ShortLine

About

reSL is a reverse-engineered version of the DOS game ShortLine v1.1 (DOKA, 1992), with the code fully restored and adapted for touch-controlled devices. The game can be played in a web browser or downloaded from the releases page, and it builds with CMake and SDL2 for macOS, Linux, Windows, Android, iOS and WebAssembly. The author used Ghidra as the main tool.

How it differs from the original

The main branch is an improved version: mouse and touch work in all menus, long touch and swipe replace mouse button chords, a grid helps in construction mode, and error handling is better. It also fixes several original bugs, such as a freeze when starting a new game after stopping with trains waiting at the first entrance. An original branch stays closest to the original game.

History

The goal was to port a favorite childhood game to modern mobile platforms with touch controls.

Features

• You can play the game in a browser.
• The project is adapted for touch-controlled devices.
• Mouse and touch can be used in all menus.
• Construction mode includes grid lines to help with positioning.

How to install

1. Download the game from the releases page.

Controls

• On PC, you can press Space instead of pressing both mouse buttons at once.
• Long touch replaces right-click, and swiping replaces pressing both mouse buttons at once.

Media

Licensing & legal

• The author says the project is not for profit and that rights to the algorithms in the restored code belong to the original authors, Andrei Snegov and DOKA.

Additional notes

Unfinished manual

The last chapter of the original manual, 'Inside SHORTLINE', was never finished; the author notes the open source code now serves as that description.

FAQ

What is ShortLine?

ShortLine is an open-source decompilation. Source code reconstructed from the original game's compiled binary, so the game can be understood, rebuilt and ported. The original game ran on DOS.