Open Source ??

[shane056]

After reading alot of the postings, to do with improvements etc for the game, and with the usual reply that no more enhancements will be entertained, and that only the correction of bugs is being pursued.. Why not consider the huge pool of talent out there in cyber space, and release this free game as open source for these people to make these changes, thus ensuring that this game continues to progress and improve.. ??
There is probably some real talented people out there that could take this game to the next evolutionary level and beyond... Shane

[RickyB]

Originally posted by shane056:
After reading alot of the postings, to do with improvements etc for the game, and with the usual reply that no more enhancements will be entertained, and that only the correction of bugs is being pursued.. Why not consider the huge pool of talent out there in cyber space, and release this free game as open source for these people to make these changes, thus ensuring that this game continues to progress and improve.. ??
There is probably some real talented people out there that could take this game to the next evolutionary level and beyond... Shane

SSI still holds the copyright to the program, and their agreement with Matrix does not allow the code to be released.


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Rick Bancroft
Semper Fi

[VictorH]

Are there any old wargames where "Open Source" is available?

[Ed Cogburn]

Originally posted by VictorH:
Are there any old wargames where "Open Source" is available?

No, I've never heard of any, sadly. At least not wargames (the folks at Id Software are pretty cool, they've released the source code for Wolfenstein 3D and then later Doom). I doubt the "Open Source" idea goes over real well with the game companies. They, more then any other type of software maker, depend on you coming back and buying their next game, as in the SP series or WIR and WIR2, or the Civilization line. In some cases involving very popular games the Open Source community would end up improving the game on a continual basis resulting in the players never buying another game of that category from the commercial makers.

It wouldn't be likely for all game types, it depends on popularity. A popular game would attract a large audience, which in turn means a significant number of programmers (lets say 3% of the playing audience can also program). The bigger the playing audience, the more programmers are involved, the greater the chance this project becomes self-sustaining. I don't think the release of the code for a hard core wargame will result in much, because there isn't a large enough audience. But the game companies should be nervous. The Open Source "FreeCiv" project is going strong (Civ I/II clone - very good) and I've heard of a project working on something akin to the WarCraft game (RTS type game). But its been a long time since I heard of that one, it may be defunct. There are others, I just don't pay that much attention to them (limited time).

Still, I would *love* to see the code for some older wargames. I wonder if the source code for WiR1 still exists.... or Kampfgruppe.... [sigh]