EXEN-V2 Generic Simulator

Sometimes a full system emulator is overkill. This is especially true when a developer only wants to get one game (or a number of games that use the same engine) working. In that case, reimplementing that game alone would save more time than implementing the platform it runs on. These kinds of projects are common when abandonware has large communities; when the original developer has disbanded and can no longer support or update it, an effort is then made to get it running natively on newer versions of-- and/or entirely different-- operating systems and platforms.

• When the developer only has a binary to work with (and not the source code), they recreate the engine rather than port it, hence the term game engine recreations (or alternatively game engine re-implementations). How the developers go about this process depends on their philosophy; they may opt to decompile the original executable and have their own program rely on the original until all of its functions have been remade, at which point the original binary is no longer needed. Alternatively, they can be remade based on a clean room design, in which the project implements the abstract features without having to disassemble the original, going by how components are expected to be used rather than how the game uses them. Some engines come about simply because they were inspired by the original game, and the programmer felt confident enough that no reverse engineering was necessary to make an engine that does the same thing.
• In rare cases, games are released as open-source by the publishers themselves, allowing developers to perform a source port of the code. This skips the step of figuring out how the game works. The most common example that's often used is id Software's release of Doom in 1997. It led to so many ports being released that the community began to joke about what devices haven't gotten it running yet.

Some projects are implemented in ways that the original developer did not intend; for example, for a platform other than which publishers marketed it for. And they're not just limited to game engines either; Webamp is a JavaScript application that reimplements Winamp in the web browser. These projects are almost always open-source which also allows new programmers to fix bugs that could have been difficult to track down during development (alternatively, the bugs may be emulated to allow old mods to continue to safely exploit them). When most of the effort is on programming, the project will usually require the original game's assets (such as files in the installation directory or ROMs) until those ever get remade. This lets the developers claim they aren't infringing the game's copyrights since the player must obtain the original to use it; if the game is still being sold, this could allow the publisher to even earn revenue from the project.

For the sake of brevity, most of these projects often refer to themselves under some variety of fan remakes. The External links section has lists for a number of known and available projects.

On Linux downloading and using game engines is easy with Luxtorpeda - a Steam Play compatibility tool (like Proton) that allows you to run games from Steam using various different game engines and reimplementations.

Multi game engine

Name	Operating System(s)	Latest Version	Libretro Core	Active	Recommended	Supported game(s)
Action-adventure (3rd-person)
OpenTomb		git	✗	✓	✓	Tomb Raider 1–5
OpenLara		git	✓	✓	~	Tomb Raider 1–4
Adventure
ScummVM	Multi-platform	2.8.1	✓	✓	✓	Adventure games and RPGs (LucasArts, Sierra, Activision, Humongous & more. Over 250 games.)
FPS
BuildGDX		Website	✗	✓	✓	Blood, Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Powerslave/Exhumed, Redneck Rampage, Redneck Rampage Rides Again, Witchaven, Witchaven II, TekWar, Legend of the Seven Paladins
Raze		git	✗	✓	✓	Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, Redneck Rampage, Shadow Warrior and Exhumed/Powerslave, Nam, WW2 GI
EDuke32 VoidSW		Website	✗	✓	✓	EDuke32: Duke Nukem 3D, Ion Fury, NAM, World War II GI VoidSW: Shadow Warrior
RedNukem		git	✗	✓	✓	Duke Nukem 3D, Duke Nukem 64, Redneck Rampage, Redneck Rampage Rides Again, NAM, World War II GI
Metaforce		Dev builds git	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	Metroid Prime 1–3
XLEngine		git	✗	✗	✓	Star Wars: Dark Forces, Daggerfall Later: Outlaws, Blood, Shadow Warrior
ZDoom		2.81	✗	✗	✓	Doom I–II, Final Doom, Heretic, Hexen: Beyond Heretic, Chex Quest I–III, Strife: Quest for the Sigil, Hacx: Twitch 'n Kill
Platform
Commander Genius		3.0.0	✗	✓	✓	Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons, Commander Keen in Keen Dreams, Commander Keen in Goodbye Galaxy, Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter
Racing
OpenNFS		git	✗	✓	~	Need for Speed I–III, Need for Speed: High Stakes, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
RPG
EasyRPG	Multi-platform	0.8	✓	✓	✓	RPG Maker 2000/2003 games
GemRB		git	✗	✓	✓	Infinity Engine (Baldur's Gate series (1998–2001), Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale series (2000–2002))
Neko RPGXP Player		2.01	✗	✓	~	RPG Maker XP/VX/VA/MV games
xoreos		0.0.6	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	BioWare's Aurora engine & derivatives (BioWare's 7 PC/console RPGs, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, The Witcher)
RTS
openage		git	✗	✓	~	Age of Empires, AoE II (HD), Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
OpenRA		git	✗	✓	✓	Early Westwood games (Command & Conquer, C&C: Red Alert). Soon: 2nd-gen C&C (C&C: Tiberian Sun).
Vanilla Conquer		git	✗	✓	✓	Early Westwood games (Command & Conquer, C&C: Red Alert, Dune 2000). Based on the official source code release by EA, with the goal of serving as a portable drop-in replacement for the original executables as well as a platform for mod developers.
OpenSAGE		git	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	EA's Command & Conquer games (C&C: Generals, C&C: Generals - Zero Hour) Soon: The Battle for Middle-earth series (2004–2006), C&C 3 & expansion.
Stratagus		3.1.2	✗	✓	✓	Wargus: Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness + Beyond the Dark Portal, Aleona's Tale War1gus: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Stargus: StarCraft (partially playable) Stratagus: Wyrmsun
Shoot 'em up
ReC98	Multi-platform	git	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	Touhou 1–5 (PC-98)

