5 ms·

EA Is Releasing Command and Conquer and Red Alert’s Source Code

135 points by miobrien 6y ago

phoe-krk 6y ago
Previous discussion from yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23249964 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23249964
sharkweek 6y ago
My god what good memories I have with Red Alert. That intro will forever be engraved in my memory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnMaTx4yjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnMaTx4yjI
skilled 6y ago
Red Alert on PlayStation 1.... damn, I spent so many hours playing this game with my friends. Great memories.
justanotherhn 6y ago
Man, I wish Microsoft would opensource Age of Empires source code. That community is still around miraculously and would most likely rejuvenate the game.
- Ericson2314 6y ago
  I would have thought the commercial "remasters" mean no open sourcing, but EA is doing both, so I guess not.
- myle 6y ago
  Do they have it? I was under the impression that they had to resort to hacks in order to release the recent remastered version.
- danbolt 6y ago
  The UserPatch mod for the older CD release is really interesting, as it modifies the binary to give a lot of new AI script functions. Some of the ones for customized targeting have almost a declarative, map/filter feeling to them, such as `up-filter-range`. [1] I think the newer versions of the C++ compiler are much more optimizing today than compared to what what Age of Empires II released on. I'd imagine it wouldn't be possible, or perhaps a lot harder, to make these AI mods with the Steam re-releases. [1] http://userpatch.aiscripters.net/reference.html http://userpatch.aiscripters.net/reference.html
- pkphilip 6y ago
  0ad is pretty good though. Not quite Age of Empires but still pretty decent. https://play0ad.com/ https://play0ad.com/
- rubidium 6y ago
  Definitely. AoE2 is a lifetime game for me. I played it in middle/high school, stopped for a while, picked it up in college for 2 years, stopped for 5 years, was amazed it was still a thing in late grad school (2013), stopped for 7 more years, and have just restarted playing again during the lockdown :) voobly is still a thing, and the best part is I’m still using my cd’s from 2002 with the free Aofe patch (pre-steam) from 2014 to play!
chabad360 6y ago
Under GPL, huh, ain't that a rare treat!
css 6y ago
Fun fact: this was the last game Virgin Interactive released before getting bought out by EA.
pathartl 6y ago
I'm glad that EA is doing this. I certainly don't think we should expect it, but I hope releasing source becomes standard. With more and more games moving to SaaS and microtransaction-heavy, I feel like the core of the game doesn't contribute to the bottom line as much as it used to. With so many remasters/remakes being released, it's obvious that studios care about their games, but I think it should be made obvious that releasing source is the real path to preservation. Look at the recent build of Super Mario 64 for the PC. The game went from being able to run on a handful of systems (13.56 million Wii U's, 101.63 million Wii's, 32.93 million N64's) to nearly every modern x86-based computer. And now that it's being ported to ARM systems as well, we'll probably see Mario 64 running natively on hardware for probably the next 25 years, well past the life expectancy of many of the systems it officially was built for. Releasing source could also contribute to the bottom lines of the companies. By Activision releasing the source to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1-3 (please dear god I hope they do this), they could actually release those games on digital platforms like Steam or Epic using ports/code improvements they didn't have to write. Hell, if THPS1-3 were open sourced, I might attempt a port for the first time.
- Exmoor 6y ago
  >a handful of systems (13.56 million Wii U's, 101.63 million Wii's, 32.93 million N64's) I get that you're speaking relatively, but you and I have a very different idea of what qualifies as "a handful". Also, you could arguably add 154.02 million DS systems and 75 million 3DS systems if you include the slightly improved Super Mario 64 DS.
  - pathartl 6y ago
    Keep in mind that most of those Wii U's and Wii's definitely did not have Mario 64 actually purchased on it, as well as the fact that you can no longer purchase the game for those systems. With the price an N64 and the cartridge go for these days, playing the original hardware is considered a premium. I'd consider the DS version to be its own game. I love it, but with such large changes to the core gameplay it's certainly not a port, and it's not a remaster. Personally I think Nintendo should just release widescreen versions of both to the Switch, maybe with Mario 64 DS being an overhaul DLC.
xwdv 6y ago
What kind of mods will people make?

