use its resources; this is optional.

You needThe files from your own copy of Heroes of Might and Magic II (the ANIM, DATA, MAPS, and MUSIC folders), from GOG or the Ubisoft Store for example; its bundled scripts find and extract them from an installation, and innoextract can pull them from the GOG installer. The free demo works too. Plus Windows (32- or 64-bit), macOS (the released build is for Intel; on Apple silicon, via Homebrew, MacPorts, or building from source), or Linux (x86-64 or ARM64, also on Flatpak, AUR, Homebrew, or as Debian and Ubuntu packages).

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (Daggerfall Unity)

Interkarma/daggerfall-unity

Daggerfall Unity: an open-source recreation of Daggerfall in the Unity engine, made by Daggerfall Workshop, that takes the textures, 3D models, and sounds from the DOS version. It runs natively, without emulation, on Windows, Linux, and macOS. It renders at high resolutions and in widescreen while keeping the classic style, with modern engine lighting and much longer draw distances, and has an optional retro mode at 320×200 or 640×400 with VGA palettes. It adds smooth first-person controls, hundreds of fixes and quality-of-life improvements, and mod support with an active community that publishes new graphics, quests, guilds, and rule changes; translations come as mods too. Version 1.0 (December 30, 2023) marked every game feature as implemented, and 1.1 brought a new tutorial; the latest release is 1.1.1 (May 9, 2024), re-uploaded on October 5, 2025 with a Unity engine security fix. The repository also includes the game’s quest scripts converted to text, the character biography texts (with fixes), and the game’s music as MIDI.

You needA complete installation of DOS Daggerfall (the ARENA2 folder with all its .VID files), which Bethesda gives away: it’s free on Steam. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS, a CPU equivalent to a Skylake Intel i3, a DirectX 11 graphics card with 1 GB of video memory, and 2 GB of RAM; mods can raise the requirements considerably.

Doom / Doom II (Chocolate Doom)

chocolate-doom/chocolate-doom

Chocolate Doom: a Doom port, built on the source code id Software released, that aims to accurately reproduce the original DOS version, bugs included, on current systems. It’s compatible with DOS demos, configuration files, and saves, and aims for the display and controls to feel the way they did back then. It started with Doom alone, but now also includes ports of Heretic and Hexen, built on the code Raven Software released, and of Strife: since Strife’s source code was lost, Chocolate Strife was rebuilt over more than four years of reverse engineering the DOS executable, with the blessing of its original programmers. It scales in hardware to any window size; music can play through an emulated OPL3 (Nuked OPL3), FluidSynth, native MIDI, or FLAC, Ogg, or MP3 music packs, and the -merge option lets you play total conversions without modifying the IWAD. Version 3.1.0 (August 1, 2024) added UDP hole punching so servers behind a router are reachable from the internet, WAD autoloading, and dragging files onto the executable on Windows. The latest is 3.1.1 (August 14, 2025), with initial support for Doom version 1.5. The published builds are for 64-bit Windows and macOS (Intel and Apple silicon); on Linux and other systems it’s built from source.

You needThe IWAD from your own copy: doom.wad, doom2.wad, tnt.wad, or plutonia.wad for Doom, Doom II, and Final Doom; heretic.wad, hexen.wad, or strife1.wad with voices.wad (Strife 1.2 or later, or Strife: Veteran Edition). The free shareware versions of Doom (doom1.wad) and Heretic (heretic1.wad), Chex Quest, and the free Freedoom IWADs work too. It finds Steam and GOG installs on its own. Plus 64-bit Windows or macOS; on Linux, by building it.

Quake (vkQuake)

Novum/vkQuake

vkQuake: a Quake port that renders with Vulkan instead of OpenGL, based on the QuakeSpasm and QuakeSpasm-Spiked ports, which build on the source code id Software released. It runs every mod compatible with QuakeSpasm, such as Arcane Dimensions, and the 2021 re-release content. Compared with QuakeSpasm, it renders and loads on multiple threads, goes past 72 Hz without breaking physics, mimics the software renderer’s underwater effect, and supports both classic and enhanced models (MD5, like the re-release’s, or MD3), true-color textures and skins, anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering, 8-bit color emulation, and pixelated scaling, plus a mods menu. With a ray-tracing graphics card it adds dynamic shadows and the re-release’s dynamic lights. This year’s releases have added order-independent transparency, SDL3, Steam achievements, a level-selection menu, and an improved console; the latest, 1.37.0 (October 12), added ambient occlusion from monsters and items onto the level, a render resolution separate from the menus and HUD, controller gyro aiming, flick stick, and rumble, and background autosaves. Many of these additions come from Ironwail, another Quake port. There are builds for Windows (x64, with an installer, and Arm64) and Linux (AppImage); the macOS builds are published by Mac Source Ports.

You needThe files from your own copy of Quake (the id1 folder with its .pak files), from the original release or the 2021 re-release (for the latter, vkQuake goes into its rerelease folder); it finds Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store installs on its own. On Linux, the game’s file names must be lowercase. Plus a Vulkan graphics card and 64-bit Windows (with the Visual C++ redistributable) or Linux with glibc 2.31 or later; dynamic shadows and lights need ray tracing.

Legend of Sword and Fairy (SDLPal)

sdlpal/sdlpal

SDLPal: a cross-platform, SDL-based reimplementation of Xian Jian Qi Xia Zhuan (仙剑奇侠传), Softstar’s Chinese RPG known as PAL, that runs on the original game’s data. Wei Mingzhi created it in 2009, and a team maintains it today; many of its concepts come from the PAL Research Project’s documentation. It isn’t an emulator: the game runs as a native program, and only the OPL2 and OPL3 sound chips are emulated (with cores from DOSBox, MAME, and Chocolate Doom) to play the DOS version’s RIX music. It supports data from the DOS and Windows 95 versions and can combine the best of each, such as item descriptions in the DOS version or RIX music in the Windows 95 one, whose AVI videos it also plays. It adds MIDI, OGG, or MP3 music, translations through external message and font files, image filters with RetroArch GLSL shaders (experimental), and a settings window at launch, and its saves work with the original game’s and vice versa. There are builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS, plus Android, iOS, Wii, 3DS, the browser, and a libretro core. The latest release, 3.0.2025.0616 (June 2025), already uses SDL3; in 2026 work continued with controller and script interpreter fixes, and the Visual Studio build regained Windows XP support.

You needThe data files from your own copy of Xian Jian Qi Xia Zhuan: the DOS version, on floppy disks or CD, or the Windows 95 version, in Traditional Chinese or the Simplified Chinese “98 柔情篇”; the Sega Saturn version doesn’t work. The project recommends the version sold on Steam, and its wiki links Chinese sites where it can be downloaded legally for free. Plus Windows (XP included), Linux (as an AppImage), or macOS.

Dune II (OpenDUNE)

OpenDUNE/OpenDUNE

OpenDUNE: an open-source re-creation of Dune II, Westwood Studios’ real-time strategy game, so it runs natively on modern systems. It started in 2009 as a decompilation of the original executable, which at first ran on an x86 emulator (libemu) and which the team kept rewriting in C until version 0.6 (2011) converted the whole game and dropped the emulator. In its enhanced mode, the default, it fixes dozens of bugs in the original, such as reinforcements that only arrived once, buildings that degraded even on concrete slabs, or an AI that barely responded when you attacked its buildings, and a setting lets you play it exactly like the original, bugs included. It scales the image up to 4x with Scale2x or hqx filters, caps the frame rate at 60 fps by default, has fullscreen, and plays music over MIDI, including on an emulated Roland MT-32 (Munt) or with FluidSynth. It’s in English, French, and German. It runs on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS, as well as Atari ST, STE, TT, and Falcon, OS/2, and Haiku. The latest release is 0.9 (May 25, 2018), and the project still gets changes: in 2026 it added support for stock Atari ST and STE machines.

You needThe version 1.07 data files from your own copy of Dune II for MS-DOS, DUNE2.EXE included; all three variants (eu, hs, and us) work, but French only works with eu and hs, and German only with eu. For MT-32 music through Munt, the CM-32L ROMs too. Plus Windows (32- or 64-bit), Linux or FreeBSD with SDL, or macOS.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena (OpenTESArena)

afritz1/OpenTESArena

OpenTESArena: an open-source engine written from scratch for The Elder Scrolls: Arena, the 1994 DOS game, aiming to replicate every aspect of it with a clean-room approach while adding quality-of-life changes; what’s known about the original’s inner workings is documented in its wiki. Character creation (except the class generation questions), combat with enemies that attack and drop loot and experience, leveling up, picking up, equipping, and dropping items, shops (buying and selling, renting a tavern room, curing diseases), citizens who wander, give directions, and share rumors, and fast travel anywhere on the world map already work. Plate armor materials, potions and on-use items, quests, spells, and saving and loading are still missing. It has a modern control mode, with WASD and mouselook, and a classic one; it uses Vulkan by default and lets you raise the frame rate cap to your monitor’s refresh rate. Version 0.18.0 (August 13) added enemy combat AI, leveling up, conversations, thieving mode, and detection of the Steam and GOG releases. There are builds for x86-64 Windows, x86-64 Linux and Raspberry Pi 5, and Apple silicon macOS.

You needNo need to buy the game: Bethesda gives The Elder Scrolls: Arena away for free, on Steam, on GOG, or as Arena106Setup.zip on its website, and its files are enough (on Linux and macOS, the ones from the self-extracting Arena106.exe). It finds the Steam release on its own on every system and the GOG release on Windows. For music, optionally, the eawpats instrument patch set the project publishes with its releases. Plus 64-bit Windows (with the Visual C++ Redistributable and OpenAL), x86-64 Linux or Raspberry Pi 5, or Apple silicon macOS.

Star Wars: Dark Forces (The Force Engine)

TheForceEngine/TheForceEngine

The Force Engine: a reverse-engineered rebuild of the Jedi Engine, the engine behind Star Wars: Dark Forces and Outlaws, for modern systems. It shares a legacy with DarkXL, but it’s a complete rewrite focused on accuracy. Dark Forces can be played from start to finish, with all the AI, weapons, items, and iMUSE music, along with community mods, which load from the Mods folder; Outlaws isn’t playable yet and is planned for version 2.0. At 320×200 it uses the original software renderer; besides that, it has a floating-point software renderer with widescreen, ultrawide included, and much higher resolutions, plus a GPU renderer. It raises the engine’s limits, which removes most HOM (“hall of mirrors”) glitches in advanced mods, and adds rebindable controls, controller support, mouselook, an aiming reticle, improved Boba Fett AI, free saving that works with the original checkpoints and lives, captions, SoundFonts, and an emulated OPL3. All of it can be turned off to play as on DOS, only at higher frame rates. Since 1.10 (July 17, 2024) it recognizes Dark Forces Remaster data and uses its HD textures, sprites, and HUD, and since 1.22.000 (March 23, 2025) it includes a level editor in alpha. The latest release is 1.22.420 (September 10, 2025), for Windows; on Linux it’s installed from Flathub or built from source. Since then, the repository has added macOS builds (January) and the Remaster’s video cutscenes (July).

You needYour own installed copy of Star Wars: Dark Forces (sold on GOG and Steam) or Dark Forces Remaster; it finds GOG and Steam installs on its own. Plus an OpenGL 3.3 graphics card and 64-bit Windows 7 or later, Linux, or macOS (building it yourself); on Windows you may need the Visual C++ Redistributable (x64).

⑂ Fork of sezero/quakespasm

Quake (Ironwail)

andrei-drexler/ironwail

Ironwail: a fork of QuakeSpasm, the GLQuake-descended Quake port, that puts performance ahead of maximum compatibility. It moves work from the CPU to the GPU (culling and lightmap updates) and uses modern OpenGL 4.3 features such as instancing, compute shaders, indirect multi-draw, and bindless textures to run community maps with far more polygons than the originals at very high frame rates; rendering is decoupled from the simulation to avoid physics issues, with code from QSS by way of vkQuake. If you have the 2021 release on Steam, you just unzip it into any folder and run it to play that version, with any add-ons you’ve already downloaded, achievements, time tracking, and the remastered models. It adds a Mods menu, weapon key bindings in the menus, mouse-driven menus, alternative HUDs based on Quake 64’s and QuakeWorld’s, real-time palettization with optional dithering for a more authentic look, the classic underwater warp effect, controller support with gyro, flick stick, and rumble, demo playback controls, a speed indicator, and tools for mappers. It uses less memory and loads huge maps faster. Version 0.8.2 (August 11) added initial compatibility with Quake’s 30th anniversary update and its MG3: Dawn of the Machine expansion.

You needAn installation of your own copy of Quake, which you unzip it into; if you have the 2021 release on Steam, you just unzip it into any other folder and it finds the game on its own. Plus Windows (32- or 64-bit) or x64 Linux (glibc 2.31 or later) and an OpenGL 4.3 graphics card: at least a GeForce GT 420, Radeon HD 5450, or Intel HD Graphics 4200. It doesn’t run on macOS, which stops at OpenGL 4.1.

C-Dogs (C-Dogs SDL)

cxong/cdogs-sdl

C-Dogs SDL: a continuation of C-Dogs, the overhead run-and-gun game Ronny Wester made for DOS between 1997 and 2001 and gave away as freeware. Wester released the source code in 2002; Jeremy Chin and Lucas Martin-King ported it to SDL for modern systems, and it’s now maintained by Cong Xu. In 2016 Wester also relicensed the original graphics and campaigns under CC BY. Up to four people can play, co-op or deathmatch, in split screen, over a LAN, or with computer-controlled teammates, and it comes with campaign and character editors, the classic campaigns, and new ones such as a Cyberdogs campaign, after Wester’s earlier game; over 100 player-made campaigns are also available. Since 1.0 it loads the Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny maps from your own copy as campaigns, and since 2.4.0, with “Super 2D Noah’s Ark,” those of Super 3D Noah’s Ark. Version 2.5.0 (October 16) added a DOS pixel aspect ratio mode and the mission briefing in the pause menu. The download also includes the data of the Wolfenstein 3D shareware episode, which is freely distributable.

