the only thing they could really do is hack the binaries down to a hex/binary level. Its possible to make alterations that way, I've done reverse engineering this way in the past (and subsequently got banned from a few online games as a result.) There's nothing illegal about doing this, it just tends to annoy the developers because they're a bit overly protective of their livelihood.
If the game engine was rebuilt from the ground up to use Access' content then there's nothing illegal there, they've just built an interpreter, see things like Open Morrowind or Open TTDX, generally it tends to be open source leading the way on this stuff by turning previously closed sourced games open.
Getting the code for the original games is impossible. The only code you could actually get is reversed engineered or content interpretation. All that exist are the binaries.
Ripping the Audio is easy, we've seen that done already, ripping the textures also happened and proved rather interesting. Getting the models... not entirely sure. I reckon it'd work with Pandora and Overseer but not with UAKM due to reliance on DOS libraries (whereas Pandora and Overseer used DirectX/Glide) so its putting the graphics directly into the GPU, and thus can be ripped using a ripping program. I've done this before too, its very easy to do. Been meaning to actually give it a go with Pandora. I might look into it if I've got some spare time so I can perhaps make a diorama of Chandler Avenue.
The videos are tricky because the encoders were very old back then, so decompiling them could prove tricky if they used an obscure propriety method.
that's my thoughts without touching it.
EDIT: Alright, this is going to be tricky. The game won't run in Windows 7 natively. Looks like I'll have to use a VM for this one. I'll do it later in the month, don't really have the bandwidth for this and Tesla.
If the game engine was rebuilt from the ground up to use Access' content then there's nothing illegal there, they've just built an interpreter, see things like Open Morrowind or Open TTDX, generally it tends to be open source leading the way on this stuff by turning previously closed sourced games open.
Getting the code for the original games is impossible. The only code you could actually get is reversed engineered or content interpretation. All that exist are the binaries.
Ripping the Audio is easy, we've seen that done already, ripping the textures also happened and proved rather interesting. Getting the models... not entirely sure. I reckon it'd work with Pandora and Overseer but not with UAKM due to reliance on DOS libraries (whereas Pandora and Overseer used DirectX/Glide) so its putting the graphics directly into the GPU, and thus can be ripped using a ripping program. I've done this before too, its very easy to do. Been meaning to actually give it a go with Pandora. I might look into it if I've got some spare time so I can perhaps make a diorama of Chandler Avenue.
The videos are tricky because the encoders were very old back then, so decompiling them could prove tricky if they used an obscure propriety method.
that's my thoughts without touching it.
EDIT: Alright, this is going to be tricky. The game won't run in Windows 7 natively. Looks like I'll have to use a VM for this one. I'll do it later in the month, don't really have the bandwidth for this and Tesla.
With ripping the models I'm now looking into doing a native install. The GOG.com version was causing problems getting the ripper to pickup on it in D3D mode. It kinda has to be native directX, not emulated as its mostly faked. It treats it like a 2D image basically. So I really need that geo to be on the GPU in order to rip it. Worse comes to worse I get the old Olivetti out after 20 years of gathering dust lol. But yeah I'm willing to have a look see for educational purposes. Can't do UAKM as I've said as it predates direct x entirely.
