Spectrum Computing

HI guys, I have known a few games that have been reverse engineered in terms of code, but I don't remember a single place that has a coherent list of these in the wild.

Is there a website with a catalogue and/or links to these dumps, or original source code ?

If not, we can start adding the known ones to this thread.

Probably a daft question, is reverse engineered different from disassembled?

There are a number at the excellent http://skoolkit.ca/

The largest collection is probably http://opensourcezx.untergrund.net

ramsrc wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:52 pmThere are a number at the excellent http://skoolkit.ca/

I just noticed the SkoolKit page is missing The Great Escape disassembly.

The largest collection is probably http://opensourcezx.untergrund.net

Yes, but this is mostly Russian soft that most people here have never heard about

And if we want to be pedantic, they were not reverse engineered, but rather this site stores their original source code

There are also sources available for a few games on WOS, you can find them with advanced search option.

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2017 1:12 pm

ramsrc wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:52 pmThere are a number at the excellent http://skoolkit.ca/

I just noticed the SkoolKit page is missing The Great Escape disassembly.

The disassemblies page only lists the ones he created himself. Others are listed on the links page, including The Great Escape: http://skoolkit.ca/?page_id=1016

Guesser wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2017 2:16 pm

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2017 1:12 pm I just noticed the SkoolKit page is missing The Great Escape disassembly.

The disassemblies page only lists the ones he created himself. Others are listed on the links page, including The Great Escape: http://skoolkit.ca/?page_id=1016

You are right, sorry!

Source code of games developed using Boriel ZX Basic are listed here:

http://www.boriel.com/wiki/en/index.php ... d_Programs

R-Tape wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:00 am Probably a daft question, is reverse engineered different from disassembled?

I would say that disassembly is the first step when reverse engineering a piece of software.

Other steps include:
- determine where variables are stored and their intended use.
- determine internal data structures
- where are the boundaries of each function, and what they do, and find a suitable name
- understand algorithms used
- where graphics are stored and their format
- where music is stored, kind of player, channels supported, etc..
- etc ...

Probably a daft question, is reverse engineered different from disassembled?

Well, different people may have different definitions.

Personally I would agree with RMartins that reverse engineering is a bit more than just disassembling. It's disassembling + documenting.

Actually disassembling may be entirely automatic - your input is binary file and your output is text file with assembler commands, labels like L32768 and not a single comment. Adding meaningful labels and comments makes it something more than just disassembly.

I discovered a Head Over Heels disassembly the other week on github which I'd not previously spotted: https://github.com/simon-frankau/head-over-heels

Does any one know of a reverse engineered version of Space Harrier ?

Closest I can offer is "Cannonball": the reconstructed OutRun engine: https://github.com/djyt/cannonball/wiki

Doesn't seem identical, although I agree the implementation of the floor could be considered similar.

I find the annotated disassembly listings really useful, far more so than the books on assembly in making a game. While the books are necessary for looking up things like processor specs, timings - of a technical nature. And of course the basics. Its the games themselves where the practical applications are found. Being able to see how various creators did what they did is great.

The games I wish that would get this treatment are in no particular order...

The Forest - , its a mix of basic and assembly. How they managed to get the game space in the spectrum always made me scratch my head, especially considering it was a mix of basic and assembly (well according to infoseek).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpyLanR7lG4[/youtube]

Mailstrom - while the game was a grind, I always wondered how they got the scrolling to work like they did and all the various menus.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1ZvACJsR0E[/youtube]

saboteur - I loved that game back in the day, to be able to poke around inside and figure out how it worked its 'magic' would be really something.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2Mq2TMkm8o[/youtube]

Luny has disassembled Pyjamarama here:

http://www.luny.co.uk/index.php?page=90