Morrowind Open Source Projects: Who They Are, What They Do And What They Will Become
Thứ Tư, 15 tháng 2, 2012 | 0 nhận xét
Hey Freegamers,
My name is Antoine and I’ve been a devotee of this site and the Linux Game Tome for years. Now I have the priviledge to contribute back an article. Thank you qubodup for helping me out with this article. I love open source games, but I have a particular soft spot for those that allow creativity and collaboration from their users. Imagine if there existed an open source, and therefore completely editable, game engine with as much content as Morrowind’s fans have created available for it? As many of you are aware, there are currently fan projects working to extend the life, reach, and functionality of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind far beyond what’s possible using Bethesda’s Construction Set modding tools.
Can you guess which screen is rendered by what engine? :)
About Morrowind: Morrowind is an enormous proprietary game loved by fans for its atmospheric and immersive world filled with bizarre giant mushrooms, homes built into giant vines, and barren wastelands. However, it was plagued by software bugs, had many elements that were half-baked in their execution, and its game engine took poor advantage of GPUs. Some of these problems fans were able to address with unofficial patches and mods, but others could not be solved without changing the actual game engine.
When I found an open source reimplentation of the Morrowind engine I had to become involved. I’m very new to the group, but I’m helping out the PR team. However, just days after finding OpenMW, I discovered two more such projects existed, with rumors of a fourth. Mark Siewert of The Crystal Scrolls (and soon OpenMW), said the multitude of projects are a testament to the interest people still have in this game’s strange world. Indeed, look at the massive undertakings of fan projects like Tamriel Rebuilt, MGE XE, MGSO, or type in on YouTube “Morrowind 2011” or “Morrwind 2012” and you’ll get a sense for the countless hours fans continue dedicating to improve Morrowind a decade after its release.
I spoke with the developers of the different engines about their projects to get an idea of what their development status is, what their goals are, and how they’re accomplishing them. A quick disclaimer; you need a legal copy of Morrowind to use any of these engines for playing Morrowind. You can get one from steam (it goes on sale every couple of months) or by purchasing one on ebay.
OpenMW began in 2008 by Nicolay Korslund, it uses ogre3d, bullet physics, OpenAL, OIS, NifLib, and MYGUI. Nicolay stepped down as project lead last year and was replaced by the developer Marc “Zini” Zinnschlag and is joined by many great developers.
Project Aedra, was started by Tom Lopes in 2009. It employs NifLib, Bullet Collision, Quake 3 Arena for "pmove" character controller code, and the FastLZ library.
The Crystal scrolls was started by Mark Siewert in 2007 and it employs the Crystal Space 3d engine.
So what do these projects have in common? Well, they are licensed under some form of the GNU GPL license, written in C++, and aim to have all the features of original Morrowind, including compatibility with all official and unofficial expansions and plug-ins (and those based on external programs such as the Script Extender). Their individual goals are listed below.
Additional Goals:
OpenMW | Project Aedra | The Crystal Scrolls |
|
|
|
Features:
| OpenMW | Project Aedra | The Crystal Scrolls | |
| Windows | Done | Done | Done |
| Mac OS X | Done | - | - |
| GNU/Linux | Done | Wine | - |
| Game launcher | Done | - | Planning |
| Console | Nearly | Nearly | - |
| HUD | Early | Partial | - |
| Render Interior | Done | Nearly | - |
| Render Exterior | Partial* | Nearly | Done |
| Sky Rendering | Early | Done | Partial |
| Day/Night Cycle | Done | Nearly | Partial |
| NPC Rendering | Nearly | Partial | Done |
| NPC Animations | Nearly | - | Nearly |
| NPC Dialogue | Nearly** | - | - |
| Sound effects | Partial | Done | - |
| Music | Done | Done | - |
| Object Collision | Partial | Done | - |
| Object interaction | Nearly | Nearly | - |
| Water Layer | Nearly** | Nearly | Partial |
| Scripting | Nearly | Partial | - |
| Multiplayer | - | Early | - |
| Plugin Merging | - | - | Planning |
| Graphical Replacer Support | Done | Done | - |
| Multithread Stream Loading | - | Partial | - |
| Hardware Animations (Shaders) | Planning | Partial | Nearly |
| Load Doors | Done | Done | - |
| Render Particle Effects | - | Planning | - |
| Read Scrolls and Books | - | Done | - |
| Menus | - | Partial | - |
| Ground Blends | - | Early | - |
| Distant Land | - | Partial | - |
| Journal | Partial | - | - |
| Nearly** = Code is in the repository, but not in the latest release. | |||
| Partial* = Code is in repository, but likely to not be activated in a release for quite some time. | |||
| - = No code or planning done yet, or possibly not intending to include. | |||
When is your next release?