You needNo copy needed: C-Dogs’ code has been free since 2002 and its graphics and campaigns have been CC BY since 2016, so the download contains the whole game. The Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, and Super 3D Noah’s Ark campaigns need the files from your own copy of those games (it finds Steam installs of Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny on its own). Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Duke Nukem II

lethal-guitar/RigelEngine

Rigel Engine: a reimplementation of Duke Nukem II that replaces the original DOS executable. It reads the game’s data files and plays just like the original, but runs natively on Windows, Linux, and macOS, and can also be installed on the Steam Deck. It was made by reverse engineering, disassembling the original binary. All four episodes, from the shareware and registered versions, are fully playable and on par with the original. It adds a widescreen mode, smooth scrolling with a higher frame rate, quick saving, better controller support, and extended modding features. Its author considers it done: it’s in maintenance mode, with no new features planned. The complete reconstruction of the original code is a separate project, Duke2Reconstructed.

You needThe Duke Nukem II data files, from the registered version or the free shareware one: NUKEM2.CMP is enough, plus the optional intro movies (NUKEM2.F1 to F5). Plus a graphics card with OpenGL 3.0 or OpenGL ES 2.0.

⑂ Fork of chocolate-doom/chocolate-doom

Doom / Doom II (Crispy Doom)

fabiangreffrath/crispy-doom

Crispy Doom: a “friendly fork” of Chocolate Doom, the faithful port built on the Doom source code id Software released in 1997. It doubles the internal resolution to 640×400 (320×200 is still available), removes the engine’s static limits, and adds optional visual, tactical, and physical enhancements while staying compatible with the original’s config files, savegames, netplay, and demos. It has widescreen rendering up to 24:9, uncapped frame rates with interpolation and optional VSync, and supports the “Doom Classic” WADs from Doom 3: BFG Edition, with the No Rest for the Living episode, and every version of SIGIL. The optional features, mostly off by default, are enabled in the “Crispness” menu: jumping, mouselook, a crosshair, a minimal HUD, translucency, randomly mirrored corpses, and secret notifications, among others. It also loads full DEHACKED and BEX and animation-smoothing mods, and plays limit-removing maps, but not Boom or ZDoom ones. Crispy Heretic, Crispy Hexen, and Crispy Strife are released from the same code. There’s a Windows build and packages for macOS (MacPorts and Homebrew) and Linux (Debian and Ubuntu). Version 7.2.0 (October 12) extended the extended BSP format to all games and fixed demo and savegame bugs.

You needThe IWAD file from your own copy of Doom, Doom II, or Final Doom, or the Doom 3: BFG Edition WADs; the free shareware DOOM1.WAD works too, as does Freedoom. For Crispy Heretic, Crispy Hexen, and Crispy Strife, each game’s IWAD. Plus Windows, macOS, or Linux.

System Shock (Shockolate)

Interrupt/systemshock

Shockolate: a cross-platform System Shock port using SDL2, based on the source code of the PowerPC Mac version released by Night Dive Studios. It aims to be for System Shock what Chocolate Doom is for Doom: an experience that closely mimics the original, but portable and with some quality-of-life improvements. It runs well on Windows and Linux, though some features need reviving because they weren’t in the released code. It adds an OpenGL renderer alongside the original software one, WASD controls with mouselook (toggled with F) and leaning with Q and E, fullscreen, MIDI music through FluidSynth and a SoundFont or FM synthesis through AdlMidi, and loads mods and fan missions (extra .res and .dat files). The latest stable release is 0.7.7 (April 8, 2019), with 2020 test builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS; development continues, and on October 18 a Zig build was added, used for Apple silicon macOS.

You needThe data from your own copy of the CD-ROM System Shock or System Shock: Enhanced Edition, in a res/data folder next to the executable; the floppy version’s data is older and can’t be loaded. For MIDI music, optionally, a SoundFont (.sf2) in the res folder. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Blood (NBlood)

NBlood/NBlood

NBlood: a port of Blood and its Cryptic Passage expansion, rebuilt through reverse engineering on top of the technology of EDuke32, the Duke Nukem 3D port that uses Ken Silverman’s Build engine; EDuke32 developers such as Hendricks266 and TerminX work on it too. If you have the digital Steam or GOG release installed, it finds it without copying anything, and it supports the Blood: Fresh Supply data. It can use the CD music as FLAC or OGG instead of MIDI and the original CD’s cutscenes, and it ships graphics adapted to widescreen made by community members. It has a strict vanilla mode, optional voxels, controller rumble, and multiplayer. The same repository holds Rednukem, for Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition, Redneck Rampage, Redneck Rampage: Rides Again, Duke Nukem 64, NAM, and World War II GI, and PCExhumed, for the PC version of Exhumed (PowerSlave). It publishes 32- and 64-bit Windows builds; the latest, r14388, is from September 14.

You needThe files from your own copy of Blood 1.21: BLOOD.INI, BLOOD.RFF, GUI.RFF, SOUNDS.RFF, SURFACE.DAT, TILES000.ART to TILES017.ART, and VOXEL.DAT, plus Cryptic Passage’s if you want to play it; with the Steam or GOG release installed, nothing needs copying. Plus Windows; on Linux and other systems you have to build it.

⑂ Fork of OpenTTD

Transport Tycoon Deluxe (JGR's Patchpack)

JGRennison/OpenTTD-patches

JGR’s Patchpack: a version of OpenTTD, the open-source reimplementation of Transport Tycoon Deluxe, with a long collection of added features and changes. It’s installed and played separately from standard OpenTTD; it isn’t a mod loaded from inside the game. It keeps up with OpenTTD’s development branch, and nearly all of its patches, many of them from the TT-Forums boards, have been modified or extended. Among what it adds: realistic train braking, routing restrictions, programmable pre-signals, drive-through train depots, template-based train replacement, multiple rail types per tile, signals in tunnels and on bridges, tunnels under water, one-way roads and overtaking, improved breakdowns, automated timetables and scheduled dispatch, infrastructure sharing in multiplayer, maps of up to 256 million tiles, and more cargo distribution modes. It warns that it isn’t aimed at beginners, and its savegames can’t be opened in standard OpenTTD. The first release came out in August 2015 and the latest, 0.73.4, on October 12. Its contribution guidelines forbid using AI to generate code.

You needNo copy is needed: like OpenTTD, it runs on OpenGFX, OpenSFX, and OpenMSX, the free graphics, sounds, and music OpenTTD publishes. If you have Transport Tycoon Deluxe, for DOS or Windows, it can use its graphics and sounds (sample.cat and the trg*.grf files) and its music. Plus Windows (64- or 32-bit, or ARM), macOS, or Linux.

Doom / Doom II (DOOM Retro)

bradharding/doomretro

DOOM Retro: a Doom source port for Windows by Brad Harding, who released it on December 10, 2013, for the game’s 20th anniversary. It started from Chocolate Doom, which builds on the source code id Software released in 1997, and is now its own port of about 120,000 lines of C. It supports vanilla, limit-removing, Boom, MBF, and MBF21 maps and mods, with DeHackEd (including the DEHEXTRA extension, which began here), DSDHacked, and partial MAPINFO and UMAPINFO, but it doesn’t record or play back demos and has no multiplayer. It draws with a 256-color software renderer at 640×400, twice the original resolution, scaled up with Direct3D or OpenGL, with a widescreen mode and a choice of two HUDs, uncapped frame rates, and a 45–135° field of view. It fixes most of the original engine’s bugs and over 1,400 errors in the official Doom and Doom II maps, and adds translucency effects, blood that leaves permanent splats, monster shadows, bobbing liquids, a WAD launcher, a console, an automap that can go on a second display, stats, controller rumble, and mouselook, plus a “vanilla” mode to compare it with the original. It recognizes SIGIL and SIGIL II, the BFG Editions with No Rest for the Living, Freedoom, Chex Quest, HacX, and REKKR. It also includes E1M4B and E1M8B, two maps by John Romero played with the Doom IWAD. Version 6.3 (August 8) improved ID24 compatibility and added a cylindrical sky projection, radial lighting, and Discord Rich Presence.

You needThe IWAD file from your own copy of Doom, Doom II, or Final Doom (DOOM.WAD, DOOM2.WAD, PLUTONIA.WAD, or TNT.WAD), for example from Steam, GOG, or the Epic Games Store; it tries to find where it’s installed on its own. It also takes the shareware DOOM1.WAD, though PWADs can’t be loaded with it, and the free Freedoom IWADs. Plus 64-bit Windows; the source can also be built on Linux and macOS, without support.

Ultima VII: The Black Gate / Serpent Isle (Exult)

exult/exult

Exult: a new engine for Ultima VII, written in C++ with SDL, that uses the original data and graphics files of the game, a DOS title with a very nonstandard memory manager that is hard to run on current computers. It fully supports The Black Gate and Serpent Isle, both of which can be finished, their Forge of Virtue and Silver Seed add-ons, and the Serpent Isle beta. It adds any resolution with scalers up to 8x, a game area larger than the original 320×200, Serpent Isle’s paperdoll in Black Gate too, a shortcut bar, combat options, and MIDI music through a real device, FluidSynth, an emulated MT-32, or FM synthesis. Since 1.8 it plays Serpent Isle’s long intro, which Origin cut down to save floppy disks. It includes Exult Studio, an editor for making mods, and the Windows installer offers to install some, such as Keyring or the Ultima VI remake made by other fans. There are builds for Windows, macOS, and Android, and on Linux it’s on Flatpak. The latest stable release is 1.12.1 (January 8); 1.13 snapshots, already on SDL3, come out often, the latest on October 21. The repository includes that intro, restored from an old recording (about 10 MB of animations), and, in its documentation, a disassembly of Black Gate’s usecode, the code behind the game’s scripts and dialogue (about 6 MB). Separately, its website offers as optional downloads the game’s music recorded on a Roland MT-32 and its sound effects recorded on a Sound Blaster and on an MT-32, which the Windows installer can download.

You needThe files from your own copy of Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle, or both, already installed (the GOG, CD-ROM, and floppy versions all work), without mixing one game’s files with the other’s; the Forge of Virtue and Silver Seed add-ons are optional. For the emulated MT-32, the ROMs from your own MT-32 or CM-32L. Plus Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.12 or later (snapshots need 10.15), Linux, Android, or iOS.

Descent / Descent II (DXX-Rebirth)

dxx-rebirth/dxx-rebirth

DXX-Rebirth: a Descent and Descent II port that continues the discontinued D1X and D2X, which in turn built on the original Descent source code and LDescent. It has one engine per game, D1X-Rebirth and D2X-Rebirth, which work independently, and it’s compatible with both full games, all of their expansions, and third-party levels, as well as with the pilot files, savegames, demos, and missions from the DOS versions. It renders with OpenGL, with optional transparency, colored lighting, texture filtering, and FSAA, at any resolution and aspect ratio your monitor supports, with VSync. It supports several joysticks at once alongside keyboard and mouse, MIDI, CD, or your own music files, and add-on packs that replace or expand the games’ content. Multiplayer runs over UDP, on a LAN or over the internet. It records smaller, less glitchy demos that stay compatible with the original games’, and it avoids the glitches that higher game speeds used to cause, such as overly fast homing missiles or excessive collision damage. The latest numbered releases on GitHub date from 2016 and 2018 (0.60 beta 2); to play without building it, the project points to the GitHub Actions builds for x86-64 Windows, macOS 14 on Apple silicon, and x86-64 Linux (AppImage). Four of its last 100 commits, from August and by a single contributor, state in their messages that they were made with help from OpenAI Codex.

You needThe data files from your own copy of Descent (descent.hog and descent.pig) or Descent II (descent2.ham, descent2.hog, descent2.s22, and its environments’ .pig files), for example from the GOG release; Descent II’s movies are optional. The free Descent shareware and Descent II demo data, PC or Mac, work too. Plus Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Cannon Fodder (Open Fodder)

OpenFodder/openfodder

Open Fodder: an open-source reimplementation of the engine of Cannon Fodder, Sensible Software’s 1993 action strategy game, and of Cannon Fodder 2, for modern systems. According to the project, it keeps the original’s timing, soldier handling, and weapon physics. It reads the data from Cannon Fodder for DOS CD, Amiga, and Amiga CD32, and from Cannon Fodder 2 for DOS CD and Amiga; if you have both versions, F1 and F2 switch between the Amiga and PC ones. It adds a random map generator written in JavaScript, with hostages, rescue tents, vehicles, and a helicopter, windowed play with scaling, options to skip the intro and the briefings, and playback of the CD32 version’s intro video if you extract it from your disc; new campaigns and maps are made with OpenFodder Editor, a separate project. There’s a Windows installer and a Flatpak for Linux, and it builds on other systems such as OpenBSD or RetroPie. Version 2.0.0 (December 16, 2025) added the missing unarmed helicopters and fixed soldier animation bugs carried over from the original engine. The Windows installer includes seven magazine cover-disk demos (six Amiga, one PC) and the campaign data, which the original game kept inside its executable; on Linux or when building from source, that data has to be downloaded separately from the OpenFodder/data repository on GitHub.

You needFor the full campaigns, the files from your own copy of Cannon Fodder or Cannon Fodder 2: from the DOS CD version (GOG’s, for example), Cannon Fodder’s CF_ENG.DAT or all of Cannon Fodder 2’s files; from Amiga, the disks unpacked with SOS Unpacker or installed with WHDLoad; and from CD32, the CD’s Fodder folder. Without a copy, only the bundled demos are playable. Plus Windows, Linux, or another Unix-like system.

X-COM: Apocalypse (OpenApoc)

OpenApoc/OpenApoc

OpenApoc (OpenApocalypse): an open-source reimplementation of X-COM: Apocalypse, written in C++ with SDL2, that needs the original game’s files. PmProg founded it in July 2014, and its README quotes Julian Gollop, X-COM’s designer, saying they know about the project and support it. It runs at modern resolutions, with display scaling and at 60 fps, plays sound without the original’s pops and stutters, and adds a “More Options” menu with dozens of optional improvements, an experimental skirmish mode for quick fights, a debug system, and saves stored as XML in a ZIP file that you can edit. Almost everything can be changed with mods. It’s still in alpha: there are bugs and crashes, and its roadmap still lists what’s needed for a “truly playable” alpha, such as agent training from tactical combat. It publishes dated builds for 64-bit Windows, with an installer; on Linux and macOS you build it yourself. The latest is 20260916 (September 16), and the September builds applied the original’s combat experience rules, medals from victory points, and the end of the game on the final victory or the loss of the last base, and the launcher now detects the CD or ISO on its own.

