Native Apple Silicon port for Vice City (reVC) — Metal, HDR, Game Mode & 1-Command Install

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u/Zeeplankton 1d ago

I feel like I'm seeing so many recompilation type projects here lately. Is this just coincidence? Or is it easier with like AI now?

Otherwise: cool. Checking out later.

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u/HelpRespawnedAsDee 1d ago

it's everywhere, here, game mods across all platforms, VR games and mods, I saw a full port of Beat Saber (same assets and all) on the AVP earlier today. Yes, part of it it's AI, and you can tell the vibe coders from the knowledgable devs and modders by then output quality, but this difference is gonna get less and less obvious in the next years.

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u/Flat-12 16h ago

Is this fully playable?

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u/TastyIndependence956 1d ago

For the N64 ports, there was a breakthrough due to the N64Recomp project last year, so that's were most of it is coming from. As for the other projects, I'd imagine AI is a big part of it.

In the case of the reVC, from what I've read in the docs, it started much earlier, the authors did it to GTA 3 first, then that provided them with a good base for other games with the same engine, such as GTA VC, and now they moved on to Liberty City Stories, and the majority of the work was done pre-2021, so pretty much no AI.

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u/zarif2003 1d ago edited 1d ago

Mainly AI, a decent chunk of these projects are entirely vibecoded by people who don’t know how to code.

Which has a tendency of making things look more complete than it actually is.

Edit: OP spends all his time talking about shitcoin crypto scams, and has now admitted using AI by editing his comments, after first pretending that he didn’t.
Textbook case of AI delusion taking over

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago edited 1d ago

The deleted comment from zarif2003:

Mainly AI, a decent chunk of these projects are entirely vibecoded by people who don’t know how to code.

Which has a tendency of making things look more complete than it actually is.

Edit: OP spends all his time talking about shitcoin crypto scams, and has now admitted using AI by editing his comments, after first pretending that he didn’t.
Textbook case of AI delusion taking over

My reply:
I'm a computer scientist and been developing for 15+ years :) I have used AI for this, obviously, but why not use a tool like that?

Response to Edit: I have created this for my own entertainment and decided to share it, but certainly didn't come for a full background check.

Yes I did crypto, and I was letting people know on reddit that they are buying scam tokens with unlocked contracts.

Yes I am using AI as a tool to create this fun project, why wouldn't I?

My dude, I was writing C code when you were 4 years old, and I was studying CS in a university when you were 9, dear zarif2003... if anyone has delusion it is you.

And if you are wondering why devs who create cool stuff for themselves don't release anything to the public is because they don't want to deal with pricks like you and the ones upvoting and giving awards to your comment, who don't contribute anything but trying to intimidate others and just wasting others time. I already regret doing it, because instead of playing with it I had to spend time releasing it, dealing with negative comments targeting me and etc meanwhile gaining absolutely NOTHING from it.

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u/srona22 1d ago

Programmer here. This is reddit. Just remember how cesspool it is even before AI boom.

And most people can't distinguish between vibe coded and AI assisted outputs.

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u/ILikeFPS 1d ago

Cool project, any plans to do the same for RE3? That would be amazing.

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

It wouldn't be that difficult since the changes that I made can be applied there too. But I just made this for my own entertainment, and decided to share it. VC is my favorite GTA and didn't plan on doing the port for other games now. Ask the people to do it who say developing with AI is easy, let's see what they come up with :)

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u/ILikeFPS 1d ago

That's a shame, I would have enjoyed this for RE3.

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u/zarif2003 1d ago

2003 is when I got my first pc, but sure, your vibecode is gonna be missed 🥱 GitHub loses another vessel of invaluable art.

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago edited 1d ago

Deleted comment from zarif2003:

2003 is when I got my first pc, but sure, your vibecode is gonna be missed 🥱 GitHub loses another vessel of invaluable art.

My reply:
Show me your code then, I teach secure coding in C/C++ on ARM, let's see if it is good enough. Here is my linkedin, I don't need to hide anything, what can you show off? By the way go play with your own mac port, you are not welcome playing with mine, prick.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrás-széll-808690a1/

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u/ResearchingYouTube 1d ago

I work in tech on a product development team. The engineers on our team at this point use AI to do basically all coding. If Claude is down, people don’t jump back into their IDE and manually code, they go take a break.

