Tom & Jerry: War of the Whiskers — native PC port

A native Windows port of the 2003 Xbox game. Not an emulator: the original x86 game code runs in-process, with the Xbox kernel, Direct3D 8 and DirectSound replaced by real Windows implementations (D3D11, XAudio2, Win32 file I/O).

This project contains no game data. You supply your own disc image; the installer extracts the game files from it. Nothing derived from the disc is distributed here.

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Installing

1. Download tj_setup.exe from Releases.
2. Run it and point it at your own .iso of the game.
3. It extracts the game files, installs the runtime, and creates shortcuts.

Saved games and settings live in %LOCALAPPDATA%\TomJerryWOW, so they survive uninstalling and a Program Files install can write them.

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. No redistributables to install — the VC++ runtime is included and everything else is part of Windows.

What works

• The full game: all characters, all arenas, Challenge and Quick Game.
• Local multiplayer up to 4 players — one controller each, on one PC.
• Widescreen and any resolution, windowed / borderless / exclusive fullscreen.
• Independent music and effects volume — the original could only trade one against the other.
• Saving works, to a normal Windows folder.
• LAN multiplayer — host or join over the network, with a lobby, player names and configurable fight settings. Frame-locked deterministic lockstep.
• Local players and LAN players mix freely. Two people can share one PC and play against another PC, with CPU opponents filling any seat that is left — four seats in total, in any combination. Everyone at a PC picks their own character and team on their own controller, and the second player appears as <name> 2.
• MEAT RUSH, a brand new game mode — see below. Playable solo against the AI or over LAN.

MEAT RUSH

A new mode built on top of the original game: a race to collect, not a fight to the finish.

Nobody can be knocked out. Punches, kicks and smashes still land, characters still get knocked down and sent flying, and every move works exactly as it always did — but health is taken out of the equation entirely and the health bars come off the HUD. You cannot lose by being beaten up, and you cannot win that way either.

Instead, a turkey leg keeps dropping into the arena, and you grab it. It is the only item that spawns — no weapons, no first-aid boxes, no mystery crates — and several are on the floor at any moment. Press B next to one and it is instantly yours: it vanishes on the spot and your counter goes up by one. It is never carried, never swung, never thrown, and it cannot be destroyed — kicking or smashing it just knocks it around, so the only way anything scores is a clean pickup.

That turns fighting into a tool rather than the goal. Punching someone away from a drumstick is how you deny them a point; a well-timed smash buys you the second you need to reach one first. Your count is shown under each player's portrait, so you always know who is ahead.

Winning. First to the target wins immediately. Set the target on OPTIONS → FIGHT SETTINGS → MEAT RUSH: 5, 10, 15, 20 or UNLIMITED. On UNLIMITED there is no target and the round is decided by the clock — whoever has collected the most when time runs out takes it, and an equal count is a draw. (UNLIMITED meat together with UNLIMITED time would never end, so the game will not let you start that combination.)

Where to find it: MAIN MENU → MULTIPLAYER → MEAT RUSH, and in the LAN lobby's MODE row alongside QUICK MATCH and TOURNAMENT. It works in every arena — the drumstick is placed into each one at install time, so it looks the same wherever you play.

Controls are the game's own: A jump, B grab, X kick (X in mid-air smashes).

Building

Requires Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools with the x86 toolset, and CMake.

cmake -S port -B port/build -A Win32
cmake --build port/build --config Release

Key targets:

target	what it is
tj_loader	the game executable (low-based host process)
tj_hybrid	the port itself — kernel, graphics, audio, netplay, game modes
tj_setup	the installer (Release only — it embeds the Release binaries)
diff_test	differential test: 141 reimplemented functions vs. the original machine code
xdvdfs_test, xmf_test	installer self-checks (disc reading, asset preparation)

diff_test needs images extracted from your own copy of the game — see port/tools/extract_data_image.py. They are deliberately not distributed.

See HOW_TO_TEST.md for how to run and verify each piece.

How it works, briefly

tj_loader.exe reserves the Xbox virtual address range so Windows places its own allocations elsewhere, then loads tj_hybrid.dll, which maps default.xbe at its real addresses and wires the Xbox kernel imports to native implementations. The game's own code then runs unmodified; features are added by patching call sites and hooking vtables at known addresses.

Determinism was the hard requirement for netplay: one simulation step is exactly one presented frame, no clock reaches gameplay, and both RNGs are reseeded at the match barrier — so two PCs exchanging only inputs stay in step.

Legal

This is an unofficial, non-commercial project, not affiliated with or endorsed by the rights holders. It contains no game code or assets: you must own the game and supply your own disc image. Tom and Jerry and all related characters are the property of their respective owners.