One of the best things that could happen to the gaming landscape would be if companies like EA and similar learned from Microsoft's move to open sourcing more software and involving the community more gives them a lot more goodwill and business as a side-effect.
And then us gamers get more long-lived games as a benefit as well.
But Microsoft has not open sourced anything that was making $ for them. Neither windows nor any part of office, or any part of enterprise suite. What Microsoft has open sourced are things where similar stuff was already open source, and Microsoft wouldn't have made much money selling those. e.g, VSCode, tyepscript.
EA also open sources stuff like that. They even have open sourced a java library to be able to write async await style code in java. They off course won't open source money making games, and neither does MSFT.
I wonder if we could create a tax incentive for this. For example, if a publisher commits to open sourcing N years after release, they get a break on sales. Or get to capitalise R&D more aggressively during development.
Well, the first thing I thought while reading this was that it would have been great if Microsoft had released the source code of Age of Empires with the release of the Definitive Edition, as well as considered a LAN mode.
Unfortunately, while AoE2:DE is an awesome game, they have done neither…
Good thing that there are projects like OpenAge going on!
id Software, a much smaller company, open sourced the source code of almost all their games and ported them to operating systems known not to be profitable. The benefits of those altruistic decisions are simply unmeasurable. They did all this while still having to work an insane amount of hours to ship their ambitious products.
For example, not long ago, Quake II RTX was released by NVIDIA as a way to demonstrate the advanced raytracing capabilities of their new RTX cards. A decision made in 2001 (open sourcing Quake II) continues to benefit the world today.
Decades ago, Sun Microsystems open sourced OpenOffice, Java and Solaris. LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice and is one of the few office suites available free of cost.
Before Microsoft acquired Github, Github open sourced Atom, an editor similar in scope to VS Code. They also open sourced Electron, which is the framework used by VS Code.
Smaller companies have been doing much more. Microsoft has open sourced some interesting projects, but to say that companies are open sourcing projects because Microsoft is a pioneer in open source is just 4/20 talk.
Microsoft will never open source strategic projects like DirectX, Microsoft Office, SQL server or Windows. They will keep making money hand over fist.
Imagine if Bungie open-sourced Destiny and Destiny 2.
Sure, you don't have to buy the game anymore to get the software, but they also don't have to let you onto their immersive and highly moderated and orchestrated servers. They can offer their own signed builds that you need to access the official universe.
So you could still break the game apart and build new content for fun, but the main game could still stand on its own and still be easy to sell to people because you're not selling the world, you're selling the experience.
Beyond goodwill – which imho would likely be relatively minor given what the average gamer cares about – open-sourcing in the hopes of stimulating mod support is a very cool idea. It looks like EA is providing a map editor, but having the DLLs out there makes it more possible for dedicated users to really tinker with game logic and internals, and (hopefully) create the kind of ongoing sophisticated DLC for other players that EA isn't willing to create and sell itself.
I wonder if active support for open source by game companies will eventually reap the benefits it ostensibly does for big tech companies. For example, by open sourcing React, FB not only can influence JS frameworks in general, it can cultivate a hiring pool of engineers already familiar or proficient with React internals. There's already limited precedent with game companies hiring creators of big-time mods (Valve hiring the creator of Dota). But I'd think more open source support and reducing the friction for fans to become creators would surface even more talent.
> And then us gamers get more long-lived games as a benefit as well.
Which is only in the interesst of small companies, but against the interesst of big companies. Basically any single-game-company has a strong interesst in a long-selling game, take Minecraft, Stardew Valley or League of Legends. They are selling the same game for a decade and make good money with it. Though in case of League of Legends it's "game as a service"-approach, not just a single game without any extras.
Big companies like EA on the other side invest regulary in development of new games and need people to buy them all. Thouhg, they do have those "game as a service"-types too, for example Sims, which get's flooded with small extra-content, skins and little crap. Allowing modding there would totally kill this business-concept, because then people would not need anymore to buy the costly stuff from EA, but get it for free from somewhere.
There is also the https://www.openra.net/ project which provides reimplementations of the classic C&C games.
Me and some friends played it a few times on Linux, OSX and Windows and it worked smoothly :)
As noted elsewhere ITT, "we made the decision to go with the GPL license to ensure compatibility with projects like CnCNet and Open RA."
Given the progress of OpenRA, and quality of the above release video, the open source version seems like it is likely to eclipse the capability of the original game in the foreseeable future.
I'm curious what the OpenRA community pulls out of this newly released source code that can be used directly or by reimplemented in OpenRA to create substantial leaps in progress.
I'm also curious which of the existing OpenRA algorithms and methods are better or more efficient than the original source.
Regardless, this release and the resulting introspective should make for some good reading!
