alex/sots-re
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Projects Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions
Sword of the Stars (2006) reverse-engineering worklog. Infra docs live in trikilli services/re-lab.md.
355 commits 1 branch 0 tags 44 MiB
Find a file
alex ca6782f4ff lane BU: the fleet-visit-order prediction, committed before the run 
Stage 2 of the chain lane BR unblocked. H2 (an RNG draw) is dead by
measurement, so the visit order over the ship groups is either a function of
the walked elements' addresses (H1) or of nothing in particular (H1b).

The committed prediction is P3: the visit order is ascending element address,
and across two processes the element order differs exactly where the visit
order differs.

Also the bounded static read this lane took to place the hook: the walk is a
plain index walk of a std::vector<StarFleet*> whose _Mylast is refetched every
iteration, bracketed by two loops over the same vector that call one function
each -- and those two functions have exactly ONE caller each in the whole
image. So the hook is two ordinary function entries plus a bracket, not a
mid-function patch of a loop body whose first instruction is a branch target.
Rule 17 discharged: the body is 0x006c16c0-0x006c247a ret, with a four-entry
jump table living past the ret at 0x006c247c.

ghidra/addresses.d/bu.json carries the two new names and the agent offset; it
deliberately does not re-declare AssignFleetsAndIssueOrders, which lane AI3
owns.
2026-09-09 03:15:19 -04:00
campaign lane BS merged: the per-history residue is an absent Colonize task; BR's generator row scoped to encounter-free turns 2026-09-09 03:14:28 -04:00
findings lane BU: the fleet-visit-order prediction, committed before the run 2026-09-09 03:15:19 -04:00
ghidra lane BU: the fleet-visit-order prediction, committed before the run 2026-09-09 03:15:19 -04:00
guides lane BS merged: the per-history residue is an absent Colonize task; BR's generator row scoped to encounter-free turns 2026-09-09 03:14:28 -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 vmshot: make Pillow optional so --one works anywhere, and document the invocation that supplies it 2026-09-09 02:52:56 -04:00
verify BS: the per-history residue is a Colonize task the save does not carry - both routes reproduced their hashes under instrument 2026-09-09 03:11:12 -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

README.md

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.