Case study

spore-decomp: reconstructing SporeApp.exe resource handling

spore-decomp reconstructs behaviour from Spore's SporeApp.exe in portable C++17, currently covering DBPF, RefPack and name hashing. It annotates reimplemented functions with original addresses and provides Ghidra scripts plus a Unicorn harness for differential tests against a user's game copy. The source tree also includes matching experiments and progress records.

Targets: Binary · Game
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
Evidence class: C2 code & docs, no demo or download

Stars: 16
Last commit: 2026-11-10
Language: C++
License (GitHub): GPL-2.0

GitHub data as of 2026-11-10

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Evidence

Observed: Code and documentation observed; no download method or demo found.
Checked: 2026-11-09

How evidence classes are assigned

Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: A user's own SporeApp.exe is needed for binary analysis and differential tests; installed Data/ files enable corpus tests.
Prerequisites: Python dependencies named in the setup instructions, CMake and Ninja are needed for the documented workflow.
Scope: The portable src/ reimplementation currently covers resource handling.
License: GPL-2.0-only license for project-authored code; third-party components retain their own terms.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{spore-decomp-case,
  title = {{spore-decomp: reconstructing SporeApp.exe resource handling}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/NoahBPeterson/spore-decomp}},
  url = {https://github.com/NoahBPeterson/spore-decomp},
  urldate = {2026-11-06},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/spore-decomp-case/}}
}

Plain text

spore-decomp: reconstructing SporeApp.exe resource handling. https://github.com/NoahBPeterson/spore-decomp (accessed 2026-11-06). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/spore-decomp-case/

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About this entry

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · NoahBPeterson/spore-decomp · Revision 35666b0
CMakeLists.txt GitHub · NoahBPeterson/spore-decomp · Revision 35666b0