The purported source code for a software emulator of the Nintendo 64 game module is nothing more than a shoddy decompile of the original application, programmers say.
As previously reported, the source code for a controversial Windows-compatible Nintendo 64 emulator was posted on the Web in the hope that the open source programming community would download and develop it.
However, programmers point out that the file is not the source code for the emulator, but a kind of awkward reverse-engineering of the original application.
"The 'source code' posted was in reality a disassembly," said Jeff Garzik, a programmer with the National Electronic Attachment. "This is not the original source code at all, but something generated by an analysis of the binary .exe file."
Ryan Taylor, an applications developer with Schulze Manufacturing in Burlingame, California, said the file was created with a programming tool called the Reverse Engineering Compiler, from Backer Street Software, which takes apart executable files and outputs code.
Taylor said he took the original emulator, ran it through REC, and ended up with exactly the same file as the one posted on the Web. However, the resulting "source code" will not compile and is almost completely useless, Taylor said.
"The 'source code' is actually less useful than the executable by itself," Taylor said. "Or even a raw disassembly. Or nothing at all."
Meanwhile, the creator of the file, a programmer called GossiTheDog, said he is thinking of removing the file this weekend and shutting down his Web site.
"It's got out of hand," he said in an email. "I don't know if the project will continue."
GossiTheDog said the file was a "first build" of the Nintendo emulator for members of an informal group of developers to download and work on. However, news of the file leaked out and he has been unable to cope with the response.
"This week I've received almost 300 emails on the subject, and my Web site has had almost 10,000 hits -- in a week, I remind you," he said. "An announcement will be made on Saturday."
