This repository contains no game data (only two title-screen screenshots, used as the EBOOT's icon and background). You supply your own dumps, by putting them in the roms/ folder; the build finds them by their content, so what they are called does not matter:

the Japanese N64 Animal Forest ROM (NUS-NAFJ; .z64, .v64 or .n64), which the game's code is recompiled from
optionally the English fan translation ROM Animal Forest (U) [!], which the game then plays, with its English title logo, menus and screens. Without it the game plays the Japanese ROM: the dialogue, names and letters are still English, but the title screen, menus and signs stay Japanese
the European GameCube Animal Crossing disc image (GAFP01; .iso, .gcm or .ciso), for the English text

roms/README.md lists the accepted MD5s.

1. Install the tools

(Or skip steps 1 and 2 and build in Docker: the only thing to install is Docker.)

PSPDEV toolchain, in ~/pspdev or at $PSPDEV
psp-media-engine-custom-core, built and installed into $PSPDEV/psp (keep its kcall.prx)
the prerequisites of the zeldaret/af decomp: MIPS binutils (mips-linux-gnu-*), clang, Python 3
GNU make 4 (on macOS: Homebrew's make, which installs as gmake), git, CMake, Ninja, a C++20 compiler

2. Build

./build.sh

It says what it made of each file in roms/ and what is missing. The first run takes a while: it clones and builds the decomp and N64Recomp, recompiles the game and builds the English text. Later runs only redo what changed.

Or: build in Docker

./docker-build.sh

The same files in roms/ and the same result as build.sh (dist/AFPSP/, with kcall.prx already in it), but every tool comes from a Docker image, built for you by the script. See BUILDING.md.

3. Install

The build leaves dist/AFPSP/ (EBOOT.PBP, with the English text inside it, and baserom.z64).

PSP (custom firmware): copy dist/AFPSP to ms0:/PSP/GAME/ and put kcall.prx in it. KCALL_PRX=path/to/kcall.prx ./build.sh ... copies it for you.
PPSSPP: copy dist/AFPSP into its PSP/GAME/ folder.

BUILDING.md describes the individual build stages and options.

AI Note

This project was heavily supported by claude as copilot, so much so that I honestly don't feel comfortable taking any credit for this work.

Credit that is actually due

The decompilation is zeldaret/af's. N64Recomp is Mr-Wiseguy's Theruntime's thread model follows his N64ModernRuntime. Heavily inspired by how z2442's oot and sm64 ports. The Media Engine support uses mcidclan's psp-media-engine-custom-core. The English text comes from your own copy of the GameCube Animal Crossing and the fan translation ROM; tools/text_en_manual.txt holds translations made for this port of the messages the GameCube release has no counterpart for (AI, be aware!).

Read official guide