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  3. Are there any examples of an "abandoned" game's fans successfully getting the game to be open-sourced?

Are there any examples of an "abandoned" game's fans successfully getting the game to be open-sourced?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Asklemmy
asklemmy
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  • T [email protected]

    And if so, what tactics did they use? Pester the devs? Crowdfunding to buy the rights to the game from the devs? Something else?

    T This user is from outside of this forum
    T This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #10

    The developer of Terraria promised to open source the canceled sequel if a petition could get enough signatures but then it did and he didn't release the code

    T simple@lemm.eeS J 3 Replies Last reply
    0
    • H [email protected]

      Not quite the same, but Total Annihilation and Beyond All Reason. It wasn't abandonware, but more like after Total Annihilation hit success, rights were sold and resold and Atari as the final owner squandered every opportunity to do more with the engine and the franchise.

      The tactics were essentially receating a better engine with Spring, as the sort of newly open source upgraded version of the engine the same people built 10 years earlier. Taylor Swift did the same thing.

      T This user is from outside of this forum
      T This user is from outside of this forum
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      wrote on last edited by
      #11

      Thanks! That sounds more like a rewriting of the engine though?

      H 1 Reply Last reply
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      • ace_garp@lemmy.worldA [email protected]

        Warzone 2100 is an RTS that fans petitioned a company to release as FLOSS, after support had ended.

        T This user is from outside of this forum
        T This user is from outside of this forum
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        wrote on last edited by
        #12

        Thank you!

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • M [email protected]

          OpenTTD or OpenRTC possibly could qualify here?

          T This user is from outside of this forum
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          wrote on last edited by
          #13

          Thanks! Those sound more like rewrites though?

          M 1 Reply Last reply
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          • T [email protected]

            The developer of Terraria promised to open source the canceled sequel if a petition could get enough signatures but then it did and he didn't release the code

            T This user is from outside of this forum
            T This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote on last edited by
            #14

            Thanks! That's lame!

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            • T [email protected]

              Thanks! Those sound more like rewrites though?

              M This user is from outside of this forum
              M This user is from outside of this forum
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              wrote on last edited by
              #15

              Yeah I think technically they did re-write them, but the actual gameplay, graphics, and music is identical to the original

              T 1 Reply Last reply
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              • M [email protected]

                Yeah I think technically they did re-write them, but the actual gameplay, graphics, and music is identical to the original

                T This user is from outside of this forum
                T This user is from outside of this forum
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                wrote on last edited by
                #16

                That's cool. That would be something to consider if the developer will absolutely not entertain the idea.

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                • T [email protected]

                  And if so, what tactics did they use? Pester the devs? Crowdfunding to buy the rights to the game from the devs? Something else?

                  S This user is from outside of this forum
                  S This user is from outside of this forum
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                  wrote on last edited by
                  #17

                  HoverRace!

                  T 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • T [email protected]

                    The developer of Terraria promised to open source the canceled sequel if a petition could get enough signatures but then it did and he didn't release the code

                    simple@lemm.eeS This user is from outside of this forum
                    simple@lemm.eeS This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote on last edited by
                    #18

                    Plenty of devs think it's easier than it is. A ton of games are built on proprietary tools, and then you get into legal hot water on whether you can even give away things like the soundtrack or assets you bought like stock sound effects.

                    I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at it after the petition and thought "wait, I actually can't open source this"

                    T P 2 Replies Last reply
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                    • T [email protected]

                      And if so, what tactics did they use? Pester the devs? Crowdfunding to buy the rights to the game from the devs? Something else?

                      O This user is from outside of this forum
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                      wrote on last edited by
                      #19

                      Ur-Quan Masters (aka. Star Control 2)

                      But, it's not really abandoned anymore. The developers are FINALLY making an official sequel!

                      The sequel

                      The sequel is not open source, but UQM/SC2 is.

                      This happened in the early 2000s, but I think they found the source code to a port of the game and said "We haven't earned any money from sales of this game in a decade [and buying digital games wasn't really a thing yet, as people generally believed that anything digital shouldn't have a price], so let's release this to the community to open source as long as they do all the reverse porting and support!"

                      T K 2 Replies Last reply
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                      • T [email protected]

                        And if so, what tactics did they use? Pester the devs? Crowdfunding to buy the rights to the game from the devs? Something else?

