How to use Claude to document legacy game code

Fabian Wesner used Claude Code to document Micropolis, the open-source release of the original SimCity. He asked it to read the entire codebase and write full documentation, then published the resulting documents and the prompt in his repository. He also converted the documentation into a podcast episode for easier consumption. The supplied post mentions a JavaScript rebuild, but gives no implementation steps for that separate project.

Wesner said the documentation looked correct and complete, while acknowledging that he was not an expert on this particular codebase. Don Hopkins, who said he knew the code, reviewed the documentation and described specific things it covered. It mapped and compared different versions, caught an experimental Eliza chatbot easter egg in the PyGTK version, and addressed licensing and trademark issues. It also noted that active development had moved to MicropolisCore. Hopkins listened to the audio version and called it comprehensive and technically accurate, with a reservation about its closing city-planning claim.

Who it's for: Maintainers investigating unfamiliar legacy repositories who want documentation they can check against the code.

Prompt
Suggested prompt (written by Agents In Use, not the author's)

Source: Hacker News · DonHopkins