Return To Castle Wolfenstein Source Code Released 92
geefau writes with news that id Software has released the source code to Return To Castle Wolfenstein (single player and multiplayer), along with Wolfenstein – Enemy Territory, under the GPL. The linked article notes that "these only include the game source code, not the graphics. You need the full games for those."
Pretty exciting (Score:3, Interesting)
Looking forward to seeing Wolf:ET and its mods getting the polish and extra features we've seen with ioquake3.
Instructions? (Score:2, Interesting)
Is there instructions somewhere on how to compile this and such on the different platforms?
Whenever ID releases stuff like this I'm interested in playing with it but after 5 minutes of not knowing how to build it I usually just give up and move on. I do admit part of the confusion is probably because I'm a .NET developer, and almost all my experience is with csc and VS. I guess I shouldn't say that on /., since I'll get trolled for being a MS developer, but..
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Unilateral copyright law by ID (Score:5, Interesting)
Valve and ID have pretty much redefined copyright law in their own way, much to the benefit of consumers and society as a whole. I can buy my ID games through Steam, and I know the moment I buy a new computer I can be running all my games again in a couple of mouse clicks. No complicated DRM, limited number of installs, needing my CD in the drive, or any other BS. It IS DRM but Valve have slowly earned the trust of users over the years.
Then after a number of years, when sales have long since peaked and dropped, ID release the source code. This fulfills the social contract whereupon we give copyright for a number of years on the software after which it drops into the public domain. A DRM-ridden binary blob from a long-defunct software house is hardly fulfilling their end of the bargain. Looking at the source code also gets people interested in writing graphics code or games, can be used for educational purposes, some of the useful algorithms can be re-purposed (and not necessarily in the same domain, it could be anywhere), and it can give a new lease of life to the game through enthusiasts.
I know if I was a games programmer who I would want to work for. As it is, I'll just be a satisfied customer.
Phillip.
Re:Unilateral copyright law by ID (Score:4, Interesting)
It's been done with OpenTTD [wikipedia.org]. It's a remake of the old Transport Tycoon Deluxe, using open source code (reverse engineered instead of released by the original owners, but that's not the point) and the original graphics. For those who don't own a copy of the original game and thus don't have the right to use the graphics, there's an open source package file.
Sure, it's probably a lot easier to create a graphics pack for a 2D game than a 3D game like RTCW, but this still opens new doors.
Re:Good News! (Score:2, Interesting)
If you want a more faithful Quake experience, but one that loads limit-breaking maps etc, you probably want Quakespasm.
http://quakespasm.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]
It's based on FitzQuake and available for Linux, Windows and MacOS.