Space Cadet Pinball (decompilation, browser and PC versions)

This site is not affiliated with Microsoft, Maxis or the porters. We do not host any files; Play opens the porter’s own site in a new tab.

What it is

Space Cadet was one of three tables in Full Tilt! Pinball (1995, by Cinematronics and Maxis). Microsoft bundled it with Windows NT 4.0, 2000, ME and XP as 3D Pinball for Windows, and dropped it from Windows Vista onwards. Microsoft developer Raymond Chen later wrote that the 64-bit port had a collision-detection bug the team could not fix in time, so the game was cut.

In 2021 a developer known as k4zmu2a published a decompilation: every function of Windows XP’s pinball.exe turned back into compilable C++ using Ghidra and IDA, with Microsoft’s own public debug symbols as a guide (SpaceCadetPinball README). It was cross-checked against the 32-bit CADET.EXE from Full Tilt! Pinball. Because the result is portable C++ on SDL2, it now runs on modern Windows, macOS and Linux, and fans have taken it much further.

One of those fans, alula, compiled it to WebAssembly with Emscripten (alula/SpaceCadetPinball). That browser port is the easiest way to play today.

Current status

• Browser: pinball.alula.me is up. We opened it on 3 November 2026 and the table, score panel and menus loaded straight away, with nothing to upload.
• Desktop: release 2.1.0, 16 October 2023, for Windows x64, x86, a Windows XP build and macOS. Linux users can install it from Flathub or their distribution. The repository was last updated in August 2024; the game is considered complete.
• Consoles and other systems: fan ports to Switch, Wii, Wii U, 3DS, DS, PS2, PS Vita, Dreamcast, webOS TVs, MorphOS and AmigaOS 4 are listed in the README. Two Android ports are marked as work in progress.

What you need

• For the browser version: a desktop browser and a keyboard. Phones are untested; the game is built for keyboard controls.
• For the Windows, Mac and Linux builds: the original resource files, which the project does not include. The README says to place the program “into a folder containing original game resources” and that it “supports data files from Windows and Full Tilt versions of the game”. They come from the Pinball folder of a Windows XP installation or from a Full Tilt! Pinball disc.

We do not host or link the original data files.

How to play

For the desktop version: download the build for your system from the releases page, unpack it, copy the original data files into the same folder, and run it. All keys can be changed under Options > Player Controls.

What the decompiled version adds

• Runs natively on modern 64-bit Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Resizable window and modern rendering through SDL2.
• Full Tilt! data support, including the Full Tilt version of the table’s art and sounds.
• Open source (MIT), which is why it has spread to so many platforms.

Common problems

• Desktop build will not start or reports missing data: the data files are missing or in the wrong folder. They must sit next to the program.
• Keys do nothing in the browser: click inside the game first so it gets keyboard focus.

Unofficial. This page is written by an independent directory. It is not made by, endorsed by or affiliated with Microsoft (table by Maxis / Cinematronics) or k4zmu2a (decompilation); alula (browser port) (Space Cadet Pinball (decompilation, browser and PC versions)'s author). We do not host any files, and we never link to game files, ROMs or ISOs.