Hocus Native

A from-scratch native Windows port of the registered v1.1 MS-DOS release of Hocus Pocus. No DOS emulator required.

Hocus Native recreates the original game as a Win32 application while retaining its levels, movement, menus, saves, sound effects, music, demos, and gameplay rules. The project covers all 36 levels in the registered game, from E1L1 to E4L9.

Important

This repository and its releases contain no original commercial game data. You must own the registered game and provide your own registered-v1.1 HOCUS.EXE and HOCUS.DAT.

Buy Hocus Pocus on GOG · Buy Hocus Pocus on Steam

Contents

• What works
• Requirements
• Build and run
• Controls
• Cheat menu
• Widescreen, High FPS, and fullscreen
• Asset extraction
• Verification and documentation
• Credits and license

What works

Complete game

• All four episodes and all 36 registered levels
• Original piracy, Apogee, and registered-title startup sequence
• Story, help, credits, endings, results, and high-score entry
• Original title/credits/demo attract cycle with all five recorded demos
• All nine DOS-compatible save slots

Gameplay

• Walking, jumping, collision, elevators, teleporters, switches, and keyed gates
• Crystals, treasures, health, firepower, keys, super shots, and laser shots
• Destructible walls, projectiles, spark trails, enemies, and bosses
• Level messages, crystal tips, death, restart, and completion sequences
• Registered-v1.1 event, enemy, timing, random-number, and camera rules

Native Windows features

• Native Win32 rendering and input; DOSBox is not used
• Original VOC sound effects and MIDI music through Windows services
• Optional joystick support
• Borderless fullscreen with Alt+Enter
• Selectable 16:9, 21:9, and 32:9 gameplay with additional world visibility
• Optional interpolated High FPS mode
• Static C/C++ runtime linkage—users do not need to install runtime libraries
• Ctrl+Alt+F1 cheat menu with persistent toggles and level select

For exact parity qualifications and native additions, see the parity audit.

Requirements

You need:

1. Windows and either MSVC or MinGW-w64
2. CMake 3.20 or newer
3. Ninja
4. Your own registered-v1.1 HOCUS.EXE and HOCUS.DAT

Place both original files in the repository root before configuring the build:

hocus-native/
├── HOCUS.EXE
├── HOCUS.DAT
├── CMakeLists.txt
└── src/

The filenames are case-insensitive on Windows. Shareware, altered, or missing executables are rejected.

Build and run

Open PowerShell in the repository directory:

cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure
./build/hocus_native.exe

The build embeds your HOCUS.DAT in hocus_native.exe and copies the required HOCUS.EXE beside it. The finished game therefore needs these two files in the same directory:

hocus_native.exe
HOCUS.EXE

HOCUS.DAT is not required beside the finished executable because your copy is embedded during the build. Do not redistribute the resulting executable: it contains commercial game data from your copy.

To create a local ZIP package:

cmake --build build --target package

An existing HOCUS.SAV may be placed beside the executable. Otherwise, the game creates a compatible blank save when you first save. Before modifying an existing DOS save, Hocus Native creates a one-time backup.

Controls

Action	Default control
Move	Left / Right Arrow
Jump	Space
Fire	Ctrl
Interact, read messages, or aim upward	Up Arrow
Lower a movable elevator	Down Arrow
Scroll the viewport	Page Up / Page Down
Pause menu	Esc
Toggle fullscreen	Alt+Enter
Open cheat menu during play	Ctrl+Alt+F1

Use the Arrow keys and Enter to navigate menus. Any key advances startup screens while preserving the Apogee and registered-title sequence.

Cheat menu

Press Ctrl+Alt+F1 during a level. Use Up/Down or keys 1–6 to select an entry, then press Enter or Space. Press Esc or Ctrl+Alt+F1 to close the menu.

Entry	Effect
FEELGOOD	Full health and invincibility
BLAKE	Infinite silver and gold keys
QUARK	Permanent rapid fire
BANANA	Infinite laser shots
JUMP IN MID-AIR	Jump again while airborne; the camera follows vertically and ejects Hocus from embedded floors
CHAPTER/STAGE SELECT	Warp to any level from E1L1 through E4L9

The four original typed cheat codes remain available as one-shot effects.

Widescreen, High FPS, and fullscreen

WIDESCREEN MODE appears on the main menu with shortcut W. Activating it cycles through OFF, 16:9, 21:9, and 32:9. These modes use 320×200, 356×200, 467×200, and 711×200 logical framebuffers respectively, drawing progressively more map, entity, and projectile space on both sides rather than stretching the image. The original status bar remains centred exactly once, with solid-black side panels. Enemy encounters retain their original player-contact trigger timing in every aspect ratio. Menus, startup screens, story pages, and other original artwork remain at their unmodified 320×200 dimensions. The setting persists in HOCUS_NATIVE.CFG.

HIGH FPS MODE appears on the main menu with shortcut F. When enabled, it presents up to 125 interpolated frames per second while leaving the original fixed-step physics, enemy logic, timers, random stream, and demos unchanged. The setting persists in HOCUS_NATIVE.CFG.

Press Alt+Enter at any time to toggle borderless fullscreen. Alt does not activate the Windows system menu.

Asset extraction

The optional extraction tool validates your EXE and DAT, exports all 652 archive entries, converts supported formats, and writes typed metadata for all 36 levels:

python tools/extract_assets.py

Output is written beneath assets/, which Git intentionally ignores because it contains copyrighted data from your copy.

Verification and documentation

The test suite covers archive and rendering rules, gameplay behavior, standalone runtime imports, registered-executable validation, recovered executable tables, the extraction pipeline, and the parity ledger.

Document	Contents
Architecture	Binary facts, asset layout, and port boundaries
Executable analysis	MZ-aware disassembly and control-flow map
Gameplay reconstruction	Instruction-level gameplay evidence
Parity audit	Function ledger, matches, and native qualifications
Laser audit	Complete laser-shot behavior audit
1.1.1 release notes	Widescreen and floor-recovery update
1.0 release notes	Initial release highlights and validation

Credits and license

Hocus Native is an unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Moonlite Software or Apogee Entertainment. See CREDITS.md for the original-game credits, port credits, purchase links, and legal notice.

The original Hocus Native source code is available under the MIT License. That license does not apply to Hocus Pocus or any original game content. Never commit or redistribute HOCUS.EXE, HOCUS.DAT, HOCUS.SAV, extracted assets, or locally built binaries containing game data.