SirDiabo built a launcher for N64 recomps on a whim. Nearly 200,000 downloads later, it's time to pass the torch

I'm SirDiabo, an indie game developer with a particular interest in games from the fifth console generation (N64 and PSX). It is partially nostalgia but also respect for the things developers back then were able to cram into 8 MB cartridges. I make games that mimic the look of those games, exploring it as a stylistic choice rather than limitation. I also like to tinker on side projects like the GitHubLauncher, but making games is my main focus.

I am currently working on StarEngine, a custom game engine I'd like to use to move away from Unreal eventually. And I am working with my friends from "Digital Arson" on "SCP: Broken God", a survival horror game that blends SCP Containment Breach with Half Life 1.

When Wiseguy launched the N64Recomp Tool alongside the Zelda Majora's Mask Recompiled Port a lot of people asked for tutorials to make their own ports and about how the tool works. Also, talk about the port itself was scattered all around the internet across Reddit and other forums. People started making google spreadsheets to keep track of the recomps that were announced and released. Through those I found out that shortly after klorfmorf made a Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon Port using Wiseguy's tool called "Goemon 64 Recompiled". A few months later, they decided to make a Discord Server for N64 Recomp with Wiseguy, klorfmorf and other devs on it. There, I remember someone bringing up the issue of each future Recomp having to be downloaded separately, and people having to check for updates themselves and such. So I suggested there that someone could make a Launcher that fetches them directly from GitHub and updates them in place, since they were all hosted there. I made the first version of the GitHubLauncher, then called the "N64Recomp Launcher", as an example of how someone could do something like that. I wasn't very experienced with .NET, so I was mostly learning as I went. I didn't initially plan on adding features or maintaining it, but it was fun hearing the people on that server suggest things and implementing them. So I kept working on it.

As I was continuing to work on the Launcher with suggestions and help from people on the N64Recomp Discord Server, more and more people suggested me adding non-N64 ports to the list. At first, I wanted to keep it N64Recomp games exclusive but caved after a while since it was easy to just add them to a list. Shortly after, developers of these Recomp Projects asked me to make my own server and said that non-N64Recomp related stuff has no place on that Discord Server. I agreed, so I opted to remove them again.

Then a long while later, I was approached again by one of the Recomp Developers and accused to have vibe-coded the whole thing. I was learning .NET as I went, so I could understand why someone might have questions about how it was made. I assured them that it is not vibe-coded and that I am mostly a game developer that uses game engines and that making desktop applications was new to me. Shortly after I was asked to rename it to something else. People kept coming into the discord server asking for help with the launcher in non-Launcher related chats. And some apparently mistook the Launcher itself to be the "N64Recomp" thing, despite it not being affiliated to any of the people who make these Recomp Ports. By that point, the Launcher had features like mod management using Thunderstore's API that someone from the server added to the Launcher. Features that would only work for N64 Recomp Ports. So I was hesitant on renaming it, but after wiseguy himself asked, I opted to remove the mod browser and rename it to "GithubLauncher" as it is named today. There was a little bit of drama, but I wanted to avoid any bad PR or bad blood between me and the Recomp Devs, since I do very much respect and like the stuff that they do. After this, since it was no longer N64Recomp related much, I added back other non-N64Recomp games, expanding the list much further.

I have added a feature, where the Launcher can fetch an "App Catalogue" from a separate GitHub repository, so I wouldn't have to update the Launcher each time a new PC Port comes out. As I mentioned before, I at first only wanted N64Recomp Games on the Launcher. I later decided that Harbour Master's PC Ports would also make a good fit alongside. Then, when the rename came, I added anything people suggested or that I heard about releasing. Today, I simply have to add a few lines for name, repository, folder name, icon to a single file list to add them to the catalogue. I also use the launcher myself for keeping my games updated and for running them, so when I see a new port come out that I want to play, I add it to the catalogue and download it through the launcher myself. But also people will request me adding ports to the app list through GitHub Pull Requests.

I keep AI-made ports separate mostly because many people in the community prefer it that way. People have strong opinions about them, and I share some of the concerns about quality and maintainability. Some projects feel rough around the edges or lack the polish that comes from extensive testing and iteration.

I can't always tell how much AI was used, though. I sometimes look at things like whether Claude Code is listed as a contributor on GitHub, but that isn't necessarily a complete picture of how a project was made. For me, keeping the categories separate makes it easier for people to find the kinds of projects they prefer.

People blame AI for sloppifying the scene, but everything is flooded with slop, when it becomes more accessible, I would argue.

SrBananaMan64 in the N64Recomp Discord had a mostly playable Super Smash Bros. recomp running before Star Fox Recompiled came out. The developers advised keeping it private because support for multiple controllers wasn't ready yet, and releasing Smash without local multiplayer would have missed a major part of the experience. I understood their reasoning, but I was disappointed, because I would have loved to see it released.

More recently, BananaMan posted a trailer to "Smash 64: Recompiled" on YouTube with local multiplayer functioning, which I'm very excited for!

Not really! Though, I am really glad so many people enjoy using it. It started as a fun project inside a community that I made on a whim and now has become this massive thing that people talk about in news publications, and I am now being interviewed over. But I think I'll just maintain it whenever it needs care and keep updating the list. I don't have any reliable user demographics or platform breakdowns but wouldn't really be that interested. I care more about that people like it.

I don't have that much time to maintain GitHubLauncher, and I made the Launcher open-source and originally made it as an example for the exact purpose of having someone else pick up the torch at some point. The other launchers are also cool!

I considered someday adding support for GitLab and tags and such. I hadn't heard of Quiver before your question, but after looking into it, I saw that it already supports some of the features I had considered adding. So I will probably focus on other projects for now. The Core Repository was meant to allow people to make their own launcher frontends, using the core as a library. I havent used it anywhere else since though.

Since I have had issues with .NET, and getting it to work on different platforms other than windows, I was considering rewriting it in C/C++ which would allow it to much more naturally work on Linux and Mac and such. Though with someone else now maintaining Quiver Launcher, I'll probably move on and leave it to them.

I mostly just make games. The tools I make, I usually make on a whim or out of necessity. I remember feeling frustrated over the process of making fonts, so I made a tool that turns a folder of image files into a font file. It is also on my GitHub and open source, and I've since used it for the font in Halavein and my friend used it to make the font for Vigil in the Mist. Also, making the GitHubLauncher together with the N64Recomp Community on their Discord was a lot of fun. I enjoyed taking suggestions and adding them and discussing things as a part of the community. I'm glad I was able to contribute something to it. But also, making something from the ground up and learning in the process was also a lot of fun. And I have since continued doing so. I am currently in the process of making my own game engine called "StarEngine", which I plan to at some point use for my games instead of Unreal, since Unreal is not very suited for making games with the kind of stylization I prefer. And I don't think that I would have been able to start a project like that without first picking up some experience in software backend and UI/UX work on the GithubLauncher.

I think today is a better time than ever to get into making stuff digitally. Whether it's getting into programming or making music or movies and anything. So if you want to express yourself creatively, or just make a little tool to make something you were already doing a little easier, now is the time to do it. Then maybe share it with other, and maybe one day you will do interviews too. I certainly didn't expect that little example of how a launcher for recomp games could be made, to turn into something that got nearly 200,000 downloads and I'd be interviewed over. Thanks to The Raytrace for giving me a place to rant about all this. And thank to the many people who have used the tools or launchers or played the games I made. I never thought that out of all the things I put out, the Launcher I made on a whim would be the thing that would reach the most people though! x)

Overall, I am glad Github Launcher did as well as it did. And I am glad that others are picking up the torch, which allows me to see to new endeavors.