What do you think of Open Source Games?

[AlTech]

What do you guys think of games which make their source code publicly available (aka Open source)?

 

Do you think that more games should be open source? Do you like open source stuff in general?

 

Or do you think it's not cool to make an open source game?

 

Leave your thoughts below!

[Shoob]

If games go open source, there'll be licensing issues since they use a lot of third party technologies like Havok.

[AlTech]

Just now, Pandalf said:

If games go open source, there'll be licensing issues since they use a lot of third party technologies like Havok.

For indie games or games which don't use Havok though?

[Shoob]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

For indie games or games which don't use Havok though?

If it's something like a simple Unity game, maybe it's possible to open source it without many issues, but if it's anything more serious, I don't think it's possible.

Have you stumbled upon good open source games on Github?

[AlTech]

Just now, Pandalf said:

If it's something like a simple Unity game, maybe it's possible to open source it without many issues, but if it's anything more serious, I don't think it's possible.

Have you stumbled upon good open source games on Github?

Other than web based games, no.

[vorticalbox]

Where is the "no I don't have the time". Anything open source is good though I know it makes it hard for devs to make money.

[cynexit]

10 minutes ago, Pandalf said:

Have you stumbled upon good open source games on Github?

It's not done, but very promising:

https://github.com/SFTtech/openage

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, huilun02 said:

Open source is good. Not artificially imposing exclusivity and requirements is even better.

You know which shill I'm talking about.

But how do you propose that game devs make money from open source games?

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

In my opinion: open source is good EXCEPT when it comes to gaming. That's just how I see it. I don't wanna play some "lousy" open source game someone developed and promises to support beyond the death of mankind and stops next week because the "community", which of course consists of 20 people, gave the dev a hard time. Of course someone could carry it on but that just doesn't happen in general.

 

And of course it is not fair but every game out there, open source or not, gets compared to some tripple A title with balls of steel and fire on em and of course can not keep up, not even close. Sad world, but that's just how it is. No. I'm not the one to change it nor do I want to.

[vorticalbox]

3 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

But how do you propose that game devs make money from open source games?

that's the million dollar question and the only real world answer is donations or in game purchasing. Possibly ads.

[AlTech]

5 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Just as all devs make money from open source software.

Do you want to talk about open source being good for devs or for the end users?

I don't think making open source software is the first thing that comes to mind when looking for a paying job.

Being a shill is not the only path to financial success either.

But if you had a new game up your sleeve, would you make it open source?

[AlTech]

20 minutes ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

In my opinion: open source is good EXCEPT when it comes to gaming. That's just how I see it. I don't wanna play some "lousy" open source game someone developed and promises to support beyond the death of mankind and stops next week because the "community", which of course consists of 20 people, gave the dev a hard time. Of course someone could carry it on but that just doesn't happen in general.

 

And of course it is not fair but every game out there, open source or not, gets compared to some tripple A title with balls of steel and fire on em and of course can not keep up, not even close. Sad world, but that's just how it is. No. I'm not the one to change it nor do I want to.

Not necessarily. if your price is fair (lower than AAA prices)  then it won't be compared badly.

[Ronda]

A piece of software being open source doesn't mean it can't be copyrighted. Certain devs already sell their games without DRM, so it would not be unthinkable of them to make the source code public and allow the community to submit patches, ports to various platforms or whatever else while still retaining the copyright to that code, all the visual assets, sounds, story.

As for the software freedom aspect, games are entertainment. It's not as important for the user to be in control of toys as it is to be in control of their OS, browser, mail, etc.

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

Just now, AluminiumTech said:

Not necessarily. if your price is fair (lower than AAA prices)  then it won't be compared badly.

I talk about me and how I see it. Money ain't really an issue for me, so I don't see it as investing money in something but I invest time, which I value far greater then money. So why would I want to invest my time in some open source GTA style game that most likely can not keep up with hmm, lets say GTA? [if there is such an open source game, just trying to make my point clear, think you get what I mean]

 

- I bought Devision and all addons for full price, because I like it and play with my friends every now and then, we suck terribly but have a good time.

- I didn't buy No Mans Sky, allthough I was Captain Number One on the hypetrain, but when it came out and the shitsotrm hit I knew to stay away from it.

- I bought an indy game called darkest dungeon because it suits me and is fun to play

- I returned Don't starve because I didn't like it one bit.

 

It's not about money for everybody, it's for a time well spend. Open source MAY provide that too of course, but it's much more likely to be found elsewhere.

[AlTech]

3 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Merely having an idea is not a cause for action.

Well, I want to try and make a game anyway so that I can get experience and feedback.

3 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

One would have to decide if he wants to make the game out of ambition or to cash in.

Mainly ambition although cash would also be nice. And when I say cash would be nice, I mean that i'd keep the game really cheap and give out beta codes for anybody who wants to try it or give feedback etc.

3 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Given the resources available, would it be possible or worth the outcome to go open source?

