AI can now decompile video games and software in days rather than the years it took community volunteers working by hand. The results are impressive: old abandoned games are receiving native ports to new platforms, with high frame rates, dynamic native resolutions, and modding support. Projects such as Isaac Recomp, which ports the original 2011 Flash version of The Binding of Isaac in C++, now run at a native 1440p and are smoothly interpolated to 165FPS. Hundreds of such projects are already underway, with more appearing every day.
The author, who says they generally dislike AI, admits the trend is hard to ignore. Game preservation is a major benefit, since experiences that were locked to 30FPS, blurry resolutions, or obsolete technology like Adobe Flash can now be modernized. Titles such as Colin McRae Rally 2.0, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and a Metroid Prime port are cited as examples. Earlier community decompilations, such as Open GOAL for the Jak and Daxter games and Ship of Harkinian for Zelda Ocarina of Time, were built by hand and are still praised as the work of legends.
The same capability carries serious risks. If AI can decompile any software, companies could copy competitors, and paid games or apps could be opened up and redistributed. Code produced this way is also often messy, and some ports are unstable because their creators lack the expertise to fix them.
The author concludes that the technology is both remarkable and alarming, and that its impact on the tech industry will be significant.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing