D2Decomp: A Diablo II Engine Reimplementation¶
D2Decomp is a cross-platform, open-source reimplementation of the Diablo II: Lord of Destruction game engine. It uses version 1.14d as its reference and aims to become a drop-in replacement, with a few optional features beyond the original.
I want to play Diablo II with my daughter, natively on Linux. No Wine, no emulation layer: a game engine that runs on our machines, reads the game data we own, and lets us adventure together.
Download the latest release for Linux, Windows, macOS and the Steam Deck. You will need your own copy of Diablo II and Lord of Destruction.
Where it is now¶
D2Decomp is unfinished, but Acts I to IV play through: character setup, the Rogue Encampment, Lut Gholein, the Kurast Docks and the Pandemonium Fortress, every area from the Blood Moor to the Chaos Sanctuary, and all twenty-one quests up to Diablo's death. A classic game ends there. In Lord of Destruction, Tyrael's portal leads to Act V, which is not built yet.
- The 39 Act I, 35 Act II, 28 Act III and 6 Act IV levels have maps that match the original.
- Monster and object placement and monster AI, Diablo included, have been checked against the original. There are still a few details to match.
- Nightmare and Hell place their monsters and objects as the original does, on every level of Acts I to IV.
- Single player, softcore and hardcore, runs as a one-player client/server, like the original.
- Up to four players can play together on one screen with gamepads (local co-op).
- d2d can join a game hosted by the original game over TCP/IP. Acts I to IV have been played through together: party, trade, portals, waypoints, chat, quests and travel. A few live checks are still pending.
- 3,123 of the base game's 3,520 sounds play as the original plays them.
How it works¶
Ghidra helps us understand the original game's code. Unicorn runs original game functions so we can check that this reimplementation behaves the same way. The engine itself is new code, written in modern C++.
The project runs on Linux, Windows and macOS, and on the Steam Deck. It also has an optional headless mode and a local control channel for scripted play and testing.
Beyond the original game¶
- Local co-op: up to four players on one screen, each with their own gamepad, sharing one camera. A fallen player becomes a ghost, and the others can channel a Resurrect skill to bring them back.
- Gamepads: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and Steam Deck controllers, with a gamepad page in Configure Controls.
- Widescreen: an opt-in wider game view that shows more of the world to the left and right. The HUD and panels keep their 800×600 layout, and menus and cinematics stay at 800×600.
- Steam Deck: an experimental Flatpak with every release. The launcher's Add to Steam button adds the game to your Steam library with its artwork, so it launches from Gaming Mode.
- Small comforts, each of which can be turned off: gold is picked up when you walk over it, roofs turn see-through around your character, and the world's sounds pause with the game menu.
- Opt-in crash reporting, off by default. When enabled, a crash report may include a crash dump, hardware and OS details, the GPU model and the last game frame; it is sent only if the game crashes. The launcher explains what is sent and notes that the report may contain sensitive data from the game's memory.
Screenshots¶
Act I¶
Act II¶
Act III¶
Act IV¶
Local co-op¶
Bring your own game¶
D2Decomp does not include Diablo II or its game data. You need your own Diablo II + Lord of Destruction installation or media. The project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Blizzard Entertainment.
What's next¶
Act V, hosting multiplayer games from d2d itself, and a dedicated server.