You needYour own X-COM: Apocalypse CD as an ISO image (cd.iso) or a folder with all its files, the Steam release’s cd.iso, or the GOG release’s XCOM.cue and XCOM.bin; it must be complete, music included. Plus an OpenGL 2.0 graphics card and, on Windows, the latest Visual C++ Redistributable; the published builds are for 64-bit Windows, and on Linux and macOS you have to build it.

The Settlers II (Return to the Roots)

Return-To-The-Roots/s25client

Return to the Roots (RTTR): a fan-made open-source reimplementation of The Settlers II that rewrites the whole game and keeps its original graphics and sounds, which it reads from your copy. According to the project, almost all of the original game’s features are already implemented, including the Roman and world campaigns, whose missions are scripted in Lua. It adds online multiplayer through its own game lobby server, higher resolutions, AI players, replays, a random map generator, and a list of add-ons that change game rules, such as the leather economy that reached the nightly builds in February, with skins, tanneries, and armor for soldiers. The latest stable release is 0.9.5 (February 28, 2022); according to the project, most players use the nightly builds, for 32- and 64-bit Windows, macOS, and Linux, the latest from October 21. Seven of its last 100 commits, all from 2026, list Claude as a co-author.

You needThe DATA and GFX folders from your own copy of The Settlers II Gold Edition, copied into the folder RTTR points to. Plus Windows (Vista or later), macOS, or Linux with SDL2 and SDL2_mixer.

Tyrian (OpenTyrian)

opentyrian/opentyrian

OpenTyrian: a port of Tyrian, the vertical scrolling shooter for DOS developed by Eclipse Software and published by Epic MegaGames in 1995. Jason Emery, who released it as freeware in 2004, gave the OpenTyrian developers a copy of the Tyrian 2.1 source code, which they ported from Turbo Pascal to C and moved to SDL so it runs on modern systems. It has the story mode, one- and two-player arcade modes, and networked multiplayer: a game is started from the command line with the other player’s IP address and, thanks to UDP hole punching, usually no ports need to be opened. v2.1.20260912 (September 13) brought self-contained builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux that already include the game data, and reworked keyboard and mouse input in menus and cutscenes; the latest, v2.1.20260913 (September 14), keeps settings and saves next to the executable if an opentyrian.cfg is already there.

You needNo copy needed: Tyrian 2.1 has been freeware since Jason Emery released it in 2004, and the published builds include its data. If you build it yourself, the get_data.sh script downloads the Tyrian 2.1 data from camanis.net, the site the project points to. Plus Windows (x86-64 or Arm64), macOS (universal), or Linux (x86-64 or Arm64).

Doom / Doom II (DSDA-Doom)

dsda-org/dsda-doom

DSDA-Doom: a Doom source port, the successor of PrBoom+ in the Boom line, which builds on the source code id Software released in 1997 and adds tools for recording and playing back demos, with a focus on speedrunning and quality of life. It was created by kraflab, who maintained it from 2020 to 2024; it’s now maintained by Fabian Greffrath, the author of Crispy Doom and Woof!, and four other developers. Besides Doom, it plays Heretic and Hexen, compatible with their original demos, and supports MBF21, UDMF, UMAPINFO, and DSDHacked. It has a console with scripting, full controller support, a palette-based OpenGL renderer, rewind, a strict mode for speedrunning, advanced TAS tools, and debugging features for testing maps; there’s also a dedicated launcher, dsda-launcher, in a separate repository. Version 0.30.0 (September 29) moved UMAPINFO to revision 3, with Heretic support, removed ZDoom MAPINFO support, added mouse navigation in the menus, and brought back the ENDOOM window; the latest, 0.30.1 (October 9), lets you choose the audio output device. There are builds for 64-bit Windows (Windows 7 and later), Linux (AppImage), and macOS (universal binary).

You needThe IWAD from your own copy: doom.wad, doom2.wad, tnt.wad, or plutonia.wad for Doom, Doom II, and Final Doom; heretic.wad for Heretic; or hexen.wad, plus hexdd.wad for its expansion, for Hexen. It also recognizes the free Freedoom IWADs and the Chex Quest ones. Plus 64-bit Windows, 64-bit Linux, or macOS.

One Must Fall 2097 (OpenOMF)

omf2097/openomf

OpenOMF: a from-scratch C reimplementation of the engine of One Must Fall 2097, the robot fighting game by Diversions Entertainment, published by Epic MegaGames for MS-DOS, that uses the original’s data files. The team built it through a mix of disassembly, memory inspection, and trial and error, and aims for the closest possible compatibility with the original: it supports its tournament saves, scoreboard files, and REC recordings. It was started because the original multiplayer ran over IPX and was a pain to set up: OpenOMF replaces it with rollback netcode over UDP. It has an OpenGL renderer, every mode (one player, two players, and tournament), and mod support. It calls itself an alpha, with nearly everything implemented and tournament mode fully playable. Version 0.8.6 (July 5) added mods packed as ZIP files that replace sprites, backgrounds, and portraits, also at 2x or 4x, and change robot, arena, and tournament attributes (most are disabled in netplay), music mods in OGG or Opus, with remixes by Shady Monk and DeBisco included, an optional 1024-color palette, scaling filters, rival pilots who spend their money in tournaments, and an AppImage build; since then it has published a rolling test build, last updated on October 21. There are builds for Windows (x64 and ARM64), Linux (AppImage, .deb, .tar.gz, and Flathub), and ARM macOS 14 or later. The downloads include the original game’s data files, since the game was later released as freeware; the project’s build process downloads them from omf2097.com.

You needNo copy needed: One Must Fall 2097 was later released as freeware, and OpenOMF’s builds already include its data files. If you build it yourself, you need those files in the resources folder. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon.

Warcraft II (Wargus)

Wargus/wargus

Wargus: Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and its Beyond the Dark Portal expansion on Stratagus, a free real-time strategy engine. The repository holds the importer, which on first launch asks for your copy of Warcraft II and extracts and converts its data (graphics, sound, music, videos, and campaigns), and the Lua scripts that recreate the game. It looks and sounds almost exactly like Warcraft II, with very similar gameplay and slight enhancements in the style of StarCraft and other more modern strategy games. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, plays in high resolution with OpenGL shaders to change the look, has LAN and online multiplayer, and lets you tweak many game parameters in Lua or from the command line. The latest stable release is 3.3.2, from July 2022, and development builds are made from every commit. On macOS you use a GitHub Actions build and, until its own extractor works properly there, the data is extracted with a third-party script.

You needYour own copy of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, with Beyond the Dark Portal if you want its campaign; the importer recognizes, among others, the DOS CD release and the Battle.net Edition. Plus Windows, Linux (an Ubuntu PPA and openSUSE packages), or macOS.

Quake (ezQuake)

QW-Group/ezquake-source

ezQuake: a modern client for QuakeWorld, the version of Quake built for online play, based on the Quake and QuakeWorld source code id Software released in 1999. It combines the features of the other modern QuakeWorld clients and is geared toward competitive play: modern graphics, rich menus, multiview, QuakeTV support, a built-in server browser, a recorded games browser, MP3 player control, customization of every graphical element including the HUD, and extensive scripting. It runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD with SDL2, and comes with only the bare minimum of game media. Version 3.6.9 (March 1) brought the modern renderer to macOS, and work in October continues on the renderer, with interpolation between model frames and particles that behave the same at any frame rate. 63 of its last 100 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needThe pak0.pak and pak1.pak files from your own copy of Quake, in the id1 subfolder; you can also unzip ezQuake into an existing Quake install. Plus 64-bit Windows, x86-64 Linux, or macOS.

Jazz Jackrabbit (OpenJazz)

AlisterT/openjazz

OpenJazz: a free, open-source version of Jazz Jackrabbit, Epic MegaGames’ 1994 platformer, that uses the original game’s files. AJ Thomson started it on August 23, 2005, and released the first playable version on January 15, 2006, and networked multiplayer followed in 2009. It has been on GitHub since 2014, where Carsten Teibes maintains it and has merged the ports to other platforms. According to the project, it’s compatible with every released version of Jazz Jackrabbit, from the shareware ones to the CD edition with The Lost Episodes, though its FAQ warns that the physics aren’t exactly the original’s and that fan-made levels can’t always be finished. Version 20260218 (February 18) added SDL3, brought back the scaling options, fixed networking on Windows, and added builds for Switch, Android, and Mac (by Mac Source Ports); the latest, 20260301 (March 1), centered the menus, added a HUD like the ones in first-person shooters, and made Jazz’s and the enemies’ health depend on the difficulty. Since then it has gained the ability to save games and debug and cheat menus. There are builds for 64-bit Windows and Linux, plus the browser and several consoles and handhelds; it also builds on macOS and BSD. The browser version linked from its README (openjazz.github.io) includes the shareware versions of Jazz Jackrabbit 1.1, Holiday Hare, and Holiday Hare ’95, which Epic MegaGames released as shareware, along with their distribution license.

You needThe files from your own copy of Jazz Jackrabbit, not Jazz Jackrabbit 2: the free shareware version, the Christmas Edition, Holiday Hare ’95, Jazz Jackrabbit CD with The Lost Episodes, the Complete edition, or GOG’s Jazz Jackrabbit Collection, which the author says is fully compatible, all work. They go next to the executable or in a folder passed as a command-line argument. Plus Windows, Linux, macOS, or BSD.

Blake Stone (BStone)

bibendovsky/bstone

BStone: an unofficial source port of the Blake Stone series, Aliens of Gold and Planet Strike, built on the source code Apogee released; its engine derives from Wolfenstein 3D’s. It supports Aliens of Gold versions 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, and 3.0, full or shareware, and Planet Strike 1.0 and 1.1. It offers the original software rendering at high resolution or a hardware 3D renderer (OpenGL 2.0 or 3.2, OpenGL ES 2.0, and, since 1.3.0 on December 21, 2025, Vulkan), a widescreen mode, a texture upscaling filter, replacement of wall, floor, ceiling, and sprite textures with PNG or BMP images, rebindable controls, 3D sound through OpenAL, separate sound effect and music volumes, emulated AdLib music (with DOSBox’s OPL code or Nuked OPL3), and mod loading with the --mod_dir option. The latest release is 1.3.4 (May 27), which fixed audio decoding with Nuked OPL3; there are builds for 32- and 64-bit Windows and Linux, and experimental ones for macOS.

You needThe files from your own copy of Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (.BS6) or Planet Strike (.VSI); with the GOG or Steam versions you just extract BStone into any folder, and with others, next to the game files. The shareware version of Aliens of Gold (.BS1) is free and works too; the project offers it on its website. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS (experimental).

Duke Nukem II

lethal-guitar/Duke2Reconstructed

A complete reconstruction of Duke Nukem II’s source code (Apogee Software, 1993) from the disassembly of the original executable, in commented C and assembly. It builds with era-appropriate tools, such as Borland C++, into a binary that’s byte-for-byte identical to the original after LZEXE compression. It was made by the author of Rigel Engine, the reimplementation for playing on modern systems that’s also in this catalog, building on the reverse engineering done for that project. It’s meant to document and preserve the code and to make modified versions that run on DOS; for playing on a modern PC, the author points to Rigel Engine. It includes no game data.

Star Wars: TIE Fighter

elyosh/OpenTIE

OpenTIE: an open-source reimplementation of Star Wars: TIE Fighter for Windows, macOS, and Linux that runs on the original game’s data. It supports the 1995 Collector’s CD-ROM edition for DOS and the 1998 Windows release, and with both installed it can combine the 1995 menus, cutscenes, and adaptive iMUSE music with the 1998 flight engine and 3D models, the combination it recommends; each part is chosen separately. It reimplements the iMUSE soundtrack, which shifts with what happens in the mission, and can play it on an emulated Roland SC-55 (with your own ROMs), with OPL3 FM synthesis, or with FluidSynth and a SoundFont of your choice. It has a classic and a modern graphics mode, toggled with TAB; the modern one adds shadows, ambient occlusion, bloom, motion blur, MSAA, FSR 3.1.4, and HDR. Flight can be simulated at up to 240 Hz, or with each edition’s original timing, and is played with mouse and keyboard (including a virtual-stick mode), gamepad, joystick, or HOTAS, with remappable keys. It imports your existing pilot files. Version 0.0.7 (October 4) rewrote much of the code to follow the original more closely and fixed an original bug that kept Star Destroyer turrets from firing. It’s still in development, and bugs and differences from the original are still possible.

You needA complete installation of your own copy of Star Wars: TIE Fighter, the 1995 Collector’s CD-ROM or the 1998 Windows release, or both; the Special Edition is sold on GOG and Steam. For music on the emulated Roland SC-55, its ROMs too. Plus a 64-bit system with a modern graphics card: x86-64 Windows (Direct3D 12 or Vulkan), macOS 13 or later (Metal; the published build is for Apple silicon), or x86-64 Linux with glibc 2.35 or later (Vulkan).

The Settlers (Freeserf)

freeserf/freeserf

Freeserf: an open-source reimplementation of The Settlers (also known as Serf City), Blue Byte’s strategy game, that uses the data from the original’s DOS or Amiga version and loads its saved games too. Version 0.4 (October 4), the first release since 0.3 in 2019, moved the project to SDL3, fixed many game logic bugs by comparing it with the Amiga original, and added the original’s special click and ambient sounds; 0.5, the next day, added the Amiga original’s AI for opponents in missions and custom games, the castle’s emergency program, the six tutorials, the end of the game, zoom, autosave, and an option to mix graphics, sounds, and music from different versions. Since then it has added translations of the texts and a TrueType font made from the DOS original’s. The DOS version’s MIDI music plays through a free SoundFont, TimGM6mb, which is included. There are builds for Windows (32- and 64-bit), Linux, and macOS. About 50 of its last 100 commits, from October 4 to 6, list Claude as a co-author.

