case-study 2026-10-10 case-studyclean-roomghidramcpauthorized

OpenBattlefield2: clean-room engine RE with REA snapshots

Clean-room work is where agent RE earns its keep: you need Evidence without shipping someone else’s content. OpenBattlefield2 rebuilds the **engine**, documents the legal boundary, and keeps a REA helper for Ghidra snapshots.

Source meta

35 GitHub stars (snapshot)

Language: C++

License: NOASSERTION

Updated: 2026-10-09

GitHub source ↗

rea.run rating

5/5 — Clean-room + REA tooling

Quality. Serious C++20 engine rebuild; ships tools/rea.sh for Ghidra snapshots.

Evidence. Own-install content boundary documented; REA pinned in helper script.

Limits. Engine without game content — you must bring a lawful install.

For. Engine hackers studying Refractor-class layouts with agents.

What it is. A MIT-oriented clean-room C++20 take on the Battlefield 2-era Refractor 2 engine. The repo is explicit: it is an engine, not a game, and it reads your installed copy.

Relation to REA. tools/rea.sh wraps npx rea-agents with Ghidra-oriented snapshot workflows so MCP/CLI agents can inventory and cache analysis against binaries you supply.

Workflow. Bring a lawful install → point REA/Ghidra at engine binaries → keep snapshot caches for agent vs CLI cost control → feed findings into the open reimplementation modules.

Evaluation. Strong project framing plus practical agent wiring. Stars are modest; engineering signal is high. Always re-check the pinned rea-agents version in the script.

Compliance

Clean-room reimplementation; no shipped game assets. Analyze only installs you own or are licensed to study.

Takeaways

Clean-room + BYO install is the compliance pattern.
Snapshot caches keep agent sessions affordable.
Pin and re-verify rea-agents versions in helper scripts.

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