descent2 is open source? wtf mate

roid · Post by **roid** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 9:52 pm

http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=2759

look at the top it says "Part of: Open Source Games Collection".

heh, but you still have to pay for it.

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 10:10 pm

Kewl!

Guys, what is the chance that I could get D2 to work on my PC? I am running WinXP with a Barton 3000+ / A7N8X v2.0 / 1Gb Ram / Radeon 9800 Pro 256.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 10:24 pm

*sigh* D2 is NOT open-sourced. Parallax released the D2 source code for non-commercial purposes only, but in order to play the game you must purchase a copy of it. Otherwise, you don't get the HOG files that contain the actual game data (levels, models, and everything else). So yes, the source code is out there, but the license under which it is released is not OSI-compliant, nor was the actual D2 project itself in any way open-source. Any code based on the D2 source is considered a Derivative Work and cannot be used for any money-making purpose.

Coincidentally, neither can any D2 levels made with Descent Mission Builder. Any levels you create with DMB are the sole property of Interplay Productions.

Topher · Post by **Topher** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:07 pm

DCrazy wrote:Any levels you create with DMB are the sole property of Interplay Productions.

I'm sorry...who?

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:23 pm

Heheh. They still exist, and if you read the fine print on the D2 packaging (at least on the Definitive Collection CD wallet) you'll see that I am not lying to you.

Tricord · Post by **Tricord** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 3:55 am

DCrazy wrote:Heheh. They still exist, and if you read the fine print on the D2 packaging (at least on the Definitive Collection CD wallet) you'll see that I am not lying to you.

Can't find it. There is something about the Levels of the World not being made by Interplay so they warn for possible lockups and whatnot. It doesn't say "all your stuff are belong to us" anywhere.. Frankly, I'd have been surprised. If you write a book, copyright law protects your work. The pen-making company has no claim on what you accomplish with their product..

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 8:08 am

Topher · Post by **Topher** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 9:44 am

MD-2389 wrote:Actually Tri, he's right. My copy of D2 (Infinite Abyss pack) states quite clearly that DMB2 is Â©1996 Interplay Productions. Has it right on the CD along the outer rim.

Well yah, and Word is copyright Microsoft, but someone who wrote a book in Word still has copyright to the book.

WarAdvocat · Post by **WarAdvocat** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 1:05 pm

All you own is the IDEA of the level. Thus you might have a case if say, Valve ported one of your levels (created for Descent) into a commercial project... Good luck collecting though. I doubt that the courts have even the vaguest idea what in the hell you would be complaining about...

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 7:13 pm

Iceman wrote:Kewl!

Guys, what is the chance that I could get D2 to work on my PC? I am running WinXP with a Barton 3000+ / A7N8X v2.0 / 1Gb Ram / Radeon 9800 Pro 256.

The chances are very good if you're using Diedel's D2X-W32 version.

To the best of my knowledge, D2's situation is exactly the same as that of FreeSpace 2: both games were closed-source to begin with, but the source code was released, and the community has used this source code to improve the game.

SilverFJ · Post by **SilverFJ** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 12:25 am

The people! Power to the people!!

Bring it down, bring it all down!!

roid · Post by **roid** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 7:37 pm