You needThe data files from your own copy of The Settlers: from the DOS version, the SPAE.PA, SPAD.PA, SPAF.PA, or SPAU.PA file, depending on the language, or from the Amiga version, the gfxheader, gfxfast, gfxchip, gfxpics, sounds, and music files. They go next to the executable or in ~/.local/share/freeserf, and data from several versions can be installed together. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Doom / Doom II (Woof!)

fabiangreffrath/woof

Woof!: a continuation of Lee Killough’s Doom source port MBF (Marine’s Best Friend) for modern systems, part of the Boom/MBF line, which builds on the Doom source code id Software released in 1997. It’s developed from WinMBF, Team Eternity’s 2004 Windows port of MBF, and many of its improvements, the network code among them, come from Chocolate Doom; it’s maintained by Fabian Greffrath, the author of Crispy Doom. It draws at any resolution up to your display’s native one, with dynamic resolution scaling to hold the frame rate you choose, in widescreen, uncapped with frame interpolation, and with an adjustable field of view. It adds voxels, 3D audio up to 7.1 with HRTF, several music backends (MIDI, FluidSynth, and an emulated OPL3), gamepads with rumble, gyro, and flick stick, and mouselook. It has Vanilla, Boom, MBF, and MBF21 compatibility levels, loads MBF.EXE saves, and supports recent modding formats such as UMAPINFO, DEHEXTRA, DSDHacked, UDMF, and ID24. Version 16.0.0 (September 8) moved to SDL3 and added rewinding, a minimap, a custom skill menu, and macOS builds.

You needThe IWAD file from your own copy of Doom, Doom II, or Final Doom (doom.wad, doom2.wad, tnt.wad, or plutonia.wad); the free shareware doom1.wad works too, as do the free Freedoom IWADs. It finds Steam and GOG installs on its own. Plus Windows 7 or later, Linux (as an AppImage), or macOS.

Ultima Underworld / Ultima Underworld II (UnderworldGodot)

hankmorgan/UnderworldGodot

UnderworldGodot: an engine recreation of Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II in Godot, written in C#, that supersedes the earlier Unity-based project and reboots the code to work more like the original games did. It builds on years of reverse engineering by other fans, whom it credits. Its author calls it pre-alpha, “an interactive map viewer with a lot of game logic implemented,” and warns not to expect it to be playable as normal. It already has full conversations, almost all triggers and traps, bartering, inventory, spells with the original logic, melee and missile combat, NPC AI and pathfinding, character creation, leveling up, an automap with notes, cutscenes, swimming, death and resurrection, speech and sound effects, and music synthesized in real time from the original XMI files through an emulated MT-32 or CM-32L (with your own ROMs), a bundled free SoundFont, or FM synthesis. Loading saves is fully supported, saving only partly. It publishes test builds for Windows and Linux, the latest, build 31, on June 20; on Apple silicon macOS it builds and runs. Its policy rules out AI-upscaled or AI-generated assets; two of its last 100 commits list Claude or Cursor as a co-author.

You needThe files from your own copy of Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld II, or both: the game folder with the DATA, CRIT, CUTS, and SOUND subfolders (in the GOG versions, the game.gog file is an ISO image you need to open or extract first). For MT-32 or CM-32L music, the ROMs from your own synthesizer. Plus Windows or Linux; on macOS, by building it with the .NET version of Godot 4.3.

Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy! (Omnispeak)

sulix/omnispeak

Omnispeak: an open-source reimplementation of Commander Keen episodes 4, 5, and 6, written in C99, that aims to be a pixel-perfect, bug-for-bug clone of the original games and is compatible with the DOS version’s saved games. It runs on Windows and Linux, and there are ports to MS-DOS and other systems. It adds improved scaling, with optional aspect ratio correction, overscan border, and integer scaling, much better controller support, with remappable buttons and a “modern” mode that makes diagonal movement easier, QuickSave and QuickLoad on F5 and F9, and OPL chip emulation with DOSBox’s or Nuked OPL3, or real AdLib or OPL2 cards on Linux and MS-DOS. Keen 6’s “Impossible Bullet” glitch and its copy protection question can be turned off in its settings. The latest release is 1.1, and there’s a preview build with basic mod support, where mods change text, sprite actions, and game values through variable files. The repository includes, for each episode and version, data the original keeps inside its executable: the headers and compression dictionaries for graphics, sound, and maps, the tile info, the sprite actions, and all of the game’s text.

You needThe GAMEMAPS, EGAGRAPH, and AUDIO files from your own copy of Keen 4 v1.4 EGA, Keen 5 v1.4 EGA, or Keen 6 v1.4 or v1.5 EGA, together with the files from the project’s data folder that match your version; the Steam and GOG releases are 1.4. Other versions, such as the CGA ones, the v1.0 releases, the FormGen or GT Interactive retail versions, and the Keen 6 bundled with the id Anthology, will likely crash. The free shareware release of Keen 4 v1.4 is on the author’s website. Plus Windows (32- or 64-bit) or Linux.

Supaplex (OpenSupaplex)

sergiou87/open-supaplex

OpenSupaplex: a 1:1 reimplementation in C and SDL of Supaplex, the 1991 puzzle game, whose source code was lost; fans disassembled it, fixed bugs, and added features (the so-called SpeedFix), and OpenSupaplex recreates that version. It only changes what’s needed to play with a controller and to port it to any platform, and new features that alter the game must be optional. There are builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS, as well as PSP, PS Vita, PS2, PS3, Nintendo DS, 3DS, Wii, Wii U, Switch, and RISC OS. Its tests replay thousands of level solutions recorded by players to check that it behaves like the original, and in October it kept tweaking details to match it. Version 7.2 (March 22) added Nintendo DS, RISC OS, and PS2 and moved the music to MOD and the sound effects to WAV to use less CPU; the latest is 7.2.2 (March 30). Two of its last 100 commits list Copilot as a co-author. Supaplex is freeware, and the repository includes the original game’s files and level packs, plus the disassembly of the executable (about 670 KB) and an IDA database with it.

You needNo copy needed: Supaplex is freeware and the game files are included. 64-bit Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Doom / Doom II (Odamex)

odamex/odamex

Odamex: a Doom source port focused on online multiplayer, with a client/server architecture, that aims to keep the original gameplay while adding many enhancements. It builds on the source code id Software released in December 1997, by way of Sergey Makovkin’s CSDoom 0.62, which itself came from Marisa Heit’s ZDoom 1.22. It supports up to 255 players, with lag compensation (unlagged, plus client-side interpolation and prediction), and besides classic deathmatch and co-op it has team deathmatch, capture the flag (three-way too), Horde, Survival, Last Man Standing, and Attack & Defend, with warmup, rounds, and a player queue for competitive play. It has compatibility settings to emulate vanilla Doom, Boom, or ZDoom physics, plays back vanilla demos, records netdemos with playback controls, removes most of the original engine’s static limits, and supports most Boom and MBF features, the Hexen map format, DeHackEd, BEX, DEHEXTRA, MBF21, and ACS. It renders in true color, widescreen, up to 8K, and at uncapped frame rates, loads WADs on the fly and downloads them from within the game, and comes with its own server, odasrv, and Odalaunch, a launcher that lists servers. Version 12.0.0 (December 26, 2025) added DSDHacked, which opens up mods such as Eviternity II and Legacy of Rust; the latest, 12.3.0 (August 6), added a 90 fps option, mouse navigation in the menus, a free camera for netdemos and for players out of lives in Survival, and ZDoom’s stacked sector portals. There are builds for Windows (an installer plus 32- and 64-bit portable builds), Linux (Flatpak for x86-64 and ARM64), and macOS.

You needThe IWAD from your own copy of Doom, Doom II, or Final Doom; the free Freedoom IWADs and the Chex Quest IWAD work too. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Doom / Doom II (Eternity Engine)

team-eternity/eternity

Eternity Engine: an advanced Doom source port maintained by James “Quasar” Haley, descended from Simon “fraggle” Howard’s SMMU, part of the Boom/MBF line; most of the recent work is by Ioan Chera. It’s built for players and mappers alike: it has ACS with many of ZDoom’s enhancements; EDF (Eternity Definition File), a language to define and modify monsters, decorations, sounds, text strings, menus, and terrain types; and portals for skyboxes and fake 3D architecture that objects can pass through. It supports practically unlimited resolutions, PNG, ENDOOM and animated startup screens, UMAPINFO, MBF21, and DSDHacked, and plays Master Levels and No Rest for the Living without command-line options. It also runs Heretic, with its rules updated to match the 2025 release, and Hexen and Strife support is in progress. Version 4.06.00 “Nidhogg” (June 13) is a big bug-fix and improvement release, with wall texture scaling, non-power-of-two flats, and new ACS inventory functions.

You needThe IWAD from your own copy of Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, or Heretic. Plus Windows (32- or 64-bit) or macOS (Intel or Apple silicon); on Linux and the BSDs you build it from source.

Syndicate Wars (SyndWarsFX)

swfans/syndwarsfx

Syndicate Wars Fan Expansion: a port of the DOS version of Syndicate Wars, Bullfrog’s 1996 game, to modern systems, continuing the one created by Unavowed and Gynvael Coldwind. It was made by disassembling the original DOS executable and replacing the DOS-specific parts with platform-independent code: SDL for video and input, Vorbis for music, and OpenAL for sound. Whatever hasn’t been remade yet is still the original code, which is being rewritten in C function by function; because of that, according to the project, nothing is missing from the single-player campaign, and some cut and beta features have even been revived. Multiplayer doesn’t work, since the network code is missing. It adds resources that weren’t in the game, such as extra sounds and higher-resolution graphics, fan-made translations, and mouse capture. According to the project it runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, but only as a 32-bit x86 program. It publishes pre-release builds for Windows, with an installer, and for Ubuntu; the latest, 0.3.8.4358, is from October 5. The installer and the install script copy the files from your CD or disc image and also download from GitHub, from the project’s own repositories, Bullfrog’s original graphics, sounds and voices, and maps and levels, with fixes from the community; the script has no option to skip that download. The repository includes the disassembly of the game’s executable (about 3.7 MB) and the game’s text, in English and seven other languages, as translation files.

You needYour own Syndicate Wars CD for PC or a disc image from a digital store (those from the best-known stores include one of the tested versions); the multilingual European and the US releases have been tested, and German requires the German release. The CD is only used during installation. Plus Windows or Linux on x86 (the program is 32-bit; on Linux, build it or use the Ubuntu package if your system is compatible) or macOS, building it yourself; to convert the CD music to Ogg Vorbis, cdparanoia and oggenc.

Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space (Race into Space)

raceintospace/raceintospace

Race into Space: the free software version of Buzz Aldrin’s Race into Space, the strategy game about the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, a computer adaptation of Fritz Bronner’s Liftoff! board game developed by Strategic Visions and published by Interplay, on floppy disks and, in 1994, on CD-ROM. It builds on the source code released in 2005 and has been reworked since then. It’s played against the AI or against another person by email (PBEM). 2.0.0 (March 27, 2025), the latest stable release, moved the project from SourceForge to GitHub, converted the code from C to C++, removed the leftover copy protection, fixed the music and many bugs, changed the turn order of play-by-email games so each player plays two turns in a row, and gave both sides the same budget modifiers. Version 2.1, in development, fixes launch movies and replaces the images of the Soviet LK lunar lander with more accurate ones. There are builds for Windows, Linux (.deb, .rpm, and .tar.gz), and macOS. The repository includes all of the game’s data except the music, which, over copyright concerns, is kept in a separate “nonfree” repository it can be added from by hand; according to the 2.0.0 notes, the macOS build has no music, unlike the Windows and Linux ones.

You needNo copy of the game is needed: the project is distributed under the GPL and includes the game’s data, except for the music, which is added separately. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS; on macOS, sdl12-compat has to be installed with Homebrew, and it builds on macOS 15 or later with Apple silicon.

Mr.Boom

Javanaise/mrboom-libretro

Mr.Boom: a port to modern systems of the MS-DOS game Mr.Boom, a Bomberman clone for up to eight players by Remdy Software; its DOS version 3.0 (1997–99) is still a free download on the project’s website. The original assembly source, kept in the repository under an MIT license from Remdy Software, was converted to C with the asm2c tool. It runs as a libretro core on every RetroArch platform (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Switch, PS3, Raspberry Pi, and many more) and also as a standalone SDL2 program, or SDL 1.2 on the Atari Falcon. It has up to eight players, bomb pushing, remote-control bombs, kangaroo riding, team modes (color, sex, or “Skynet”), netplay through RetroArch, and, new in this version, computer-controlled bots written in C++ with behavior trees. The latest release is 5.5 (May 19, 2024), as source code; Windows binaries are on the website, and there are packages for many Linux distributions and for Homebrew on macOS. One of its last 100 commits, the one adding the ARM64 Linux build in March 2026, lists Claude as a co-author.

You needNo copy needed: Mr.Boom is a free game by Remdy Software and all its data is included. For the libretro core, RetroArch; the SDL2 version runs on its own on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Quake (Chocolate Quake)

Henrique194/chocolate-quake

Chocolate Quake: a minimalist Quake port that aims to preserve the original experience of version 1.09 (WinQuake) and earlier DOS releases, following the same philosophy as Chocolate Doom. It reproduces their behavior with high accuracy, original bugs and quirks included, and input, rendering, and timing are designed to feel the way they did back then, with no hardware acceleration or modern visual effects. What it adds is just what modern systems need: 64-bit support, modern controllers and five-button mice, a video menu with 15 fullscreen and windowed modes, music from MP3, Ogg, FLAC, or WAV files in place of the CD tracks, and, on quitting, the DOS version’s end screen. Parts of the sound and input code come from QuakeSpasm Spiked. 2.0.0 (December 14, 2025) added multiplayer, and the latest, 2.1.0, reworked part of the code to make it more portable and changed where it looks for the game on Linux and macOS. It publishes no releases on GitHub: on Windows and Linux it’s built from source, and signed macOS builds are published by Mac Source Ports.

