What language is this?

[VTAP]

I'm new and interested in programming. I have some offline games (older like 12yrs old) that I want to tinker around with. I want to know what language this is so that I may start learning how to program!

I've disassembled one of the files in PVDasm to see what I'm getting myself into. Here's a screencap!

Seems I can't post a link or image. Here's what I was able to post!

img41.imageshack.us/img41/33/whatlang.jpg

Thanks for the help!

[ZekeDragon]

Uhh... you disassembled it. In a disassembler. Therefore, it's assembly.

All compiled programming languages break down into Assembly commands, which are then interpreted into a series of hexadecimal digits that correspond to their according binary set, which the processor actually reads. There's no way to be able to tell just from the assembly output what language was used to program the game, and it is very likely that that assembly code was written by a compiler of some kind. Google researching might yield better results than disassembly, but either way you wouldn't be able to use that language to modify the executable, you'd need the source code first, and it's likely you don't have (nor are allowed to have) that.

[VTAP]

Thanks for the info.

I understand what you're saying however, what I see on screen is one step above looking at this in a Hex Editor? The next step being the source code, then the game itself? Pardon my newbness. I am just trying to get a better understanding of all of this!

Okay, for instance, from the pictue it has a line for "Prox Mines Quantity/Pack" The following code(?) from then to the next line that says "Prox Mine Damage" is all related to how many "Prox Mines" I get per pack? Inside the game I get 1 prox mine per pack. I also noticed in other areas some of the disassembly that where it says for the Prox Mine Pack "00000001H" it has like "Controller bays" "00000002H" and other things similar (Controller takes 2 bays of your allowed space ingame).

I'm assuming that if I was to change (I don't know how or understand this very much) the "00000002H" to "00000001H" when i equip Controller it would only take up 1 bay of my allowed space?

I'm trying to tinker with these things because I would like to get into game creation at some point.

So basically, in PVDasm I see 5 columns. Address, Opcodes, Disassembly, Comments, References. What do these all mean?

The best way to gain knowledge is to ask, so I am. I am also doing independent research. I appreciate the responses. Thanks!


EDIT:
I actually think I found the language it was written in. It was written in Linux. I do not have the source code(obviously), am I able to write programs to tweak my game? If so, what language would I have to do this with? (Doing this with an older offline game so that I can practice!)

Thanks again!

[NatalieM]

Linux isn't a language, it's an operating system.

You need the source code to be able to understand the logic of a game and be able to tweak it. Rather than setting your sights on a specific game for which you might never be able to get the source code legally, why don't you try out with an open source game? You can find a list on Wikipedia to get you started.