Go open source

[yman]

I have a bold proposition: switch to an open-source development model under a non-commercial license, and offer that same software under a commercial license instead. The software I suggest opening is the stuff your games use or that you use to make the games, such as the game engine and the map editor. Doing this will gain you popularity among the open source community and increase the pace of development. By offering the same resources for money under a commercial license, you will be able to monetize the same work twice.

Please think about it.

[jens]

Going open-source and being a successful open-source project takes a tremendous effort, it does not magically happen just because you go open-source. There are lots of other projects that you would have to compete with to gain attention, beyond that there would be a lot of work with documentation and preparation to have something that would be easy enough for others to contribute to.

This is something we have thought about, discussed and decided not to do, at least not in the near future. Going open-source would for certain mean that Amnesia would not be released this year!

[yman]

(03-05-2010 08:06 AM)jens Wrote:  Going open-source and being a successful open-source project takes a tremendous effort, it does not magically happen just because you go open-source. There are lots of other projects that you would have to compete with to gain attention, beyond that there would be a lot of work with documentation and preparation to have something that would be easy enough for others to contribute to.

This is something we have thought about, discussed and decided not to do, at least not in the near future. Going open-source would for certain mean that Amnesia would not be released this year!

I only posted it here because no other section in the forums seemed appropriate. I certainly did not mean you should make such a move before Amnesia is released. I want my game ASAP, after all. I was thinking maybe a year after would be a good time.

When do you think would be a good time for it?
Besides Newton and HCL, what else does the game use? I think Penumbra uses SDL. Does Amnesia also use it? Are there any other dependencies?

[gbee]

As an open source developer for the last few years I'm afraid I have to side with Jens, although I'm a strong believer in open source it's neither an appealing choice for any small business nor necessarily suited for all software. For your average programmer it's pretty much a nightmare, you lose control of your code (for better, or worse) and instead of doing what you love, developing new and innovative games, you are reduced to the dreaded customer support role. Whether it's commercial customers who have paid for that service, or thousands of people who think that open source means that you must incorporate their ideas or code, your time is no longer your own.

It's also hugely debatable whether you'd be able to pull in the same amount of money, it's no secret that what many people like about open source is the price tag. Even if Frictional only open sourced the engine, within months someone will have started putting out good free games which directly compete against Amnesia etc and given the choice even a superior commercial game is going to be dead in the water. Even if Frictional were longer reliant on selling their games, it's both hugely disappointing to create something that nobody wants to play and it represents a loss to the business ...