AI is getting very good at coding particularly in the hands of people who know what they are doing.

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u/beyondloveee 1d ago

Sorry but this is a genuine question: if no one was going to pick up a project like this and code it manually, why is there anything wrong with getting AI to do it and sharing it with people in the event that it works? we already have very limited options as it is, let's not shoot ourselves in the foot by going after people who use AI to make it just a little better.

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

Basically I did this port for myself to play with and just decided to share it, I have used AI, but non dev people don't know that every developer now uses AI as part of the toolset to develop. Slop starts when non developers start using it and they don't know what the AI did and just go on with it.

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u/ILikeFPS 16h ago

You did hit the nail on the head. Non developers make fun of developers for using AI without realizing that there basically isn't any developers left that don't use AI, it's just another tool in our toolkit. They have no way of knowing what is an AI assisted project vs a vibe coded slop project, to non developers it's all the same thing, because they aren't developers to know the differences.

And that's why I'm a little bit sad that there isn't also an RE3 Mac silicon native port, I think GTA 3 was just as good as Vice City and I think it's a game well deserving of a port just the same.

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u/zarif2003 1d ago edited 1d ago

I use AI at my work as an analyst a lot, I never even said AI usage is bad. Of course, people that abuse it to make code they don’t understand, feel insecure when I call out their AI use.
Hence why OP is trying his best to be as indirect with his replies as possible.

Edit: poor little kid got scared by my job title and said some stupid shit, and got his comment deleted. You can’t make this up 🤦

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u/MetroMetroid 1d ago

I don’t think your saving yourself very well my friend.

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u/sabre31 1d ago

Yes very easy with AI. Great time to be alive.

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago edited 1d ago

Dude, every developer uses AI now, it's a great tool if you use it wisely. I have used AI for this project too, for example creating a good readme takes hours manually and a few minutes using AI. It doesn't mean I just click generate and then magic happens, I still need to review it and do more iterations until it looks like what I want.

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u/sabre31 1d ago

Agreed. People are living under a rock. Every developer is and those who say they are not are lying.

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u/Time-Heron-2361 1d ago

Not every developer knows how to use ai.

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago edited 1d ago

I did just a few improvements for the Mac platform to make it easily playable in good quality, but the real credit goes to the reVC guys and they are also not vibe coders

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u/liright 2h ago

What would have taken a year of effort before, so nobody would do it, now takes maybe 20 hours of effort thanks to AI. This will only accelerate.

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u/SinisterHollow 1d ago

Lol check his username

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

Lol what is funny about it? Have you also used the Core ML framework and had a laugh?

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u/SinisterHollow 1d ago

Whatever floats your boat man

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u/AnybodyRealistic345 1d ago

Yes. Seems like Astra model is amazing at this stuff. One example: https://x.com/marc_ibrahim/status/2096365209111724235?s=46

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

I've used claude for the HDR patch and I would have needed days to find where to look in the ANGLE library that I am not familiar with. AI is very useful for finding stuff in a big codebase, but brainlessly using it is equally easy to screw things up. For fun projects this makes sense, I wouldn't have the time otherwise to do things like this.

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u/Od111n73 1d ago

When GTA 4 at last?

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u/eric4337x 21h ago

Use my vibe coded D9MT driver, it was specifically built for this title.

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u/Wookie_von_Gondor 15h ago

thank you for that bro!

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u/EscaNor-6 1d ago

Fr, too bored to use parallels or crossover etc.

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u/Od111n73 1d ago

Game so bad run via crossover- can’t play

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u/itzmefamzy 1d ago

There's dxmt or something that's a vibe coded macos port of DXVK but it works perfectly for GTA4. Not much for others

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u/Wookie_von_Gondor 15h ago

holy crap that seems amazing, found this gameplay: GTA IV running via D9MT on M1 Max

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u/itzmefamzy 15h ago

Yup that's it hopefully you enjoy GTA4. You might love it with this

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u/Wookie_von_Gondor 15h ago

yeah, as a gta4 fan I'm aware of this video! heck, I might even burn up some AI tokens to check if the D9MT version could be improved

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u/BreckenLusk 1d ago

Currently working on getting GTA IV running natively. I feel like I’m close but I haven’t been successful in running it just yet.

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u/ILikeFPS 16h ago

There isn't a RE project for 4 like there was for 3 and VC, IIRC. There isn't even for SA let alone 4.

