Command and Conquer Generals natively ported to macOS, iPhone, iPad using Fable(github.com)
580 points by asronline 15 hours ago | 244 comments
tl;dr: Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour has been natively ported to Apple Silicon Macs, iPhone, and iPad, running the original 2003 engine compiled for ARM64 with DirectX 8 translated through DXVK→Vulkan→MoltenVK→Metal. The port builds on EA's GPL v3 source release and the GeneralsX project, adding iOS/iPadOS support plus RTS-optimized touch controls; users must supply their own game assets via Steam. The engineering was done as a human+AI collaboration using Anthropic's Claude (Fable model), with known issues around iOS memory pressure on long iPad sessions.
HN Discussion:
  • Title is misleading/clickbait; macOS port was already done by others, Fable only added iOS support
  • LLMs are broadly useful for reverse engineering and porting old games
  • This is a good, appropriate use of AI-assisted development for low-stakes fun projects
  • ~AI-generated documentation style and 'AI-isms' in the writeup are noticeable and grating
  • Curiosity about applying similar techniques to other old games like Emperor: Battle for Dune