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  3. Video Game Preservation Through Decompilation

Video Game Preservation Through Decompilation

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  • M This user is from outside of this forum
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    mesamunefire@piefed.social
    wrote 18 days ago last edited by
    #1
    This post did not contain any content.
    S L 2 Replies Last reply 18 days ago
    111
    • M mesamunefire@piefed.social
      18 days ago
      This post did not contain any content.
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      simple@piefed.social
      wrote 18 days ago last edited by
      #2

      Decompilation is definitely the path forward. Not only does it preserve games and allow you to play enhanced native versions, they're totally legal and won't get you into hot water. I played Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time at 60fps and it was glorious.

      B 1 Reply Last reply 18 days ago
      21
      • S simple@piefed.social
        18 days ago

        Decompilation is definitely the path forward. Not only does it preserve games and allow you to play enhanced native versions, they're totally legal and won't get you into hot water. I played Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time at 60fps and it was glorious.

        B This user is from outside of this forum
        B This user is from outside of this forum
        borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        wrote 18 days ago last edited by
        #3

        Wait, what? Distributing decompiled code from a proprietary source is completely legal? Is that actually correct?

        I was under the impression that the source code is copyrighted, as is the compiled build of the game, and that decompiling the game is a violation of the Terms of Service, which would make distributing it still illegal. I'd love to be wrong about this though.

        T S N 3 Replies Last reply 18 days ago
        6
        • B borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          18 days ago

          Wait, what? Distributing decompiled code from a proprietary source is completely legal? Is that actually correct?

          I was under the impression that the source code is copyrighted, as is the compiled build of the game, and that decompiling the game is a violation of the Terms of Service, which would make distributing it still illegal. I'd love to be wrong about this though.

          T This user is from outside of this forum
          T This user is from outside of this forum
          turkalino@lemmy.yachts
          wrote 18 days ago last edited by
          #4

          The ORIGINAL source code is copyrighted, but decompiling does not give you the original source code. Decomp tools give you generic variable names like unsigned_int_4 and then it’s up to you to decipher what the purpose of the variable even is and give it a relevant name. So it’s virtually impossible you’ll get a character-for-character match to the original.

          Also, decomps have different levels of accuracy. You may get something that is a perfect behavioral match, even though there’s differences in the instructions being run. You may get an instruction-perfect match but not a byte-perfect match between the binaries.

          IANAL but this is what I’ve learned from following decomp projects on YouTube

          C 1 Reply Last reply 18 days ago
          20
          • M mesamunefire@piefed.social
            18 days ago
            This post did not contain any content.
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            lena@gregtech.eu
            wrote 18 days ago last edited by
            #5

            It would be cool if there was a law mandating that companies release the source code of a product after they stop distributing it, or maybe something like 15 years after its initial release.

            Or just make all software open source ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

            H 1 Reply Last reply 18 days ago
            30
            • T turkalino@lemmy.yachts
              18 days ago

              The ORIGINAL source code is copyrighted, but decompiling does not give you the original source code. Decomp tools give you generic variable names like unsigned_int_4 and then it’s up to you to decipher what the purpose of the variable even is and give it a relevant name. So it’s virtually impossible you’ll get a character-for-character match to the original.

              Also, decomps have different levels of accuracy. You may get something that is a perfect behavioral match, even though there’s differences in the instructions being run. You may get an instruction-perfect match but not a byte-perfect match between the binaries.

              IANAL but this is what I’ve learned from following decomp projects on YouTube

              C This user is from outside of this forum
              C This user is from outside of this forum
              catloaf@lemm.ee
              wrote 18 days ago last edited by
              #6

              Yeah. And all the big projects so far have required a "legally dumped" ROM as an input.

              S 1 Reply Last reply 18 days ago
              6
              • B borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                18 days ago

                Wait, what? Distributing decompiled code from a proprietary source is completely legal? Is that actually correct?

                I was under the impression that the source code is copyrighted, as is the compiled build of the game, and that decompiling the game is a violation of the Terms of Service, which would make distributing it still illegal. I'd love to be wrong about this though.

                S This user is from outside of this forum
                S This user is from outside of this forum
                simple@piefed.social
                wrote 18 days ago last edited by
                #7

                Yes, reverse engineering is totally legal. The big asterisk here is that you can't distribute any assets the company owns, so you need the original game files regardless to play the decompiled version.

                1 Reply Last reply
                10
                • B borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                  18 days ago

                  Wait, what? Distributing decompiled code from a proprietary source is completely legal? Is that actually correct?

                  I was under the impression that the source code is copyrighted, as is the compiled build of the game, and that decompiling the game is a violation of the Terms of Service, which would make distributing it still illegal. I'd love to be wrong about this though.

                  N This user is from outside of this forum
                  N This user is from outside of this forum
                  nuxcom_90percent@lemmy.zip
                  wrote 18 days ago last edited by nuxcom_90percent@lemmy.zip
                  #8

                  "Legal" is a very strong word here.

                  A better statement would be that there hasn't really been a major court case regarding decompiling source for hobby use and most cases where it is used for profit or piracy are no nos for existing reasons. But for education purposes or to develop and interface, it is a grey area. In large part because said education makes you toxic as hell in industry and said interfaces are usually for things that violate the license agreement and TOS because the software didn't provide an interface for a reason.

                  And then you run into cases where the act of bypassing protections to get the binaries in the first place put you in further hot water. Sort of like how the (way over simplified) argument that you are legally allowed to have a backup of your video games but the act of making said backup gets REALLY sketchy in a lot of cases.

                  I would probably phrase it more as "decompiling source code is not illegal. How you use it might be"


                  Its also always worth remembering that law comes from precedent. And it is rarely in anyone's interest for stuff like this to go to trial. So there will be a few landmark cases that cover VERY specific use cases and a LOT of cases of big lawyers saying "Do you really wanna fuck with us?" and getting a C&D and a settlement.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  6
                  • L lena@gregtech.eu
                    18 days ago

                    It would be cool if there was a law mandating that companies release the source code of a product after they stop distributing it, or maybe something like 15 years after its initial release.

                    Or just make all software open source ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

                    H This user is from outside of this forum
                    H This user is from outside of this forum
                    haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com
                    wrote 18 days ago last edited by
                    #9

                    Great thinking. It wont ever happen though because that would be sOcIaLiSm.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    4
                    • C catloaf@lemm.ee
                      18 days ago

                      Yeah. And all the big projects so far have required a "legally dumped" ROM as an input.

                      S This user is from outside of this forum
                      S This user is from outside of this forum
                      smeg@feddit.uk
                      wrote 18 days ago last edited by
                      #10

                      I believe that's to get the assets (i.e. the textures, character models, etc) which are still covered by copyright and so can't be included in the decomp projects

                      1 Reply Last reply
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                      23 Jun 2025, 22:15


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