Open Sourcing Old Games?

[Kazade]

Recently I've dug out a few games that are a decade or so old that I used to enjoy playing, initially to test under Wine. One of these games is called "WarGames" and it's a RTS based on the film.

Anyway, within a few minutes of running it (thanks to a Wine bug that's all I can manage ;) ) I remembered how fun a game it was. Then I thought how sad it is that this game is no longer for sale, its source code lies bit-rotting somewhere on some backup server down at EA lost for eternity...

There must be a tonne of games out there like this, I have another one here called "Recoil" which is in the same situation. I'm really posting because I want to find out if anyone knows the best way to attempt to get these games open sourced? Does anyone have any contacts inside old games companies like EA or Westwood? I'm thinking if we found a list of games that a.) are no longer for sale, and b.) are around a decade old we might possibly, hopefully, maybe just be able to get one or two of them open sourced - that would be awesome.

[dearingj]

That would be awesome :)

I once contacted Microsoft about open-sourcing the original Age of Empires, which by now is about 12 years old. After several hours of calling different phone numbers (not all of which even worked any more), being redirected to various different departments (who immediately redirected my calls back to whoever had directed me to them), finally getting the email address of somebody who might possibly know someone else who could potentially give me a straight answer if he/she felt like it, I managed to find out that they don't currently have any plans to open-source the game, and I really got the impression that they never will open-source any of their games.

[Kazade]

I'm writing an email to Blitz Games who wrote WarGames. I'll see if I can get a response - you don't know if you don't try ;)

[Sand & Mercury]

From what I've seen, you might do well checking the credits of the games, finding out where some of the more prominent staff moved to and seeing if you can get in contact with them.

I saw this happen with an old game called Blood, and while nothing ever came of it (the source code was owned by GT Interactive, who were swallowed up and then the code has since been lost), they did at least get direct word from the developers and they were keen to see the source surface.

[Kazade]

From what I've seen, you might do well checking the credits of the games, finding out where some of the more prominent staff moved to and seeing if you can get in contact with them.

This is a good idea. I tried to find the credits in WarGames but I couldn't find any(!) so I emailed the Technical Director; Andrew Oliver. He founded the company so he would have been around when the game came out.

Anyone have any other old games it might be worth trying to get open sourced?

The reason I'm suddenly interested is the game has a low resolution (640x480) and normally (in OSS) that would be an itch I could scratch ;)

[RabbitWho]

That would be awesome :)

I once contacted Microsoft about open-sourcing the original Age of Empires, which by now is about 12 years old. After several hours of calling different phone numbers (not all of which even worked any more), being redirected to various different departments (who immediately redirected my calls back to whoever had directed me to them), finally getting the email address of somebody who might possibly know someone else who could potentially give me a straight answer if he/she felt like it, I managed to find out that they don't currently have any plans to open-source the game, and I really got the impression that they never will open-source any of their games.

Fair play to you for actually ringing them.
More of us should do that, say "wouldn't it be great if..." and then do something in that direction. Something concrete that involves talking to real people, not hiding behind a computer.

[NoaHall]

This is a good idea. I tried to find the credits in WarGames but I couldn't find any(!) so I emailed the Technical Director; Andrew Oliver. He founded the company so he would have been around when the game came out.

Anyone have any other old games it might be worth trying to get open sourced?

The reason I'm suddenly interested is the game has a low resolution (640x480) and normally (in OSS) that would be an itch I could scratch ;)

Well, you could try and get Civ 1 + 2 OS'ed. They were great games.

[Xbehave]

Well, you could try and get Civ 1 + 2 OS'ed. They were great games.
There is freeCiv

[NoaHall]

There is freeCiv

Ehm, freeciv is nothing compared to the real deal.

[Firestem4]

I agree with this. If the game is out of print and having no intention of being sold again, why should it matter to the company (who obviously doesn't care much about it at that point,) if they keep it closed source? *shrug*...I'd for sure love to see some older games back in circulation again.


While unfortunately this is not open-source, or Linux. The company behind The Witcher came out with a project called Good old Games, where they basically retouch old, out of production games and make them able to run on Xp/Vista, however its all 100% DRM free.

http://www.gog.com/en/frontpage/

[insane_alien]

I think their issue with it is that the code contained in the games may be used in later iterations and open sourcing it would cause a whole bunch of licensing issues and bureaucratic infinite loops that its just too much bother for something they don't really care about.

[Kazade]

I received a nice reply from Blitz games. Basically they don't own the rights to the source code (EA does) so they are unable to release it under an open license. They were really helpful though.

