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Re: Forge Source Code
Posted By: Steve LevinsonDate: 8/25/04 4:03 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Forge Source Code (Lunair)

: I always understood the worst problem with doing this sort of thing to be the
: fact that compilers do not include the comment text and such, leaving only
: the code there, and thousands upon thousands of lines of code without any
: guide can be a rather terrifying sight.

It's much worse than that. The starting point is machine code and the first step is converting it to assembly language. Assembly language is basically just a translation of machine code into elementary CPU instructions such as 'move X to register 45' and 'add Y to register 45'. Not particularly helpful. Compiled code looks nothing like the original source code, which is usually written in a higher language such as C or C++. A single line of source code can potentially generate hundreds of lines of assembler code. Worse yet, compilers may use a variety of different strategies to achieve the same result, and vice versa, such that there is no one-to-one relationship between source code and compiled code. Reverse engineering literally involves poring over thousands upon thousands of lines of assembler code looking for patterns and trying to figure out exactly what is being done, why it is being done and then to write a series of lines of source code that might have resulted in said compiler output. It is much, much easier to start from scratch given that we know what the desired effect should be.

Believe me, no one would like to see a carbon version of Forge completed - Pfhorge or otherwise, but I've been saying for a while now that a more fruitful approach would be two-pronged - Mac-compatible versions of level editors for a more modern engine such as Q3, and a tool for importing existing Marathon files into files that could be used with that engine (both for Mac and PC). Once that is done, there would be no need to work on improving the code for a decade-old game engine. 3D rendering is an order of magnitude more difficult problem than level editing. Look at Pfhorte - it was developed nearly overnight.

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

Forge Source CodeAdam Ashwell 8/24/04 1:38 a.m.
     Re: Forge Source CodeD-M.A. 8/24/04 4:23 a.m.
           Re: Forge Source CodeAdam Ashwell 8/24/04 4:24 a.m.
                 Re: Forge Source CodeTim Vogel (Earthquake software) 8/24/04 6:13 a.m.
           Re: Forge Source CodeMark Levin 8/24/04 6:51 a.m.
                 Re: Forge Source Codegoran 8/24/04 11:36 a.m.
                       Re: Forge Source CodeForrest of B.org 8/24/04 3:22 p.m.
                       Re: Forge Source CodeSteve Levinson 8/24/04 6:53 p.m.
                             Re: Forge Source CodeLunair 8/24/04 8:05 p.m.
                                   Re: Forge Source Codegoran 8/24/04 10:22 p.m.
                                         Re: Forge Source CodeD-M.A. 8/25/04 2:23 a.m.
                                   Re: Forge Source CodeSteve Levinson 8/25/04 4:03 a.m.
                                         Re: Forge Source CodeAdam Ashwell 8/25/04 4:07 a.m.
                                               Re: Forge Source CodeJohannes Gunnar 8/25/04 4:51 a.m.
                                         Re: Forge Source Codea disreputable source 8/25/04 8:22 a.m.
                                               Re: Forge Source CodeSteve Levinson 8/25/04 9:05 a.m.
                                                     Re: Forge Source Codea disreputable source 8/25/04 3:26 p.m.
                                                           Re: Forge Source CodeSteve Levinson 8/25/04 4:27 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Forge Source CodeLunair 8/25/04 10:26 p.m.
                                                                       Re: Forge Source CodeAdam Ashwell 8/26/04 1:30 a.m.
                                                                 OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?goran 8/25/04 11:43 p.m.
                                                                       Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Adam Ashwell 8/26/04 1:37 a.m.
                                                                             Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?goran 8/26/04 3:31 a.m.
                                                                                   Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?blake37 8/26/04 10:39 a.m.
                                                                             Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Little Kago 8/26/04 6:51 p.m.
                                                                                   Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Simon of team Sigma 8/26/04 6:56 p.m.
                                                                                         Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Little Kago 8/26/04 8:26 p.m.
                                                                                               Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?goran 8/26/04 11:03 p.m.
                                                                                                     Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Steve Levinson 8/27/04 3:02 a.m.
                                                                                               Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Adam Ashwell 8/27/04 2:42 a.m.
                                                                                         Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Document 8/27/04 7:29 a.m.
                                                                                   Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Document 8/27/04 7:28 a.m.
                                                                                         Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?goran 8/27/04 9:18 a.m.
                                                                                               Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Lunair 8/27/04 10:44 a.m.
                                                                                         Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?ukimalefu 8/27/04 12:20 p.m.
                                                                       Re: OMG guys, watcha doing!?!?Steve Levinson 8/26/04 12:04 p.m.

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