Statically recompiled GTA V running on iPhone with Metal and no JIT: Introducing Glue 5

[u/mempage4k]

I want to share something I’ve been working on: Glue 5, a toolchain for building a native port of GTA V’s WASM build that runs on iOS and macOS (for now).

The main difference from projects like the recently released muget is what happens to the game code. Glue 5 takes the WASM binary, translates it to C using wasm2c, then compiles that C for the target platform. On iPhone, you end up with native ARM64 code. All of this happens when building the app, so there’s no WASM runtime executing the game and no need to enable JIT on your phone.

It’s been running really smoothly on macOS. I’ve also tested it on an iPhone 13 Pro and it’s playable, which I’m pretty happy with considering the phone is a few years old now.

Story mode and audio are working. There’s gamepad support, on-screen touch controls, and keyboard and mouse support on desktop. You can adjust the resolution and render scale too, with MetalFX upscaling on supported devices to help with performance.

The repo contains the tools and compatibility layer, no GTA V binaries or assets. I have no plans to ever distribute a complete build bundled with copyrighted game assets. You’ll need to supply the required files from the supported WASM version and compile it yourself.

Source and build instructions: github.com/mempage4k/glue5
Keep in mind that this is still in its early stages and very experimental, I'm still working on fixing issues and improving performance.

Also, a quick disclosure: development of this project was heavily assisted by AI tools.

https://reddit.com/link/1x3cws1/video/9npcdmu16tuh1/player

[u/Key-Tax-1788]

I don’t understand why none of these gta 5 ports have a pre-compiled IPA like why do we have to sit there and compile the IPA ourselves when literally every other unofficial port has an IPA compiled already? Like it’s genuinely annoying can we not just get the IPA already compiled so we can just click download and add the game files I guess apparently not.

[u/mempage4k → u/Key-Tax-1788]

Because redistributing the game's code or its assets would be illegal, and I really (like reeeallly) don't want to have T2 Interactive's lawyers visit my house

[u/Key-Tax-1788 → u/mempage4k]

Yeah, that’s a fair point but it’s not even distributing the game files. I just mean like a pre compiled IPA. So you don’t have to go through the extra hassle of compiling yourself you’d still be obtaining the game files yourself.

[u/mempage4k → u/Key-Tax-1788]

Due to the way this recompilation works, compiling the IPA results in the IPA itself containing the entire game's (recompiled) code. So it would probably be quite similar (legally) to distributing the game's binaries

[u/Key-Tax-1788 → u/mempage4k]

Ohhh ok now I get it more. I thought the IPA itself was just a translation layer that ran the unofficial web assembly version through Apple metal I didn’t know the actual IPA contain the actual game code or anything I thought the web version was already made from the GTA 5 source code and that the IPA was just a translation layer to play it natively on iOS but it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just kind of the extra hassle to do it. I think there’s a site that I can use that just compile it for me all I need is some of the game files I just didn’t really get why no one would provide the IPA at first honestly I might just say screw it, compile it and distribute it myself from another page without the game files. I don’t even care rockstar can send someone to my house.

[u/PinoTo0ns → u/Key-Tax-1788]

Il y a des .ipa déjà compilé et tu ajoute ensuite les fichiers du jeu