[AI] SkyRoads for Sega 32X
- physical : no
- rom : yes
- licensing : unlicensed
- code : skyroadsforsega32xbyharoldook
- Date(s) : 2026
- Tag(s) : 3D, 3D Platformer, Retro, sega-32x, Generative AI used
- By(s) : haroldo-ok
Data retrieved from haroldo-ok.itch.io
SkyRoads for Sega 32X by haroldo-ok
- title : SkyRoads for Sega 32X by haroldo-ok
- status : Released
- tags : 3D,
3D Platformer,
Retro,
sega-32x
- ai : AI Assisted, Code
- last updated : 2026
- by : haroldo-ok
- code : skyroadsforsega32xbyharoldook
Github repo: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/skyroads-32x
SkyRoads — a 1:1 reverse-engineered portable port
In 1993, Bluemoon Interactive — the Estonian studio whose founders later built the technology behind Kazaa and Skype — released SkyRoads, a gorgeous space-racing game for DOS. The source code was never published.
This repo is a from-scratch reverse engineering of that game: the original SKYROADS.EXE was disassembled, every file format and algorithm was recovered from the machine code, and the whole engine was rewritten as ~3,000 lines of portable C11. It runs today on macOS, Windows, Linux, the web (Emscripten), and iOS — with the exact 36.0036 Hz timing, fixed-point physics, and pre-baked-perspective renderer of the original.
Made as a love letter to Bluemoon Interactive and everyone who spent the 90s bunny-hopping down neon roads in space. All game content is theirs; SkyRoads was released as freeware.
Original source: https://github.com/ammaarreshi/skyroads-port
How faithful is it?
This is not a remake "in the spirit of" the original — it aims to be the same game:
No original code executes. The engine is new C, linking only SDL2.
Demo-proven physics. The original's 1993 attract-demo input recording (DEMO.REC) is position-indexed raw input. Replayed through this engine's reimplemented physics, it completes the entire demo road tick-for-tick — jump arcs, boost pads, sticky tiles, collisions, and the hidden landing autopilot all have to be exact for that to work. It's a regression test: ctest --test-dir build.
Receipts included. docs/FORMATS.md specifies every file format, and re/notes/ documents the recovered game logic with the EXE instruction address for every constant.
Original data, untouched. The engine reads the unmodified retail files at runtime. No converted assets.
Getting the game data
This repository contains no Bluemoon files. SkyRoads is freeware — download it from bluemoon.ee and copy the data files (.LZS, .DAT, *.SND, DEMO.REC) into the repo root (they're gitignored), or pass their folder to the executable.
Build & run
cmake -B build -S . && cmake --build build ./build/skyroads /path/to/skyroads-data # or run from the data dir
Web, iOS (including TestFlight), and Windows cross-builds: see docs/PORTING.md.
Sega 32X
The 32X cartridge build, controller map, memory design and headless PicoDrive point-to-point tests are documented in docs/32X.md. The ROM is built with make -f Makefile.32x release and written to release/SkyRoads32X.32x. Its OPL2 scores are converted at build time to standard Genesis VGM and played on the console's real Yamaha YM2612; the 14 converted tracks are also packaged as release/SkyRoads32X-vgm.zip.
Controls: arrows steer/throttle, Space jumps, Esc back, P pause — same as DOS. Touch (iOS): d-pad lower-left, jump button lower-right.
Make your own tracks
Because the formats are fully decoded, the game is moddable:
python3 tools/make_track.py /path/to/gamedir /tmp/mod
builds a brand-new road (custom layout, palette, gravity/fuel/oxygen) and splices it into a copy of ROADS.LZS. Tile semantics are in docs/FORMATS.md §3 — geometry, tunnels, boost/sticky/ice/burning surfaces, fuel pickups, per-road palettes are all yours to edit.
Layout
src/core/ — platform-independent engine core (C11, no OS calls)
src/platform/ — SDL2 shell (desktop/web/iOS), iOS bundle bits
src/tools/ — headless render/demo/music test harnesses
tools/ — Python: format extractor, LZS codec, track builder
docs/ — format specs and porting guide
re/ — function map and per-subsystem reverse-engineering notes
Credits
Bluemoon Interactive — SkyRoads (1993): game design, art, music, and three decades of inspiration. Copyright remains theirs.
Port by Ammaar Reshi and Claude (Fable 5), reverse engineered from the retail binary in roughly a day.
Nuked-OPL3 (LGPL-2.1) for OPL2 emulation on desktop targets (the 32X build uses converted YM2612 VGM); font8x8 (public domain) for two strings of UI text.
License
The port's source code is MIT (see LICENSE), except src/thirdparty/ which keeps its upstream licenses. SkyRoads game content is not covered by this license and is not distributed here.
Screenshots