You needThe data from your own copy of Quake, the id1 folder with its PAK files; the shareware pak0.pak is enough. On Windows the folder goes next to the executable, and on Linux and macOS in its user data folder, though another one can be set with -basedir. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Chasm: The Rift (PanzerChasm)

Panzerschrek/Chasm-Reverse

PanzerChasm: a free recreation of Chasm: The Rift, Action Forms’ 1997 first-person shooter for DOS, written from scratch in C++ with SDL2; it loads the game data from the CSM.BIN file in your installation. The repository, Chasm-Reverse, also includes tools to unpack and convert the game’s files (archives, models, maps, palettes) and documentation of its formats, in Russian. It has two renderers, a software one and an OpenGL 3.3 one (with shadows, dynamic lighting, texture filtering, and MSAA), saving and loading, the cutscenes, a minimap, a command console, and network play built on a client-server design. It also loads the Russian version of the data and the game’s add-on. Its task list still includes game logic details to refine, such as the bosses, and network play improvements. The latest release, 0.3, is from December 3, 2017, and improved network play; since then the project has only received build fixes and, in April 2024, macOS support.

You needThe CSM.BIN file from your own copy of Chasm: The Rift for DOS; with the GOG release, you mount the original game’s CD image (CHASMPR.CUE) and install it with its dossetup.exe to get it. For the add-on, its files. Plus a keyboard and mouse, at least 128 MB of memory, a system with SDL2 (Windows, Linux, or macOS, building it with CMake), and, for OpenGL mode, a graphics card with OpenGL 3.3.

The Settlers (Freeserf.net)

Pyrdacor/freeserf.net

Freeserf.net: a reimplementation of The Settlers (Serf City), Blue Byte’s strategy game, written in C# on .NET 9. It’s a port and extension of Freeserf, the C++ reimplementation also in the catalog: it carried over all of its code, including the fixes from its 0.4 and 0.5 releases, and adds an AI of its own. It renders with OpenGL through Silk.NET, supports widescreen displays and resizable windows, and plays sound (MIDI, MOD, and effects) through BASS. It uses the data from the DOS or the Amiga version, and they can be mixed, for example the Amiga music with the DOS graphics; the text is in English and German. It has the missions, the six tutorials, the end of the game with the original’s pictures, large maps, and a still experimental local network multiplayer across different platforms, where players can rejoin a running game, the host autosaves every 10 minutes, and pausing and game speed are put to a vote. There are builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS (a universal app) and another for Android. Some minor parts of the AI logic are still missing. It releases often: the latest is 2.2.11 (October 20). 18 of its last 100 commits list GitHub Copilot as a co-author.

You needThe data files from your own copy of The Settlers: from the DOS version, the SPAx.PA file for your language (SPAE.PA for English), or from the Amiga version, the .adf disk images or the already extracted files, in the game’s working directory. According to the Android release notes, the free demo’s file works too. Plus Windows, Linux (tested on Ubuntu, with GLFW installed), or macOS on Apple silicon or Intel; the bundled sound libraries are 64-bit.

Dune II (Dune Dynasty)

gameflorist/dunedynasty

Dune Dynasty: an enhanced version of Dune II, Westwood Studios’ real-time strategy game, built on the engine OpenDUNE recreated through reverse engineering. It isn’t a remake: it keeps the original’s look and behavior and adds Command & Conquer-style controls, such as a scrollable sidebar with build queues, selecting several units with a rectangle, control groups, rally points, and mouse-wheel zoom. It has high-resolution widescreen graphics, with separate scaling for the menu bar, sidebar, and map, aspect-ratio correction, optional smoother animation, and touchscreen support. It includes skirmish and multiplayer for up to six human or AI players, with three extra factions (Fremen, Sardaukar, and Mercenaries), custom alliances, and random maps. It offers optional gameplay enhancements, such as health bars, fog of war, a tougher AI, or higher unit and structure limits, supports fan-made campaigns, and plays music through emulated AdLib, MIDI, or FluidSynth. It also supports music sets the player adds separately, such as recordings of the original soundtrack on different sound cards, the Mega Drive and Amiga soundtracks, or music from other Dune games and films; the README links to where to get them. David Wang created it, and its last release back then was 1.5.7 (2013); gameflorist picked it up in 2023, merging the improvements from other forks. There are builds for Windows (32- and 64-bit and ARM64), macOS (Intel and Apple silicon), and Linux (x86-64 and ARM64, also as a Flatpak). The latest is 1.6.4 (May 31, 2025), and the repository still gets fixes, most recently in October. 7 of its last 100 commits, from a contributor, list Claude as a co-author.

You needThe .PAK files from the European 1.07 release of your own copy of Dune II (the full list is in FILELIST.TXT). Plus Windows, macOS, or Linux; on Linux, with the regular package, the Allegro 5, ENet, FluidSynth, and libmad libraries.

Abuse (AntonioR)

antrad/Abuse_1996

Abuse_1996: a version of Abuse, Crack dot Com’s run-and-gun platformer, by Antonio Radojkovic (AntonioR), built on Xenoveritas’s SDL2 port, which in turn comes from abuse.zoy.org’s SDL port; Crack dot Com released the game’s code and data into the public domain. It supports custom resolutions and screen sizes, with lighting enabled at high resolutions, brings back OpenGL rendering for vsync, and renders with an uncapped frame rate while physics keeps its own pace (15 updates per second by default, adjustable). It adds screen scaling, a borderless window, quick save and quick load, Xbox 360 controller support with right-stick aiming and rebindable buttons, cheats from the console, some high-resolution images from the 1997 Mac OS release, and a fix for level music. It includes abuse-tool, which extracts the images in the game’s SPEC files to modern formats. Its README warns that higher resolutions show more of the map, some secret areas included, and that enemies get triggered sooner. The only release, 0.9a for 32-bit Windows, came out on May 9, 2016, and the project hasn’t changed since.

You needNo copy needed: Crack dot Com released the game’s code and data into the public domain. The sound effects and music, by Bobby Prince, aren’t in the repository, and its README points to abuse.zoy.org’s download page for them. Plus Windows for the released build; on Linux and macOS you build it from source with CMake.

F-15 Strike Eagle II

neuviemeporte/f15se2-re

A complete source reconstruction of MicroProse’s F-15 Strike Eagle II for DOS, version 451.03, the 1991 Desert Storm expansion release. The original C was compiled with Microsoft C 5.1, and the reconstruction aims to be faithful down to the bugs: its C routines produce the same code as the original, instruction for instruction. The loader, the setup program, the game’s three stages (the intro and missions, the 3D flight engine, and the debriefing), and the video drivers have been rebuilt, and the executables work with the original game. Its author considers it done and keeps it only for fixing divergences from the original; the port to modern systems, with improvements, continues in a separate project, f15se2-ex. The F-19 Stealth Fighter reconstruction, which shares a lot of code with this game, is also in the catalog. It includes no game data.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (War1gus)

Wargus/war1gus

War1gus: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans reimplemented on Stratagus, the free real-time strategy engine from the same team as Wargus. It uses the original game’s graphics and sounds, which it extracts from your copy on first launch, and adds the engine’s modern conveniences: modern mouse controls, named groups, larger group selection, more player factions in multiplayer games, multiple towns, and a map editor. The repository holds the extractor, the Lua scripts that recreate the game, shaders to change the look, and a few multiplayer maps. The latest stable release is 3.3.2 (August 10, 2022), and development builds are made from every commit; it kept getting fixes in 2026, the latest in June, for loading campaign saves and for multiplayer. On macOS its own extractor doesn’t work properly yet, and the data is extracted with a third-party script.

You needYour own copy of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans for DOS, on CD or floppy disks; extracting the data from the demo, the shareware release, or the Mac OS release isn’t fully supported yet. Plus Windows, Linux (packages for Ubuntu and Debian, openSUSE, and other distributions), or macOS.

Raptor: Call of the Shadows (skynettx)

skynettx/raptor

A port of Raptor: Call of the Shadows, Cygnus Studios’ vertical scrolling shooter for MS-DOS, to modern systems, built on the code that nukeykt and wel97459 reconstructed by reverse engineering; its README also credits the support of Scott Host, the original game’s author. It uses SDL2 and reads the data files (GLB) of version 1.2 or later, shareware or full. It has emulated AdLib or MIDI music, through TinySoundFont with an SF2 sound bank or through the system’s MIDI (Windows, ALSA on Linux, Core Audio and Core MIDI on macOS), keyboard, mouse, or controller input with rumble, fullscreen or a resizable window, aspect ratio correction, and a setup program like the original, made with Chocolate Doom’s libtextscreen, which since 0.8.2 is built into the game itself. It keeps settings and saves in a user folder and also runs on big-endian systems. The latest release, 0.8.2 (September 28), improved controller input and fixed the low OPL music volume and the mouse on high-DPI displays. It publishes installers for 32- and 64-bit Windows and for macOS (Intel and Apple silicon), plus an Android APK; on Linux you build it yourself. The 0.8.0 downloads included the shareware version 1.2 data.

You needThe GLB files of Raptor: Call of the Shadows version 1.2 or later: FILE0000.GLB and FILE0001.GLB from the shareware version, which is free, or FILE0000.GLB through FILE0004.GLB from your own copy of the full version; versions before 1.2 don’t work. For MIDI music through TinySoundFont, a General MIDI–compatible SF2 sound bank. Plus Windows, macOS, or Linux (building it yourself).

Sopwith (SDL Sopwith)

fragglet/sdl-sopwith

SDL Sopwith: a port of Sopwith, BMB Compuscience’s 1980s DOS game in which you fly a Sopwith Camel biplane to bomb enemy targets, based on the source code its original programmer, David L. Clark, released in 2000 (it’s not a rewrite or a recreation), now under the GPL 2. It uses SDL for video and sound, emulating the PC speaker. By default it behaves like Sopwith 2, plus the additions of Clark’s Author’s Edition such as wounded planes, and it can be set to behave like Sopwith 1. It replaces the original multiplayer, which didn’t work, with two-player games over TCP/IP, on a LAN or over the internet. It adds palettes that mimic various old monitors, medals and a high score table, gamepads (since 2.8.0), and .sop mission files for levels and mods, with new targets and graphics and the option to replace the sprites, the title music, and, in the next release, the title screen. The latest release, 2.9.0, is from December 6, 2025. It publishes builds for 32- and 64-bit Windows and macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), the source to build it on Linux and other systems, and an Emscripten browser version playable on its website; since the game is free, it needs no extra files. The project has announced that it’s dropping the macOS build and points Mac users to the browser version.

You needNo copy needed: the original author released the game’s code, now under the GPL 2, and everything needed is included. Plus 32- or 64-bit Windows, macOS, Linux or another system with SDL where you build it, or a web browser. Playing over the internet requires forwarding TCP port 3847.

Little Big Adventure 2

LBALab/lba2-classic-community

LBA2 Classic Community: a community fork of the Little Big Adventure 2 (Twinsen’s Odyssey) source code released by 2.21, the series’ owner, code that is mostly assembly with the game logic in C++. The fork brings it to 64-bit and modern compilers, has been porting the assembly to C++, with tests that compare both versions, replaces the Miles Sound System with SDL3, and plays the videos with libsmacker; it publishes builds for Windows, Linux, macOS, and Android. It adds widescreen and resolutions up to 1080p while keeping the original 640×480 mode, frame-rate-independent movement with a fixed 60 Hz simulation, controller support with rebindable controls, an optional third-person camera outdoors, optional texture filtering, and a debug console. It reads the data straight from an ISO/BIN or .cue image, and loads saves from the 1997 game. The original DOS release is its reference: that version’s bugs are only fixed if the player turns that on in the options. It hasn’t reached 1.0 yet, and releases aren’t tested with a full playthrough; the latest is 0.13.2 (October 22). Its README accepts contributions made with AI assistants, and the repository includes instructions for them; none of its last 100 commits lists an AI as a co-author. For its tests, the repository includes 16 recordings of game frames (about 18 MB) with the textures and palette drawn in them.

You needYour own copy of Little Big Adventure 2: the GOG or Steam release or the original CD, also as an ISO/BIN or .cue image; the game looks for the folder with LBA2.HQR. Plus x64 Windows, x86-64 or ARM64 Linux, or macOS 11 or later (Apple silicon or Intel).

Master of Orion (1oom)

1oom-fork/1oom

1oom: a recreation of the engine of Simtex’s Master of Orion (1993) that aims to reproduce the v1.3 DOS release exactly on modern computers and runs on the original game’s LBX files. It started from 1oom 1.0 by a programmer going by Kilgore Trout Mask Replicant, and MyName (Duzh87_54MSU) restored it from a broken state. It comes with the classic 1993 interface, a proof-of-concept text interface, and tools to view and edit the LBX files, make and dump PBX patches, and convert saved games. The 1.11 releases are the most tested, and the project recommends them until the new version is stable; 1.11.8 made several fixes from patch 1.3a always active, and 1.11.9 (August 12), the latest, fixed a critical bug with queuing a move after an attack, but that branch is no longer developed. Work continues on the “vanilla” version (2.0), closer to the original, which is in testing: RC5 came out on August 27. There are builds for 32- and 64-bit Windows and for MS-DOS, and the code is also mirrored on GitLab and two other sites. The project prohibits the direct use of AI-generated code.

You needThe LBX files from your own copy of Master of Orion, v1.3 for DOS; the Windows and MS-DOS builds are extracted into the game’s folder. Plus Windows or MS-DOS; on Linux you build it from source with SDL 2 and SDL2_mixer.

pcrecomp

sp00nznet/pcrecomp

A toolbox for taking apart old PC executables and rebuilding them natively. It gathers analyzers and transformers for PE, NE (16-bit Windows) and LE (DOS extenders), plus the runtimes and tricks from its author’s static recompilation projects. Several recompilations in the catalog build on it. MIT licensed. 63 of its last 100 commits list Claude as a co-author.

