Getting Claude to extract data from a 1997 football manager game
5 hours ago
- #retro gaming
- #football manager
- #data extraction
- Author nostalgically revisits FIFA Soccer Manager 97, a game from childhood that still runs on modern systems via Wine.
- Claude AI was used to extract player, team, and stadium data from game files, correcting team names and fixing errors.
- The data includes unused elements like full player names, manager names, and stadium details, revealing Easter eggs.
- A comprehensive website and CSV files were created from the extracted data, with Python scripts for reproducibility.
- Interesting stats include top-rated players, player-managers, and the 'EA All Stars' team of game developers.
- Detailed data extraction method explained using David Seaman's record as an example, decoding player stats.
- The '2079 Bug' is described, where player age calculation fails due to a 16-bit date overflow after October 2079.
- Full motion video cutscenes in EA's TGQ format were identified and can be decoded with ffmpeg.
- The end credits feature staff photos and code snippets, linking to their in-game EA All Stars player listings.
- Project is open on GitHub, inviting others to extract data and explore further, like stadium graphics.