Where are the Good Open Source Games?

[Aloone_Jonez]

the impressive list of achievements of open source software, it can be argued that there have not been any world-class games created under the open source banner. Sure, several old games like Doom and Quake have been gifted to the open source community, but there are no comparable original creations in this area. One should not expect this situation to change anytime soon, because the open source development model does not make sense for game development.

Click here for the full artical.

And I'd like to add another reason to the debate: game developers can't make money from selling services.

I know some people here disagree with proprietary software but if you eliminated it you would have no games, so what do you think of semi-open source games like Duke Nukem 3D where the source for the exectable is open but the art and aound is all proprietary? Do you think this would be a reasonable compromise?

[WMD]

I know some people here disagree with proprietary software but if you eliminated it you would have no games,

OMG Tux Racer!!

so what do you think of semi-open source games like Duke Nukem 3D where the source for the exectable is open but the art and aound is all proprietary?

There is no such thing as "proprietary art," as it doesn't involve code.  Art is copyrighted, period.  Actually, this method is supported by, of all people, RMS.  So it must be reasonable. :p

I like when game engines are open-source (even if later on), because due to the way games work, they usually have to be changed to work on later operating systems.  For example, put Quake 1 (original) on a new Windows PC and it would barely work, if at all (unlike non-game DOS apps, which usually are fine).

Perhaps that's not the best example, because I think the old-ish WinQuake and GLQuake by id still work....but what about id's original Linux port?  Doesn't work on Linux at all anymore.  But because of open-source, the game can still be played - assuming you have the copyrighted art/data.  Ditto for playing Doom/Quake on OS X.  Everyone wins (gets to play), while the art is still copyrighted and has to be bought - and the same DOS version data works on everything.

[Jenda]

I kinda like the TA spring and similar model. You make an engine and all FOSS. People download it and use it. And then, you and others make "mods" for the engine. If done well, the games could differ quite a bit. Who cares if someone makes a proprietary mod? People woule buy the mods and get the engine for free - and it would also save resources. One engine for RTS, one for RPG, one for FPS...

[skyman8081]

I kinda like the TA spring and similar model. You make an engine and all FOSS. People download it and use it. And then, you and others make "mods" for the engine. If done well, the games could differ quite a bit. Who cares if someone makes a proprietary mod? People woule buy the mods and get the engine for free - and it would also save resources. One engine for RTS, one for RPG, one for FPS...

Except the developers of Spring use XTA units, and horribly messed up the games balance.  I use the OTA patch for it.

[H_TeXMeX_H]

I found one about 5 min. ago ... haven't gotten a chance to try it yet ... Nexuiz

[cymon]

I never knew skyman was a ta player. I've got OTA on my mac. I tried Spring, but whatever lame ass intel graphics shit the pc has doesn't support it, and there isn't a mac version.

[Aloone_Jonez]

OMG Tux Racer!!

I've played Tux Racer on my work's Linux machine and it was quite cool, shame it's unplayably slow on my home macine because there's no accelerated driver for my graphics card.

There is no such thing as "proprietary art," as it doesn't involve code.

Interestingly it is when the source code is proprietary because the binary format it's stored in is secret but it isn't with open source games.

Art is copyrighted, period.  Actually, this method is supported by, of all people, RMS.  So it must be reasonable. :p

I wonder if the free software foundation would support this with other types of software, say for example if MS decided to open source MS Office but keep the .res files that contain the user interface and other art proprietary.

I like when game engines are open-source (even if later on), because due to the way games work, they usually have to be changed to work on later operating systems.  For example, put Quake 1 (original) on a new Windows PC and it would barely work, if at all (unlike non-game DOS apps, which usually are fine).

I'd actually recommend and support this licensing model more than a totally free one because: the developers are actually guaranteed payment from every user (assuming they don't pirate it), it benifits the open source community and they will get more users in the end for less investment since the community can port it to many platforms intead of the developers having to fund this - everyone's happy.

Perhaps that's not the best example, because I think the old-ish WinQuake and GLQuake by id still work....but what about id's original Linux port?  Doesn't work on Linux at all anymore.  But because of open-source, the game can still be played - assuming you have the copyrighted art/data.  Ditto for playing Doom/Quake on OS X.  Everyone wins (gets to play), while the art is still copyrighted and has to be bought - and the same DOS version data works on everything.

I haven't tried the new Windows port of Quake the MS-DOS version won't run (it will under DOSBox but it's so slow it's unplayable), I'll give it a go.

[Orethrius]

Aloone, what's your output from glxgears?  It's not a permanent solution, but it might not be a half-bad idea to consider Mesa to take on the responsibility of rendering (given, it's software-based, but it *should* work semi-decently - at least, the only problem it's ever given me is with StepMania, and that kinda relies on certain bits of the DirectX SDK being there).

[Aloone_Jonez]

I haven't investigated this much, I just tried several X drivers and gave up - running games isn't a priority for me at the moment.

[piratePenguin]

bzflag is one kick-ass free game. Can't wait to get hardware acceleration (Christmas probably) so I can play it some more.

[cymon]

Hell yeah, I love that game. Doesn't take too much power either, I get 30 FPS on maxxed out settings.

[Refalm]

Legends is pretty cool. And I love playing a little bit of Chromium B.S.U. and Frozen Bubble.

And Wolfenstein 3D: Enemy Territory isn't Open Source, but it is free and awesome. Download them here:
http://zerowing.idsoftware.com:6969/

[WMD]

I haven't tried the new Windows port of Quake the MS-DOS version won't run (it will under DOSBox but it's so slow it's unplayable), I'll give it a go.

The Windows ports of Quake were done in 1996 (WinQuake) and 1997 (GLQuake).  They stll work, I guess, but they are old.

[Refalm]

Don't forget the Duke Nukem 3D port

[Orethrius]

Don't forget the Duke Nukem 3D port

 ...or FlightGear, for those among us who think Microsoft has the market cornered on flight simulators (I especially like the realtime updating map add-on - try THAT, FS!) :cool: