I've been reading a lot lately on the assorted atari forums about disassembly, and modifications to original games to run on cartridges, etc. I was looking at trying to disassemble alternate reality to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes in the game, like Kroah has done with MULE. Out of curiosity, I was wondering if anyone had ever considered combining the city and the dungeon? With the series always being planned as being modular, it could also open the possibilities of fan made expansions, seeing as Arena, Palace, Wilderness, Revelation and Destiny were never created.
http://www.eobet.com/alternate-reality/ is a useful resource, and describes a lot of what goes on behind the scenes of the game, as well as the plans that were made for the series.
Alternate Reality decompilation possibilities
Moderator: Atari Frog
Re: Alternate Reality decompilation possibilities
You are right, people talked about this topic recently. Unfortunately things are more complicated than people usually imagine; same applies to the cartridge conversion of AR.Dunk wrote:I've been reading a lot lately on the assorted atari forums about disassembly, and modifications to original games to run on cartridges,
This task will become very difficult since AR uses self-modifying code (e.g., to boost execution time up) and encryption schemes to hide several things like disk access from the curious reverse-engineer's eyes...I was looking at trying to disassemble alternate reality to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes in the game,
I dare to claim that AR is MUCH more complicated to fully understand than MULE is. But I am quite sure Kroah would be the right man for the disassembling AND the understanding of ARlike Kroah has done with MULE.
Yeah, an AR construction kit would be cool! I also dream of enhanced music built into AR...With the series always being planned as being modular, it could also open the possibilities of fan made expansions, seeing as Arena, Palace, Wilderness, Revelation and Destiny were never created.
André
Re: Alternate Reality decompilation possibilities
Yeah, AR is a real pain to decompile. Not impossible, but lots of time and tries...Andre wrote:This task will become very difficult since AR uses self-modifying code (e.g., to boost execution time up) and encryption schemes to hide several things like disk access from the curious reverse-engineer's eyes...
You are kind but like you said, i think it will take too much time and effort. MULE was sufficiently difficult because of interlaced code compared to Gateway to Apshai or Return of Heracles...I dare to claim that AR is MUCH more complicated to fully understand than MULE is. But I am quite sure Kroah would be the right man for the disassembling AND the understanding of AR
Mmh... even if the 2 games are similars in some way, they have lots of differences. And modifying the City or the Dungeon will give more a hack than an expansion IMHO, because of the work to be done. But if some people have time, it's always possibleWith the series always being planned as being modular, it could also open the possibilities of fan made expansions, seeing as Arena, Palace, Wilderness, Revelation and Destiny were never created.
Cheers,
Kroah
My Games Decompilation Page
http://bringerp.free.fr/RE/
http://bringerp.free.fr/RE/
Re: Alternate Reality decompilation possibilities
Sounds like you already tried ...Kroah wrote: Yeah, AR is a real pain to decompile. Not impossible, but lots of time and tries...
I am not sure but as far as I remember Ken Jordan and Dan Pinal (lead programmers of AR2) re-wrote most of the '3D'-engine completely.Mmh... even if the 2 games are similars in some way, they have lots of differences.
André