re3 — Build & Run Guide (Windows, 64-bit OpenGL)

This is a step-by-step guide to build this fork of re3 from scratch on Windows and run it on top of a Steam copy of GTA III. It targets the 64-bit OpenGL build (win-amd64-librw_gl3_glfw-oal), which is the configuration this fork is developed and tested against.

Looking for the original upstream readme (features, other platforms, contributing, etc.)? See README-old.md.

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit).
• Git — https://git-scm.com/download/win
• Visual Studio 2022 Community (free) — https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/
  • During install, select the "Desktop development with C++" workload.
  • That workload includes MSBuild, the MSVC compiler, and a Windows SDK — everything needed to compile.
• A legitimate copy of GTA III on Steam (used only for the original game data files).

Total disk needed: a few GB for Visual Studio + the repo + the game.

The renderer (librw) is bundled in this repository (see vendor/librw/VENDORED.md), so a plain clone is all you need — no submodule setup:

git clone https://github.com/bane9/re3.git
cd re3

The vendor/ogg, vendor/opus and vendor/opusfile submodules are only needed if you build with the optional --with-opus flag. The normal build described here doesn't use them.

The OpenGL build links against a prebuilt GLFW 3.3.2 for windowing/input. It is not a part of this repository, so download it manually:

1. Download glfw-3.3.2.bin.WIN64.zip: https://github.com/glfw/glfw/releases/download/3.3.2/glfw-3.3.2.bin.WIN64.zip

2. Extract it into the vendor/ folder so that this exact path exists:

   re3/vendor/glfw-3.3.2.bin.WIN64/include/GLFW/glfw3.h
   re3/vendor/glfw-3.3.2.bin.WIN64/lib-vc2019/glfw3.lib
   

   (i.e. the folder inside vendor/ must be named exactly glfw-3.3.2.bin.WIN64.)

If this is missing, the build fails with Cannot open include file: 'GLFW/glfw3.h'.

From the repo root, run the premake helper for VS2019 project format:

premake-vs2019.cmd

This runs premake5 vs2019 --with-librw and generates the solution into the build/ folder (build/re3.sln), including the librw renderer project.

Re-run this whenever you pull changes that add/remove source files.

1. Open build/re3.sln in Visual Studio 2022.

2. The projects were generated for the VS2019 toolset (v142). VS2022 will offer to upgrade them:

   • If you see a "Retarget Projects" dialog on open, accept it.
   • Otherwise, right-click the solution in Solution Explorer → Retarget solution.
   • Choose the latest installed Platform Toolset and Windows SDK version, then OK.

   This is the "migration" step — it just points the projects at your installed compiler/SDK.

At the top of Visual Studio, set the two dropdowns to:

• Configuration: Release
• Solution Platform: win-amd64-librw_gl3_glfw-oal

This is the 64-bit OpenGL + GLFW + OpenAL build.

1. In Steam, install Grand Theft Auto III.

2. Note its install folder. By default it is:

   C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Grand Theft Auto 3
   

   (Right-click the game in Steam → Manage → Browse local files to confirm.)

You do not run the game from Steam — you'll run the compiled re3.exe from that folder instead.

In Visual Studio: Build → Build Solution (or press F7 / Ctrl+Shift+B).

The first build also compiles librw and takes a little while. When it finishes, the executable is at:

re3/bin/win-amd64-librw_gl3_glfw-oal/Release/re3.exe

Copy the following into the Steam GTA III folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Grand Theft Auto 3):

1. The compiled executable:

   bin/win-amd64-librw_gl3_glfw-oal/Release/re3.exe
   

2. The entire contents of the repo's gamefiles/ folder (merge/overwrite into the Steam folder — it adds data/, models/, TEXT/, neo/, gamecontrollerdb.txt, etc. that this fork needs).
3. The three audio runtime DLLs (required by the OpenAL build):

   vendor/openal-soft/dist/Win64/OpenAL32.dll
   vendor/mpg123/dist/Win64/libmpg123-0.dll
   vendor/libsndfile/dist/Win64/libsndfile-1.dll
   

After copying, the Steam folder should contain re3.exe, the three DLLs, and the original game's models/, data/, etc. (now overlaid with the files from gamefiles/).

Launch re3.exe from the Steam GTA III folder (double-click it, or make a shortcut).

That's it — the game runs on the freshly compiled build.

git clone https://github.com/bane9/re3.git
cd re3
# extract glfw-3.3.2.bin.WIN64.zip into vendor/  -> vendor/glfw-3.3.2.bin.WIN64/
premake-vs2019.cmd
# open build/re3.sln in VS2022, retarget when prompted
# set Configuration=Release, Platform=win-amd64-librw_gl3_glfw-oal, then Build (F7)
# copy bin/win-amd64-librw_gl3_glfw-oal/Release/re3.exe
#  + everything in gamefiles/
#  + OpenAL32.dll, libmpg123-0.dll, libsndfile-1.dll (from vendor/.../dist/Win64)
# into  C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Grand Theft Auto 3
# run re3.exe