Id Software and Activision Wolfenstein Source

An enthusiastic Anonymous Coward writes: "Id Software and Activision released the sources of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Single-player and multiplayer included. Unbelievable! Another great surprise from Id Software!" Update: 04/14 15:19 GMT by T : Note: don't get your hopes up -- these are the sources for the game code, not the engine.

The third reich (A RTCW mod)

[linzeal]

Already has information [rhinoflatt...stries.net] on how to play with the source code.

This is just the *game logic*, not the engine

[adamwright]

ID always release the game logic portions of the game shortly after retail, to allow mod makers to start hacking on it (it's been this way since Quake 2 - Quake 1 came "source included"). The quake 3 engine source won't see the public light of day till probably Christmas 2003, maybe even later.

Mirror of source code pack

[itsnotme]

I managed to get in the ftp sites that wasnt slashdotted already and got a copy of it, you can get a copy from: wolf_source.exe [rit.edu]

Re:Here come the hacked, never-miss multiplayers

[Brown]

Umm, wrong-o.

This is just the game code; it gives *no* access to networking/engine features beyond what the gameplay code needs; it's also what runs on the server. It cannot be used to make hacked clients at all.
This is just ID's normal release of code to make mods etc. The engine src won't be released for 3 years or so yet!

DUH!

[dnaumov]

Do you REALLY think this is the engine source ? HELLO ?! This is source for the "game" code, that enables mod makers to create the all-popular MODs for the game, like Team Fortress and Capture the Flag for the original Quake. ID Software's policy has always been to: "Make game1. Make game2. Start making game3 and release the source for game1. Finnish game 3. Start working on game4 and release source for game2".

That way the engine licensees can take their time to release their ID Software engine-based games without losing any profit due to all these custom engine modifications people do in their spare time with games like Doom, Quake and Quake2. You can expect Quake3 Arena (and NOT RtCW) engine source some time after ID starts working on a game AFTER Doom3 (their current project) is released.

its not the engine

[krs-one]

I think one of the biggest misconceptions when ID does this is that they are releasing the engine. Why would they do that? ID never would when the engine is still being sold. Would you pay 300,000 for an engine you can get for free? Hardly.

-Vic

Fast mirror of the RTCW source code

[Turmio]

Just in case this is needed: http://shakti.tky.hut.fi/slashdot/wolf3d-source/ [tky.hut.fi]

Re:The third reich (A RTCW mod)

[jacoplane]

You were probably referring to this page [rhinoflatt...stries.net].

Re:engine code vs. game code

[reidbold]

Licensing the quake 3 engine costs 250k, there's your reason for not releasing the engine.

Re:DUH!

[Anonymous Coward]

As long as you're strictly talking about the engine, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is written using the Quake III Arena engine. So releasing the Q3A engine would give you most of what you needed to have the RtCW engine, less the changes Nerve/Grey Matter made to the engine.

Re:How about the Linux version

[MichaelNewton]

If the .exe is just a self-extracting pkzip file, you can unpack it with "unzip file.exe" on linux.

Re:true, however...

[Warped-Reality]

iD has NEVER, I repeat, _NEVER_ given away their games (as your one sentence about the RIAA seems to imply)... Even though the full sources for Wolf, Doom, Quake, and Quake2 are out, you still need to actually posess the game to play it (source without data is useless)