What was done
A Claude-authored static recompilation runs the USA GameCube version of Shadow the Hedgehog natively on Windows, with higher resolutions, widescreen, real-time shadows and an in-game settings menu.
The author says Claude wrote the project’s code, while the human supplied instructions and organized the work. ShadowRecomp statically translates about 34,000 functions from the GameCube PowerPC executable into C++ and builds them with a PC runtime. It is a recompilation rather than a readable, matching decompilation. The graphics, audio and disc-reading layers are replaced with PC implementations; the game’s translated logic remains the core of the port.
What works
The project supports the USA first-release disc (game ID GUPE8P, revision 0). On first launch, the program asks for the player’s own disc image or extracted disc folder and checks the version. The README reports support for higher frame rates and resolutions, widescreen, real-time shadows, HDR, a wider field of view, texture packs, controller and keyboard input, and an in-game settings menu. The project is unofficial and includes no game files.
AI contribution and limits
The author explicitly credits Claude (Anthropic) with writing the project’s own code. The README also says the author directed and organized the work and does not claim detailed knowledge of the internals. The Windows build instructions require the user’s own game disc, Visual Studio Build Tools, LLVM/Clang, CMake, Python and the project’s pinned tools. The README notes that two-player mode has not been tested and that bugs or differences from the original may remain.
The project adds optional single-player gameplay tweaks, including cheats, and a work-in-progress stage editor. Those extras are distinct from the preserved game logic and can be disabled. No DRM or anti-cheat bypass is described.