James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod – Recompiled

A native version of the Amiga classic James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod (Millennium, 1991) for Windows, macOS, Steam Deck and Linux, and PlayStation 5. The game's 68000 code has been translated into C++, so it runs as a program of its own instead of in an emulator, and it adds what the Amiga never had: true widescreen, smooth motion at your display's refresh rate, a pause menu with saves, a level select, a CRT filter, controller rumble and more.

You need your own copy of the game: an Amiga disk image of James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod. No game data is included.

What's new

Screenshots

What you need

Install: Windows · macOS · Steam Deck · Linux · PlayStation 5

Controls

The menu

Saves and settings

Help

Building from source

Credits and licences

What's new

Widescreen. The game is redrawn wider from its own state: scenery, background, enemies and items, not stretched. The score and lives move to the corners of the screen. Turn it off for the original 4:3 picture.

Smooth motion. The game still thinks at the Amiga's 50 frames a second; the picture in between is drawn at your display's own rate (60, 90, 120 Hz or more), so scrolling is smooth.

Picture. Crisp, pixel perfect, soft or CRT (curved glass, glow and the fine colour stripes of a television's screen), with optional scanlines.

Amiga sound. The four sound channels go through a model of the Amiga 500's output filter (or the Amiga 1200's, or none), with stereo you can narrow for headphones. Sounds the game cut off abruptly can fade out instead.

Saves. A quick save on one button, three save slots with pictures, and on your next start an offer to carry on where you left off.

Level select. Play any level of any world from the menu.

Cheats. The game's own: invincibility, infinite lives, wings and skip to the exit, without typing the secret word.

Rumble. A buzz when Robocod is hit or loses a life, a thump with each explosion and a shake when the screen shakes, at the strength you choose.

Controllers. Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo and Steam Deck buttons are shown as they appear on your controller.

Screenshots

What you need

Your own disk image of the Amiga game. These work:

These don't, yet: the original Millennium release, raw-track ("extended ADF") dumps of the copy-protected disk, .dms and .ipf images. The game tells you which you have; see Help.

For the PlayStation 5: a console that runs homebrew, with an FTP server and a way to register a title folder (ShadowMountPlus, for example).

Windows

Download JamesPond2-Windows-<version>.zip from the releases and unzip it anywhere, for example into Documents.

Open the JamesPond2 folder and start James Pond 2.exe.

The first time, the game asks for your disk. It lists any it finds in your Downloads, Desktop and Documents folders; choose one, choose Choose a disk image… to pick it yourself, or drop the file on the window. The disk is copied into the game's own folder, so this happens only once.

Needs 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. If Windows SmartScreen warns about an unknown app, choose More info, then Run anyway.

Download JamesPond2-macOS-<version>.zip from the releases and unzip it.

Move James Pond 2.app to your Applications folder and open it.

The first time, the game asks for your disk. It lists any it finds in your Downloads, Desktop and Documents folders; choose one, choose Choose a disk image… to pick it yourself, or drop the file on the window. The disk is copied into the game's own folder, so this happens only once.

Needs macOS 13 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.

In Desktop Mode, download JamesPond2-Linux-<version>.tar.gz from the releases and unpack it into a folder of your choice, for example ~/Games/JamesPond2.

Put your disk image next to jp2 and name it jp2.adf, or leave it anywhere and choose it on the first start: the game looks in your Downloads, Desktop and Documents, EmuDeck's Amiga folders and SD cards.

In Steam, choose Add a Game → Add a Non-Steam Game…, browse to the folder and add run.sh. Rename the entry James Pond 2 if you like.

Back in Game Mode, start it from your library. The Deck's buttons are shown in the menus, and the picture fills the Deck's 16:10 screen.

If the Deck's controls don't respond, set the game's controller layout in Steam to Gamepad.

As for the Steam Deck: unpack JamesPond2-Linux-<version>.tar.gz and run ./jp2 (or ./run.sh for full screen). The program needs only the C library, so it runs on most 64-bit x86 distributions.

Download JamesPond2-PS5-<version>.zip from the releases and unzip it. You get a PPSA99323 folder.

Copy the whole PPSA99323 folder to /data/homebrew/ on the console over FTP.

Copy your disk image into /data/homebrew/PPSA99323/. Any file name works.

Register the title (ShadowMountPlus does this when it scans /data/homebrew) and start James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod from the home screen. It plays from your disk straight away; there's nothing to unpack or prepare first.

If you start it before the disk is there, it shows where the disk goes. Copy it in, then choose Look again.

The game runs at 4K. Saves and settings stay in the title's folder, so keep userdata/ if you reinstall.

Action Controller Keyboard

Move D-pad or left stick Arrow keys

Jump A (✕) ↑

Stretch up B or X (○ or □) Space or Right Ctrl

Quick save / quick load L1 / R1 F5 / F8 (or 1 / 2)

Smooth motion on or off Y (△) 4

Widescreen on or off

3

Menu Menu or View (Options or Create) Esc

On the Amiga, pushing the joystick up also jumped. That's off by default so the stick can't jump by accident; turn on Up also jumps in the Controls menu to get it back.

Hold down while you fall to curl up into a ball: that's how Robocod squashes enemies and bosses, as in the original.

In the menu: move with the D-pad or arrow keys, choose with A (✕) or Enter, go back with B (○) or Esc, and change page with L1 / R1 or Tab.

Press Menu (Options on a PlayStation controller) or Esc at any time.

While a Display setting is selected, the menu fades so you can see the change on the game itself. On the Sound page, the last few seconds of the game play again through the settings you choose.

Everything the game keeps is in one folder:

Saves belong to your disk: a save made with one release of the game won't load with another.

The game says my disk isn't supported. It names what it found:

I want to use a different disk. Delete disk.adf from the saves folder (above) and start the game again; it asks for one.

Windows says it protected your PC. That's SmartScreen, which warns about programs it hasn't seen often. Choose More info, then Run anyway.

The picture is too sharp, or too soft. Try the other Picture settings in the Display menu. Pixel perfect keeps every pixel the same size; CRT looks like an old television.

Scrolling stutters. Make sure Smooth motion is on (Display menu, or press Y / 4). The frame rate counter in the Display menu shows what your display is getting.

The music sounds muffled. That's the Amiga 500's filter, as most people heard the game. Choose Amiga 1200 or Unfiltered in the Sound menu for a brighter sound.

Robocod can't go back left through some tubes. That's the original game: some of the narrow sloping tubes only let him through in one direction.

PlayStation 5: the title doesn't show on the home screen. Run ShadowMountPlus's scan again, or restart the console with the folder in /data/homebrew/.

PlayStation 5: the game can't find the disk. It must be directly in /data/homebrew/PPSA99323/ (or one folder below it), as an .adf, .adz or .zip.

See docs/BUILDING.md. In short: the recompiler reads your disk image and writes the game's code as C++, which is then compiled with the runtime (the Amiga's custom chips, sound and the new features) against SDL3. The generated code is made from your disk on your machine and is never part of this repository.

James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod was designed, programmed and drawn by Chris Sorrell, with music by Richard Joseph, and published by Millennium in 1991. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by its rights holders, and contains none of the game: you play it from your own copy.

Their licence texts are in vendor/, res/fonts/, and beside the program in each release.

This project's own code is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.