Single game engine

Name	Platform(s)	Latest Version	Libretro Core	Active	Recommended	Supported game(s)
Action-adventure
OpenJK		Build git	✗	✓	~	Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Adventure
The Ur-Quan Masters		0.8.0	✗	✓	✓	Star Control II
FPS
Aleph One		1.4	✗	✓	✓	Marathon 1-2, Marathon Infinity
BStone		git	✗	✓	✓	Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, Blake Stone: Planet Strike
Crispy Doom Crispy Heretic		git	✗	✓	✓	Crispy Doom: Doom 1-2, Final Doom Crispy Heretic: Heretic
dhewm3		git	✓	✓	✓	Doom 3 (Original)
Doom64 EX		2.5	✗	✗	✓	Doom 64 (Original)
D2X-XL DXX-Rebirth		1.18.76 git	✗	✓	✓	Descent, Descent II
ECWolf		1.3.3	✓	✓	✓	Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, Super 3D Noah’s Ark
Hammer of Thyrion		1.5.9	✗	✓	✓	Hexen II
ioquake3		1.36	✗	✓	✓	Quake III: Arena
iortcw		git	✗	~	✓	Return to Castle Wolfenstein
NBlood		git	✗	✓	✓	Blood
OpenMoHAA		[1]	✗	✗	✗	Medal of Honour: Allied Assault
OpenXRay		git	✗	✓	✓	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
PCExhumed		[2]	✗	✓	✓	Powerslave (PC)
Powerslave EX		git	✗	✗	✓	Powerslave (Console)
PrBoom		git	✓	~	✓	Doom 1-2, Final Doom
Quakespasm vkQuake		0.94.2 git	✗	✓	✓	Quake 1
RBDOOM-3-BFG		git	✗	✓	✓	Doom 3 (BFG Edition)
Rise of the Triad for Linux		git	✗	✗	✗	Rise of the Triad: Dark War
rottexpr		git	✗	✓	✓	Rise of the Triad: Dark War
Shockolate		git	✗	✓	✓	System Shock 1
The Force Engine		0.02.001	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	Star Wars: Dark Forces, Outlaws
Tyrquake		git	✓	✓	✓	Quake 1
vitaQuake II		git, PS Vita	✓	✓	✓	Quake 2
Xash3D		0.99	✗	~	✓	Half-Life 1
Yamagi Quake II		8.00	✗	✓	✓	Quake 2
Platform
Jazz² Resurrection		git	✗	✓	✓	Jazz Jackrabbit 2
NXEngine nxengine-evo		1.0.0.6 git	✓	✗	✓	Cave Story
OpenJazz		git	✗	~	✓	Jazz Jackrabbit 1
R.E.L.I.V.E.		git	✗	✓	✓	Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
rawgl		git	✗	✓	✓	Another World/Out of This World
REminiscence		0.4.9	✓	✓	✓	Flashback (Another World's spiritual sequel)
Rigel Engine		git	✗	✓	✓	Duke Nukem II
RSDK		Sonic 1 & 2 Sonic CD	✗	✓	✓	Sonic the Hedgehog 1-2, Sonic CD
SDLPoP		git	✗	✓	✓	Prince of Persia (1989)
Super Mario 64 Port	Multi-platform	Depends on port	✗	✓	✓	Super Mario 64 (N64)
xrick		#021212	✓	✗	✓	Rick Dangerous
Puzzle
Lemmini		git	✗	✗	✓	Lemmings
Racing
CannonBall		git	✓	✗	✓	OutRun
NFSIISE		git	✗	✓	✓	Need for Speed II: SE
OpenC1		1.4 git	✗	✗	✓	Carmageddon
OpenLGR		git	✗	✗	✗	Lego Racers
OpenMC2	(via Wine)	git	✗	✓	✓	Midnight Club II
OpenSWE1R		git	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	Star Wars Episode 1: Racer
RVGL		21.0930a-1	✗	✓	✓	Re-Volt
REDriver2		git	✗	✓	✓	Driver 2
stuntcarremake		Build 08	✗	✓	✓	Stunt Car Racer (Amiga / AtariST)
RPG
Arx Libertatis		git	✗	✓	✓	Arx Fatalis
Daggerfall Unity		Beta 0.13.2 git	✗	✓	✓	The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
DevilutionX		git	✗	✓	✓	Diablo
OpenGothic		git	✗	✓	✓	Gothic II
OpenVIII		git	✗	✓	✗	Final Fantasy VIII
OpenDiablo2		git	✗	✓	✗	Diablo II
OpenMW		0.47.0	✗	✓	✓	The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
OpenTESArena		git	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	The Elder Scrolls I: Arena
REGoth		git	✗	✓	✓	Gothic, Gothic II
reone		git	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1-2
RTS
OpenDUNE		git	✗	✓	✓	Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
TA3D		git	✗	✗	~	Total Annihilation
RTT
FreeSynd		0.7.5	✗	✗	✗	Syndicate (1993)
Syndicate Wars Port		0.3	✗	✗	✓	Syndicate Wars
TBS
civctp2	Pyra	git (ctp2 for Linux/Pandora/Pyra])	✗	~	✓	Call to Power II
CivOne		git	✗	✓	✗ (WIP)	Sid Meier's Civilization
fheroes2		git	✗	✓	✓	Heroes of Might and Magic II
OpenXcom		git	✗	✓	✓	UFO: Enemy Unknown (X-Com: UFO Defense), X-COM: Terror From the Deep
VCMI		git	✗	✓	✓	Heroes of Might and Magic III
Sandbox
OpenRW		git	✗	✓	~	Grand Theft Auto III
re3 reVC		[3] reVC	✗	✓	✓	Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
San Andreas Unity		git	✗	✓	~	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Shoot 'em up
OpenTyrian		git	✗	✓	✓	Tyrian
Sim - City-building
CaesarIA		0.5 (2016)	✗	✗	✗	Caesar III
Julius Augustus (Gameplay changes)		1.7 3.0.1	✗	✓	✓	Caesar III
Sim - Construction/Management
CorsixTH		git	✗	✓	✓	Theme Hospital
OpenLoco		git	✗	✓	✓	Chris Sawyer's Locomotion
OpenRCT2		git	✗	✓	✓	RollerCoaster Tycoon 2
OpenTTD		git	✗	✓	✓	Transport Tycoon Deluxe
Sim - Flight Combat
terminal-recall		git Nightly Builds	✗	✓	✓	Terminal Volocity, Fury3
TPS
max_vita		git	✗	✓	✓	Max Payne
Visual novel
NitroSharp		git	✗	✓	~ (WIP)	ChäoS;HEAd NoAH

