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Why does it matter if games are free software? I don't see why they should free as in beer - developers need to get paid. As for being open source, it depends

Why does it matter if games are free software? I don't see why they should free as in beer - developers need to get paid. As for being open source, it depends on why you think that’s important. To me, the goals of open source are: - Make sure that you aren't building your business on top of proprietary software. This isn’t relevant for gamers. - To increase the productivity of all software developers. This is achieved by open source engines. The author might as well say that we shouldn't use any proprietary platforms (like, say, Hacker News).

aaron-lebo 10y ago
Because it makes for better games. To me the golden era of gaming was about 10 years ago. Game engines weren't designed to make Hollywood blockbusters (see the current Battlefield engine and series). They were easily moddable. Maybe not surprisingly from that era came Team Fortress Classic, Counter-Strike, Desert Combat (the precursor to Battlefield 2) and mods you've never heard of like Tribes Football which anticipated Rocket League by 2 decades. In other words, almost everything that exists today existed a decade or more and probably had more features. The current business model favors locked-down engines that have semi-regular releases of DLC or an entirely new game every year or two. This is horrible for building communities and pushes publishers to neglect games. A more open view of game development would avoid a lot of this constant reinvention of the wheel and should create better content.
- magicalist 10y ago
  10 years ago people were saying the same thing (Team Fortress Classic is getting to be more like two decades ago). There is still a ton of modding going on, maybe even more in absolute terms, but a lot of people who would have gotten into modding back then are making their own games in Unity (and occasionally UE) instead.
- detaro 10y ago
  I would propose that you just don't remember all the games that weren't changeable, didn't have interesting mods, and that just the place where you find those games has shifted. I don't know a moddable recent shooter (possibly because I don't care about shooters, possibly because none exists), but other games, outside the shooter AAAs, have tons of mods.
  - aaron-lebo 10y ago
    There's always going to be garbage, but at least if all those mods that nobody remembers were open source, either the games or features could have new life instead of sitting in an empty room somewhere.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - detaro 10y ago
      That's a different aspect, I was merely challenging the notion that there were the "golden days of gaming with modding" that are now over. If anything, now you can easily get a game engine for free so you don't have to mod a game to get one. For now gaming communities have managed surprisingly well to keep old games alive, the biggest threat I see here is the growing move towards "always online" models and no provisions for local multiplayer in AAA titles.
- RandomOpinion 10y ago
  You're looking at the past through rose colored glasses. Most games of a decade ago did not have a mod scene. Those few that did either had active / tacit support from the developer or were loved enough that fans did the work of reverse engineering them.
  - aaron-lebo 10y ago
    Yes, and my point is that all of that happend without the tacit support of the developer. People were willing to do that for free with no ownership. Now if they could take what they created and own it (and really own it, not just rent tech via licensing) and have a profitable business model going forward, there's no telling what that would do for the gaming industry as a whole.
spacelizard 10y ago
I think it is more important than ever that games aren't built on top of proprietary software. I am constantly hearing people complaining about: - Restrictive DRM ruining the experience - Servers being suddenly shut down with no recourse - People who implement their own servers being threatened with legal action - Popular features being removed - Communities shifting focus just to appease advertisers - Spying features being (ineffectively) implemented in order to prevent cheating - Exclusivity deals, and authors just flat out refusing to port things to other platforms - High turnover, high stress working conditions, lots of duplication of effort for little gain Not that any of these problems are specific to games, but the point is that these things don't generally happen with free software. I appreciate the vast improvements we've made in microeconomics to get games to the point where the average quality of a game is incredible and the price is ridiculously low, but the whole thing stinks of a bear market right now.

aaron-lebo 10y ago

Because it makes for better games. To me the golden era of gaming was about 10 years ago. Game engines weren't designed to make Hollywood blockbusters (see the current Battlefield engine and series). They were easily moddable. Maybe not surprisingly from that era came Team Fortress Classic, Counter-Strike, Desert Combat (the precursor to Battlefield 2) and mods you've never heard of like Tribes Football which anticipated Rocket League by 2 decades. In other words, almost everything that exists today existed a decade or more and probably had more features. The current business model favors locked-down engines that have semi-regular releases of DLC or an entirely new game every year or two. This is horrible for building communities and pushes publishers to neglect games. A more open view of game development would avoid a lot of this constant reinvention of the wheel and should create better content.

magicalist 10y ago
10 years ago people were saying the same thing (Team Fortress Classic is getting to be more like two decades ago). There is still a ton of modding going on, maybe even more in absolute terms, but a lot of people who would have gotten into modding back then are making their own games in Unity (and occasionally UE) instead.
detaro 10y ago
I would propose that you just don't remember all the games that weren't changeable, didn't have interesting mods, and that just the place where you find those games has shifted. I don't know a moddable recent shooter (possibly because I don't care about shooters, possibly because none exists), but other games, outside the shooter AAAs, have tons of mods.
- aaron-lebo 10y ago
  There's always going to be garbage, but at least if all those mods that nobody remembers were open source, either the games or features could have new life instead of sitting in an empty room somewhere.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - detaro 10y ago
    That's a different aspect, I was merely challenging the notion that there were the "golden days of gaming with modding" that are now over. If anything, now you can easily get a game engine for free so you don't have to mod a game to get one. For now gaming communities have managed surprisingly well to keep old games alive, the biggest threat I see here is the growing move towards "always online" models and no provisions for local multiplayer in AAA titles.
RandomOpinion 10y ago
You're looking at the past through rose colored glasses. Most games of a decade ago did not have a mod scene. Those few that did either had active / tacit support from the developer or were loved enough that fans did the work of reverse engineering them.
- aaron-lebo 10y ago
  Yes, and my point is that all of that happend without the tacit support of the developer. People were willing to do that for free with no ownership. Now if they could take what they created and own it (and really own it, not just rent tech via licensing) and have a profitable business model going forward, there's no telling what that would do for the gaming industry as a whole.

spacelizard 10y ago

I think it is more important than ever that games aren't built on top of proprietary software. I am constantly hearing people complaining about: - Restrictive DRM ruining the experience - Servers being suddenly shut down with no recourse - People who implement their own servers being threatened with legal action - Popular features being removed - Communities shifting focus just to appease advertisers - Spying features being (ineffectively) implemented in order to prevent cheating - Exclusivity deals, and authors just flat out refusing to port things to other platforms - High turnover, high stress working conditions, lots of duplication of effort for little gain Not that any of these problems are specific to games, but the point is that these things don't generally happen with free software. I appreciate the vast improvements we've made in microeconomics to get games to the point where the average quality of a game is incredible and the price is ridiculously low, but the whole thing stinks of a bear market right now.