So,... what's the situation on the Dark engine source code? - by Cliftor
jtr7 on 14/4/2009 at 08:10
First, introduce the new generations of taffers to the petition, here and at Eidos, and on other international boards, and maybe we can get the tally over 1000. Hopefully some among the T3 generation will still show genuine support, if they aren't all hung up on the frikkin' graphics. René is the Eidos-Montréal teaser-taffer, so he should know about it, or be reminded of it. He drops in on TTLG once a month at least, and hangs out more at the Eidos forums.
We could add it to our YouTube video descriptions, maybe even make a video asking for help of our Friends and Subscribers to spread the word if they love the older titles, too.
Our Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook taffers could Tweet and Blog and add a link to the profiles pages.
Volca on 15/4/2009 at 05:50
Done!
As noted in the T4 thread, the petition needs the text updated, which I don't think is possible - as signatures would then be invalid.
@MoroseTroll:
I'm not entirely sure - I don't have that kind of management skills myself.
Any takers? :)
What I could do is try to write to some local game news site asking for help with this. The chance of them helping is rather low, but maybe it's worth the trouble. Sure some global game site would be better (as well as gamedev.net or gamasutra). Some native speaker would be better than me at this task.
What is needed in the first place is coordination though. I can easily imagine these activities go nowhere because the time span between these efforts would be too wide.
sNeaksieGarrett on 15/4/2009 at 06:10
Work with me here, yes I know I'm copying MLK, but only in good taste.
I have a dream. I have a dream that one day all taffers will be able to rejoice, as their beloved Source code for the thief games is released, amongst all other content that was stashed away.:angel::cheeky: (well, a taffer can dream can't he?:p)
jtr7 on 15/4/2009 at 06:52
Hmm. Letters to the Editor? Whenever a magazine has an article about Thief or a significant mention of it, especially if it mentions, say, T2X or FMs, we could say thanks and mention our little campaign.
Maybe I should contact Kieron Gillen? Hey, he hadn't signed it, either!
MoroseTroll on 15/4/2009 at 07:14
BTW, I've written the new petition, but it's still in Russian :). The English version will coming soon, but I hope that somebody will translate it into the Japanese language. Anybody?
Volca: Of course, the coordination is really needed. Alas, I cannot handle with it too :(.
jtr7: Who is he, Kieron Gillen?
MoroseTroll on 15/4/2009 at 08:27
jtr7: Thanks :). I've read his article about the Cradle, but seems I've forgotten author's name. Yes, your idea to contact with this person is nice.
MoroseTroll on 16/4/2009 at 12:44
Well, here we are :). That's my version of new petition to (
http://www.square-enix.com/eng/company/message.html) Square Enix' President and Representative Director Yoichi Wada. Please feel free to correct this text, because I'm not sure that we, at DarkFate.ru (99% of work made by
Dront, and I'd like to thank him :)), did the translation right on 100%.
Dear Mr. Yoichi Wada!
We are Thief-community. We are inspirated by the fact that Your company Square Enix has bought Eidos. Your corporative slogan «It is the mission of the SQUARE ENIX Group to spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences» has brought hope to us, who are pained for ten years by futile, but at the same time ineradicable, dream. Let us share it with You.
The games Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age, which was released in 1998 and 2000, opened for PC players a door to the mysterious and mythical world based on Medieval Europe. The world that is tissued from steam and magic, made by geniuses of Looking Glass Studios, became so attractive to Thief players that they began to create their own missions by themselves, and these missions enlarge and fill up the original games (now there is more than 800 of them). Not few among them are better in quality than the original ones (see, for example, rating at (http://www.keepofmetalandgold.com/fmarchive.htm)).
The world of Thief still lives the second decade by the efforts of its fans - isn't it a proof of the fact the game is a genius? However, time passes by, and technology, made for the base of Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age, now can't provide enough freedom for activities of those who wants to enlarge and improve the original games. We, as Thief-community, dream of receiving in our hands the original source code of Thief: The Dark Project and/or Thief 2: The Metal Age in order to make changes and improvements in it. That will give more scope for those who continues to create the world of Thief.
We are far from calling Square Enix to turn games Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age freeware. We only need the original source code of these games, not anything more. More than ten years passed since the moment of release of Thief: The Dark Project and more than nine years passed since the moment of release of Thief 2: The Metal Age. This means they are likely to be of neither technological nor commercial value for publisher. That's why we charitably ask You, the new owner of the "Thief" brand, make Thief-community happy and publish the original source code of the games Thief: The Dark Project and/or Thief 2: The Metal Age, thus confirming Your corporative slogan.
Publishing the original source code of an old game is a widespread demonstration of good will to players - it is done by known of PC game developers: id Software (Wolfenstein 3D, Doom 1&2, Quake 1-3), Raven Software (Heretic 1&2, Hexen 1&2), 3D Realms (Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior), Volition (Freespace) and others. We cherish hopes that Square Enix will do the same with Thief: The Dark Project and/or Thief 2: The Metal Age as well.
We understand that it passed nine years since the breaking up of Looking Glass Studios, and it is possible that the original source code of Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age does not exist integrally and ready for compilation. If this is true, we are ready for it. Then, please, publish everything that is left, and we will try, like archeologists, to rise the great past from the ashes!Volca on 16/4/2009 at 12:55
Nicely put, I say.
MaxDZ8 on 16/4/2009 at 19:17
[QUOTE='[insert cool name here];1827379']Could it conceivably be enhanced to the point where it would be comparable to a recent graphics engine?No... you could pretend to say so, but design choices made 10 years ago will be heavyweigts to the updating process... eventually, restarting from scratch
could possibly be easier.
Quote Posted by New Horizon
Yes, as I said...rewrite...enhance. Look at some of the other engines that have been released open source. The Quake 3 engine is a good example with xreal having spruced it up to Doom 3 standards. (
http://xreal.sourceforge.net/)
I am not sure you understood how advanced the Q3 engine was for the time. This is not a good example. A better example would be taking less-than-Quake1 to Doom3. And not to forget the engine isn't a magic box: you'll have somebody to redo the artwork and even if somebody takes up the task, odds are it will just look like rusted shit.
I've also seen an old game I liked alot getting literally raped by the "recreators": higher CPU usage (even higher than running the original in dosbox!), decreased compatibility and a ton, a ton of useless dependancies...
Quote Posted by sNeaksieGarrett
Work with me here, yes I know I'm copying MLK, but only in good taste.
I have a dream. I have a dream that one day all taffers will be able to rejoice, as their beloved Source code for the thief games is released, amongst all other content that was stashed away.:angel::cheeky: (well, a taffer can dream can't he?:p)
Yeah, we'll meet togheter in the middle ages. :eek:
I won't sign.
It looks realistic to me that, as already said, the code has probably been destroyed years ago, or it is in some back-back-backup so deep in the basement it is effectively lost.
Pretending somebody invests man-hours in the resurrecting is a pipe dream.
