Reverse Engineering SimTower
a day ago
- #LLM
- #reverse-engineering
- #game-development
- An LLM reverse-engineered a modern clone of the childhood video game SimTower, resulting in the live site towers.world.
- The process began with static analysis using the reaper framework and Ghidra, but struggled with complexity and AI limitations like premature conclusions and lack of detail.
- Dynamic analysis via Unicorn emulation with Claude Code enabled state-matching and autonomous bug fixes, leading to a close reproduction of the original binary.
- Key lessons include the need for closed-loop verification with dynamic analysis and the effectiveness of autonomous hill-climbing for complex tasks.
- The project highlights the potential of LLMs to revive abandoned machine code, making old software economically reusable.