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u/Fluid_Opportunity161 1d ago edited 1d ago

The generated reVC.app doesn't open on my M4 Macbook Air running macOS 15.6.1 (24G90)

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u/StupidDawg2k 1d ago

Can confirm this. Macbook Pro M4, MacOs 27 public beta. The generated app doesn't launch.

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

Can you create an issue on github and paste the report there?

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u/StupidDawg2k 21h ago

Sure! Here it is:
https://github.com/coldcue/reVC/issues/2

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

Added backwards compatibility, try it again (it was built on MacOS 26)

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u/Fluid_Opportunity161 1d ago

Thank you, I will try it later at home!

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u/brentr123 1d ago

Hey I am experiencing the same issue,the app just crashes upon launching it. When I was using AI to diagnose the issue, it said something about Retina

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u/Murky_Welder155 1d ago

Thanks a lot! Would love to see it for San Andreas as well

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u/tobisaurier 1d ago

do i need to be afraid to follow tutorials from reddits like this in terms of malware?

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

Yes, you need to be afraid. I always check the source code, at least run a review agent on it if it finds anything

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u/Busy-Boss-4313 1d ago

> You can’t use this version of the application “reVC” with this version of macOS.
Sequoia.

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

It should be fixed now, let me know if this is still an issue. I don't have macos 15 so I can't easily test it.

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u/imnotdavidorami 1d ago

First of all, thank you for making this! I have a launching problem. When i try to open it, it quits instantly. Could it be because the resolution of the display? Does the game requires 1920x1080? I have a 16" M4 PRO macbook pro. Thanks for the reply in advance!:)

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u/neuralengine2 15h ago

I have patched this, run the install script again and it will update it

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u/heinternets 1d ago

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is no longer available on the Steam store. Only the Definitive Edition is. Does it work with that? If not how do you get the files if its not for sale?

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

You can use any version not just the steam one

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u/heinternets 15h ago

Where can I get? Only seeing the Definitive Edition for sale on the usual places, does that work?

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u/neuralengine2 15h ago

Unfortunately you have to board onto a pirate ship to get it. The original mac port has all the game files necessary.

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u/Time-Heron-2361 1d ago

Hey whats the performance?

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u/neuralengine2 15h ago

It's running natively, on my M4 max at 5k it consumes like 20-30W

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u/RustleGlub 21h ago

Very nice. Starting to think I need a Recomp flair mode. What do you think?

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u/imnotdavidorami 18h ago

De király akkor ez magyarxd Kicsi a világ.. Dualsense kontrollerrel nekem erősen driftel mintha mindig felfele akarna nézni. Erre esetleg van megoldás? Gondolom a régi-új összeférhetetlenség vagy nem tudom. Amúgy nagyon jól fut és jó látni, nosztalgikus

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u/neuralengine2 15h ago

Majd kerek kolcson egy dualsense-t es megnezem hogy megy vele

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u/Wookie_von_Gondor 15h ago

A héten valamikor ránézek én is. Szerencsére van egy kontroller arzenálom itthon. 😏

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u/Wookie_von_Gondor 15h ago edited 15h ago

Is it possible to add mods to this? For example for 60 fps. (edit: nagy vagy mester!)

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u/neuralengine2 15h ago

You can switch off frame limiter, but it will affect game mechanics. Unfortunately the game mechanics are calculated using the fps. ( koszi :) )

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u/Wookie_von_Gondor 15h ago

That makes me wonder if MetalFX Frame Interpolation could further improve the Mac version of the game in the future. That way the project would take advantage of the M series chips on another level.

Theoretically, we should have enough headroom for the frame generation right? Especially on newer models.

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u/neuralengine2 14h ago

Unfortunately the opengl implementation limits this, especially ANGLE, which is the only non-deprecated opengl framework for mac. For frame interpolation it needs a bunch of stuff which would need a big ANGLE patch. The best would be to rewrite librw using metal shaders, that would be the best performant option.

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u/poohmustdie 14h ago

Yay my favorite gta on my macbook

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u/just_another_leddito 11h ago

How can it be native if you have no source code and the game was never arm?

Just curious. 🧐

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u/neuralengine2 5h ago

The game was disassembled by reVC guys and recompiled to arm64. The rendering engine was also disassembled and its called librw. Check out the github repo, its all there.

