Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Recomp

Experimental preview. This recompilation is built on gbarecompx, the actively developed fork of gbarecomp — the reusable static-recompilation framework whose reference games are its proving ground. This is not a finished commercial port, so expect rough edges and please report problems. For more context, read Recomp + AI: 5 Months Later ».

Static recompilation of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for Linux, Windows, Android, and Steam Deck, with a validated widescreen view and strict fully-static execution.

The game ROM is not included. You must provide your own legally obtained dump of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (USA). The launch BIOS is included: a clean-room, freely redistributable emibios build committed at bios/ — no Nintendo BIOS dump is required.

Features

• Native Linux, Windows, Android, and Steam Deck builds — portable Linux zip, Steam Deck/SteamOS AppImage, static Windows exe, and an Android APK
• Keyboard, controller, and touchscreen controls
• Windowed and fullscreen desktop play
• Validated widescreen view up to 448 px
• Present-time shader stack: MMPX edge smoothing, sharp scaling, pixel grid, LCD subpixel grille, LCD boost, dither, and deband — each toggleable in the in-game menu
• Frame enhancements: frame interpolation (experimental) and LCD ghosting (frame blending), also configurable in the in-game menu
• Cartridge saves and save states
• Fast-forward speed boost — hold 2 (default Assist binding) or Tab (Turbo) / right trigger, or tap the FF touch pill to latch it; speed (2–10x) is set in the in-game menu's Assist section
• Strict fully-static execution — zero interpreter fallback on any executed path, kept that way by a self-healing coverage loop
• GBA screen simulation: raw, unlit, frontlit, backlit, classic
• Launch screen with box art and a native file-dialog ROM picker; ROM and BIOS hashes verified at launch

Controls

GBA control	Keyboard	Controller
D-Pad	Arrow keys	D-Pad / left stick
A / B	X / Z	A / B
Start	Enter	Start
Select	Backspace	Back (Select)
L / R	C / V	LB / RB
Fast-forward (hold)	Tab (Turbo) / 2	Right trigger
In-game menu	Del	Guide or Y button

Controllers are detected automatically. The left analog stick doubles as the D-Pad. Inside the menu, the D-Pad/arrows move, A selects, and B goes back; Del, the Guide button, or Y opens and closes it. Fast-forward runs the game faster while held or latched; 2 is the default Assist binding, Tab is the separate Turbo binding, and its speed (2–10x) is configurable in the in-game menu's Assist section.

On Android, use the on-screen touch controls — tap the FF pill at the top of the screen to toggle the speed boost; open the menu with a long-press, three-finger tap, or the system Back gesture. Use the on-screen A/B buttons to select and go back inside the menu.

Fast-forward controls, the 2–10x speed setting, and expected behavior are covered in docs/fast-forward.md.

Quick start

Release builds are ROM-less: download one, supply your own legally obtained Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (USA) dump, and pick it on the launch screen. The clean-room BIOS is bundled and verified, so no Nintendo BIOS dump is needed.

Grab the latest release from the releases page.

Release	Artifact	System requirements
Linux x64	FFTARecomp-*-linux-x64.zip	x86-64 Linux with OpenGL and X11/XWayland; Debian/Ubuntu: libgl1 libglu1-mesa libx11-6 (normally preinstalled on desktops)
Windows x64	FFTARecomp-*-windows-x64.zip	Windows 10+ x86-64; static executable, nothing extra
Steam Deck / SteamOS	FFTARecomp-*-linux-x86_64.AppImage	SteamOS 3.x, x86-64; FUSE; glibc 2.35 or newer
Android	FFTARecomp-*-android-arm64-v8a.apk	Android 9+ (API 28), arm64-v8a

Apart from the system OpenGL/X11 stack (and the standard C++ runtime), the release builds are self-contained; no additional game runtime libraries need to be installed.

Run

• Linux: extract the zip anywhere writable and run ./FFTARecomp.
• Windows: extract the zip anywhere writable and run FFTARecomp.exe.
• Steam Deck / SteamOS: mark the AppImage executable (chmod +x) and run it from Desktop Mode, or add it as a non-Steam game.
• Android: sideload the APK (it is debug-signed, so allow installation from your browser or file manager) and open the app.

Pick your ROM

The flow is the same on every release:

1. Start the game. On desktop the launch screen opens (the first boot opens the native file picker right away); on Android the setup screen opens.
2. Choose Select ROM and pick your legally obtained USA dump. On desktop you can also drop a .gba file onto the window.
3. Select Play. The ROM is hash-verified, the pick is remembered, and Select ROM re-picks later. The bundled BIOS needs no separate pick.

Load an old save (optional)

Battery saves are raw 64 KiB (65,536-byte) flash images.

• Desktop: copy your old .sav to the game's save file, named ffta_us.sav, before launching; exact paths are in the file-location details below.
• Android: on the setup screen, use Save data (optional) → CHOOSE SAVE and pick the 64 KiB .sav file.

The game loads the imported battery save on the next launch; in-game saves update the same file.

<details> <summary>Where files live and platform-specific details</summary>

Linux and Windows zip (inside the extracted folder):

• saves/ffta_us.sav — cartridge battery save (create saves/ if needed)
• rom.cfg — remembered ROM path
• config.ini, keybinds.ini — menu settings and key bindings

Steam Deck / SteamOS AppImage: after the first launch the game is unpacked to $XDG_DATA_HOME/ffta-recomp/app (default ~/.local/share/ffta-recomp/app). That folder holds the executable, saves/ffta_us.sav, rom.cfg, and the config/keybind files; updating the AppImage keeps them. In Game Mode it defaults to borderless fullscreen with the resize-driven widescreen view. Override with --window, --scale, or --view-width, or set FFTA_APPIMAGE_NO_DECK_DEFAULTS=1. If FUSE is unavailable, run with APPIMAGE_EXTRACT_AND_RUN=1 or --appimage-extract-and-run. If the system file picker is unavailable, add --rom /path/to/ffta.gba as a Steam launch option once.

Android: the app's external files live under /sdcard/Android/data/org.gbarecomp.fftarecomp/files/; the battery save is saves/ffta_us.sav, and save states are in states/. To import a save manually, force-stop the app first, then copy the 64 KiB file to that saves/ffta_us.sav path.

The AppImage and Linux zip are built in a pinned Debian 12 container (tools/compat_build.py) and require glibc 2.35 or newer, which SteamOS 3.x provides. A binary built on a rolling host can require a newer glibc than SteamOS ships.

</details>

Display and widescreen options (--view-width 448, --resize-view, --scale, fullscreen) are listed in docs/README.md.

Building from source

Release players do not need this. Source-build requirements, the one-command python3 build.py route, the manual pipeline, the Android build, and contributor notes are documented in docs/manual-build.md.

License

PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 — see LICENSE. Third-party components retain their own licenses; see THIRD_PARTY_ATTRIBUTION.md.

Legal

This is an unofficial, non-commercial preservation and research project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Square Enix or Nintendo. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and related names, characters, artwork, and game data are trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners.

No copyrighted game ROM or Nintendo BIOS data is distributed by this project. The bundled BIOS is a clean-room replacement, not a Nintendo dump.

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Part of the R.A.I.D. — Retro AI Development static-recompilation community.