NHL94Recomp

Static recompilation of NHL Hockey '94 (Sega Genesis / Mega Drive, 1993) to native C, built on the shared segagenesisrecomp engine. This repository owns everything game-specific: the ROM configuration (game/game.toml), the runtime adapter (game/nhl94_spec.c), disassembly-derived discovery inputs, tools, tests and release packaging. The engine is consumed as a pinned submodule and contains no game knowledge.

Status: playable. Boots, menus, attract mode and human games run fully native (interpreter floor off by default, empty miss manifests). Timing against hardware is unverified. See docs/BRINGUP.md for the chronological log.

Requirements

• Windows: Visual Studio 2022 (Community is fine) with the C++ workload. The build scripts use the CMake bundled with Visual Studio.
• A dump of the USA/EU NHL Hockey '94 ROM: 1,048,576 bytes, CRC32 9438F5DD, serial GM T-50656 -00. Copy it to game/NHL94.bin. The ROM is never committed and is not distributed with this project.
• Python 3.12+ for the discovery and probe tooling.
• Optional: an IDA Pro XML export of the ROM database at game/nhl94.xml supplies human function names for the generated C (see docs/DISASSEMBLY.md); tools/nhl94_names.py adds machine-derived ai_ names to it with evidence.

Build

git clone --recursive <this repo>
copy <your dump> game\NHL94.bin
_build_native.bat
build\Release\NHL94Recomp.exe build\Release\nhl94.bin

_build_native.bat regenerates the C from the ROM and config on every build. Generated files live only under build/ and must never be edited by hand.

If you are developing the engine at the same time, a sibling ..\segagenesisrecomp checkout is used automatically; set the GENESIS_RECOMP_ROOT environment variable to point anywhere else.

Release build

Dev builds (_build_native.bat) compile the TCP command server, history rings and rare-event prints such as [DMA-STALL]. A shipping build turns all of that off and is packaged by an allowlist tool that refuses to include a ROM, save, dump or log. Follow segagenesisrecomp/RELEASING.md; the mechanics are:

_build_release.bat                 REM build-release\Release\NHL94Recomp.exe, GEN_ENABLE_TRACE=OFF
_package_release.bat 0.1.0         REM NHL94Recomp-v0.1.0-win64.zip

The release script builds against the pinned segagenesisrecomp submodule, so commit the engine and bump the submodule before cutting a release. It warns if GENESIS_RECOMP_ROOT redirects it to a development checkout. The zip holds exactly NHL94Recomp.exe, SDL2.dll, README.txt, LICENSE (PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0) and THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.md. Never ship GenesisRecomp.exe (build tool) and never zip a build folder by hand: CMake copies the ROM next to the executable.

Layout

CMakeLists.txt            game target: generated C + shared runner + adapter
_build_native.bat         configure + build with the VS-bundled CMake
game/game.toml            ROM identity, RAM layout, discovery seeds
game/nhl94_spec.c         GameSpec: entry / VBlank / HBlank dispatchers
game/NHL94.bin            (your ROM; ignored by git)
tools/debug.ini           copied next to the exe in dev builds to arm the TCP server
docs/                     bring-up notes and disassembly provenance
segagenesisrecomp/        pinned shared engine (submodule)

Rules

The engine's PRINCIPLES.md, CLAUDE.md and DEBUG.md apply here. In particular: the disassembly is ground truth for function discovery, generated C is never edited, and dispatch_misses.toml next to the executable is checked after every run.

License

Project code is released under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, matching the engine. Third-party notices are in the engine's THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.md. Release builds contain no ROM data.