Rise of the Triad (rottexpr)

LTCHIPS/rottexpr

rottexpr: a source port of Rise of the Triad: Dark War based on the icculus.org port, which builds on the source code Apogee released. It runs on SDL2 and supports resolutions from 320×200 up to 3840×2160, with a repositioned, scalable HUD and bordered or borderless windows. It adds new gameplay options: Blitzguards can carry any missile or magic weapon, ammo can be picked up from missile weapons that enemies drop, auto-aim can be turned off and also works with missiles, and ZomROTT is a mode where enemies come back unless you gib them. At high resolutions you can see through walls when standing against them, which is fixed by raising the “Adjust focal width” setting. Multiplayer doesn’t work. It publishes Windows executables for the shareware, commercial, and site license versions (the one GOG and Steam sell); on Linux you build it. The latest release is v0.01 (January 19, 2021), and the last code change is from that same month.

You needThe files from your own copy of Rise of the Triad: Dark War (DARKWAR.WAD, DARKWAR.RTL, and DARKWAR.RTC), or those of the free shareware version, The HUNT Begins (HUNTBGIN), along with DEMO1_3.DMO to DEMO4_3.DMO and REMOTE1.RTS. Plus Windows, with SDL2 and SDL2_mixer, or Linux, building it yourself.

Fatal Racing / Whiplash

FatalDecomp/ROLLER

ROLLER: a port of Fatal Racing (Whiplash in North America) made by reverse engineering the original executable, using the names from the debug symbols it kept and replacing DOS functions with SDL; the decompilation that matches the original instruction for instruction lives in a separate repository, ROLLER-matching. It extracts the data and the music tracks from an image of your CD, and music can play from those tracks or as MIDI. Besides the software renderer it has a GPU one, controller support in game and menus, community tracks made with its track editor, and, since late September, new netcode for online play: the host is authoritative and clients predict their own car, with LAN discovery, a service on fatal.racing for finding games online, a relay fallback, and a dedicated server; the original lockstep network mode is still available. The ` key opens extra settings. It publishes automated development builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux (and Android); the latest is 0.1.1-dev.20261019 (October 19). It can also be played in the browser at play.fatal.racing. That browser version carries the data from the Whiplash playable demo that Interplay distributed, downloaded from its Internet Archive copy and served from the project’s site; for the full game you import an image of your disc. The native builds include no game data.

You needAn image of your own copy of the game’s CD (CUE/BIN or ISO), from which it extracts the data on first launch. Plus x86-64 Windows, macOS (Apple silicon or Intel), or Linux (x86-64 or ARM64).

Ultima VII: The Black Gate / Serpent Isle (Ultima7_Decomp)

Kitrinx/Ultima7_Decomp

A decompilation of Ultima VII: The Black Gate and Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle, verified byte for byte with Borland C++ 2.0, the original compiler; what Origin wrote in assembly is kept as assembly, and most function and variable names are inferred. Two ports are built on it. Ultima VII Portable, with builds for Windows, macOS (Apple silicon), and Linux, replaces each game’s original executables with hardly any change to their logic: it merges the intro, menu, game, and endgame into one program, fixes the null pointers DOS tolerated and the 16-to-32-bit issues, and plays sound through an MT-32 emulated with Munt (with your own ROMs) or an AdLib emulated with Nuked OPL3; the latest release is 0.4.0 (October 12). Ultima VII Modern, added on October 20 and not released yet, plays both games on the Serpent Isle engine: it brings that game’s fixes and conveniences to Black Gate (the paperdoll, hotkeys such as feed and target, a keyring from the start), adds 16:9 and 16:10 views, a start menu with settings, and stereo AdLib music derived from the MT-32 score, and lets items from one game appear in the other. Black Gate’s paperdoll uses Grant W. Chapman’s art, with the artist’s permission. The author states the decompilation was AI-assisted. The repository also includes the two games’ decompiled usecode as source (the character and event scripts, with their dialogue), which is compiled separately and isn’t needed to play.

You needThe files from your own installed copy of Ultima VII: The Black Gate (with its STATIC folder), Serpent Isle, or both; Ultima VII Modern needs both. Ultima VII Portable writes to the game folder, so use a copy. For MT-32 music, the Roland MT-32 ROMs. Plus x64 Windows, an Apple silicon Mac, or x64 Linux.

Crystal Caves (OpenCrystalCaves)

OpenCrystalCaves/OpenCrystalCaves

OpenCrystalCaves: an unofficial open-source reimplementation of the engine of Crystal Caves, Apogee Software’s 1991 platformer trilogy for MS-DOS, written in C++20 with SDL2. Simon Sandström (gurka) started it in 2017, and today it’s mostly developed by Cong (cxong), who publishes the Windows and Linux builds on GitHub and itch.io. It aims to be a better, modern remake that keeps the original’s gameplay, and its README lists, with side-by-side captures, what changes: enemies no longer detect the player through walls, horizontal momentum isn’t lost when bumping your head on the ceiling, lasers line up with the muzzle, levels restart from the menu, backgrounds have parallax, there’s an optional blue monochrome palette for dark areas, and the episode is picked from the main menu instead of through separate executables. For now only the first episode is playable, all the way through since 0.7.0 (August 29); 0.6.0 (April 4) had added saving and continuing a game, and since then the menu lets you choose an episode and work on the second one has started. It still lacks the high score table, key remapping, controller and mouse input, and some sound effects and messages, and the sound isn’t entirely accurate. The repository and the downloads include the files of the first episode in its shareware version, which Apogee distributed for free, so that episode plays without owning the game.

You needNothing for the first episode, which is included in its shareware version. For episodes 2 and 3, once they’re playable, the data files from your own copy of Crystal Caves (such as CC1.GFX) copied into the media folder, or the game installed from Steam or GOG. Plus 64-bit Windows or Linux; on macOS you have to build it.

Doom / Heretic / Hexen (Russian Doom)

Russian-Doom/russian-doom

Russian Doom: a limit-removing source port of Doom, Heretic, and Hexen. It continues the Russian Doom and International Doom codebase maintained by Leonid Murin (Dasperal), builds on Chocolate Doom and Crispy Doom with significant additions from Doom Retro, and is distributed with their authors’ approval. It fixes numerous bugs of the original games, renders at enhanced 640×400 and 1280×800 resolutions, has improved palettes and many optional aesthetic enhancements, and offers the most complete translation into Russian possible. The latest numbered version is 6.3 (October 29, 2023), which gathers the changes made before International Doom 7.0 abandoned this code; its builds are for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, and on Linux there is an AUR package or you compile it. The repository is still active (last change on May 11, 2026). A separate version exists for DOS. Besides the code, the repository includes about twenty WAD files in src/base with resources for the three games; among them, doom-beta.wad, doom-jaguar.wad, and hexen-psx.wad (4 to 6 MB each) carry maps and graphics from the Doom beta, Doom for the Jaguar, and Hexen for the PlayStation. test_data also holds three test WADs (DOOM1.WAD, HERETIC1.WAD, and hexen.wad, about 19 MB).

You needThe files (IWAD) from your own copy of Doom, Doom II, Heretic, or Hexen, depending on which game you want to play; the README points to the project’s wiki for details. Plus 32-bit or 64-bit Windows, or Linux.

⑂ Fork of Xenoveritas/abuse

Abuse (apancik)

apancik/Abuse_2025

Abuse 2025: a modern port of Abuse, Crack dot Com’s run-and-gun platformer, updated for current systems, with high-resolution graphics, gamepad support, and other improvements. It continues Xenoveritas’s SDL2 port and the Abuse 1996 project, and the README says the source code was released under open licenses, the assets as non-commercial freeware, and the original shareware content is public domain. You can play the whole campaign solo or in co-op, load community content, create levels with the built-in editor, and play LAN deathmatches; multiplayer between different platforms and on Windows is not supported for now. The repository includes all the data files needed for the base game, and the author warns that they come from sources with different licenses. Version 2025.1.0 (January 17, 2025) provides builds for Windows x64 and universal macOS.

You needNo copy needed: the repository includes the base game’s data files, which Crack dot Com released as non-commercial freeware (the original shareware content is public domain). Windows x64 or macOS for the published builds.

Descent / Descent II (DXX-Redux)

dxx-redux/dxx-redux

DXX-Redux: a Descent and Descent II source port based on DXX-Retro, which in turn builds on DXX-Rebirth. There is one engine per game, D1X-Redux and D2X-Redux. Many of its changes are for multiplayer; among what it adds are an observer mode (with separate options per game mode, third-person views, bomb timers, and damage lists), demo improvements, including automatic demos, customizable team colors, a borderless window, joystick axes usable as buttons, a classic option with no ammo autoselect when you run out, game logs split into separate files, an option to show only confirmed hit sparks, and crash dumps. Version 1.1 (January 25, 2025) ships builds for 32-bit Windows, Linux (also one with sdl12compat), and macOS (Intel and Apple silicon); the data folder on Linux and macOS is now called redux instead of rebirth, and since 1.0 the Linux package works on the Steam Deck. It builds with CMake and vcpkg in Visual Studio, or on Linux and with MSYS2. Its last change is from September 14, 2026.

You needThe data files from your own copy of Descent and Descent II; the README doesn’t list them. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Death Rally (dRally)

urxp/dRally

dRally: an open-source engine for Death Rally (Remedy Entertainment, 1996) that aims for a native port for Linux and BSD-based systems and also builds for Windows. It starts from reassembled code of the DOS executable: version 0.1 (May 6, 2019) was a “working reassembly” of the DOS game, and 0.2 (January 13, 2022) was a 64-bit alpha with Linux and Windows builds. It builds with GCC or Clang, make, and SDL2. It has no multiplayer yet, and the last change is from July 2023. Death Rally is free, since Remedy distributes it as freeware, and the README points to the registered Windows version offered by CHIP magazine, whose installer is unpacked with 7z. The project includes no game assets. Another project covers the same game, DreeRally, which reimplements the engine of the Windows version.

You needThe files of the Windows version of Death Rally, which is free (the registered version, which the README downloads from CHIP): ENGINE.BPA, IBFILES.BPA, MENU.BPA, MUSICS.BPA, and the TR0 to TR9 .BPA files, plus ENDANI.HAF, ENDANI0.HAF, and SANIM.HAF in a CINEM folder that a CDROM.INI points to, all with uppercase names. Plus Linux, BSD, or 64-bit Windows.

Rise of the Triad (Taradino)

fabiangreffrath/taradino

Taradino: an SDL2 port of Rise of the Triad, the 3D action game Apogee released in 1994, to current systems (Linux, Windows, and macOS). It duplicates the original game’s functionality and fixes what 64-bit and big-endian systems need. It’s maintained by Fabian Greffrath, and its first release under the taradino name is from August 15, 2025, with support for RottEX map files, a more consistent framerate, and many rendering fixes. The latest, 20251222 (December 22, 2025), also looks for the game files in GOG Galaxy install paths; 20251216 had added a search for all official level packs to pick in the New Game menu, separate mouse sensitivities for turning, moving, and looking, deleting key bindings with Del, soundfont lookup in common directories, and, at build time, optional music through OPL/AdLib synthesis with libADLMIDI. It builds with CMake, as a registered or a shareware version. Among its known issues, demos go out of sync and there is no netplay. The published downloads are 64-bit Windows zips (about 3 MB); on Linux and macOS you build it. The last code change is from March 20, 2026.

You needThe files from your own copy of Rise of the Triad (the registered version, such as GOG’s, or the shareware one, which requires building the shareware variant); the README doesn’t list the file names. Plus 64-bit Windows, or Linux or macOS if you build it, with SDL2 and SDL2_mixer.

⑂ Fork of KScl/opentyrian2000

Tyrian 2000

andyvand/opentyrian2000

An open-source port of the DOS game Tyrian, forked from OpenTyrian with the goal of replicating the Tyrian 2000 experience as closely as possible. It is a vertical-scrolling shoot ’em up with a story mode, one- and two-player arcade modes, and network play over UDP with NAT hole punching, tested with SDL_net, SDL2_net, and SDL3_net. It builds for a great many platforms besides the PC: its releases carry packages for Windows (MSVC and MinGW), macOS, Linux (.deb), DOS, Android, iOS, 3DS, PSP, PS Vita, Switch, and others, and the README includes ESP32 instructions. The latest release, 3.0.0-SDL3, is from January 28, 2025.

You needThe Tyrian 2000 data files, which were released as freeware (the README links the zip at camanis.net).

Descent / Descent II (DXX-Retro)

CDarrow/DXX-Retro

DXX-Retro: a Descent and Descent II source port aimed at quality competitive play, committed to the original gameplay except where the original “sucked.” It’s based on the Rebirth project and has one executable per game, D1X-Retro and D2X-Retro. The latest stable releases are 1.3 for D1X-Retro and 1.3a for D2X-Retro (January 20, 2017), with builds for Windows and macOS. The experimental ones, up to 1.4X6 (January 17, 2018, D1X-Retro only), added custom ship colors, an observer mode (with first- and third-person views, and Ctrl+1 to 8 to follow each player), demo and co-op fixes, and building on macOS with scons. The last code change is from April 2023. DXX-Redux, another project for the same games, builds on it.

You needThe data files from your own copy of Descent or Descent II; the README doesn’t list them. Plus Windows or macOS (the downloads are from 2017 and 2018); on other systems, build it.

The Terminator: SkyNET / Future Shock

nautilusbits/skynet-godot

A Godot 4 port of Bethesda’s two 1996 XnGine shooters, SkyNET and Future Shock: the engine is rewritten in Godot and the game is read from the original data of your copy (the BSA archives, the WLD heightmaps, the textures, the maps, the sounds, and the HMI music), decoded at run time. It includes SkyNET’s full campaign, with its eight missions, the DOS mission scripts, the objective counter, and briefings with the original art and voice lines; Future Shock, with its 17-mission campaign, vehicles, and start kit, played from NEW GAME → FUTURE SHOCK on SkyNET’s engine; the vehicles (the jeep and the HK); and LAN deathmatch with bots, the HUMAN and TERMINATOR classes, machine vision, and the motion detector. The rules are read out of the DOS executable, not guessed. It offers optional visual enhancements, off by default, such as dynamic lights from gunfire. The project was frozen on October 13 with 0.5.0, the final release: development continues in a new C# + SDL3 port, not yet published. All of its last 100 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own copy of SkyNET (The Terminator: SkyNET) and, to play Future Shock, also of Terminator: Future Shock; on first start the game asks for the folders. Plus Windows, Linux, macOS, or Android (downloads SkyNET.exe, .x86_64, .zip, and .apk).

