DOS Games Discussion

Thanks for the cmake fix, use -trace switch so you can see which was the instruction which couldn't be disassembled. Then add -terminator 1234:5678 with the failing address. Depending on the complexity of the game, there will be some places which need to be fixed manually (see the .patch files in ga...

you mean this line? cmake -DCAPSTONE_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DCAPSTONE_ARCHITECTURE_DEFAULT=OFF -DCAPSTONE_X86_SUPPORT=ON .. should be changed to this? cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCAPSTONE_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DCAPSTONE_ARCHITECTURE_DEFAULT=OFF -DCAPSTONE_X86_SUPPORT=ON .. Short guide: cicodis place...

I have prepared a windowsbatch script which installs all necessary prerequisites (mingw toolchain, capstone, cicojit disassembler, SDL2) and converts Star Goose game: https://github.com/gabonator/Projects/blob/master/CicoJit/cicodemo/windows.bat For linux, there is a dockerfile: https://github.com/g...

Xenon2 in browser with powerup and level switcher. Just jump to last level, "buy" flame thrower, lasers as many as you need and enjoy the ride! https://rawgit.valky.eu/gabonator/Projects/refs/heads/master/CicoJit/gamelib/xenon2/wasm/build/index.html https://rawgit.valky.eu/gabonator/Projec...

I have ported prehistorik 1 to C++ and javascript and noticed strange thing. If you set memory location 1f86:8b94 to nonzero value, it will display a "mouse" cursor which is controlled by arrow keys. Any clue what this could be? In dos box (you need to unpack the game first with UNP.EXE or...

Building cicoparser: - building on OSX or linux - download source file: https://github.com/gabonator/Projects/blob/master/CicoJit/cicodis/cicodis/main.cpp - brew install capstone or apt-get install capstone - g++ -std=c++17 main.cpp -I/opt/homebrew/Cellar/capstone/5.0.1/include/ -L/opt/homebrew/Cell...

There is a major update on cicoparser, and here are some results: Tunneler - network multiplayer: https://github.com/gabonator/Projects/blob/master/CicoJit/gamelib/tunneler/netplay/readme.md Bumpy - with level browser and replays: https://rawgit.valky.eu/gabonator/Projects/refs/heads/master/CicoJit/...

I have finally found some time to make a demonstration video how a game can be completely rewritten into C++ in less than 25 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fAeUx8A-OE

Thank you for suggestion, I posted it there as well. Just for update, here is Xenon2 ported to javascript (just first level):

http://x.valky.eu/xenon2js

I have partially ported another game - this time I have used C++ to javascript converter instead of C++ compiled into WASM. Still has some issues, but playable:

Rick Dangerous 2
https://l.valky.eu/dosrick2

Yes, but there are some requirements though, the game binary cannot be packed or protected. In those old days there were various tricks to protect the games from copying and the hacker groups either produced "vigrin" binary of the game, or they made resident app that cracks the game during...

Yes, exactly like that. The idea behind this project is to have a tool which can be used on any DOS application. But from my research (tested about 10 games), not every game can be ported easily. Currently it supports apps written in raw assembly and it highly depends on how the game was programmed ...

Hello guys, few years ago I made an experiment where I translated the disassembled code of a game (Alley Cat, Star Goose) into C++ or Javascript. It was just a proof of concept and a lot of things needed to be fixed by hand. I sporadically returned to this experiment to improve the translation proce...