I just found out that Konami somehow lost the source code to the PS2 version of Silent Hill so they had to recreate it. How do they lose it and why can’t they get it from a random game disc? Isn’t that how modders, emulators, and speedrunners see the code?
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The original source code was written in a language like C, which has english-like words like “if” and “while”. Variables have names, functions have names, and comments are contained within the source code written by the developers for their own benefit.
The original game disks contain machine code. CPUs run instructions that are a sequence of really fundamental operations like “load from RAM”, “add value”, “go to” and so on. Variables have numerical addresses, functions have numerical addresses, the comments are gone, and the conversion process (run by a program called a compiler) has free license to tweak the code how it sees fit for the benefit of the quirks and styles of the PS2’s CPU.
While decompilers do exist, all the nuance and substance of the original game source code is long gone, leaving you to figure out what this variable means and what this loop actually does, multiplied by a few thousand of them, all over the game code. It’s not a fun time.
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