135 points by miobrien 6y ago

Previous discussion from yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23249964 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23249964

sharkweek 6y ago

My god what good memories I have with Red Alert. That intro will forever be engraved in my memory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnMaTx4yjI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnMaTx4yjI

skilled 6y ago

Red Alert on PlayStation 1.... damn, I spent so many hours playing this game with my friends. Great memories.

justanotherhn 6y ago

Man, I wish Microsoft would opensource Age of Empires source code. That community is still around miraculously and would most likely rejuvenate the game.

Ericson2314 6y ago
I would have thought the commercial "remasters" mean no open sourcing, but EA is doing both, so I guess not.
myle 6y ago
Do they have it? I was under the impression that they had to resort to hacks in order to release the recent remastered version.
danbolt 6y ago
The UserPatch mod for the older CD release is really interesting, as it modifies the binary to give a lot of new AI script functions. Some of the ones for customized targeting have almost a declarative, map/filter feeling to them, such as `up-filter-range`. [1] I think the newer versions of the C++ compiler are much more optimizing today than compared to what what Age of Empires II released on. I'd imagine it wouldn't be possible, or perhaps a lot harder, to make these AI mods with the Steam re-releases. [1] http://userpatch.aiscripters.net/reference.html http://userpatch.aiscripters.net/reference.html
pkphilip 6y ago
0ad is pretty good though. Not quite Age of Empires but still pretty decent. https://play0ad.com/ https://play0ad.com/
rubidium 6y ago
Definitely. AoE2 is a lifetime game for me. I played it in middle/high school, stopped for a while, picked it up in college for 2 years, stopped for 5 years, was amazed it was still a thing in late grad school (2013), stopped for 7 more years, and have just restarted playing again during the lockdown :) voobly is still a thing, and the best part is I’m still using my cd’s from 2002 with the free Aofe patch (pre-steam) from 2014 to play!

chabad360 6y ago

Under GPL, huh, ain't that a rare treat!

css 6y ago

Fun fact: this was the last game Virgin Interactive released before getting bought out by EA.

pathartl 6y ago

I'm glad that EA is doing this. I certainly don't think we should expect it, but I hope releasing source becomes standard. With more and more games moving to SaaS and microtransaction-heavy, I feel like the core of the game doesn't contribute to the bottom line as much as it used to. With so many remasters/remakes being released, it's obvious that studios care about their games, but I think it should be made obvious that releasing source is the real path to preservation. Look at the recent build of Super Mario 64 for the PC. The game went from being able to run on a handful of systems (13.56 million Wii U's, 101.63 million Wii's, 32.93 million N64's) to nearly every modern x86-based computer. And now that it's being ported to ARM systems as well, we'll probably see Mario 64 running natively on hardware for probably the next 25 years, well past the life expectancy of many of the systems it officially was built for. Releasing source could also contribute to the bottom lines of the companies. By Activision releasing the source to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1-3 (please dear god I hope they do this), they could actually release those games on digital platforms like Steam or Epic using ports/code improvements they didn't have to write. Hell, if THPS1-3 were open sourced, I might attempt a port for the first time.

Exmoor 6y ago
>a handful of systems (13.56 million Wii U's, 101.63 million Wii's, 32.93 million N64's) I get that you're speaking relatively, but you and I have a very different idea of what qualifies as "a handful". Also, you could arguably add 154.02 million DS systems and 75 million 3DS systems if you include the slightly improved Super Mario 64 DS.
- pathartl 6y ago
  Keep in mind that most of those Wii U's and Wii's definitely did not have Mario 64 actually purchased on it, as well as the fact that you can no longer purchase the game for those systems. With the price an N64 and the cartridge go for these days, playing the original hardware is considered a premium. I'd consider the DS version to be its own game. I love it, but with such large changes to the core gameplay it's certainly not a port, and it's not a remaster. Personally I think Nintendo should just release widescreen versions of both to the Switch, maybe with Mario 64 DS being an overhaul DLC.

xwdv 6y ago

What kind of mods will people make?