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Unlike a disassembly of code that is written in a higher-level language like C, these old NES and Gameboy games were written in the assembly language you're see

by aculver 12y ago

Unlike a disassembly of code that is written in a higher-level language like C, these old NES and Gameboy games were written in the assembly language you're seeing disassembled. Obviously there are no comments and labels, but the actual logic and the intent of the original developer is clearly communicated. This allows for a really special type of awesome when you're working on fan translations and ROM hacks. You actually have the opportunity to analyze the work of the developers you idolized when you were younger, and celebrate a their clever hacks or curse them for their spaghetti code, 15 to 25 years later. Furthermore, you can contribute your own clever hacks to the code base.

kanzure 12y ago
> Gameboy games were written in the assembly language you're seeing disassembled. Obviously there are no comments and labels, These look like labels and comments to me: https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/engine/title.asm https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/engine/ti... https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/battle/ai/scoring.asm https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/battle/ai... https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/home/decompress.asm https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/home/deco... https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/battle/hidden_power.asm https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/battle/hi...
- ANTSANTS 12y ago
  They meant "obviously the comments and labels of the original programmers are not included."
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
bane 12y ago
What's always amazed me about the 8-bit and 16-bit console days is the relatively high quality of the code. It might be ugly, but it's relatively defect free for the most part. My understanding is that Nintendo did significant QA testing before providing their "Seal of Approval" and allowing the game to be shipped. I know there are a few glitches and bugs, but it's still amazing to me that I can't think of a single 8 or 16 bit game published on Nintendo or Sega's consoles that had game killing bugs during normal gameplay. They didn't lock-up, reboot the system, glitch out, etc. Even when monkeying around with the weird glitches, the games stayed pretty rock solid. I know today's games are incredibly more complex, but I don't think they go through the rather rigorous gameplay testing of those old days. (then again, it was every kid's dream to be a gameplay tester, until they found out it was a minimum wage job that involved following a specific script to test a sprite collision bug on level 5 of Yo! Noid for 8 hours straight)

by aculver 12y ago

kanzure 12y ago

> Gameboy games were written in the assembly language you're seeing disassembled. Obviously there are no comments and labels, These look like labels and comments to me: https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/engine/title.asm https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/engine/ti... https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/battle/ai/scoring.asm https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/battle/ai... https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/home/decompress.asm https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/home/deco... https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/battle/hidden_power.asm https://github.com/kanzure/pokecrystal/blob/master/battle/hi...

ANTSANTS 12y ago
They meant "obviously the comments and labels of the original programmers are not included."
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

bane 12y ago

What's always amazed me about the 8-bit and 16-bit console days is the relatively high quality of the code. It might be ugly, but it's relatively defect free for the most part. My understanding is that Nintendo did significant QA testing before providing their "Seal of Approval" and allowing the game to be shipped. I know there are a few glitches and bugs, but it's still amazing to me that I can't think of a single 8 or 16 bit game published on Nintendo or Sega's consoles that had game killing bugs during normal gameplay. They didn't lock-up, reboot the system, glitch out, etc. Even when monkeying around with the weird glitches, the games stayed pretty rock solid. I know today's games are incredibly more complex, but I don't think they go through the rather rigorous gameplay testing of those old days. (then again, it was every kid's dream to be a gameplay tester, until they found out it was a minimum wage job that involved following a specific script to test a sprite collision bug on level 5 of Yo! Noid for 8 hours straight)