4 ms·

It's because of things like this that I won't play closed-source games anymore. The modding community has demonstrated repeatedly that they are willing to maint

It's because of things like this that I won't play closed-source games anymore. The modding community has demonstrated repeatedly that they are willing to maintain ports of these things, but only as long as the source code is open so they can actually, you know, do the port properly. And before someone rails on me about anti-cheat, or about reduced profits because of the whole game showing up on torrent sites, I'm not talking about that stuff -- I'm talking about the bare minimum client code that is required to run the game.

penagwin 7y ago
Serious question - What open source games do you play? I'd consider myself a "gamer" and I can't think of many recent successful games that are open source. Indie games sure, modding support sure, games without any DRM sure. But very few are "open source".
- cycloptic 7y ago
  I don't really have much to say here, if your definition of "successful" means giant console release with a multi-million dollar budget, then obviously I can't say anything because the console manufacturers all ban open source on their platforms. And making a giant list of every small open source game I've ever played is not something I have time to do right now. There are a lot of them. Many of them I've found just because they are side projects that people post on HN.
- mrec 7y ago
  I think there used to be an informal expectation that games in the Humble Bundle would be open-sourced if they did well there. (Just the code, not the art assets etc.) https://indiegamebundle.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Humble_Bundle_open_source_games https://indiegamebundle.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Humble_Bundl...
- antepodius 7y ago
  Nethack's still being developed. You could say it's 'early access'. Probably my favourite game ever. Of more recent origin, Space station 13 is great. It's a tile-based multiplayer (up to about a hundred) in-depth space station disaster simulator. A stable community of servers and players, innovating and sharing patches among the various major code branches. (The codebase is a nightmare because the game's written in an ancient engine from the 90's, but that just makes what they've managed more impressive.) It's been over 10 years of intermittent, branching, and re-merging development.
- kaibee 7y ago
  Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is probably the best example of a "community driven" open-source game. https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA
  - kgwxd 7y ago
    I absolutely love that game. I'd really like to see people play it live on Twitch, I think it'd go really well with the live chatting dynamic. There has been very few, but they always use tiles and I don't want tiles overwriting my imaginary version of objects.
- leetcrew 7y ago
  freespace 2 is open source. not exactly modern, but the source code was released a few years after the game launched.
rapsey 7y ago
So you’re just going to play tux racer forever?
- drewbug 7y ago
  don't forget Pingus! https://pingus.seul.org https://pingus.seul.org
- cycloptic 7y ago
  There is a slow trickle of open source games coming out, but you have to actually look to find them. Github does contests for it every year: https://gameoff.github.com https://gameoff.github.com
- antepodius 7y ago
  Nethack et al. and a giant legion of other roguelikes, SS13, some space sim knockoffs... I'm sure there's more.
catalogia 7y ago
Some closed source games get open source engines, if the game was good enough in the first place to motivate a team of open source developers. Morrowind (OpenMW), Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 (OpenRCT2) and Transport Tycoon Deluxe (OpenTTD) are three very nice examples. All three engines are much better than the originals.
vernie 7y ago
Linux users' idea of fun is building from source.

penagwin 7y ago

Serious question - What open source games do you play? I'd consider myself a "gamer" and I can't think of many recent successful games that are open source. Indie games sure, modding support sure, games without any DRM sure. But very few are "open source".

cycloptic 7y ago
I don't really have much to say here, if your definition of "successful" means giant console release with a multi-million dollar budget, then obviously I can't say anything because the console manufacturers all ban open source on their platforms. And making a giant list of every small open source game I've ever played is not something I have time to do right now. There are a lot of them. Many of them I've found just because they are side projects that people post on HN.
mrec 7y ago
I think there used to be an informal expectation that games in the Humble Bundle would be open-sourced if they did well there. (Just the code, not the art assets etc.) https://indiegamebundle.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Humble_Bundle_open_source_games https://indiegamebundle.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Humble_Bundl...
antepodius 7y ago
Nethack's still being developed. You could say it's 'early access'. Probably my favourite game ever. Of more recent origin, Space station 13 is great. It's a tile-based multiplayer (up to about a hundred) in-depth space station disaster simulator. A stable community of servers and players, innovating and sharing patches among the various major code branches. (The codebase is a nightmare because the game's written in an ancient engine from the 90's, but that just makes what they've managed more impressive.) It's been over 10 years of intermittent, branching, and re-merging development.
kaibee 7y ago
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is probably the best example of a "community driven" open-source game. https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA
- kgwxd 7y ago
  I absolutely love that game. I'd really like to see people play it live on Twitch, I think it'd go really well with the live chatting dynamic. There has been very few, but they always use tiles and I don't want tiles overwriting my imaginary version of objects.
leetcrew 7y ago
freespace 2 is open source. not exactly modern, but the source code was released a few years after the game launched.

rapsey 7y ago

So you’re just going to play tux racer forever?

drewbug 7y ago
don't forget Pingus! https://pingus.seul.org https://pingus.seul.org
cycloptic 7y ago
There is a slow trickle of open source games coming out, but you have to actually look to find them. Github does contests for it every year: https://gameoff.github.com https://gameoff.github.com
antepodius 7y ago
Nethack et al. and a giant legion of other roguelikes, SS13, some space sim knockoffs... I'm sure there's more.

catalogia 7y ago

Some closed source games get open source engines, if the game was good enough in the first place to motivate a team of open source developers. Morrowind (OpenMW), Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 (OpenRCT2) and Transport Tycoon Deluxe (OpenTTD) are three very nice examples. All three engines are much better than the originals.

vernie 7y ago

Linux users' idea of fun is building from source.