WoW Emulation is a warm, beginner-friendly community that preserves and archives all versions of World of Warcraft.
Join us! Drop into our Discord or community discussions to meet fellow enthusiasts, ask questions, and contribute to the future of WoW preservation.
We actively develop tools for modern WoW Classic clients, letting you experience the game without relying on Battle.net. Our cascette-rs project implements Blizzard's NGDP distribution protocol and CASC archive format, creating a complete alternative for playing Classic Era, TBC Classic, Wrath Classic, Cataclysm Classic, and Mists of Pandaria Classic.
We actively develop for modern WoW Classic clients while providing archival support for original releases.
| Era | Versions | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Classic (Era) | 1.13.x, 1.14.x, 1.15.x | CASC/NGDP |
| Burning Crusade Classic | 2.5.x | CASC/NGDP |
| Wrath Classic | 3.4.x | CASC/NGDP |
| Cataclysm Classic | 4.4.x | CASC/NGDP |
| Mists of Pandaria Classic | 5.5.x | CASC/NGDP |
| Vanilla | 1.x | MPQ |
| The Burning Crusade | 2.x | MPQ |
| Wrath of the Lich King | 3.x | MPQ |
| Cataclysm | 4.x | MPQ |
| Mists of Pandaria | 5.x | MPQ |
CASC/NGDP: Modern archive format with Blizzard's content distribution pipeline. We build replacement infrastructure for the Battle.net client that works with modern WoW Classic clients.
MPQ: Legacy archive format used in original releases through Mists of Pandaria. Supported for archival purposes.
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| cascette-rs | NGDP/CASC implementation for modern WoW Classic clients |
| warcraft-rs | File format parsers (MPQ, DBC, BLP, M2, WMO, ADT) |
| rilua | Lua 5.1.1 interpreter in pure Rust |
| wow-patcher | Game client patching tools |
| recast-rs | Navigation mesh library with WASM support |
Working with WoW game data used to mean digging through dozens of repositories and forums, hoping code still worked and links weren't dead. Everyone solved the same problems in isolation.
Now warcraft-rs handles original releases (MPQ, BLP textures, M2 models, WMO objects, ADT terrain, DBC databases) and cascette-rs handles modern Classic clients (NGDP, CASC). One place, one community - your next project starts with working code instead of weeks of research.
WoW uses Lua 5.1 for its interface and scripting. Building tooling around it meant binding to a C library - if you could make it work on your platform.
Together we built rilua: a complete Lua 5.1.1 virtual machine in pure Rust. Compiler, VM, garbage collector, full standard library. Byte-identical to official PUC-Rio implementation. Pure Rust, no FFI, works everywhere including WASM. One community effort everyone can build on.
Building something cool? We'd love to feature it! Drop us a message in community discussions or Discord.
- Archival - Preserving gaming history
- Community - Keeping the magic alive together
- Learning - Growing our skills while having fun
- Inclusivity - Creating wonderful experiences for everyone
Remember: We're all learning together! Mistakes are how we grow!
- Say hello in our community discussions
- Check out our Contributing Guide
- Look for issues labeled "good first issue" in our projects
- Ask questions - we love helping newcomers
New to open source? We've all been there! Need help with Git? Want a mentor? Just ask in discussions!
- Community Discussions - Your questions make our community better!
- Discord - Join our server! Many members are creators of WoW modding tools.
- @wowemulation@mastodon.social - Follow us on Mastodon
- Email us - For anything you'd rather discuss privately
- @danielsreichenbach - Our friendly primary caretaker