# Dragon Quest IV: a Nintendo DS decompilation of the European release

> DQIV-DECOMP reconstructs the European Nintendo DS release of Dragon Quest IV as C++ using ds-decomp. Its build consumes a user-supplied ROM, compiles the reconstructed ARM9 code and overlays with Ninja, and offers objdiff comparisons; an ARM7 BIOS dump enables the optional matching-ROM build.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: Game
- Category: Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-09
- Original resource: <https://github.com/GoldieLeGenie/DQIV-DECOMP>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/GoldieLeGenie/DQIV-DECOMP/blob/ab3676c6e3022e87d3fb3e0085beb48627687936/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/dqiv-decomp-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/dqiv-decomp-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/dqiv-decomp-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** Supply a clean European Dragon Quest IV ROM in the extract folder; only EUR is supported.
- **Prerequisites:** Windows or Linux, Python 3.11+, GCC 9+, and Ninja are required.
- **Prerequisites:** An ARM7 BIOS extracted from a DS is required for the optional matching-ROM build.
- **License:** No licence file in the repository.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/GoldieLeGenie/DQIV-DECOMP/blob/ab3676c6e3022e87d3fb3e0085beb48627687936/README.md>

## More in Games

- [Dragon Quest IX: matching Nintendo DS decompilation](https://awesomerea.org/resources/dqix-decomp-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Dragon Warrior 3: a matching Game Boy Color disassembly](https://awesomerea.org/resources/dragon-warrior-3-gbc-disassembly-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Dragon Warrior IV: a byte-exact NES disassembly](https://awesomerea.org/resources/dragon-warrior-iv-nes-disassembly-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Dragon Warrior: a commented NES disassembly](https://awesomerea.org/resources/dragon-warrior-disassembly-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Driver 1 decomp: matching Driver and porting it to Linux](https://awesomerea.org/resources/driver-1-decomp-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Duck Hunt Disassembly: reconstructing the World release in assembly](https://awesomerea.org/resources/duck-hunt-disassembly-case/index.md) · Case study

## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.