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u/just_another_leddito 5h ago

Impressive. 👍

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u/Grand_Sprinkles_2094 8h ago

can you do DLSS5 on it too? I know it's unrealistic expectations but in the age of AI nothing is impossible

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u/raiden_117n 7h ago

so i can play gta vc for free?

or do i have to buy it in steam

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u/neuralengine2 1h ago

you need to get hold of the game (preferably the existing macos version which does not run anymore) from any source, can't tell you more, board the pirate ship

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u/Disastrous_Guitar737 1d ago

Nice! Is there any wiki or smth to check all available ports like this for Apple Silicon?

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u/aptonline 1d ago

Great news, seems it’s no longer available on the Steam store though

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u/North_Tomatillo9712 1d ago

You’re paying rockstar for a >20 year old game? Tf is wrong with u💀

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u/leontes 1d ago

the instructions to make this work, says, first, buy on steam. Is there another way of getting it to work?

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u/Final-Accident2502 1d ago

Pirate it. There’s no other way

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u/leontes 1d ago

can you do that and still use this native apple silicon port?

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u/eric4337x 1d ago

If you're willing to pay a high premium for it, you can still buy Steam keys on third party marketplaces.

https://www.g2a.com/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-pc-steam-key-global-i10000001584010

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u/neuralengine2 1d ago

I have updated the instructions for better clarity, check it out now

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u/fingoo 1d ago

Amazing man! I’ll definitely check it out. I was about to replay the definitive edition, but I’d rather play the original

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u/ww_wv2 1d ago

For some reason no matter how many times
i rerun the script my characters camera alwyas ends up super offcenter and it seems cutscenes are too

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u/neuralengine2 15h ago

Run the install script again and double check it

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u/Adventurous_Chef2225 21h ago

Everyone who is spamming vibecoding here ......... I am also a CS undergraduate in Germany ...... recently many such pricks similar to zariff2003 also attacked my codework , bro has ported an entire engine made by a proprietary and obselete RenderWare tech to mordern day Metal ..... its not a joke ........ I also used AI assisted tooling a bit of my OpenGL mesa driver for macOS , and rn 9854 CTS cases have passed , still fixing the issues ........ Even big teams use AI nowadays because technology today may get obselete withing a week or so and a new tech would rise , thus AI assisted coding thus help to accelerate that , for my case ai assisted coding is useful because firstly Mesa is a huge decades worth of worth to refactor by hand manually , by the time I would read all the Mesa code, some other dev would have commited upstream.

And for small devs or single man devs it becomes more tough , AI thus has also helped us decentralise development a lot which earlier Big companies had privillege to

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u/eric4337x 21h ago

The author of this post has not really ported anything, it's prior work of a lot of people who reverse engineered the original client and hand wrote it before AI was a thing.

They just added macOS as a compile target.

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u/neuralengine2 19h ago

Not really just a compile target, check the commits. I had to dig deep and patch libraries and etc

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u/Adventurous_Chef2225 21h ago

Bro so times have changed ....... at a time owning a computer was considered a luxury and flex and people attacked the idea that you can do the work mechanically yourself , but we did adopt computers right now , at a time Pentium was considered an elite tier cpu and ray tracing was research grade work ........ nowadays no on talks under Ryzen 9 and RTX 5090 + Path Tracing + Neural Rendering , its a different case/story they have the ability to afford it or not :)

Similarly the same is about AI , So instead of scrutinizing just on the basis that the port they had is AI assisted or Vibecoded ... lets just test the work , find out issues and tell the guy about what improvements they need, thats it , make reddit productive instead of ruining someone's mood and day and make them feel worthless when they have some goals to achieve

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u/eric4337x 20h ago

Well, I never said that OP's work is worthless. I was just pointing out to the inaccuracies in your original comments, that's all. And I vibe code a lot too. wrote a DirectX 9 to Metal layer that I open sourced some time ago. So I'm not anti-AI. but you need to get your facts right.

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u/Adventurous_Chef2225 19h ago

Oh great ... D3D9 on Metal, well have started D3D12 native driver for macOS using Mesa and vkd3d-proton tech , lets see how it goes

Would be happy to see your D3D9 metal wrapper

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u/bloedmage 1d ago

Would it be possible to compile this on Intel Macs?

Native Native Apple Silicon port for Vice City (reVC) — Metal, HDR, Game Mode & 1-Command Install