Codex recreates Red Alert 2 in 26 days without original source code

Codex analysed the EXE file of Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge and recreated the game using 624,000 lines of C++ code. The project took 26 days and cost approximately $400. Developer David Kalmanson managed the process primarily from his iPhone, employing several sub-agents for analysis, programming, and testing. The recreation was based on the EXE file since the original source code is considered lost. Kalmanson stated that Codex executed numerous tool calls during the project. The model also used information from open sources about the original game, including gameplay data. In some instances, Codex compared screenshots from YouTube with its own implementation to ensure visual accuracy. The resulting code resembles a standard C++ project with functions, classes, and structured logic, although minor visual bugs remain. The core functionality works, except for multiplayer, which was not implemented. Kalmanson completed about 99% of the work via the ChatGPT app on his iPhone during a month-long road trip across the United States, primarily identifying visual errors. He believes he could complete a similar project much faster today, estimating about a week, with the potential for parallel agent launches to speed up the process. The total cost was around $400, including two ChatGPT Pro subscriptions. Kalmanson previously ported Command & Conquer: Red Alert and Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, which were easier due to available source code. His earlier successes motivated him to test if Codex could recreate an old game solely from an executable file. After the first launch of Red Alert 2 on Mac, he recognised the potential for applying this approach to many old games.

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