4 ms·

A lot of newer games probably include middleware licensed from other companies that make relicensing more challenging

by wlesieutre 6y ago

colejohnson66 6y ago
Also, the SDKs for console ports may be under NDA. I’m looking at you, Nintendo Switch.
- Arelius 6y ago
  Microsoft XBox, Sony Playstation, this is not unique to Nintendo.
- yoklov 6y ago
  No real reason to call nintendo out here, every console i know of has been that way for many generations.
Alupis 6y ago
> A lot of newer games probably include middleware licensed from other companies that make relicensing more challenging Commonly Physics Engines, like Havok and others.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
klodolph 6y ago
This is why the original Doom (1992) source release had no sound, for example.
- endgame 6y ago
  Bink Video is another common obstacle for games from the mid-to-late-'90s.
gambiting 6y ago
And also, art assets - I've touched on this briefly with an older game from the studio where I work, and basically we could probably release the source code, but since it was a racing game we couldn't release the art assets as they are copyrighted by car manufacturers(or at least it would be a significantly complicated legal problem to not be worth the time).
- kibwen 6y ago
  I believe that's standard and well-understood; Quake's source code has famously been GPL for decades (thanks, Carmack!), but all the data files (e.g. art assets) remain copyrighted.
- toohotatopic 6y ago
  You can always release the game with some generic art and offer the copyrighted assets in a shop. With some luck the game becomes popular and people add further assets to your shop. Demand some commission and you may have created a cash cow.
  - gambiting 6y ago
    Sure, but this particular game was from the late 90s - we looked at re-exporting some of the assets and I have no idea how you'd even approach it without significant time investment, the tools used to make the original art no longer exist(we have the source code for the game, but not for the tools used at the time, I've gone through stacks of old CDs that had backups and 9/10 discs were just gone, completely corrupted), or used hardware that would be difficult to source(like cutscenes made on silicon graphics machines, there is no good way to edit and export these project files on modern machines)
    - Keyframe 6y ago
      As a former SGI user, I'm afraid we'll never see emulation happen.
      - 6y ago

A lot of newer games probably include middleware licensed from other companies that make relicensing more challenging

colejohnson66 6y ago

Also, the SDKs for console ports may be under NDA. I’m looking at you, Nintendo Switch.

Arelius 6y ago
Microsoft XBox, Sony Playstation, this is not unique to Nintendo.
yoklov 6y ago
No real reason to call nintendo out here, every console i know of has been that way for many generations.

Alupis 6y ago

> A lot of newer games probably include middleware licensed from other companies that make relicensing more challenging Commonly Physics Engines, like Havok and others.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

klodolph 6y ago

This is why the original Doom (1992) source release had no sound, for example.

endgame 6y ago
Bink Video is another common obstacle for games from the mid-to-late-'90s.

gambiting 6y ago

And also, art assets - I've touched on this briefly with an older game from the studio where I work, and basically we could probably release the source code, but since it was a racing game we couldn't release the art assets as they are copyrighted by car manufacturers(or at least it would be a significantly complicated legal problem to not be worth the time).

kibwen 6y ago
I believe that's standard and well-understood; Quake's source code has famously been GPL for decades (thanks, Carmack!), but all the data files (e.g. art assets) remain copyrighted.
toohotatopic 6y ago
You can always release the game with some generic art and offer the copyrighted assets in a shop. With some luck the game becomes popular and people add further assets to your shop. Demand some commission and you may have created a cash cow.
- gambiting 6y ago
  Sure, but this particular game was from the late 90s - we looked at re-exporting some of the assets and I have no idea how you'd even approach it without significant time investment, the tools used to make the original art no longer exist(we have the source code for the game, but not for the tools used at the time, I've gone through stacks of old CDs that had backups and 9/10 discs were just gone, completely corrupted), or used hardware that would be difficult to source(like cutscenes made on silicon graphics machines, there is no good way to edit and export these project files on modern machines)
  - Keyframe 6y ago
    As a former SGI user, I'm afraid we'll never see emulation happen.
    - 6y ago