Star Wars Trilogy Arcade Dreamcast Port - Endor Forest
Hi all! Back with another update on my Star Wars Trilogy Arcade Dreamcast project.
Today’s update features a complete playthrough of the Endor Forest stage! This level posed a particularly interesting challenge because my development process has largely focused on the completely on-rails stages of the original game. The opening section of Endor Forest is unique, giving players partial control of their Speeder Bike so they can steer and dodge trees. Recreating this sequence meant rebuilding and approximating its behavior from scratch through observational reverse-engineering, rather than simply porting over the recording data from the emulated Model 3 original as done with the completed Space stages. As a result, the Speeder Bike section may not be a perfect match for the arcade original, but I think I’ve gotten it very close!
I've taken in feedback regarding the controls, and I'm working on both D-Pad controls, analog sensitivity and toggle settings for the 'snap-back'. I am aware of requests to add light gun support, however as I do not own a light gun or a CRT to test with, it is not on the project roadmap at this time.
I also wanted to share some personal thoughts about the future of this project.
Nearly every day, it seems like new recompilations and ports are appearing for the Dreamcast, and it’s exciting to see what people are accomplishing. At the same time, I realize that a Model 3 recompilation may eventually make a much more faithful conversion of Star Wars Trilogy Arcade possible. Naturally, that makes me think about where my own project fits into the picture. I wanted to explain a little more about my approach, especially as AI-assisted development and recompilation projects become increasingly common in the Dreamcast community.
As a reminder, and for the sake of transparency, I’ve been using Claude Code as a coding assistant throughout development, which I’ve disclosed on the project page. As a software engineer by trade, I’ve seen shifting trends in the industry with a growing embrace of well architected agentic coding, and as such I am no stranger to AI assisted development. However, the approach I’m taking with this project is different from the typical AI recompilation attempt: I’m building an original implementation from scratch, recreating the game’s behavior through reverse-engineering and observation, without using the original source code or recompiled source code. In a sense, I’m remaking the game specifically for the Dreamcast rather than simply bringing the original code over. Though I utilize Opus to assist with the large coding portions, I am still in the drivers seat, I'm still directing the development, debugging issues, and iterating on the implementation myself. The technical decisions, the reverse-engineering process, and the overall vision for this project are my own - I wouldn’t want this project to be simply dismissed as ‘soulless’. My finished project continues to aim for a “what-if” scenario, if Sega put out a Dreamcast release of the game, with expanded features and bonus levels for the home experience.
Even if a Model 3 recompilation becomes available before I finish, I intend to see this project through to completion. I’ve put a lot of work into bringing this game to the Dreamcast in my own way, and I think there’s value in that regardless of what other approaches become possible. As always, I encourage the discussion, and would love to hear your thoughts as well. I am genuinely passionate about this game - it’s always been my absolute favorite since I was younger, and it’s been a dream come true remaking it and sharing it with you all.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this preview! I’m excited to keep making progress and share more with you all soon.
And for those unaware, the demo is available now featuring the Yavin and Boba Fett stages here! https://toastedgreedo.itch.io/star-wars-trilogy-arcade-dreamcast