Game Decompilation Projects

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Chug Smuckle

True & Honest Fan
kiwifarms.net
Joined
Nov 26, 2023
What is a Game Decompilation?

"Game decompilation is the process of reverse-engineering a compiled game executable to recreate its original, human-readable source code (typically in C or C++) without using the developer's original files. "- Brave ai definition

In laymen's terms reversed engineered pc ports of video games.
for example: The recently released Zelda:Twilight Princess Decomp project- Dusk

Here's a more indepth video going over this topic
 
Seems like a copyright disaster waiting to happen but I must commend the dedication and passion needed to accomplish such a thing.
Decomps are in a weird legal spot as you aren't downloading the game but rather downloading something that modifies it from reverse engineered work. Most companies make a stink about it for physical items but, I haven't seen any video game devs take action on it, yet. No doubt Nintendo will be the first, especially if it's a major Pokemon decomp that eclipses the original game the decomp is based on.
 
Here's some reimplementation projects from reverse engineering of PC games I've come across:

Arcanum CE - The reverse engineering is complete and people have played through the game, but I'd expect it to be buggy as was the original game. The same author has also reimplementations for Fallout 1 and 2 that are mature.

Dethrace (Caramageddon) - Seems close to completion as they report 95.55% accuracy.

Heretic2R - This is fairly new, but apparently feature complete. The readme mentions framerates above 60 FPS haven't been tested.

OpenJKDF2 (Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II) - Seems fairly mature. Allows playing at unlocked framerates, whereas the original game shits the bed at framerates above 30 FPS. Also supports the Mysteries of the Sith expansion, but this is marked as beta.
 
a game being decompiled does NOT mean it can be played on the PC, just that the new source code compiles into (at least mostly) the same binary using the same compiler the devs used
Seems like a copyright disaster waiting to happen but I must commend the dedication and passion needed to accomplish such a thing.
there have been cases about it - like sega v accolade which deems reverse engineering fair use
that being said rockstar would dmca gta decomps on github
but as long as you dont host any actual assets just your own shit its 100% legal

now on topic
there is a pretty much finished touhou 6 decomp (most of the authors are trannies) with the "remaster" branch replacing dx8 with SDL making it cross platform (i've tried it and it seems to work :))
two of the guys (both are trannies) from that team are now working on a touhou 8 decomp
some dudes are working on jak and daxter, an interesting thing about this one is that they're reimplementing the proprietary language that J&D games were written in
theres also mario party 4
theres also pvz decomp but its in really early stages
decompilation of libraries used by 4j (people who ported minecraft to consoles)
pokemon platinum
the popular lego island decomp
battle for bikini bottom
fire emblem sacred stones
smash bros melee
super mario odyssey
sonic cd (2011)
the wind waker
mario kart deluxe dash
mario kart 64
perfect dark
pikmin 2
starfox 64
dr mario 64
super mario galaxy
castlevania symphony of the night
majora's mask and OoT
paper mario
a different twilight princess decomp thats linked in the OP
what you might notice is that most of them are nintenslop
 
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