                        R This user is from outside of this forum
                        R This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #20

                        Does rewriting the game count? https://2009scape.org/

                        T tetris11@lemmy.mlT 2 Replies Last reply
                        0
                        • T [email protected]

                          The developer of Terraria promised to open source the canceled sequel if a petition could get enough signatures but then it did and he didn't release the code

                          J This user is from outside of this forum
                          J This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #21

                          I haven't heard of this. Surely Red is just finishing terraria first .-.

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • T [email protected]

                            And if so, what tactics did they use? Pester the devs? Crowdfunding to buy the rights to the game from the devs? Something else?

                            vortexal@lemmy.mlV This user is from outside of this forum
                            vortexal@lemmy.mlV This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #22

                            One that I'm aware of is Re-Volt. The source code for both the base game and some addons can be found here.

                            There was another one that I remember using years ago but I can't find it anymore. It was for another racing game called 4x4 Evo. There is the 4x4 Evolution Revival project but it's not the one I used and there doesn't seem to be any source code available.

                            T businessfish@lemmy.blahaj.zoneB 2 Replies Last reply
                            0
                            • simple@lemm.eeS [email protected]

                              Plenty of devs think it's easier than it is. A ton of games are built on proprietary tools, and then you get into legal hot water on whether you can even give away things like the soundtrack or assets you bought like stock sound effects.

                              I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at it after the petition and thought "wait, I actually can't open source this"

                              T This user is from outside of this forum
                              T This user is from outside of this forum
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                              wrote on last edited by
                              #23

                              I totally get that, but if that was the reason maybe he could have explained it? Maybe he did? I don't know.

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                              • S [email protected]

                                HoverRace!

                                T This user is from outside of this forum
                                T This user is from outside of this forum
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                                wrote on last edited by
                                #24

                                Thank you!

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • O [email protected]

                                  Ur-Quan Masters (aka. Star Control 2)

                                  But, it's not really abandoned anymore. The developers are FINALLY making an official sequel!

                                  The sequel

                                  The sequel is not open source, but UQM/SC2 is.

                                  This happened in the early 2000s, but I think they found the source code to a port of the game and said "We haven't earned any money from sales of this game in a decade [and buying digital games wasn't really a thing yet, as people generally believed that anything digital shouldn't have a price], so let's release this to the community to open source as long as they do all the reverse porting and support!"

                                  T This user is from outside of this forum
                                  T This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #25

                                  Thank you!

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • R [email protected]

                                    Does rewriting the game count? https://2009scape.org/

                                    T This user is from outside of this forum
                                    T This user is from outside of this forum
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                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #26

                                    Thanks! Not quite. The idea I have in mind is to avoid having to rewrite it, if possible. Besides, I don't think I'd have the wherewithal to do it.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • vortexal@lemmy.mlV [email protected]

                                      One that I'm aware of is Re-Volt. The source code for both the base game and some addons can be found here.

                                      There was another one that I remember using years ago but I can't find it anymore. It was for another racing game called 4x4 Evo. There is the 4x4 Evolution Revival project but it's not the one I used and there doesn't seem to be any source code available.

                                      T This user is from outside of this forum
                                      T This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #27

                                      Thank you!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • O [email protected]

                                        Ur-Quan Masters (aka. Star Control 2)

                                        But, it's not really abandoned anymore. The developers are FINALLY making an official sequel!

                                        The sequel

                                        The sequel is not open source, but UQM/SC2 is.

                                        This happened in the early 2000s, but I think they found the source code to a port of the game and said "We haven't earned any money from sales of this game in a decade [and buying digital games wasn't really a thing yet, as people generally believed that anything digital shouldn't have a price], so let's release this to the community to open source as long as they do all the reverse porting and support!"

                                        K This user is from outside of this forum
                                        K This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #28

                                        This was my favorite game as a kid. Doing fan-art and a D&D campaign about it for years got me hired on as an artist for the new one! It's gonna be wild.

                                        O 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • T [email protected]

                                          Thanks! That sounds more like a rewriting of the engine though?

                                          H This user is from outside of this forum
                                          H This user is from outside of this forum
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                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #29

                                          It is, but that's the workaround they went for, and it worked just fine in a legal sense. It was probably faster and less expensive than trying to engage in anything thats going to even risk involving a copyright attorney.

                                          T 1 Reply Last reply
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