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PC Games (Games) Programming Entertainment Games IT Technology

Source Code to Homeworld Released 55

Posted by CowboyNeal from the all-yours-now dept.
ceejayoz writes "The source code for Relic Entertainment's 1999 Game of the Year, Homeworld, has just been released. Details are available at Homeworld Universe. Not GPL'ed, but pretty nifty all the same." Note that any sort of property aside from the source such as graphics or codecs have been stripped out, but it's still cool to look through the game engine.
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Source Code to Homeworld Released More

Source Code to Homeworld Released

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  • It will be interesting to see what the community does with the source. I think the first thing that will be done is a Homeworld Plus version of the original game, with extra features etc... but with all the great homeworld mods out there, some of them could be made into standalone games that have their own look and feel. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

    • Re:I wonder... (Score:3, Informative)

      by ceejayoz ( 567949 )
      I'm personally hoping for a properly done Star Wars RTS. The Star Wars: New Rebellion [themaw.net] mod for Homeworld was a nice start, but it suffered from not having access to a lot of stuff in the HW engine... it'll be interesting to see what they can do with it now!

  • Whine whine whine (Score:2, Interesting)

    by nutsy ( 33125 )

    Phooey. You have to click through an obnoxious EULA [relic.com] then fill out a nosey registration form [relic.com]-- which doesn't seem to work for me; no matter how many times I filled it out and hit "submit" it kept bouncing me back to the same registration page-- before the mighty lords of the Relic Development Network deign to confer upon you the rank and honour of "RDN access level 1", which may or may not include a single whiff of source code. "Not GPL'd"?! Not only is it not GPL'd, it's total jive. A curious would-be game

    • Re:Whine whine whine (Score:4, Informative)

      by ceejayoz ( 567949 ) <cj@ceejayoz.com> on Saturday September 27, 2003 @02:10PM (#7073004) Homepage Journal
      RDN Access Level 1 is automatically given to everyone who registers - it's the default level. People with Level 1 access have full access to the source code.

      I've had a few problems browsing the site with Moz Firebird, worked better in IE... perhaps try that?
      • Yep, maybe you're right, I'll just run right over to the Microsoft web site and download IE for Linux so I can do that.
        • Well, if you're using Linux you'd have your work cut out for ya to port it anyways...

          I'm sure there's a computer somewhere in the surrounding 20 miles that you have access to that runs Windows, especially if you're a gaming enthusiast (and not just trolling the games section here).
          • I am a compulsive gamer. My point is that if you release source code shouldn't people from other platforms be able to download and possibly port your game for you? This could lead to increased sales of older versions of the game due to the need for people to use the data files that came with the game. My point is that last time I checked IE is made for one OS and at least a certain percentage of dedicated gamers prefers not to run said OS. I buy a fair amount of commercial games for Linux and I own a fa
            • They didn't make the code IE only to piss you off. I know the webmaster of the Relic site and /msg'ed him on IRC - he wasn't sure why Mozilla couldn't download it properly.

              You seem to have a bit of an entitlement complex. Relic doesn't have to release the source code, ya know.
    • They didn't HAVE to release anything at all you know. You seem to be angry at them for being kind. Having someone elses source code is not a right, it's a privilege. They are letting you into their house to look around, naturally they ask who you are.

      Phooey to your obnoxious and selfish attitude, wanting everything for free.
      • Says it all, really. (-:

        Don't panic, nutsy, just be patient. HomeWorld was/is sufficiently shiny that someone will port this source to Linux, assisted by the graphics, sounds etc suplied on the MS-Windows games CDs as necessary. Then for the first time, we'll see HomeWorld2 on the XboX.

      • a. I am perfectly aware that my previous post is whiny. See subject line. :)
        b. Just as they didn't have to release anything, I don't have to be impressed by a so-so quasirelease.
        c. What I also said, about there being plenty of non-registration/EULA-encumbered game engines available for the hacking, still stands. So nyaah!

  • Peh? Nothing new (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Neophytus ( 642863 ) * on Saturday September 27, 2003 @04:15PM (#7073713)
    any sort of property aside from the source such as graphics or codecs have been stripped

    Also released in 1999 was Unreal Tournament, which shipped with it's game engine avaliable to modders out of the box. Its done them no harm at all, they created the levels for the game within the sandbox they created for modders and used the same tools as they shipped modders and more developers should do the same.
    • I think you'll find that almost all PC games that have lived well beyond their shelf lives have that one crucial element in common - tools for gamers to make their own levels, mods, and so forth. Aside from quality in general, this appears to be essential in distinguishing a game that lives to a ripe old age from one that gets shipped off to the bargain bin in a couple months.

      One example I like to point to is Red Faction. Red Faction is not the greatest FPS of all time and its Geo-Mod is gimmicky at bes

  • heh (Score:1)

    by rwven ( 663186 )
    I cant wait to see what come out of this. the whole homeworld "series" of things has just been extremely impressive. I never liked RTS games until Homeworld and i actually turned up the volume on the music. normally i just turn down the volume. i hope someone does SOMETHING in any case... time will tell
  • Not GPL'ed, but pretty nifty all the same.

    Agreed. The availability of the source code to Homeworld is really cool, since it's one of the most awesome games ever released. :)

    But can anybody here tell us under what kind of license the source code has been released? What are the major differences with the GPL and is it close to any of the generally accepted "Open Source" licenses [opensource.org]?

    It seems likely to me that it would be a highly restrictive "non-commercial use only" license, similar to the one under which Vo

    • Homeworld is made by Relic, not Valve (they both happen to publish under Siera, but are not the same dev house).

      I was hoping for porting, too, but this might take a lot of work. Parts of the code that Relic doesn't actualy own aren't included, so you'd need to do some hacking just to get a faithful version of the executable and DLLs. Then you get to wade through all that DirectX crap and convert it to something that actually runs elsewhere.

      So this looks like it'll be mostly a thing to help modders, not

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