About
Hellraider is a late-1980s game released for the Atari ST and MS-DOS; the DOS version notably used multi-directional EGA scrolling before Commander Keen made the technique well known. This is a disassembly of Hellraider's DOS executable, reverse-engineered into commented 8086 assembly source that can be reassembled with a period-appropriate Microsoft Macro Assembler and linker. Most functions and variables have been given descriptive names, though some sections remain unannotated, and the source also includes the game's raw sprite and bitmap graphics data.
Getting started
A batch build script is included for reassembling the DOS executable with a vintage Microsoft assembler and linker (you may need to adjust it for your own setup). To play the original DOS version in an emulator like DOSBox, configure it for EGA mode to avoid visual glitches; control details are explained in a linked social-media thread by the author.
History
The author disassembled the game in September 2023 after encountering its little-known DOS port, wanting to understand how it achieved multi-directional scrolling years before Commander Keen.
Known limitations
- compatibility: When playing in DosBox, should be configured in EGA mode to avoid visual glitches.