> After discussing with the council members, we made the decision to go with the GPL license to ensure compatibility with projects like CnCNet and Open RA. Our goal was to deliver the source code in a way that would be truly beneficial for the community, and we hope this will enable amazing community projects for years to come.
As someone who got to be quite good at Red Alert back in the late 1900's, I look forward to taking a look.
While the commercial value of the code dropped to about 0 over a decade ago (or did it?), eventual release of source code is better than never releasing source code.
I can't wait till they release the source code for FIFA 20 in about 2045. There is so much speculation in the community on how the game is rigged that I will be the first to download that repo ;-)
Battlefield 2 can't be bought nowadays, but that doesn't stop a small community from working on mods even now. Forgotten Hope 2, one its biggest mods (a complete WW2 overhaul), had a new release last Friday.
But what about the art assests. Moving to the future, those become more valuable, particularly as coding becomes more advanced. While coders have a habit of happily rewriting things to make them work better, visual stuff has a lot more nostalgia factor, as well as actually having them available makes the progress made on the code side seem a lot more real.
Surely this isn't the only game where code is only part of the issue (if it is, I really don't know what the plan is in this instance).
If you want to see what can be done with a donated codebase, look up Freespace Open[1], which, from the original code of Freespace 2 from Volition (a game I loved, but that wasn't very successful) was improved a great deal by the community around it, with several improvements to assets, game engine, and even generated several total conversions.
I'd rather play those two games using OpenRA. Releasing Tiberium Sun (> 20 years old) RedAlert 2 (also 20 years old) would be a great move that actually made a difference.
I would absolutely love to see the Tiberian Sun engine's source code. The graphics setup is totally unique-sprites and voxels coexisting in a 2.5d world with lighting. Lighting! Used to great effect in the dark and grimy graphics.
Yea, I'd always wanted to make a Dungeon Keeper 2 clone. Please!
I wonder why it's not more common to open source abandonware that has exactly zero remaining commercial value. These game companies don't even have to remain as maintainers/stewards of the code. It doesn't even have to compile. Just release it, and many people will get it to work! How much expense could it be to get an intern to upload the code to GitHub, slap a license on it, and never look at it again?
What does a "RedAlert.dll" actually contain? I guess it is not the remastered engine, it is not the models, animations or textures. It won't contain the mission briefing videos, the mission briefing texts or even the mission maps. It is likely not the multiplayer maps, the net code, and especially not the multiplayer server. And it sure is not the awesome music. That dll file might be mostly unit config, like the old rules.ini, but with a bit more code. It is still nice for modding, and the community will make "new games" for free, that will require the proprietary remastered engine and models/textures from EA to be played. Hey it is still EA. And €20 (one time) for the non-open sourced parts aren't even that much. So yeah if it would run on linux instead of DX11/Win64 only, i might even be interested, but i think i will stay with OpenRA.
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Homeworld 1. Yeah it's not GPL, not even a proper open source license, it's also not well maintained like the id ones and Warzone 2100. But it really helps the mod community (and even helps the Remastered 10 years ago).
EA says "this will be one of the first major RTS franchises to open source their source code under the GPL". Well it's not GPL, but Relic is famous for it's RTS titles like Dawn of War, Company of Heroes (and now it's developing Age of Empires IV). Homeworld is one of the best RTS games for me (only second to C&C).
Sadly we can't get the source of Homeworld 2 (they even lost the source code of expansion pack), which the Remastered was built on.
[+] [-] capableweb|5 years ago|reply
And then us gamers get more long-lived games as a benefit as well.
[+] [-] enitihas|5 years ago|reply
EA also open sources stuff like that. They even have open sourced a java library to be able to write async await style code in java. They off course won't open source money making games, and neither does MSFT.
[+] [-] JumpCrisscross|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wlesieutre|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dependenttypes|5 years ago|reply
Can't wait for MS to learn from EA and open source Windows 95.
[+] [-] Arkanosis|5 years ago|reply
Unfortunately, while AoE2:DE is an awesome game, they have done neither…
Good thing that there are projects like OpenAge going on!
[+] [-] 29athrowaway|5 years ago|reply
For example, not long ago, Quake II RTX was released by NVIDIA as a way to demonstrate the advanced raytracing capabilities of their new RTX cards. A decision made in 2001 (open sourcing Quake II) continues to benefit the world today.
Decades ago, Sun Microsystems open sourced OpenOffice, Java and Solaris. LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice and is one of the few office suites available free of cost.
Before Microsoft acquired Github, Github open sourced Atom, an editor similar in scope to VS Code. They also open sourced Electron, which is the framework used by VS Code.
Smaller companies have been doing much more. Microsoft has open sourced some interesting projects, but to say that companies are open sourcing projects because Microsoft is a pioneer in open source is just 4/20 talk.
Microsoft will never open source strategic projects like DirectX, Microsoft Office, SQL server or Windows. They will keep making money hand over fist.
