# The Bard's Tale: byte-matching reconstruction of BARD.EXE

> The Bard's Tale reconstructs the 1987 MS-DOS BARD.EXE as C and assembly modules built with Microsoft C 4.0 and LINK 3.51 /EXEPACK. Its scripts rebuild the root program and three overlays, then compare the result with a user-provided executable; the author reports a byte-identical full rebuild.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: Game
- Category: Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-09
- Original resource: <https://github.com/retro-ware/bt1-re>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/retro-ware/bt1-re/blob/e932e5dc77552a878d90a152174856a668e1c4f0/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/bards-tale-msdos-decomp-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/bards-tale-msdos-decomp-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/bards-tale-msdos-decomp-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** Provide your own BARD.EXE and Microsoft C 4.0 with LINK 3.51.
- **Prerequisites:** Building uses DOSBox-X, nasm and Python 3.
- **License:** No licence file in the repository.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/retro-ware/bt1-re/blob/e932e5dc77552a878d90a152174856a668e1c4f0/README.md>
2. <https://github.com/retro-ware/bt1-re/blob/e932e5dc77552a878d90a152174856a668e1c4f0/CHECKLIST.md>

## More in Games

- [The Great Escape: an annotated ZX Spectrum disassembly](https://awesomerea.org/resources/the-great-escape-disassembly-case/index.md) · Case study
- [The Incredibles: matching GameCube decompilation](https://awesomerea.org/resources/incredibles-gc/index.md) · Case study
- [The Jungle Book: a Game Boy disassembly with level-analysis tools](https://awesomerea.org/resources/jungle-book-gb-disassembly-case/index.md) · Case study
- [The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: matching Japanese 1.0 disassembly](https://awesomerea.org/resources/alttp-jp-disasm/index.md) · Case study
- [The Legend of Zelda: matching NES disassembly](https://awesomerea.org/resources/zelda1-nes-disassembly-case/index.md) · Case study
- [The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D: a USA code.bin decompilation](https://awesomerea.org/resources/oot3d-before-public-decomp-case/index.md) · Case study

## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.