Case study

freeaoe: an Age of Empires 2 engine rebuilt from observation

freeaoe rebuilds an Age of Empires 2 engine in C++ from observed gameplay and public knowledge. It loads original game data directly, including scenarios, campaigns, graphics and AI scripts; support for Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds remains in progress.

Targets: Game
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
Evidence class: C1 partial scope or analysis entry

Stars: 242
Last commit: 2021-08-03
Language: C++
License (GitHub): GPL-3.0

GitHub data as of 2026-11-10

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Evidence

Demo screenshot from the project's public documentation

Observed: Download and demo observed; the case covers part of the target software.
Scope: Partial
Checked: 2026-11-09

How evidence classes are assigned

Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: Requires original Age of Empires 2 data files; trial-version data also works.
Prerequisites: Building requires SFML and a modern C++ compiler.
Limits: The project is in early development; Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds support is unfinished.
License: Licensed under GPL-3.0.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{freeaoe-case,
  title = {{freeaoe: an Age of Empires 2 engine rebuilt from observation}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/sandsmark/freeaoe}},
  url = {https://github.com/sandsmark/freeaoe},
  urldate = {2026-11-06},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/freeaoe-case/}}
}

Plain text

freeaoe: an Age of Empires 2 engine rebuilt from observation. https://github.com/sandsmark/freeaoe (accessed 2026-11-06). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/freeaoe-case/

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About this entry

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · sandsmark/freeaoe · Revision f5e46da