# A custom virtual machine for the Stars! 4X game

DevFeed: [A custom virtual machine for the Stars! 4X game](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/a-custom-virtual-machine-for-the-stars-4x-game-41277.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://nullprogram.com/blog/2026/09/17/>)

Published: 2026-09-17T02:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Chris Wellons](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/chris-wellons.md>)

Topics: [Emulator](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/emulator.md>), [win32](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/win32.md>), [Windows](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/windows.md>), [x86](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/x86.md>), [GitHub](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/github.md>), [releases](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/releases.md>)

Tags: [blog](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/blog.md>), [c](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/c.md>), [emulator](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/emulator.md>), [game](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/game.md>), [github](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/github.md>), [releases](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/releases.md>), [vm](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/vm.md>), [win32](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/win32.md>), [windows](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/windows.md>), [x86](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/x86.md>)

## AI overview

The article presents Stars!VM, a custom virtual machine for running the 1995 16-bit Windows 3.1 game Stars! on modern systems. It combines an 80286 emulator with a Win16-to-Win32 bridge, embeds the original game in signed GitHub releases, and provides 32-bit builds with features such as a modern file chooser and 4K scaling.

## Source excerpt

Stars! is a 1995 4X game (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) for 16-bit Windows 3.1 that I first played ~28 years ago. While Windows is famously backwards compatible, it's notoriously difficult to play Stars! today. Windows x64 cannot run 16-bit applications, and playing requires either retro hardware or emulation (otvdm, DOSBox), sometimes paired with Wine. My new, exciting solution, Stars!VM, or Stars! Virtual Machine, embeds a custom 80286 emulator and a Win16 to Win32 bridge. As native Win32, the game looks and feels exactly as it did originally, except sporting a modern file chooser and 4k scaling. It's indistinguishable from a genuine 32-bit or 64-bit port of the game, especially with the original 16-bit game embedded inside the VM executable. The signed releases on GitHub embed a compressed copy of the original 16-bit game, so that single EXE is ready to play out-of-the-box with no further setup or downloads. I'm distributing 32-bit builds (but requires SSE2) because there's no advantage to 64-bit here, and these builds work (almost) everywhere except 16-bit Windows. 32-bit Windows could run the original 16-bit game, but the VM-encapsulated version is better behaved. It doesn't dump a Stars.ini under C:\WINDOWS, it interacts properly with the task bar, and copy protection is neutralized via the OS bridge. If you ever been curious about Stars!, now's the time to try it. The game has a thorough, built-in tutorial, but also check out the wiki, the official strategy guide, and AutoHost (play-by-email service). The game predates the modern search engine concept, otherwise they might have chosen a better name. I suggest using "stars 4x" in your searches. If you want to build from source and hack on the VM yourself, the best tool for the job is w64devkit, of course, because it comes with everything you'll need. Plus the game itself: stars.exe from stars27jrc3.zip. Implementation details The emulator itself requires x86 or x86-64 because it does not implement x87