My original thought process for a game being open source was that it would allow people new to making games to see how a game was made and then how they could use similar mechanics or create a game based off of a similar structure or "architecture".

 

5 minutes ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

I talk about me and how I see it. Money ain't really an issue for me, so I don't see it as investing money in something but I invest time, which I value far greater then money. So why would I want to invest my time in some open source GTA style game that most likely can not keep up with hmm, lets say GTA? [if there is such an open source game, just trying to make my point clear, think you get what I mean]

 

- I bought Devision and all addons for full price, because I like it and play with my friends every now and then, we suck terribly but have a good time.

- I didn't buy No Mans Sky, allthough I was Captain Number One on the hypetrain, but when it came out and the shitsotrm hit I knew to stay away from it.

- I bought an indy game called darkest dungeon because it suits me and is fun to play

- I returned Don't starve because I didn't like it one bit.

 

It's not about money for everybody, it's for a time well spend. Open source MAY provide that too of course, but it's much more likely to be found elsewhere.

So then I should just keep it proprietary?

When distributing it, the source code could be reverse engineered and found out so it wouldn't matter that much.....

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

7 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

So then I should just keep it proprietary?

When distributing it, the source code could be reverse engineered and found out so it wouldn't matter that much.....

You can do whatever you want, you asked for opinions and this is mine. No harsh feeling whatsoever :-)

If you want to do it for fun - by all means - go for it.

If you want to do it for learning reasons - by all means - go for it.

If you want to do it for better job options - by all means - go for it.

If you want to do it for any other reason besides earning money with it - by all means - go for it.

If you want to make money with it - be prepared to get literally no ROI and  don't make it part of your budget - just for safety reasons.

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

You can do whatever you want, you asked for opinions and this is mine. No harsh feeling whatsoever :-)

No hard feelings man .

1 minute ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

If you want to make money with it - be prepared to get literally no ROI and  don't make it part of your budget - just for safety reasons.

The only real investment that I've put in is my time.

[Nuluvius]

Having worked on a number of open source games, open source plugins for games and open source extensions for games over the years the biggest problem that I have repeatedly come across has been the bad attitude that is very pervasive within the open source community in general.

 

One will invariably find that they run into a developer who has either taught themselves how to code (like an absolute chimp), doesn't really give a shit about the quality of what they are hammering out or is otherwise simply too ignorant/stupid to even know better. They have usually been around for a very long time and are thus deeply ingrained in a particular project, much like a deeply embedded, pustulant and festering splinter; often much to the aggravation and displeasure of everyone else involved. To compound this even further, because of the horrific abortion that they have given birth to that is their code they are usually the only ones who are capable of working on it thus giving them some measure of domain expert or irreplaceable or otherwise untouchable status... They tend to have an overly sensitive attachment to said code that causes them to react like petulant children whenever anyone attempts to suggest improvement, offers constructive criticism or even attempts to work like a team on something even remotely near it... This attitude often extends to a toxic and outright overt hostile regard for any newcomers on the team and woe betide anyone who attempts to change the overall development methodology thus threatening them with actually pulling their finger out of their arse to get some work done or even be on hand for that matter.

 

Indeed I currently hold a rather dim view of the open source section of the industry these days.

[Nineshadow]

Making the engine on which the game is based on open source could be a great idea. Making the entire game open source would be unnecessary and not exactly good for anyone.

[AlTech]

6 hours ago, Nicholatian said:

Reverse engineering assembly isn’t an easy task.

In this case it would be unless I specifically export it in a way which is similar to DRM.

 

I'm not using Assembly, C++ or anything like it so it would be a lot easier to reverse engineered than otherwise.

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It would matter “that much”, as you say, because how many people are sitting around waiting to decompile a plate of spaghetti?

If I was making a game professionally then I would care. But this is more about me getting a learning experience and making a tiny amount of money in the process.

Quote

Don’t you think they would have more important things to RE than your game, anyway? Just saying…

They probably do. But I worry about the small things..

 

5 hours ago, Nineshadow said:

Making the engine on which the game is based on open source could be a great idea. Making the entire game open source would be unnecessary and not exactly good for anyone.

K.

[Ktk]

You would have to be willing to accept that your marketing would be vulnerable to lose to a competitor that utilizes your open-source codebase and creates a spinoff for a fraction of the work-hours required.

 

Open-source software can be a successful business, if run in certain ways. For instance, they can offer services that expedite the deployment of such software, GetStream (notification feed as a service), Prerender (webapp prerendering as a service), Docker (containers as a service).

 

It's not like that with companies that offer *products* like games, or even 3D printers (Makerbot actually started out with a fully open-source 3D printer and started blackboxing parts later after they noticed spinoffs offering cheaper alternatives obviously based on their tech). If you open-source your successful game, you should expect [anyone, from startups, to huge publishers] to use components of it and market it better than you ever could. + if you're okay with that, that's fine. But why not modularize into components that make up a game then?

 

As a side-project game, sure, I'm for it. In general? Not enthusiastic, but I'd be very happy to be wrong!