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Reversing proprietary network packet bitstream serialization in game engines

netvar_ninja
Schema Master
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3 weeks ago ยท Aug 1, 2026 6:06 AM
#1

How modern games pack network variables into compact bitstreams:

Instead of full 32-bit floats, angles are quantized into 16-bit integers (uint16_t quantizedPitch = (uint16_t)((pitch + 89.0f) * (65535.0f / 178.0f))).

Inside BitRead / BitWrite classes in memory:

  • ReadUBitLong(int numBits): Extracts non-byte-aligned variable length fields.
  • ReadBitCoord(): Reads fractional 3D world coordinates.

Reverse engineering the bitstream serializer allows decoding live network packets from packet captures!

raycast_ryan
Ballistics Dev
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3 weeks ago ยท Aug 1, 2026 9:36 AM
#2

Bit packing is standard in Source, Unreal, and Unreal networked titles. Great breakdown of quantization math.

ptr_arithmetic
C++ Wizard
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3 weeks ago ยท Aug 1, 2026 3:31 PM
#3

Quantized angles save massive bandwidth on 64-player servers.