Open-source alternatives to TouchHLE

Snes9x is a cross-platform emulator designed to replicate the Super Nintendo Entertainment System hardware. It functions as a gaming tool that allows users to load and play Super Nintendo software on modern hardware and operating systems. The software provides a portable emulation layer across various hardware architectures to ensure consistent performance. It supports the execution of game ROMs while providing utilities for input mapping and save states. The system implements hardware emulation through cycle-accurate CPU emulation, dynamic recompilation, and scanline-based video rendering.

xemu is a game console emulator and virtual hardware hypervisor designed to execute original Xbox game software on various operating systems. It functions as a disk image player that simulates physical circuitry and storage to enable the playback of original titles. The project includes a suite of low-level system debugging tools for inspecting registers, tracing execution events, and dumping memory from running guest code. It provides specialized capabilities for hardware accuracy testing and game hardware debugging to analyze system behavior. The software covers a broad range of emulation

PlayCover is a desktop mobile application wrapper that enables mobile software to run on macOS. It functions as a virtualization layer, providing a compatibility environment that allows users to execute mobile applications directly on desktop hardware. The project distinguishes itself by bridging the gap between mobile and desktop operating systems through a combination of binary patching and system framework emulation. It maps touch-based gestures and screen interactions to standard desktop peripherals, allowing users to control mobile games and applications using a keyboard, mouse, or contr

Dolphin is a software environment that simulates GameCube and Wii console hardware, allowing users to execute game discs and digital software on modern computing platforms. It functions by translating original console processor instructions into native host machine code at runtime and intercepting low-level graphics commands to render them through modern graphics APIs. The project distinguishes itself through a comprehensive netplay engine that enables online multiplayer for local games by synchronizing game states and input timing across remote instances. This system enforces deterministic e

This project provides a Linux kernel development environment and a system emulation suite for building and debugging kernel modules and baremetal assembly across multiple hardware architectures. It functions as a comprehensive sandbox and framework for low-level system development, utilizing QEMU to simulate hardware environments without the need for physical devices. The environment integrates cross-compilation toolchains using Buildroot and crosstool-NG to target x86_64, ARMv7, and ARMv8 platforms from a single host. It features a specialized kernel debugging framework that leverages GDB an

preserve-cd is a game preservation archive and digital library designed to store and organize out-of-print computer and console game disk images and instructional guides. It serves as a repository for retro gaming archives and legacy software to prevent the permanent loss of classic software and gaming knowledge. The system utilizes a static-file hosting model and flat-file metadata indexing to map game titles to storage paths. It employs binary-stream content delivery and direct-download routing to transfer large disk images while maintaining data integrity. The platform provides capabiliti

QEMU is a cross-platform system emulator and hardware virtualization platform that enables the execution of multiple isolated operating systems on a single host machine. It functions as a processor architecture emulator, translating machine instructions between different hardware platforms to allow software designed for one architecture to run on another. The project distinguishes itself through a modular target architecture that separates core emulation logic from specific hardware definitions, supporting a wide range of processor and peripheral configurations. It utilizes dynamic binary tra

This repository contains the original source code for a classic real-time strategy game, serving as a legacy game engine implementation for managing units, maps, and combat mechanics in a military strategy setting. It functions as a real-time strategy game source code archive intended for preservation and technical study. The codebase acts as a game modification base, allowing developers to create custom content and modifications using the original source. It provides a foundation for retro game modding and software archeology to analyze how historical game mechanics were programmed. The pro

Julius is a cross-platform game engine and simulation tool designed for the reimplementation of legacy games. It executes original game logic using the original assets while applying modern resolution and interface updates. The engine features a localization framework for integrating community translations of text, audio, and video, and an integrated scenario editor for configuring gameplay rules and resource requirements within map data files. The project covers a broad capability surface including save game management with automated backups, input mapping for diverse keyboard layouts and t

xv6-riscv is a simplified Unix-like teaching operating system designed for the study of kernel design and hardware interaction. It provides a low-level RISC-V kernel implementation that serves as a bootable system image for execution and debugging within a virtual machine or emulator. The project focuses on educational instruction regarding the RISC-V architecture. It enables the study of operating system concepts through a minimal kernel that implements process management and memory handling. The system covers core kernel operations including multiprocessor resource management and the imple