[+] [-] mackal|5 years ago|reply
EA has a few things open sourced.
[+] [-] VWWHFSfQ|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] RIMR|5 years ago|reply
Imagine if Bungie open-sourced Destiny and Destiny 2.
Sure, you don't have to buy the game anymore to get the software, but they also don't have to let you onto their immersive and highly moderated and orchestrated servers. They can offer their own signed builds that you need to access the official universe.
So you could still break the game apart and build new content for fun, but the main game could still stand on its own and still be easy to sell to people because you're not selling the world, you're selling the experience.
[+] [-] danso|5 years ago|reply
I wonder if active support for open source by game companies will eventually reap the benefits it ostensibly does for big tech companies. For example, by open sourcing React, FB not only can influence JS frameworks in general, it can cultivate a hiring pool of engineers already familiar or proficient with React internals. There's already limited precedent with game companies hiring creators of big-time mods (Valve hiring the creator of Dota). But I'd think more open source support and reducing the friction for fans to become creators would surface even more talent.
[+] [-] nitrogen|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] slightwinder|5 years ago|reply
Which is only in the interesst of small companies, but against the interesst of big companies. Basically any single-game-company has a strong interesst in a long-selling game, take Minecraft, Stardew Valley or League of Legends. They are selling the same game for a decade and make good money with it. Though in case of League of Legends it's "game as a service"-approach, not just a single game without any extras.
Big companies like EA on the other side invest regulary in development of new games and need people to buy them all. Thouhg, they do have those "game as a service"-types too, for example Sims, which get's flooded with small extra-content, skins and little crap. Allowing modding there would totally kill this business-concept, because then people would not need anymore to buy the costly stuff from EA, but get it for free from somewhere.
[+] [-] erikbye|5 years ago|reply
Apparently, Microsoft is now the exemplary open source hero. Previous to them, there was none other to learn from.
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] rnestler|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bredren|5 years ago|reply
As noted elsewhere ITT, "we made the decision to go with the GPL license to ensure compatibility with projects like CnCNet and Open RA."
Given the progress of OpenRA, and quality of the above release video, the open source version seems like it is likely to eclipse the capability of the original game in the foreseeable future.
I'm curious what the OpenRA community pulls out of this newly released source code that can be used directly or by reimplemented in OpenRA to create substantial leaps in progress.
I'm also curious which of the existing OpenRA algorithms and methods are better or more efficient than the original source.
Regardless, this release and the resulting introspective should make for some good reading!
[+] [-] Ericson2314|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josefresco|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] asicsp|5 years ago|reply
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20110442
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jakearmitage|5 years ago|reply
Sweet.
[+] [-] aasasd|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] accidentalrebel|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] steelframe|5 years ago|reply
While the commercial value of the code dropped to about 0 over a decade ago (or did it?), eventual release of source code is better than never releasing source code.
[+] [-] necovek|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Ericson2314|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] petercooper|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Mobius01|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tekstar|5 years ago|reply
I've been playing old classic multiplayer games with some friends while we're isolating. Halo 1 for PC, BF1942, Battlefield II. All free or like 5$.
Red Alert mostly ok under WINE on OSX or Linux but it prompted me to get windows running on a machine.
[+] [-] jrimbault|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hiq|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nightowl_games|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] haunter|5 years ago|reply
They also confirmed it will be in C++
[+] [-] Arbalest|5 years ago|reply
But what about the art assests. Moving to the future, those become more valuable, particularly as coding becomes more advanced. While coders have a habit of happily rewriting things to make them work better, visual stuff has a lot more nostalgia factor, as well as actually having them available makes the progress made on the code side seem a lot more real.
Surely this isn't the only game where code is only part of the issue (if it is, I really don't know what the plan is in this instance).
[+] [-] lbeltrame|5 years ago|reply
[1] http://www.hard-light.net/
[+] [-] peterhj|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gentleman11|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] paedubucher|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] outworlder|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] EamonnMR|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cies|5 years ago|reply
If you like strategy games
[+] [-] zantana|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ryandrake|5 years ago|reply
I wonder why it's not more common to open source abandonware that has exactly zero remaining commercial value. These game companies don't even have to remain as maintainers/stewards of the code. It doesn't even have to compile. Just release it, and many people will get it to work! How much expense could it be to get an intern to upload the code to GitHub, slap a license on it, and never look at it again?
[+] [-] Jon_Lowtek|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] secondwtq|5 years ago|reply
EA says "this will be one of the first major RTS franchises to open source their source code under the GPL". Well it's not GPL, but Relic is famous for it's RTS titles like Dawn of War, Company of Heroes (and now it's developing Age of Empires IV). Homeworld is one of the best RTS games for me (only second to C&C).
Sadly we can't get the source of Homeworld 2 (they even lost the source code of expansion pack), which the Remastered was built on.