FAQ

Is this the original source code? No. It is a disassembly transcription: every function is __declspec(naked) MSVC6 inline assembly that recompiles to the original bytes. It is not a source reconstruction.

Why not write clean C++? Byte identity is the acceptance criterion. Reconstructed C++ would compile to different bytes, so the oracle transcribes the original machine code instead.

Does this repository include the game or its assets? No original executables, DLLs, art, audio, or maps are included. The repository does include transcribed code and reference-derived data sections, so the default build is self-contained.

Do I need to supply the game EXE or DLLs? No. The byte-exact non-.text data sources and the reference-derived .bin artifacts are committed, so you can build and verify the oracle without owning the game. A reference binary is needed only to regenerate data/artifacts or to run a byte diff. See the build guide.

Which game version was used as the baseline? The official Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries Point Release 1 (PR1) build, file version 50.07.01.2105, EXE SHA-256 deb0cb7f97e26c9db850d768900bdfb7648db7d10a090e7cdf6cecdc7686134f. This is provenance; you do not need the file to build. Community builds such as MekTek 3.1 are different product builds and are not the baseline.

Can I build a playable EXE? The build produces a byte-identical MW4Mercs.exe from the committed sources and artifacts. You can deploy it with nmake deploy if your install is in the expected location.

Why MSVC6? The target binaries were built with MSVC6. The inline-assembly encoding and the final image layout depend on that toolchain.

Why are some functions missing? A few EXE IAT jump thunks and the .txt2 SafeDisc leftover are out of scope. They are listed in src/mw4mercs/artifacts/extra_functions.csv.

How do I know the build is correct? nmake verify checks the built images against the canonical SHA-256 hashes without needing the reference. nmake exe, nmake dll-all MOD=..., and the per-function checks additionally compare bytes when the reference is present. See docs/VERIFICATION.md.

Can I contribute code? No. The oracle is frozen. Documentation corrections are welcome; see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Does the build need an external analysis database? No. The build uses the committed sources, the committed function inventories in reference/functions/, and the committed data/artifacts. The reference binaries are optional.