XenonRecomp is a static binary translator and Xbox 360 game recompiler. It functions as a binary analysis tool and native code generator that converts machine instructions from Xbox 360 game executables into C++ source code for recompilation on different hardware platforms. The tool features specialized capabilities for translating compiled binaries, including the conversion of assembly jump tables into native switch cases and the detection of function boundaries using stack space data and branch link instructions. It optimizes translated code by converting non-volatile and non-argument regis

This project provides an educational framework and laboratory environment for learning operating system kernel development specifically for the RISC-V architecture. It serves as a structured course that guides users through the process of building a functional kernel from scratch, offering the necessary resources to understand low-level system programming and architecture-specific software implementation. The toolkit distinguishes itself by integrating a complete development environment that bridges the gap between source code and hardware execution. It includes automated build scripts for cr

Play- is a multi-system game emulator and virtual hardware emulator that simulates various console and arcade hardware to run original game files on modern devices. It functions as a retro game frontend, providing a graphical interface for organizing, launching, and managing libraries of legacy console and arcade titles. The project includes a hardware input mapper that translates modern controllers and mouse movements to simulate specialized legacy input devices, such as light guns and steering wheels. It also features a game state manager capable of capturing and restoring the exact memory

SpaceCadetPinball is a reverse-engineered, cross-platform port of the classic 3D Pinball - Space Cadet game, rebuilt from the original binary without access to its source code. It functions as an asset-driven pinball emulator that loads the original game data files to recreate the authentic visual and audio experience on modern hardware, preserving the legacy title through binary-to-source porting and reverse engineering. The project distinguishes itself by reconstructing the game's logic through runtime analysis of the original compiled instructions, translating them back into readable C++ c

PS2Recomp is a static recompiler for PlayStation 2 that translates machine instructions from executable binaries into source code to enable execution on modern hardware. It functions as a binary-to-source translator and a binary analysis tool designed to facilitate the preservation of legacy software. The project distinguishes itself through a hardware emulation runtime that manages memory models and register contexts, combined with a static binary patcher for replacing raw instructions and overriding function bindings. It utilizes a specialized vector unit instruction execution system that m

shadPS4 is a C++ game emulator and hardware virtualization tool designed to replicate the PlayStation 4 system environment and hardware to run console software on a computer. It functions as a cross-platform application compatible with Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD. The project serves as a graphics debugging tool capable of dumping shaders and integrating with rendering tools for performance analysis. It provides a system for recreating the console environment through the import of official firmware files, system fonts, and the use of decrypted keys for tracking game trophies. The emula

This project is a 3D animation suite and legacy software archive consisting of original source code and build scripts. It functions as a historical rendering engine and computer graphics reference for analyzing the asset management and rendering frameworks used in mid-nineties multimedia production. The codebase allows for the restoration of legacy software by compiling original source code into executable binaries for modern hardware. It serves as a resource for software archaeology research and the study of vintage multimedia development. The system enables the production of three-dimensio

melonDS is an open-source emulator that runs original Nintendo DS and DSi games on modern operating systems with high-accuracy hardware simulation. It emulates the DS and DSi CPUs, video, and audio systems, and supports booting from original system firmware for access to the system menu and configuration screens. The emulator distinguishes itself through cycle-accurate component simulation for precise timing and compatibility, a JIT dynamic recompilation engine that translates game code to native x86_64 or AArch64 instructions for faster performance, and OpenGL hardware-accelerated rendering

