Sword of the Stars (2006) reverse-engineering worklog. Infra docs live in trikilli services/re-lab.md.
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alex 648028db67 lane V2: vtable inversion — resolve indirect call edges image-wide
Every call-graph result in this repo was computed over direct (E8) edges.
5,045 of the 5,207 functions named by a vftable slot have zero direct call
sites, so all of those results were lower bounds. Lane Z's dominant RNG
consumer hung off exactly such an edge.

tools/vtable_map.py builds, from the RTTI walk plus a full sweep to the next
function start (rule 17):
  * vftable -> class -> sub-object offset -> slot -> target, and its inverse
  * the class hierarchy from the RTTI base lists, so an abstract interface
    with one concrete override resolves uniquely
  * constructor-derived member typing (ctor result -> [this+d])
  * the slot index at every indirect call site, with a backward register
    resolver that refuses to cross a branch target rather than guess
  * `this`-carrier spans and this/member call-graph propagation of class

Validation (12/12): rediscovers ServerTradeManagerImpl slot 10 ->
GenerateTradeRaidEncounters from the dispatch at 0x007d8469 with nothing
hand-fed, and re-derives the *Impl rule for both managers. Receiver-class
pinning reaches only 2.5% of the 6,398 virtual sites, at 0.6% out-of-range
against a 70% chance baseline; the displacement-only route measured worse
than random (81% vs 58%) and is rejected outright.

Closes lane K's tier-4 blind spot: all nine phase-23 calls and both phase-33
calls named. Four of the eleven reach a draw on the strategic generator
(StrategyServer+0x16c) at eight instruction-verified sites, none ever
observed firing — so "the tail draws nothing" is a property of eight turns,
not of the code. Also resolves the nine parked inlined-draw functions to
their vtable roots (correcting how that was recorded: none is itself in a
vftable; their topmost ancestors are), and finds 14,958 inter-function tail
jump edges without which three of them look like dead code.
2026-09-08 12:05:05 -04:00
campaign dashboard refresh 2026-09-08 12:04:41 -04:00
findings lane V2: vtable inversion — resolve indirect call edges image-wide 2026-09-08 12:05:05 -04:00
ghidra lane V2: vtable inversion — resolve indirect call edges image-wide 2026-09-08 12:05:05 -04:00
guides rules: 18 - measure first, the lab exists; static reading explains what you measured 2026-09-08 11:20:30 -04:00
notes init commit 2026-09-07 12:31:56 -04:00
objects regenerate both headers (669 addresses); track objects/generated so the shared clone stops sitting dirty 2026-09-08 07:36:16 -04:00
scripts lane V2: vtable inversion — resolve indirect call edges image-wide 2026-09-08 12:05:05 -04:00
tools lane V2: vtable inversion — resolve indirect call edges image-wide 2026-09-08 12:05:05 -04:00
verify lane Y: the standalone's generator against lane Z's calibrated oracle pairs, and the tail's turn record 2026-09-08 11:40:19 -04:00
.gitignore lane D: automated struct recovery from the IStreamable serializers 2026-09-08 05:51:37 -04:00
README.md guides: RE how-to for 2000s MSVC/DX9 games (98 sources); queue replay-checksum, class recovery, apitrace/TTD 2026-09-07 18:05:58 -04:00

sots-re

Reverse-engineering worklog for Sword of the Stars (2006, SOTS1) — the 32-bit DX9 original + expansions. The nitty-gritty: static/dynamic analysis notes, Ghidra & ReVa scripts, function/struct maps, D3D9 call traces, decomp progress, findings.

Where this runs

Analysis lab on spicy (PVE, 192.168.3.201):

  • CT111 sots-re — Linux workspace: Ghidra + headless ReVa server, radare2/rizin/cutter, binwalk. Hosts the Samba share and this repo's working tree at /srv/re-lab/notes.
  • VM140 sots-re-win10 — Win10 runtime + dynamic analysis (x64dbg, Cheat Engine, RenderDoc/apitrace, DXVK→CPU-Vulkan for GPU-less rendering).

Infra (guests, storage, network, share, ReVa endpoint) is documented from the system-maintainer POV in trikilli → services/re-lab.md. This repo is everything else.

Layout

  • findings/ — the running findings log (append-only), one file per subsystem.
  • ghidra/ — exported scripts, data-type archives, struct definitions.
  • traces/ — D3D9 / Win32 API call captures + analysis.
  • scripts/ — helper tooling (loaders, extractors, parsers).
  • notes/ — session notes, scratch, hypotheses.

Ownership / legality

Game binaries come from the owner's own GOG/Steam copy. RE is for personal interoperability, bug-fixing, and preservation. Binaries themselves are not committed here (see .gitignore) — they live on the lab's Samba share /srv/re-lab/samples.

Campaign (how this repo is run)

A 4-agent crew (defined in ~/.claude/agents/re-*.md) runs the exploration: re-quartermaster (backlog + board) → re-analyst (maps via ReVa) → re-verifier (proves vs real data; old-vs-new differential once reimpl starts) → re-scribe (files the note, links it, commits).

  • campaign/board.md — live status board (start here).
  • Live tracking = Forgejo issues on alex/sots-re (labels status/* are the kanban columns; type/*, conf/*). campaign/board.md is the editable mirror — publish with scripts/forgejo_campaign.py bootstrap (needs FORGEJO_TOKEN).
  • campaign/backlog.md — prioritized target queue.
  • campaign/open-questions.md — unresolved threads.
  • findings/_template.md — the record format every finding follows.
  • findings/{objects,control-flow,subsystems}/ — the growing engine map.
  • verify/{parsers,traces,harness,results}/ — validation: struct parsers now, golden-trace replay + shim compare-mode for reimplementation.
  • ghidra/ — exported scripts + datatype archives.

Approach & north star: findings/00-strategy.md. Binary facts: findings/01-fingerprint.md.

Sibling repo

alex/sots-engine — the from-scratch engine source (clean-room, public-capable). This repo keeps the evidence + planning for both; binary facts cross over only via ghidra/addresses.json → tools/gen_addresses.py.

  • guides/re-windows-2000s-howto.md — annotated bibliography + how-to for RE of mid-2000s MSVC/DX9 Windows games, with our-experience call-outs.