Super ZZT

asiekierka/reconstruction-of-super-zzt

The Reconstruction of Super ZZT: a reverse-engineered recreation of the source code of Super ZZT 2.0, the last official release of the sequel to Tim Sweeney’s ZZT (October 1991), whose original source was lost long ago. It is written in Pascal for Turbo Pascal 5.5 and built in a DOS environment such as DOSBox with BUILD.BAT; it produces the SUPERZ.EXE executable, along with the tools for the process. Almost all of the code is byte-identical to the original; the exception is TheDraw’s ANSI image decompression routine (UNCRLIB.PAS), replaced with a clean implementation for lack of clear licensing, though it can be swapped for the original to get an identical EXE. The repository includes six 80x25 ANSI screens from the original game (.BIN files) and image compression tools. The only release, 1.0 (August 16, 2020), contains just the engine, SUPERZ.EXE.

Radix: Beyond the Void

jval1972/Rad-X

An engine recreation of Radix - Beyond the Void (1995), called RAD, written in Pascal. It offers high resolutions, true-color software rendering and OpenGL rendering, an uncapped frame rate, a textured automap, dynamic lights, sound effects in FLAC and OGG, music in MOD, S3M, IT, and XM, screenshots, an in-game menu for gameplay, key bindings, and resolution, and scripting with PascalScript; it lets you create custom content with Doom editing utilities. The latest release on GitHub, 1.2.21.755, is from May 4, 2022, with 32-bit Windows binaries and the source code; earlier versions also ship a RAD2WAD tool.

You needThe radix.dat file from the original DOS game (the “v2 remix” version). Windows (32-bit builds).

Sensible World of Soccer 96/97

zlatkok/swos-port

swos-port: an unofficial C++/SDL port of the PC DOS version of Sensible World of Soccer 96/97. It combines gradually rewritten, idiomatic C++ code with a generated, virtual-machine-backed translation of the original routines, to preserve behavior while each system is converted and tested; some routines are still mechanically generated from swos/swos.asm. It is checked against frame-by-frame recordings from DOS SWOS. Windows is the primary platform (Visual Studio 2022 and Meson), and an Android project also exists. The README says it is a development project rather than a finished replacement: much of the game is playable. The September 6 development demo (22 MB, Windows x64) ships placeholder graphics, audio, commentary, and data to test the port, not the game. To really play, --swos-dir points it at an installed copy of SWOS. The repository includes the disassembly of the DOS version (swos/swos.asm, about 6 MB).

You needYour own installed copy of Sensible World of Soccer 96/97 for DOS, whose directory you pass with --swos-dir=<path>; the development demo works with placeholder data. Plus Windows (x64) and, to build, Visual Studio 2022 or Meson, and Python 3.8 or later.

In Pursuit of Greed

jval1972/xGreed

xGreed: a source port of In Pursuit of Greed, the first-person action game for DOS, written in Delphi for Windows (32-bit binaries). It renders in software at double the original resolution (640×400), with 320×200 as an option, and adds mouse look, WASD movement, a launcher, DirectDraw for blitting the image, BASS.DLL for audio, and PNG screenshots. The latest version, 1.1.12.55 (March 19, 2022; published on GitHub on April 24), stops strafing when both directions are pressed at once, makes the memory manager assume multithreaded execution to avoid memory corruption, and raises the engine’s sprite limit from 700 to 4096. The binaries and source are also on SourceForge. The repository includes no game data.

You needYour own copy of In Pursuit of Greed: from what the DOS installer produces, the GREED.BLO file and all the .mod and .s3m files, in the folder with xGreed.exe (or locate GREED.BLO from the launcher). Optionally, the MOVIES folder from the original CD, with the animation .fli files. Plus Windows.

Speed Haste

jval1972/Speed

A remake and expansion pack of the DOS game Speed Haste, called GLSpeed, based on the DelphiDoom engine and written in Pascal. It offers high resolutions, OpenGL rendering, an uncapped frame rate, a textured automap, a command console, sound effects in FLAC and OGG, music in MOD, S3M, IT, and XM, screenshots, an in-game menu for gameplay, key bindings, and resolution, and scripting with PascalScript; it lets you create custom content with Doom editing utilities. Besides the original tracks it includes an expansion pack. The latest release on GitHub, 1.0.4.745, is from April 24, 2022, with Windows binaries and the source code.

You needThe main data file of the original DOS game, speedh.jcl; both the shareware and the registered versions should work. Windows.

Betrayal at Krondor

canassa/betrayal-at-krondor

A reconstruction of Betrayal at Krondor’s source code (Dynamix, 1993) from the DOS binaries that reproduces KRONDOR.EXE, VMCODE.OVL, and SX.OVL byte for byte for two releases from the same code: 1.00 on floppy disks (June 16, 1993) and 1.02 on CD-ROM (March 21, 1994). It builds with the period tools (Borland C++ 3.1, 3.0, and 2.0, and TASM) inside FreeDOS on QEMU, with a Python tool that automates it; the author publishes those tools packaged as a separate download. The only assembly in it is what was already assembly in the original. Its goals are education and preservation: it adds no support for modern systems, which the author plans to do in a separate fork. The byte match is complete, but the code still carries decompilation artifacts and names to fix, and the work continues module by module. It includes a browser-based viewer for exploring the game’s assets and dialogue with your own files. Its contributing guide calls language models useful for this work as long as they are held to evidence, and the repository carries instructions for Claude agents; documentation, by contrast, is written or reviewed by a person. It includes no game data: building a playable executable needs the files from your own copy.

Master of Magic

jbalcomb/ReMoM

ReMoM: Master of Magic (SimTex, 1994-95) rebuilt from the original executables, which were disassembled, reassembled, and translated to C. It starts from version 1.31 and aims to give the community working source code to expand the SimTex universe. It builds with CMake and uses SDL2 and SDL2_mixer (SDL3 is optional; on Windows there is also a native Win32 variant with no sound). The published releases are engine-only, with no game data: there are builds for Windows (.exe installer and .zip) and Linux (.deb, AppImage, .zip, and .tar.gz), and the README also describes an unsigned .zip for macOS. The latest, 0.0.8, is from July 31. The project is coordinated in the reverse-engineering channel of the “Master of Magic - Fans” Discord server. Two of its last 100 commits list Claude as a co-author. The repository includes, in doc/, disassemblies of SimTex executables and other material (about 54 MB).

You needYour own copy of Master of Magic 1.31 for DOS: all the .LBX files and CONFIG.MOM, in the same folder as the executable. Plus Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Rise of the Triad (Barrett)

lunarmeadow/barrett

Barrett: a Rise of the Triad source port based on rottexpr, focused on quality of life for players and developers, with wider compatibility, new features, and better support for modern hardware. It uses SDL2 and SDL2_mixer and builds with CMake (GCC or Clang; on Windows, something like MinGW). Version 1.3-beta (June 14) overhauled the display: aspect ratio correction, which stretches the render by 1.2 to imitate VGA’s tall pixels, a resolution menu sorted and labeled by aspect ratio, resolution changes without a restart, a default resolution based on the monitor, and fixed HUD and save-preview scaling. On Linux, music uses a soundfont (userdata/barrett.sf2 or the system ones); on Windows, the system MIDI; the extended options menu can enable OPL emulation. There are builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Licensed under GPL-2.0, on top of Apogee’s code and the icculus.org port.

You needThe files from your own copy of Rise of the Triad: DEMO1_3.DMO to DEMO4_3.DMO and REMOTE1.RTS, plus DARKWAR.RTC, DARKWAR.RTL, and DARKWAR.WAD (registered version) or HUNTBGIN.RTC, HUNTBGIN.RTL, and HUNTBGIN.WAD (the shareware version), all in the executable’s folder. Plus SDL2 and SDL2_mixer; on Linux, a soundfont (FluidR3 as the fallback).

Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame

Supermedo/prince-of-persia-2-windows

A static recompilation of the DOS PRINCE.EXE to C, linked with a small Windows runtime: the game logic, rendering, intro, and music driver are the original code, and only the PC hardware (VGA, timer, keyboard, Sound Blaster/AdLib) is replaced with native code, with no DOSBox or emulator. The repository holds the recompiler, written in Python, which decodes the 8086 code, plus the runtime and the launcher; the game’s C code is generated on your machine from your copy, and the published release ships a prebuilt pop2.exe with no game data, art, or music. It emulates a Sound Blaster Pro: the game’s own FM driver, recompiled, plays the music on an emulated OPL2 no matter how your copy was set up in the DOS SETUP, and effects play as digital samples. It draws with OpenGL, with filters (Sharp, which keeps pixels crisp at any size, Pixel, Soft, and Smooth HQ) and 4:3, stretched, or panorama views, the last stretching only the sides, and supports Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch controllers. All 14 levels, the intro, the endings, saved games, and the 75-minute limit behave just as under DOS; the only addition is optional per-room checkpoints, off by default. Version 1.0 came out on September 23.

You needYour own copy of the DOS Prince of Persia 2: the folder with PRINCE.EXE and the .DAT files. Plus 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. Building it takes clang and llvm-rc (LLVM for Windows) and Python 3.

Stunts

mr-finster/stunts-hd

Stunts HD: the GAME.EXE from your copy of Stunts 1.1 (also known as 4D Sports Driving) is translated instruction by instruction into JavaScript and runs unmodified on a small emulated PC (DOS and BIOS services, VGA video mode, the timer, and an AdLib synth). A new renderer redraws what the game draws in 3D at your display’s resolution, in widescreen and interpolated between its frames, without changing what the game does; the H key switches back to the 1990 look. The handling, opponents, replays, and crashes are the original’s: all 6,907 replays in Chocolate Stunts’ test pack play back exactly as in DOS. The track editor, custom tracks, add-on cars, the ghost car, and track sharing all work. It plays in the browser or as a desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux; on the Steam Deck, only in desktop mode. The first start needs a connection to fetch the translation map. It states it was made with the help of AI coding tools.

You needYour own copy of Stunts 1.1 (the game folder, or a zip of it); other versions, such as 4D Sports Driving, aren’t supported yet. Plus Chrome, Edge, or Firefox, or macOS, Windows, or Linux for the desktop app.

Test Drive III: The Passion (kylofon)

kylofon/testdrive3-enhanced

Test Drive III Enhanced: a native SDL3 port of Test Drive III: The Passion (Accolade, 1990), a faithful reimplementation of the original TDIII.EXE for Windows. It isn’t an emulator: the engine loads the executable’s image and the game’s data files. On top of that it adds a smooth 3D view at your display’s refresh rate, resolution up to 2560 × 1600 with anti-aliasing, a longer draw distance with gradual fog, smooth steering, soft-edged headlight beams, a finish marker on the compass, and fixes for the police and landings; the race clock counts real seconds. A launcher lets you pick car, course, skill level, and graphics options, and remap keys, and the “classic” mode keeps the original picture, with AdLib or speaker sound. The latest version, 0.2.0 (September 30), is a 64-bit Windows zip (10.4 MB). MIT license. All 20 of the repository’s commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own copy of Test Drive III: The Passion for DOS: in a folder named Game next to the program, TDIII.EXE (or TD3.EXE), PLAYDISK.DAT, DATAA–C.DAT, INSTR.DAT, and the car (C*) and scene (SCENE*) files. Plus 64-bit Windows and a multi-core CPU.

Railroad Tycoon (Rails)

bluddy/rails

Rails: an OCaml remake of Railroad Tycoon (1990), built on SDL2. You build railroads, manage trains, compete with AI rivals, and grow your empire across historical regions; docs/FEATURES.md lists what is implemented. It supports display zoom over the original 320x200, GLSL shaders (CRT, VGA at 1080p, and others), a pixel aspect ratio adjustment for rectangular pixels, saves, and debug options. Version 0.1.4 (October 11) provides packages for Windows, Linux (AppImage and tar.gz), and macOS (arm64). The repository includes .ogg music and sound-effect files and some extra graphics (the README doesn’t say where they come from).

You needThe data files from your own copy of Railroad Tycoon for DOS (*.PIC, *.PAN, and *.DTA), in the data folder next to the executable or via --data-dir. Plus Windows (x86-64), Linux (x86-64), or macOS.

Theme Park

sp00nznet/themepark-recomp

A static recompilation of the DOS Theme Park into native Windows and Linux programs, built with pcrecomp, the same author’s toolkit: the game’s 32-bit code (6,517 functions, no errors) is translated to C and runs on the toolkit’s DOS/4GW host, with no emulator or DOSBox; it also recompiles INTRO.EXE, so the opening film plays with its music and voices. Parks open by default in the 640×480 SVGA mode the game hid behind the R key, and can be widened up to 1920×480; a Direct3D 11 window shows them with integer, sharp, smooth, CRT, or nearest-neighbor scaling, and borderless fullscreen. It adds an F10 settings menu, nine save states, a fixed 25 fps pace (the original had no frame limiter) adjustable from 12 to 120, a captured mouse, sound without a Sound Blaster (effects through its own mixer and the General MIDI score on the system synth or from packs of recordings), Xbox controller support, mods as overlaid folders, the CD’s five languages, the 2–4 player network mode Bullfrog left hidden, now over TCP, and optional “modern rules” that fix guards, handymen, engineers, entertainers, stuck guests, and the advisor. It’s an alpha: it gets into a running park, but according to its README it hasn’t been played for long yet. 0.2.0-alpha.1, the first with installers for Windows and Linux, came out on October 21, and the latest, 0.5.0-alpha.1, on October 22. 68 of its 86 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own copy of Theme Park: GOG’s, installed or as its offline installer (setup_theme_park_1.01_cs_(77027).exe), or the 1994 CD in any of its editions (UK and Europe, US, EA’s 1996 and 1998 reissues, CD-ROM Classics, and the Japanese two-game disc with Magic Carpet), a mounted ISO included; the floppy release, the 1996 Asian release, and the demos don’t work. Plus 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, where setup installs Python, Visual Studio 2022 with C++, LLVM, CMake, and Ninja if they’re missing, or Linux with gcc and SDL2; on Linux, music needs a General MIDI synth such as FluidSynth or TiMidity++.

