Case study

Devilution: reconstructing Diablo's original source

Devilution reconstructs source for the original Diablo game from surviving symbols and debug information in PlayStation and PC releases. Its C++ code builds a replacement for Diablo.exe that uses the user's original game files. The project preserves original behavior, including bugs, and treats Hellfire support as future work.

Targets: Game
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06

Stars: 9.0k
Last commit: 2025-09-15
Language: C++

GitHub data as of 2026-11-09

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Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: Requires an original Diablo copy, including DIABDAT.MPQ; game assets are not supplied.
Prerequisites: Running the replacement executable requires files from a Diablo installation patched to 1.09(b), including DiabloUI.dll, SmackW32.dll, Standard.snp and Storm.dll.
Limits: Hellfire support is not yet included.
License: Sustainable Use License 1.0; the source is restricted to noncommercial use.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{devilution-case,
  title = {{Devilution: reconstructing Diablo's original source}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/diasurgical/devilution}},
  url = {https://github.com/diasurgical/devilution},
  urldate = {2026-11-06},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/devilution-case/}}
}

Plain text

Devilution: reconstructing Diablo's original source. https://github.com/diasurgical/devilution (accessed 2026-11-06). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/devilution-case/

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About this entry

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · diasurgical/devilution · Revision 9f01757
LICENSE.md GitHub · diasurgical/devilution · Revision 9f01757