# open-iw: investigating Inner Worlds' packed game resources

> open-iw investigates the packed resources inside the DOS game Inner Worlds 1.2 while working toward a rebuild. Its notes describe the executable's resource header, file-list entries, offsets and alignment uncertainty; a C utility supports extraction experiments.

- 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/TambourineReindeer/open-iw>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/TambourineReindeer/open-iw/blob/84436e237cfba9e5532a396aed4bc25862583d90/utils/reverse-engineering.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/open-iw-inner-worlds-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/open-iw-inner-worlds-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/open-iw-inner-worlds-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** Use the registered retail version 1.2 of Inner Worlds for the documented notes and utilities.
- **Limits:** Resource alignment remains unresolved, limiting extraction of the DOS game files.
- **License:** No licence file in the repository.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/TambourineReindeer/open-iw/blob/84436e237cfba9e5532a396aed4bc25862583d90/utils/reverse-engineering.md>
2. <https://github.com/TambourineReindeer/open-iw/blob/84436e237cfba9e5532a396aed4bc25862583d90/utils/README.md>

## More in Games

- [Open1560: partial reconstruction of Midtown Madness build 1560](https://awesomerea.org/resources/open1560-case/index.md) · Case study
- [OpenBoxer: incremental reconstruction of Месть боксера game functions](https://awesomerea.org/resources/openboxer-case/index.md) · Case study
- [OpenDAoC: recreating a Dark Age of Camelot server](https://awesomerea.org/resources/opendaoc-core-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Opengate: a client and server remake of Jumpgate](https://awesomerea.org/resources/opengate-jumpgate-case/index.md) · Case study
- [OpenLGR: rehosting Lego Racers with emulation and runtime patches](https://awesomerea.org/resources/openlgr-lego-racers-case/index.md) · Case study
- [OpenMC2: incrementally rewriting Midnight Club 2](https://awesomerea.org/resources/openmc2-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.