Some developers modify the Lua source code to shuffle opcodes (e.g., the opcode for MOVE is swapped with ADD ).
I once worked on a mod for an indie game (with permission) whose original author lost the source. The game used Lua 5.2 compiled scripts. Using unluac , I recovered 95% of the UI logic. Missing variable names were annoying, but the algorithm was intact. Two hours of cleaning later, we had fully functional source. decompile luac
The final output is a best-effort reconstruction. It will run functionally identically but rarely matches the original source layout. Some developers modify the Lua source code to
Choosing the right tool depends entirely on the version of Lua used to compile the file. decompile luac