Methods
How a game’s code gets opened up. Ordered from the original source down to code rebuilt from the binary, then the lighter-weight paths.
Source releaseThe developers or rights holders published the original source code. The code is usually free to build; art, sound and levels often still come from your own copy.1,058Matching decompHand-reconstructed C or C++ that compiles back to a byte-identical copy of the original program. The strongest proof the code is faithful; ports and mods follow fast.922DecompReconstructed source that behaves like the original but does not rebuild it byte for byte. Often the quicker route to a native port.301AI-assisted decompDecompilation done with heavy, disclosed help from language models. Quality varies, so read each project's own claims about accuracy.125Static recompA tool translates the original machine code into C ahead of time and compiles it for a modern PC. Faithful by construction and fast to produce; the generated code is not meant to be read, but it runs natively and takes mods.1,132ReimplementationA new engine written from scratch that runs the original game's data, guided by reverse engineering. OpenTTD, OpenRCT2 and OpenMW are the classic examples.941Source portA modernised build of released or reconstructed source for current systems.386DisassemblyFully labelled assembly that reassembles into the original program. Common on 8- and 16-bit machines, where assembly was the source.729Native portA native PC version exists, but the method behind it is not documented.186Readable bytecodeThe game ships in a form that decompiles almost back to source: .NET, Java, GameMaker, Godot, Lua or Flash. No project is needed to read it, which is why these games have large modding scenes.1,658Agent environmentA reinforcement-learning or agent harness already wraps the game: a Gym-style API, a bot framework or a headless simulator.205RE candidateNo public project yet, but the binary suits agent-driven reverse-engineering tools such as rea.554