lost_soul on 14/10/2010 at 07:56
He couldn't produce Cola himself... at least not in any way that would threaten the parent company. If the parent company releases the recipe, they can do so with strings attached (e.g. GPL) to prevent their recipe from being used against them. More over, most people don't have a factory to produce/pack/ship the drink.
The same applies to the game. If the source code is released under GPL, someone can't take it and close it up and/or use it against the original developers. There is little chance that the community would build a completely free game based on the original source code, although this does happen from time to time. see: FreeDoom, OpenArena, etc. Even if the community *did* build a new thief-like game with the dark engine, it isn't going to compete with sales of any current game from the developer. The mass market doesn't want Freedoom, they want the authentic Doom game, with all its great music and the like. The mass market wouldn't want a game called burgle either, even if it is based on the Thief engine. They want the authentic Thief that has been raved about by critics.
The existence of TDM makes it even less likely that the community would build a free set of resources to use with the Dark Engine.
Chiron on 14/10/2010 at 08:27
Its funny how some people seem to think that we have a "right" for the code. When we bought the game we bought the right for a copy of the game, fair use included. But that's it.
Imo it is good will when a company releases the sources of its games, but I do not think that they are obligated to do it.
When you buy a car you have no right to the construction details.
When you buy a DVD or see a movie you don't have the right to the raw material.
When you buy a loaf of bread you don't have a right to see the whole recipe.
Briareos H on 14/10/2010 at 08:53
Can we stop the stupid discussion here?
This thread is about Square Enix's resolution of their "legal issues" in order to release a source code which we're not entitled to but that would benefit everyone (binary engine upgrades for both Thief 2 and DromEd for us, publicity on sites like RPS for Square Enix).
It's not about OSS and consumer entitlement (which is directly proportional to how important the problem is felt by the majority, i.e. not at all).
voodoo47 on 15/10/2010 at 14:11
I agree-arguing about stuff like who has the holy right for the source code is not a smart thing to do,and is certainly not going to help anybody.
now let's try to do something smart: I consider this (source code found,eidos thinking hard what to do with it) as quite interesting news,and anybody who is into pc gaming for the last 10 years will probably think the same.we need to get this out,we need to make it into big news,hey gaming world,the sources for 3 legendary games have been found,and anyone who even remotely considers himself a gamer should do his part and sign the petition.
I did this a couple of hours ago,and 40 new signatures have been added already.good start,I say.
now,everybody,get to work and spread the glory!
Briareos H on 15/10/2010 at 14:24
By the way, I'm thinking that a possible explanation for the legal delay might be due to EA trying to pressure Square Enix into giving them exclusive rights to the SS2-specific source code, so that they can do a closed GOG build.
voodoo47 on 15/10/2010 at 14:37
btw,do we have any facebook crazies here? flooding fb with this might help too.
lost_soul on 15/10/2010 at 15:35
Quote Posted by Briareos H
By the way, I'm thinking that a possible explanation for the legal delay might be due to EA trying to pressure Square Enix into giving them exclusive rights to the SS2-specific source code, so that they can do a closed GOG build.
Selling on GOG has nothing to do with releasing the source code. The code for Duke Nukem was released forever ago, yet it has been one of GOG's best selling games. There is no good reason not to release the code. It will make the community happy, generate good publicity and the games will get updated/modernized for free.
Even if the code is released, you still need a copy of the original game. My copy of SS2 costed $40 used.
Goldmoon Dawn on 15/10/2010 at 16:24
Your copy costed you?! :p