External links

• Open Source Game Clones (Likely the best and most complete list.)
• Games on GitHub by Lee Reilly (Master list in wider view. This list from leereilly contains Table of Contents and categories with highlighted links to Git repos.)
• Open Source Games on GitHub by Trilarion (Master list. As good as OSGC site above & frighteningly far larger list than leereilly's Git list. Over 1200 game entries!)
• Game engine recreation on Wikipedia (Has links to lists of: 1) commercial video games with source code; 2) source ports; and 3) game engine recreations.)
• List of games with reconstructed source code on Wikipedia
• List of open-source video games on Wikipedia (Not very complete, and the different categories are somewhat confusing.)
• LibreGameWiki (Small learning curve applies for navigating around the wiki. Tends to focus more on indigenous open-source engines.)
• Game category of the Free software directory (Wiki with fairly basic content. Tends to focus more on indigenous open-source engines.)

Curated Lists:

• Tuncay D.'s recommendations for OS, DRM-free games (thingsiplay.game.blog. Mar 13, 2020. Not for game recreations. Some selections have similarities to old commercial games.)
• Tuncay D.'s recommendations for OS & alike games (thingsiplay.game.blog. May 19, 2020. Focused on game recreations and engines similar to other games.)

News:

• GamingOnLinux.com (For the latest news on releases and updates of game recreations and source ports that work on Linux)
• Reddit feed (Aggregation quality is a little bit spotty. You have to wade through the news posts a bit for the relevant software.)
• List of Open Source Games on Reddit (Thread by u/AMD_CEO. Wed Jul 1, 2020. Had added recommendations to links also seen above.)