NFS Most Wanted Recomp

Build & contribute · Port analysis · Testing · Changelog

A recompilation of Need for Speed: Most Wanted (the 2005 PC Black Edition) for macOS, iPad, Linux, Windows and the browser, in progress. Original game instructions are translated to C ahead of time and compiled with the native host, the way populous-recomp does it.

The runtime, translator, hosts and mod foundation are recomp-kit, pulled in as the git submodule kit/. This repository holds what is Most Wanted's: game.toml and globals.toml (identity, addresses, curated symbols), tests/ (the config's contract with the kit), tools/analyze.py (this game's listing export) and docs.

You need your own copy of the game. Game executables, artwork, sound, tracks, cinematics, generated game code and replacement packs are prepared locally and are not included. See NOTICE for ownership and dependency credits.

Which executable

The 2005 PC Black Edition ships one game executable, speed.exe (linked by Microsoft 7.10, Visual C++ .NET 2003, timestamp 2005-12-01). It renders through Direct3D 9 with its own effect files, plays sound through DirectSound from .abk banks whose heap routines are x86 code the kit runs in a small interpreter, and reads its tracks and cars from the game folder. The exact image is pinned by SHA-256 in game.toml; no other build is accepted.

Status: plays through the menus; a scripted race completes intermittently

Recorded macOS runs booted, rendered the menus and drove a race, but only one or two of five scripted runs completed; the others stopped during race loading. Fresh Windows checks on 2026-11-01 entered and drove two races and exited cleanly, including mapped-pad/mouse controls. Those bounded results do not establish that the older timing-dependent loading failure is eliminated. The measurements and platform-specific evidence are in docs/analysis.md.

Platform status

The rows retain their recorded platform-specific scope. Windows was checked on 2026-11-01 with the shared diagnostic-host mod correction; other platform runtime observations below are historical. See the run log.

Platform	Verified status	Build command	Known issues and remaining checks
macOS 14+	Boots, renders the front end and career menus on Metal, reaches track select and a race. One to two runs in five play smoke/quick-race.script to the end with guest exit code 0.	.venv/bin/python tools/build.py (app); --target smoke	The intermittent hang entering race loading is open and is the blocker. Performance is unmeasured on this pin: the 4K figures below predate it and cannot be re-measured until a run reaches gameplay reliably.
iPadOS 17+	Played by touch on an earlier kit pin, with the core mods compiled into the app, which a stock device needs because it loads no plugins.	.venv/bin/python tools/build.py --target ios --console	Not re-checked since the kit gained restored kernel32 imports, new recovery arbitration and 836 static initializers.
Linux	Rendered the race on an earlier pin, including under software Vulkan (lavapipe).	.venv/bin/python tools/build.py --regenerate	Not re-checked on the current pin.
Windows	Native Windows x64 LLVM-MinGW/Vulkan: fresh menu and two quick-race probes pass at 1280x720 with core.nfsmw loaded. Captures show acceleration, steering, mouse targeting, brake input and pause/resume; both runs exit zero.	tools/build.py --target smoke; tools/probe_windows.py --toolchain /path/to/llvm-mingw	Bounded checks, not a full campaign or performance measurement. Two passes do not establish that the historical intermittent loading failure is eliminated.
The browser	WebGPU in Chrome and Safari on an earlier pin: the game runs on a worker and reads its files from the browser's private storage; a race ran at 113-166 fps.	.venv/bin/python tools/build.py --target web	Reading a render target back is unsupported there. Not re-checked on the current pin.

Historical issues and remaining checks

• The race-loading hang. A scripted race completes one or two runs in five. The main thread spins in a translated function rather than deadlocking, so the watchdog reports it as the guest no longer calling into the runtime. Every instrument tried so far moves it; sample on the hung process is the one measurement that does not.
• Shutdown. Older smoke runs reported a guest worker outliving the run (exit code 4). The fresh Windows menu and race checks exit zero; other platform runtime checks have not been repeated for this checkpoint.
• Earlier per-platform figures. The 4K and browser numbers quoted above were measured before the current kit pin and are kept as history, not as claims about it.

Direct3D 9 is translated through one shader generator and renders on Metal (macOS, iPad), Vulkan (Linux, Windows, and macOS through MoltenVK) and WebGPU (the browser). The simulation runs at 120 Hz and the widescreen fix (FOV, HUD, minimap) is ported, both in the core.nfsmw mod. Online play (ws2_32, tapi32, netapi32, the bundled server.dll) is out of scope and stubbed to fail cleanly, and the Windows-only extras in the game folder (the ASI loader and the widescreen fix) are not part of the port; their fixes are native host behaviour instead.

Build on macOS

The steps are the kit's. The last of them regenerates the translation and builds the app.

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/veritr1x/nfsmw-recomp.git
cd nfsmw-recomp
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/python -m pip install --require-hashes --only-binary=:all: -r kit/requirements.lock
.venv/bin/python tools/setup.py --install "/path/to/Need For Speed Most Wanted Black Edition" --link-only
.venv/bin/python tools/analyze.py --ghidra-home /path/to/ghidra_12.1.3_PUBLIC
.venv/bin/python tools/build.py --regenerate

tools/setup.py, tools/build.py, tools/test.py and tools/ios_logs.py are four-line wrappers around the kit's tools; every option is the kit's (--help lists them). tools/analyze.py is this game's own: the kit's setup exports listings from a curated annotation set, and none exists for speed.exe, so this script runs Ghidra's analyzers instead. Outputs (the translation, the apps, the logs) live under ignored build/; your installation is linked at ignored original/retail and the Ghidra listings live in ignored analysis/.

Build for the other platforms

Linux and Windows builds are the kit's --target app (Windows cross-compiles with llvm-mingw), and tools/build.py --target web writes a servable site for the browser. The kit's README has the prerequisites and the serving headers the web build needs.

Play on an iPad

tools/build.py --target ios --console builds, signs and installs the app and streams its console, staging the game directory into the app minus [bundle].exclude in game.toml (the uninstaller, the Windows-only DLLs). The core mods are compiled in, which a stock device needs because it loads no plugins.

Check a change

.venv/bin/python tools/test.py              # the kit's portable suites
.venv/bin/python -m pytest -q tests         # this game's config
.venv/bin/python tools/build.py --stub      # the kit configures against this config, no game code

Changes to the runtime, hosts or tools belong in the kit's repository; bump the submodule here once they land.