Project Solana is a launcher and a set of static recompilations. Each game's code is translated ahead of time from the game's executable into C, with the decompiled source from OpenRAC where it exists, and compiled into a native Windows or Linux program that reads everything else (models, textures, sound, movies) from your disc image at run time.

Nothing from the games is distributed here. The launcher downloads only tools and source code; the game is built on your machine from a disc image you provide.

Playing on Windows

Download Project Solana.exe from the latest launcher release and put it in a folder of its own (it keeps its files next to itself).
Run it and add your disc image: Add disc image, Scan a folder, or drag an .iso onto the window.
Select the game and press Build. The first build downloads about 95 MB (Python and the zig compiler, then the game's build kit) and builds the game from your disc: about 15 minutes on a recent 6 to 8 core CPU, an hour or more on an older 4 core one. It only happens once per game version.
Press Play.

Playing on Linux and Steam Deck

The game runs natively on Linux (no Wine or Proton). The Linux launcher is a single script, launcher/linux/project-solana (download it from the latest launcher release). Start it the first time with python3; that also makes it executable, so ./project-solana works afterwards:

python3 project-solana build ~/Games/ratchet.iso   # once: about 95 MB of downloads, then the same build as on Windows
./project-solana play                        # --upscaled / --native, --fullscreen / --windowed, --vsync (remembered)
./project-solana desktop                     # adds it to the applications menu; from there, Steam > Add a Non-Steam Game

It needs python3 and the 32-bit SDL2 and OpenGL libraries. On SteamOS (Steam Deck, Steam Machine) nothing needs installing: the launcher uses the copy of SDL2 that comes with Steam. Elsewhere, ./project-solana status says what to install for your distribution. Everything is kept in ~/.local/share/project-solana. On a Steam Deck, run the build once in Desktop Mode (Konsole), then add the game to Steam with desktop; it starts full screen there (and on any SteamOS device), with the Deck's controls as the controller.

Supported games

Game	Region	Disc executable	Status
Ratchet & Clank	PAL (v2.00)	`SCES_509.16`, MD5 `d86429e2eca4e1da7d7f1cc656af2574`	Playable start to finish
Ratchet & Clank	NTSC-U, NTSC-J	`SCUS_971.99`, `SCPS_150.37`	Recognised, not supported yet
Going Commando, Up Your Arsenal, Deadlocked	all		Recognised, not supported yet

Requirements

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit, or Linux x86-64 (glibc 2.17 or newer, X11 or Wayland) with the 32-bit SDL2 and OpenGL libraries
A CPU with SSE4.2 (Intel since 2008, AMD since 2011) and 8 GB of RAM
A GPU with OpenGL 3.3 (tested: RTX 3060, Upscaled at 3x)
A controller: Xbox, DualShock 4 or DualSense, over USB or Bluetooth (on Linux, anything SDL2 knows, including the Steam Deck's controls)
About 2.5 GB free while building, 600 MB after (the game plus the build tools, kept for rebuilds)

Settings

Resolution (Native, or Upscaled to a whole multiple of the PS2's 448 lines that covers your screen), VSync, the graphics threads, performance statistics in the log, the length of the F9 glitch capture, and a level select for testing. Rebuild the game fetches the latest build kit and builds again; saves are kept.

Reporting problems

Open log shows rac1_log.txt (or the build's build_log.txt when a build failed).
On Linux, project-solana report writes one file with everything a report needs (system details, the 32-bit library check, the launcher, build and game logs, and the previous run's game log); attach that file.
A crash writes the function it happened in and the call chain into the game log, and the previous run's log is kept as rac1_log.prev.txt.
F9 in the game records the next few seconds of graphics input to gsrec_NN.bin (about 260 MB per second of capture); attach it to a report together with what looked wrong.

Repository layout

Path	What
`launcher/`	`Project Solana.exe`: Win32 + GDI, no dependencies. `python launcher/build_launcher.py` builds it (needs zig: `pip install ziglang`)
`launcher/linux/project-solana`	the Linux launcher (Python 3, no dependencies)
`games/rac1/`	Ratchet & Clank's build kit: `build.py`, the recompilers (`tools/`), the host engine (`host/`: GS in OpenGL and software, DMA, VU, SPU2 and 989snd, disc, pad, memory card, movies; Win32 and Linux/SDL2 platform layers), the wrapper (`launcher/`)
`games/rac1/dev/`	developer tools (GS capture replay, VU reference check); not part of the kit
`release/make_release.py`	makes a game's release files
`THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md`	pl_mpeg (MIT), jak-project's 989snd tables (ISC)

How the Build button works

The launcher fetches from the release named after the game (releases/download/rac1/):

File	What
`rac1.json`	version, file names, sizes and SHA-256s, the levels to build
`toolchain-win64.zip`	Python 3.12 (python-build-standalone), rabbitizer, zig 0.16; shared by all games, kept in `toolchain\` and fetched again only when its version changes
`toolchain-linux64.zip`	the same for Linux x86-64 (the Linux launcher's)
`rac1-build.zip`	`games/rac1` plus the decomp's source as `decomp/` (no `baserom/`)

It checks both zips against their SHA-256s, unpacks them next to itself (toolchain\, games\rac1\), runs build.py --platform windows --iso <your disc>, and then deletes the intermediate files (about 1.3 GB) and the bytes it read from the disc, keeping games\rac1\build\windows (the game, its saves and logs).

solana.ini [build] release_url= (a URL or a local folder laid out like the release) and levels= override where it fetches from and which levels it builds, for testing.

Making a release

python release/make_release.py rac1 --decomp ../rac1-decomp --version 2026.10.14.2 \
    --toolchain-zip dist/rac1/toolchain-win64.zip --toolchain-linux-zip dist/rac1/toolchain-linux64.zip   # (reuse, or omit to assemble them)
gh release create rac1 dist/rac1/rac1.json dist/rac1/rac1-build.zip dist/rac1/toolchain-win64.zip dist/rac1/toolchain-linux64.zip

To update an existing game release, upload the new files over the old ones (gh release upload rac1 dist/rac1/* --clobber). Players get them with Rebuild the game.

The launchers go in a release of their own (for example launcher-v1): Project Solana.exe and project-solana (Linux).

Licence

TODO (maintainers): choose a licence for this repository. Third-party code keeps its own (see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md).