F-19 Stealth Fighter

xor2003/f19re

Work-in-progress decompilation of F-19 Stealth Fighter (MicroProse, 1988) for DOS. The main executable, EGAME.EXE, is rebuilt in two ways that must agree: an assembly skeleton, derived from the disassembly, that produces a byte-identical copy, and C code that replaces the assembly routine by routine and is compiled with Microsoft C 5.1 until it emits exactly the same instructions. It’s a sibling of the same author’s F-15 Strike Eagle II reconstruction: the two games share a large part of their code. Trying it needs the files from your own copy and DOSBox; the Microsoft compiler isn’t included. 97 of its last 100 commits list Devin as a co-author.

Wing Commander: Privateer

schlangz/openprivateer-project

OpenPrivateer: a modern reimplementation of Wing Commander: Privateer and its Righteous Fire add-on, running on the original game’s data files. It’s in public alpha, with builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux (x86-64 and ARM64). Its engine is developed in a private repository: the public repository holds the website and the downloads. According to the website, the bases work as in the original (the ship dealer, equipment, the commodity exchange, the bar, the guilds, and the mission boards), generated missions use the original’s encounters and scripts, and the Privateer campaign plays from Sandoval’s first offer to the closing credits; spaceflight, combat, and the AI were reconstructed from the original executable. Saves are compatible with the original game’s. It has a Classic mode, faithful to the original, and others that add optional conveniences, plus multiple ships per pilot, an experimental open universe that mods can extend, and remappable keyboard, mouse, joystick, and gamepad controls.

You needThe data files from your own copy of Wing Commander: Privateer. Plus 64-bit Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Big Red Racing (Big Red Report)

BigRedReport/bigredreport

A fan-made port of Big Red Racing that reimplements the game in JavaScript and WebGL2, with no dependencies, and reads the files of your original copy (the BIGRED folder; with the CD image the game’s music can also play). It is played in the browser (Chrome or Edge) or with Windows, Linux, Steam Deck, and Android apps that wrap the same web page; the repository includes no game data. It adds modern graphics with sunlight and shadows or the 1995 look, ultrawide support, controllers, split-screen for up to 8 players, online play for up to 12 with voice chat, the original recorded rivals or a new AI, replays, photo mode, time trials, a drift mode, a track editor, and mods that replace game files. The repository carries its own circuits, horns, logos, and two royalty-free music tracks for the Grand Prix and drift modes. Version 0.112.0 (October 31) is the latest of 69 releases; the desktop packages weigh 118 to 130 MB and the browser zip about 11 MB. 70 of its last 100 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own original copy of Big Red Racing: the BIGRED folder and, if you want the CD music, its image (IMAGE.img/IMAGE.cue). You choose it after pressing PRESS START. Plus Chrome or Edge, or the Windows, Linux, or Android app; on Android you provide a .zip with the BIGRED folder.

Crusader: No Remorse

sebsebseb1982/crusader-no-remorse-decomp

A C++20 reimplementation with SDL2 of the Crusader: No Remorse (Origin, 1995) engine for Windows and Linux, which reads the original game’s data, including its scripts (USECODE). It supports the French version 1.08 and the US version 1.23, and the README describes it as a work in progress. It adds gamepad support, an enhancements menu (a camera that follows the player, directional movement and aiming, native resolution, zoom, autosave), and fullscreen with Alt+Enter. There are builds for Windows, Linux, and PortMaster handhelds (aarch64); 1.22.0 is from October 19, one of 31 releases. The author mentions his Claude subscription, and 2 of its 48 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own copy of Crusader: No Remorse, French version 1.08 (ISO with SHA-256 B370436F2BA380500E918262A83293FBB89600253CC3F4579895D45FDB63B802) or US version 1.23 (ISO with SHA-256 C27D77D215253B8C1EF3C5B16CC33AFF63E759A843BBCD177A42F6A64DC063C7), as an .iso image or as the contents of the installed game or the CD, in the data folder (about 550 MB). Windows, Linux (with SDL2), or a PortMaster handheld.

F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 (Enhanced)

kylofon/F117-2Enhanced

An enhanced native port of MicroProse’s F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 for Windows, built on the same author’s faithful SDL3 port (F117-2, v0.1.0). It is not an emulator and includes no game files. It aims for a sharper, smoother game with the original art unchanged: resolution from 1 to 8 times the original 320×200 (the 3D view, HUD, MFDs, TV window, and map), a wider view on wide windows, smooth distance shading and true night (optional, off by default), drawing at the monitor’s refresh rate, and a launcher with an Enhanced box; --classic restores the original behavior. The two releases, about 11 MB each, are from October 26 and October 29 (0.2.0). All 73 of its commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needThe files of your copy of F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 (F117.COM, SETUP.EXE, START.EXE, VGAME.EXE, and the rest), in a Game folder next to the launcher or chosen from it; the folder must be writable, since the game saves the pilot roster there. In SETUP, answer N for the joystick and 2 for AdLib. Windows.

Street Rod (Enhanced)

kylofon/streetrod-enhanced

An enhanced version of the native Street Rod port for Windows, with SDL3, no emulator, and no game files. It adds a smooth road view in races and drives through town at your display’s refresh rate, high resolution up to 2560 × 1600 with anti-aliasing, separate music and sound effects volumes, the 25 cars of the Street Rod SE data disk, and a launcher with options for cars, switches, picture, and sound; --classic gives only the original picture. The rest of the game is the original: garage, opponents, physics, police, and screens. One CPU core draws the road view, about 8.5 ms a frame at the defaults. Version 0.2.0 (September 30) is the latest of two releases, about 11 MB. All 12 of its commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needThe files of your copy of the original DOS Street Rod (SR.EXE or SRSE.EXE, LIB1, LIB2, and HOT_DATA) in a Game folder, with the Street Rod SE expansion cars in Game\datadisk if you want them. The README notes the game is free from its copyright owner at streetrodonline.com. The folder must be writable. Windows.

Street Rod (SDL3)

kylofon/street-rod-sdl3

A faithful C reimplementation of Street Rod, by California Dreams and Logical Design Works, running natively on Windows with SDL3. It is not an emulator: the original program was reverse-engineered, documented, and rewritten in C, and the port reads the original game’s files at run time. According to the README the whole VGA version (320×200, 16 colors) with PC speaker is ported: the title, driver’s licence, newspaper, used cars and parts, haggling and selling, garage, gas station, Bob’s Drive-In with opponents, bets, and drag and road races, police, breakdowns, the calendar of the summer of 1963, saved games, hall of fame, and the ending. It is a first release; CGA, EGA, Tandy, and Hercules graphics are not ported. It comes with a launcher with car selection (the 25 cars of the Street Rod SE data disk or the originals), demo mode, and window options. Version 0.1.0 (September 26) is a zip of about 11 MB. All 16 of its commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needThe files of your copy of the original DOS Street Rod (SR.EXE, LIB1, LIB2, and HOT_DATA) in a Game folder and, for the expansion cars, Street Rod SE (SRSE.EXE with its LIB1, LIB2, and HOT_DATA) in Game\datadisk. The README notes the game is free from its copyright owner at streetrodonline.com. The folder must be writable. Windows.

Test Drive (Enhanced)

kylofon/testdrive-enhanced

An enhanced version of Test Drive (Accolade / Distinctive Software, 1987) in EGA, native on Windows with SDL3. The game is the faithful C reimplementation from test-drive-sdl3, so driving, traffic, and police work as in the original; on top of that, the view through the windscreen is redrawn at four times the resolution by default, with 120 road rows instead of 40 and 60 frames per second instead of 8, with a horizon with mountains, smoothly scaled objects, and a distance and time readout. It removes the copy protection, the TD.EXE launcher password, and the Hercules and CGA modes. The latest version, 1.0.4 (September 25), is a 64-bit Windows zip of about 2.6 MB. 15 of its 17 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own files of the DOS Test Drive in a folder named Game next to the program: TDEGA.EXE, CARS.TXT, SCORES, TDSND.SND, the *.PES archives, and the car *.BIN and *.SS files. Plus Windows and, for the default resolution, a multi-core CPU.

Test Drive (SDL3)

kylofon/test-drive-sdl3

A native Windows port of Test Drive (Accolade / Distinctive Software, 1987), rewritten in C with SDL3 from reverse engineering of the original program; it is not an emulator. It includes the DOS versions in EGA, CGA, and Hercules and the Amiga version, each with its own executable, and a launcher to pick the version, game folder, options, and keys. It keeps the original’s drawing speed of 8 frames per second while driving, reads keys while they are held, and fixes bugs of the original (the Amiga ones can be kept with --original-bugs). The repository holds no game data. The latest version, 0.3.0 (October 1), is a 64-bit Windows zip; 0.1.0 and 0.2.0 came out on September 16. All 16 of its commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own files of the DOS Test Drive in a folder named Game: TDEGA.EXE (or TDCGA.EXE for CGA and Hercules), CARS.TXT, SCORES, TDSND.SND, the *.PES (EGA) or *.CMP (CGA and Hercules) archives, and the car *.BIN and *.SS files. For the Amiga version, the .adf disk image (or its extracted files). The folder must be writable. Plus Windows (the published builds are 64-bit).

Test Drive II: The Duel (Buyukcaglar)

Buyukcaglar/TD2

A native Windows version of Test Drive II: The Duel that plays the DOS game from your own copy of its files, in four graphics modes you can switch between at any moment, even mid-race: EGA, CGA, Hercules, and Amiga. With the Amiga version’s files it also plays its music and sound and adds the Amiga-only Northern Germany Challenge scenery. It is not an emulator: the game code is a C reimplementation of the original executable, built on Kylofon’s SDL3 port (Krzysztof Kania, MIT licence), and the repository publishes that code, the recovery tools, and the documentation. It adds an improved model of the PC speaker, Amiga sound through an emulation of Paula, controller support, and a menu of its own. It ships as a single TD2.exe of about 4 MB, unsigned. Version 1.0 (October 25) is the latest of two releases from the same day. It states it was written largely by AI coding assistants (Claude); its last 100 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own copy of the DOS Test Drive II: the base game is enough (two cars and the Master scenery), as a folder with TD2EGA.EXE, CARS.DAT, SCENES.DAT and the rest, or as a zip, 7z, rar, or lha archive. Optional: the expansions (The Supercars, The Muscle Cars, California Challenge, European Challenge) and the Amiga version (for example a WHDLoad .lha). Plus 64-bit Windows and a writable folder for the program.

Test Drive II: The Duel (Enhanced)

kylofon/testdrive2-enhanced

An enhanced version of Test Drive II: The Duel (Accolade / Distinctive Software, 1989) in EGA, native on Windows with SDL3. The game is the faithful C reimplementation of TD2EGA.EXE; the road view is redrawn from the original data at four times the resolution (1280 × 800 by default), 60 frames per second, and a draw distance of 180 units instead of 60. It has options for banded road and ground, for mixing cars from other sceneries, and for adjusting game speed, plus a map viewer to fly along the stages and launchers for the game and the viewer. The latest version, 0.3.0 (September 24), is a 64-bit Windows zip of about 10.6 MB. 71 of its 72 commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own files of the DOS Test Drive II, ideally The Collection, in a folder named Game next to the program: TD2EGA.EXE, CARS.DAT, SCENES.DAT, SONGS.BIN, VOICES.BIN, the *.PES archives, the car *.BIN and *.SS files, and the scenery *.DAT, *.SGN, and *.FNT files. Plus Windows and a multi-core CPU.

Test Drive II: The Duel (SDL3)

kylofon/test-drive-2-sdl3

A native Windows port of Test Drive II: The Duel (Accolade / Distinctive Software, 1989), a C reimplementation with SDL3 of the EGA version (TD2EGA.EXE) made by reverse engineering; it is not an emulator. It can be played with the cars and sceneries of The Collection, including the Supercars / Muscle Cars and California / European Challenge add-ons; the CGA, Hercules, and Tandy versions are not ported yet. It removes the copy protection and disk handling, draws the driving view at an emulated 15 frames per second, and uses a gamepad as the joystick. The only release, 0.1.0 (September 17), is a 64-bit Windows zip. All 9 of its commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own files of the DOS Test Drive II, ideally The Collection, in a folder named Game: TD2EGA.EXE, CARS.DAT, SCENES.DAT, SONGS.BIN, VOICES.BIN, the *.PES archives, the car *.BIN and *.SS files, and the scenery *.DAT, *.SGN, and *.FNT files. The folder must be writable. Plus Windows.

Test Drive III: The Passion (SDL3)

kylofon/test-drive-3-sdl3

A native Windows port of Test Drive III: The Passion (Accolade, 1990), a faithful C reimplementation with SDL3 made by reverse engineering the whole original program; it is not an emulator. The VGA version with AdLib / Sound Blaster music and effects can be played: title and credits, menus, the five cars, both courses with all their legs and routes, traffic, police, replay, results, and high scores. The EGA and Tandy graphics and the MT-32, Tandy, and Game Blaster sound are not ported. It comes with a launcher to pick car, course, and options, and by default it waits 23 timer ticks between frames (about 6 per second) so the game doesn’t run too fast. The only release, 0.1.0 (September 24), is a 64-bit Windows zip of about 10.8 MB. All 11 of its commits list Claude as a co-author.

You needYour own files of the DOS Test Drive III in a folder named Game: TDIII.EXE (packed or unpacked), PLAYDISK.DAT, DATAA.DAT, DATAB.DAT, DATAC.DAT, INSTR.DAT, and the car (C*.DAT, .LST, and .POB) and scene (SCENE*.DAT, .LST, and .HI) files; TD3.CFG is optional. The folder must be writable. Plus Windows.