The complete Manic Miner disassembly

4 comments

• A_Venom_Roll1 hour ago
  Perfect timing - Sharopolis just released a video [0] using this exact disassembly to mod Super Mario-style physics into the game.<p>He used Claude Code to &#x27;vibe code&#x27; the assembly changes, leveraging the fact that the disassembly identifies about 2KB of unused memory. It’s a fascinating look at how LLMs can now navigate and modify 40-year-old Z80 assembly when provided with a well-documented codebase like this one.<p>The video sparked a lot of discussion in the comments, with some people being very upset he used AI for this.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=gxxNgZgd88I" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=gxxNgZgd88I</a>&quot;
  • s-macke25 minutes ago
    AI is very effective for reverse engineering. Unless you’re doing it purely for fun, it makes sense to use AI where it helps.<p>I’ve tried to visualize the “navigate and modify” process you mentioned in [0]. It’s mesmerizing.<p>Because reverse engineering outcomes are comparatively easy to verify, it’s a good fit for training for AI. I expect major progress in the next few years, potentially to the point where reverse engineering many binaries becomes highly automated.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;s-macke&#x2F;OpcodeOracle" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;s-macke&#x2F;OpcodeOracle</a>
• b3lvedere1 hour ago
  I&#x27;ve played Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy countless times back in those days. Very fun to read it completely disassembled. Thank you.
• aa-jv1 hour ago
  Ah, this is delightful - as a life-long collector of old machines, having kept every computer I&#x27;ve used personally&#x2F;professionally since 1978, the Speccie is one of the greatest ways to spend an afternoon - and even though there are a huge, huge number of other titles, Manic Miner is still a top 5 favorite in the playlist.<p>The disassembly is particularly nice to read, such as the sprite-drawing routine:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;skoolkit.ca&#x2F;disassemblies&#x2F;manic_miner&#x2F;asm&#x2F;36852.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;skoolkit.ca&#x2F;disassemblies&#x2F;manic_miner&#x2F;asm&#x2F;36852.html</a><p>Curious that there are snippets of the <i>original</i> project source code still embedded in the &#x27;dead&#x27; memory space of the Manic Miner binary .. I find myself wondering if this could be the basis of a ML-driven rewrite into the original source form, as a kind of archaic protogenesis .. but, anyway, still a curio:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;skoolkit.ca&#x2F;disassemblies&#x2F;manic_miner&#x2F;asm&#x2F;37708.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;skoolkit.ca&#x2F;disassemblies&#x2F;manic_miner&#x2F;asm&#x2F;37708.html</a><p>Indeed, for anyone with a new or old interest in assembly language, of any competency, this disassembly is a delightful read ..
• andybak1 hour ago
  oh dear god. i can port this to VR now... Claude!