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Hammer of the Gods full decompilation (aka Heroes of Might & Magic Zero)

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First post, by NancySadkov

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Hey folks,

AI makes reversing a cakewalk, so earlier this month I already did full recovery of Shadow Sorcerer source code (a first modern style D&D game). And now I have mostly finished reversing the classic Hammer of the Gods game from New World Computing. The game is a rather unusual 4x attempt and has a few mechanics later appeared on the HoMM series. The game was written in C++, but doesn't really use classes outside of a UI. It had messy development, and they switched from VGA to SVGA along the way, with many sprites weren't properly redrawn, so I'm thinking about launching a video model to re-render them in full HD, or should I release it as is, maybe doing obligatory SDL3 port?

Next target target would be Emperor of the Fading Suns, which was one of the most ambitious 4x games, presenting entire galaxy sector of planets. Have anyone attempted reversing it yet? Since the Emperor was plagued by bugs, and unfinished features and could win from some modding.

Reply 1 of 5, by KainXVIII

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I dunno, why using ai slop if you can grab enhanced versions of both games from original devs in Steam/GoG..

Reply 2 of 5, by NancySadkov

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KainXVIII wrote on Yesterday, 15:55:

I dunno, why using ai slop if

I do say freedom and independence. It gives you control over how you play. You're no longer reliant on a 3rd party developer and publisher whims, even if you don't have the time, dedication and skills to mod it yourself. E.g. my fav HoMM game is the 4th, but it doesn't have a huge community to reverse engineer it, since other prefer the 3rd one. So if I want improvement to my fav game, only AI can help me.

KainXVIII wrote on Yesterday, 15:55:

you can grab enhanced versions of both games from original devs in Steam/GoG..

Do they come with source code and allow proper ports and modding, or just dosbox wrapped original exes? With source code you can change any minor detail, convert graphics to 3d, and improve AI to be truly challenging. Hammer of the Gods in particular has interesting terra incognita overlay generator, which you as a game designer would be interested to study. And if the developers don't ship their game with source code (like Carmack did), do they really respect you?

Reply 3 of 5, by the3dfxdude

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Are you planning to distribute something from your work? How are you going to distribute your changes?

Reply 4 of 5, by KainXVIII

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NancySadkov wrote on Today, 00:55:
I do say freedom and independence. It gives you control over how you play. You're no longer reliant on a 3rd party developer and […]
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KainXVIII wrote on Yesterday, 15:55:

I dunno, why using ai slop if

I do say freedom and independence. It gives you control over how you play. You're no longer reliant on a 3rd party developer and publisher whims, even if you don't have the time, dedication and skills to mod it yourself. E.g. my fav HoMM game is the 4th, but it doesn't have a huge community to reverse engineer it, since other prefer the 3rd one. So if I want improvement to my fav game, only AI can help me.

KainXVIII wrote on Yesterday, 15:55:

you can grab enhanced versions of both games from original devs in Steam/GoG..

Do they come with source code and allow proper ports and modding, or just dosbox wrapped original exes? With source code you can change any minor detail, convert graphics to 3d, and improve AI to be truly challenging. Hammer of the Gods in particular has interesting terra incognita overlay generator, which you as a game designer would be interested to study. And if the developers don't ship their game with source code (like Carmack did), do they really respect you?

You can check for yourself, there are even demo versions in steam (definitely not a dosbox wrapped original exe files), for example https://store.steampowered.com/app/2799350/Em … _Suns_Enhanced/

Reply 5 of 5, by NancySadkov

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the3dfxdude wrote on Today, 02:18:

Are you planning to distribute something from your work? How are you going to distribute your changes?

A zip file for example. Needs Watcom C/C++ 10.0a to compile. Still a raw preview, before the any ports or classes recovered.

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