Something tells me that I've not got a hope in hell of a big publisher like EA releasing the source code.

[Warpnow]

I received a nice reply from Blitz games. Basically they don't own the rights to the source code (EA does) so they are unable to release it under an open license. They were really helpful though.

Something tells me that I've not got a hope in hell of a big publisher like EA releasing the source code.

You'll need to present evidence it will help them. If you can find data on current open source games, create two variables, like, downloads of game X per month, and sales of similar game the company owns, and prove a correlation, they might would do it.

You can run a regression to test for a correlation in gnumeric/calc. Getting the data and hoping it actually made a measurable difference- that's another story.

[starcannon]

I agree with this. If the game is out of print and having no intention of being sold again, why should it matter to the company (who obviously doesn't care much about it at that point,) if they keep it closed source? *shrug*...I'd for sure love to see some older games back in circulation again.


While unfortunately this is not open-source, or Linux. The company behind The Witcher came out with a project called Good old Games, where they basically retouch old, out of production games and make them able to run on Xp/Vista, however its all 100% DRM free.

http://www.gog.com/en/frontpage/
Yeah alot of great old titles have been getting dusted off and sold at bargain prices on Playstation Online Store as well.

[bryncoles]

Seems to me you're talking about Abandonware (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware). Not that I know anything much about abandonware, beyond that it is software which is no longer commercially available, who's original platform is now defunct.

Note that re-releases of games (for example though the PS store or Xbox live arcade thing) would effectively reclaim abandonware.

Something you could look up perhaps...?

[alphaniner]

I think their issue with it is that the code contained in the games may be used in later iterations and open sourcing it would cause a whole bunch of licensing issues and bureaucratic infinite loops that its just too much bother for something they don't really care about.

The 'later iterations' logic doesn't really hold for games that are 10+ years old. Aside from rights to the names, which could be held on to. Plus licensing wouldn't be a hassle if they used a sensible open-source license like the BSDL.

[Excedio]

I'd LOVE to see the old King's Quest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Quest) games get ported over.

[Kazade]

I'd LOVE to see the old King's Quest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Quest) games get ported over.

Maybe contact the founders of Sierra Entertainment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Entertainment)? They may still have the source code, ask them to open source it :)

Here's an idea, we all pick our favourite abandonware game. Write a polite email to the owners of the developing company and ask them to release the source code under an open license and post back how we got on.

I've already done two, WarGames and Recoil (although I didn't hear back from the latter) and as I mentioned, Blitz were really nice - and I got the impression they would have done if they owned the rights.

We might actually get lucky, it would be great fun to update and port these old games if we had the source!

[Praxicoide]

The problem is there's always some potential marketability. Even if you can't sell the game, there's the possibility that it can be used in a game bundle, like the Williams and Atari collections (Atari even released a retro console); or some future online thing, or an addition to a modern game a la Animal Crossing.

It will be hard to convince a company to release a potential asset, even if the chances of going from potential to actual is slim.

Doesn't hurt to try, though.

[Kazade]

The problem is there's always some potential marketability. Even if you can't sell the game, there's the possibility that it can be used in a game bundle, like the Williams and Atari collections (Atari even released a retro console); or some future online thing, or an addition to a modern game a la Animal Crossing.

It will be hard to convince a company to release a potential asset, even if the chances of going from potential to actual is slim.

Doesn't hurt to try, though.

In my email I pointed out that iD Software released the source to Doom, Quake etc. and that spawned Tremulous, Open Arena etc. I also mentioned that it creates a good feeling among hobbyist game programmers, and source releases normally make the news (so free marketing).

[whoop]

Well people phoning, emailing companies, petitioning asking for the release of source code for old games is always a good idea, I think. Even if it gets rejected you still let them know there is a demand for it.
As people stated earlier, Id has been releasing source for years, can't say that it made them unpopular.

[CharmyBee]

I have another one here called "Recoil" which is in the same situation. I'm really posting because I want to find out if anyone knows the best way to attempt to get these games open sourced? Does anyone have any contacts inside old games companies like EA or Westwood?

Recoil is developed by Zipper Interactive under contract from Westwood. The engine branch behind Recoil was forked into Mechwarrior 3 even. They're still around, doing MAG.

http://www.zipperint.com/

[orethrius]

I actually have to wonder what the numbers say about "Sales of Marathon (franchise)" versus "Downloads of AlephOne (all packages)". BungieSoft's old stance on open-source may actually help us here.

[Kazade]

Anyone got any old games they wanna contact the developers about?