This project is a cross-compiler toolchain for RISC-V software development. It provides the necessary components to compile C and C++ source code into executable binaries and libraries specifically for the RISC-V hardware architecture. The toolchain supports multi-architecture binary generation and multilib capabilities, allowing a single installation to target various instruction set specifications and bit-widths. It integrates with alternative compilers such as LLVM and Clang and includes a bootstrapped build pipeline to produce high-performance versions of the tools. The system covers bro

This project is a tutorial and framework for building a low-level, bare-metal operating system from scratch using the Rust language. It focuses on ARMv8 kernel development specifically for the Raspberry Pi 3, providing the resources necessary to implement a monolithic kernel that runs directly on hardware without an underlying operating system. The project distinguishes itself by providing a complete embedded cross-compilation suite within a containerized environment to ensure consistent builds. It includes a dedicated kernel deployer that uses a serial interface and chainloader to load and b

This repository contains the C++ game source code for a single-player first-person shooter action game. It is a software implementation of the Id Tech 4 engine, designed for 3D rendering with a focus on real-time unified lighting and geometry. The project enables the modification of core engine logic and rendering systems. It serves as a resource for classic game engine modification, first-person shooter development, and retro game preservation. The engine utilizes a unified shader pipeline and stencil shadow volumes for lighting effects, alongside BSP tree spatial partitioning for visibilit

Quake III Arena is a first-person shooter game engine and arena combat simulator. It consists of the original C++ game source code for a cross-platform 3D game designed to run on Windows, Linux, and Mac. The project provides the source code necessary to render a first-person shooter experience, focusing on player-versus-player battles in closed 3D environments. It serves as a resource for legacy game preservation and the study of early 3D game engine construction. The engine incorporates spatial partitioning, client-side prediction, and state synchronization to manage multiplayer networking

libinput-gestures is a Linux input event daemon and touchpad gesture mapper that translates libinput events into shell commands or keyboard shortcuts. It functions as a background process that monitors raw input signals to automate workflows and execute system actions based on a user-defined configuration file. The tool allows for the mapping of multi-finger swipes and hold gestures to specific terminal commands or desktop workspace navigation. It differentiates between actions by filtering for finger counts, swipe directions, and the duration of hold gestures. The system integrates with sys

This project is an educational framework and toolkit designed for developing and testing operating system kernels. It provides a structured environment for implementing fundamental system primitives, including virtual memory management, preemptive process scheduling, and filesystem organization, using Rust and C. The framework is specifically oriented toward RISC-V and x86 architectures, serving as a laboratory for learning how to build core system software from the ground up. The project distinguishes itself by supporting both bare-metal deployment and hardware emulation, allowing developers

Asterinas is a memory-safe operating system kernel designed to prevent data races and memory corruption. It functions as a Linux-ABI compatible kernel, enabling the execution of existing Linux binaries and container workloads while providing a declarative operating system distribution model. The project distinguishes itself by acting as a virtual machine container host and a confidential computing guest OS, allowing it to run within hardware-isolated Trusted Execution Environments such as Intel TDX. It implements a minimal trusted computing base by isolating unsafe low-level operations and se

Docker-Android runs a full Android emulator inside a Docker container, enabling mobile app testing and automation without requiring a physical device. The emulator uses QEMU-based virtualization with optional KVM acceleration for hardware-backed performance, and supports nested virtualization on cloud VMs from providers like AWS, GCP, and Azure for environments without direct hardware acceleration. The container exposes the Android Debug Bridge over TCP/IP, allowing host-side tools to connect to the emulator as if it were a local device. It provides browser-based interaction with the emulator

This project is a macOS input remapper and mouse customizer designed to assign custom actions and system-wide gestures to mouse button presses and movements. It functions as a mouse gesture manager and scroll enhancer, enabling the emulation of multi-finger trackpad motions and providing omnidirectional precision scrolling. The utility distinguishes itself by allowing independent scroll direction settings for a mouse without altering global trackpad configurations. It further implements a momentum-based algorithm to replace discrete scroll steps with smooth, fluid movement. The software cove