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Image reference (original game): Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas · original-game artwork, provided by IGDB. Image rights remain with their respective owners. This illustrates the referenced original game, not the actual visuals of this rewrite or mod.

Source maintainer: goonJungus · Revision: 0501ca100e33 · Catalogued: 2026-10-12

Source license: MIT · LICENSE · Article: Source README (format adapted)

The source README follows, with formatting adapted for this site and images replaced by source links. Feature, completion and testing claims belong to its authors and have not been independently playtested here. The Traditional Chinese translation was prepared with AI assistance.

gta-sa-cpp

[README image：Discord](https://discord.com/users/261653544854093825)

C++ port of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in progress. Classes are ported from
a full decompilation, organized the way the original game organizes them, and
verified against the decomp as they land.

Goal: a compilable C++ codebase that mirrors the original game’s
structure — every class ported, every method verified.

🙏 Please contribute

This is a big job — nearly a thousand classes — and it goes faster with more
hands. You don’t need to be a reverse engineer: pick one class, port it,
verify it, and that’s a real contribution. port_plan/ tells you exactly what
to do and in what order, and CONTRIBUTING.md walks you
through it. Every class landed is progress. Come help.

Progress

~21% — 206 of 996 classes have headers ported, and the full gta_sa static library builds with zero errors (13.3 MB lib).

████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 21%

Counted 2026-10-11: ported headers in include/ vs. classes in port_plan/classes.txt.
Headers mean the class exists; BUILD_NOTES.md tracks which method bodies are
verified vs. still TODO stubs.

Code only — bring your own copy

This repository contains only code. No game assets, no game data, no audio,
no textures, no models, and no files extracted from the retail game are
distributed here, and none are needed to build the codebase.

To run anything built from this code you must provide your own legally
obtained copy of GTA: San Andreas (PC, 1.0 US). Asset loading from your copy
is not implemented yet; when it is, the build will point at your install and
nothing else.

Status

Ported: core math/containers, collision (CColModel / CCollision),
world entities (CPlaceable → CEntity → CPhysical → CObject, CBuilding,
CWorld), camera, renderer, post effects, shadows, weather, font, sprites,
model info, animation, vehicles, weapons, fire/explosion, audio engine, fx,
file manager, timer, pad input, peds, player, HUD, streaming, and the SCM
script VM (84 opcodes so far).

Still TODO: the real RenderWare layer (RenderTypes.h is a stand-in),
CGame, full audio entities/enums, the remaining 26 SCM opcode dispatch
blocks, and many method bodies marked TODO. Stubs are honest — BUILD_NOTES.md
says what’s verified vs stubbed, and it’s the project’s running log.

port_plan/ is the map: class inventory, dependencies (deps.tsv), subsystem
breakdown (subsystems.tsv), and the build order (layering.json).

Repository layout

include/        # Class headers, organized like the original game
src/            # Method implementations
port_plan/      # Contributor map: classes, deps, subsystems, build order
CMakeLists.txt  # Static lib (gta_sa) + standalone D3D9 exe (gtasa_cpp)
BUILD_NOTES.md  # Running port log — read this first

Tools used

  • Ghidra — the decompilation the port is verified against (separate
    workflow, not in this repo)
  • CMake 3.20+ — build configuration
  • MSVC / Visual Studio 2022 — the only tested compiler, Win32 (x86) target
    to match the original binary
  • Git — version control

No package manager, no external dependencies. The static lib needs nothing but
a compiler; the gtasa_cpp exe links system D3D9.

Building

Windows, PowerShell:

cmake -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A Win32
cmake --build build --config Debug

Notes:

  • C++20, /W3 /permissive-. MSVC only — GCC/Clang untested.
  • CPed.cpp needs /Zm8000 (compiler heap); the CMake file sets it via the
    CL environment variable automatically. If you compile files manually, set
    $env:CL="/Zm8000" first.
  • build/ is git-ignored. Out-of-source builds only.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Short version: pick a class from
port_plan/, port it, verify against the decomp, log it in BUILD_NOTES.md.

Credits & references

This project stands on the shoulders of the GTA modding and
reverse-engineering community:

  • gta-reversed — many
    headers in include/ are adapted from here (plugin-sdk specifics stripped).
    The authority on SA class layouts.
  • re3 / reVC — clean-room reversals
    of GTA III/VC. Collision layouts and load-time behavior reference.
  • librw (aap) — open-source RenderWare
    implementation. DFF/TXD format reference.
  • openrw — RenderWare format
    insights.
  • SanAndreasUnity —
    engine behavior reference.
  • opensa — format and streaming
    reference.
  • jte/GTASA — clean-room C++ SA
    reimplementation. Struct layouts, sector formulas.
  • GTA-San-AnSkateas
    (ryglizzy) — triangle-soup collision approach.
  • ariane (Dryxio) — binary IPL research,
    map-editor tooling, reverse-engineering workflow.

All port code in this repository is written for this project. No Rockstar
Games assets are included.

AI agents

This project is built with AI help:

  • Pi + Opus 5.5 — Pi is the harness, Opus 5.5 does the decomp-to-rewrite
    pipeline (decompilation through C++ porting).
  • Claude Code — complex coding tasks on the build machine.
  • Muse Spark — project infrastructure, repo automation, and scaffolding.

This project does not contain, download, or redistribute any Rockstar Games
assets or game data. You must provide your own legal copy of GTA San Andreas.
Ported from a decompilation done for interoperability research. Licensed under
the MIT License.

License and provenance

The README and its translation retain MIT terms. Changes comprise translation, links and formatting. Editable Markdown, the original README, LICENSE and NOTICE files are included in the linked bundle. This grants no rights to the original games, their assets or trademarks.

LICENSE

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 goonJungus

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.