OpenMW: No exact date, but we are on the verge of our big 0.12.0 release.
Project Aedra: One was just released. The latest download is r163.
Crystal Scrolls: After recently returning from an unexpected and prolonged hiatus, I released a new snapshot two weekends ago.
What’s next?
OpenMW: Work on version 0.13.0 has already begun.
Project Aedra: Everything (in no particular order); scripting, multiplayer, key binding, animated textures, GUI, conformance (tweaking every little thing to be the same as in Morrowind), ground blends, bug fixing, animated skins, distant Land, 3D SFX, and shaders.
Crystal Scrolls: I am going to join forces with the OpenMW team and help them in getting their own project out of the door. While I will still continue developing this project, I also want to see one of the many Open Source Morrowind projects completed. And from my point of view, OpenMW is likely to reach maturity first. I am planning to do more work on things that do not depend on the renderers, so this should be of use to OpenMW as well.
Concerning Crystal Scrolls 0.3:
Concerning Crystal Scrolls 0.3:
- Plugin/Mod support. Possibly with a launcher which lets you disable/enable plug-ins
- Support for original save games (it's no that different from plug-ins).
- Object interaction. This will enable many additional features, such as picking up objects, entering internal cells, and more.
How big is your team?
OpenMW: We have eleven active developers (with varying degrees of involvement with OpenMW) and five people working on things like package maintenance, public relations, and website administration. Our team list is here.
Project Aedra: 1 person, me!
Crystal Scrolls: Myself.
How can people contribute?
OpenMW: If you are skilled with C++ or have game programming skills please register at our forum, look at the version 0.13.0 thread and find an unassigned task, assign it to yourself and get started. Also we want people with fast computers and video editing skills to record demonstration videos for Youtube. We hope that releases post 0.13.0 will be playable enough to necessitate many bug testers. If you are learning how to code, download and have a look at OpenMW.
Project Aedra: I'm looking for C and C++ game programmers with prior experience who can help program.
Crystal Scrolls: There are many ways to help out. Now that rendering and animation is mostly out of the way, it is feasible to start implementing more features. My primary goal for 0.3 is to add plug-in/mod support, and object interaction, but one can easily imagine things that are not blocked by this feature: sound, the console, scripting, etc. So if you want to help, install the program and find something that is missing and that might not depend on plug-in support or object interaction.
There you have it folks; three projects sharing a lot of common ground, but with some different goals and feature sets. Which is the best? That depends on who is asking. I suggest trying out all three every six months or to see how their changing and defining their own style. No doubt they will influence each others development with ideas and solutions. It is very exciting that Mark Siewert is joining the OpenMW team. Here’s to open source, games that facilitate creativity, and the preservation and improvement of games for posterity!
Dev corner: FOSDEM about Games
Thứ Ba, 14 tháng 2, 2012 | 0 nhận xét
Fosdem Game Dev
We already mentioned the FOSDEM 2012 role playing game development talk but recently I found links to more open source game development and game design "devrooms" here.
- Alistair Riddoch - The Dynamic Data Driven Worlds of WorldForge.mp3
- Arthur Huillet - Anatomy of a role playing game.avi
- Erik Ogenvik - Getting Started With Ogre3d For Game Development.mp3
- Jeremy Rosen - Balancing a game - the open source way.mp3
- Thomas Kinnen - Data-Driven and Component-Based Game-Entities.mp3
I also recommend "A New OSI for A New Decade" here, which starts with explaining how not to be annoying when advocating freedom.
Mono for game development and openBVE
Chủ Nhật, 12 tháng 2, 2012 | 0 nhận xét
In yesterdays post qubodup already mentioned AltDevConf, which seems to have attracted a lot of interesting presentations. Another one I noticed was about using Mono/C# for game development; see the summary on Phoronix here or get the slides here. I guess a video should be available at some point too.
But I know that Mono/C# is a controversial topic (see also the comments for the linked article) so fire away in our comment section about how you feel about using it for FOSS game development ;)
Personally I see no reason why it should be preferred over Java or Python, but plenty against using it... but the slides might convince you otherwise ;)
However the main reason why I posted about Mono games was to have a nice intro to this really awesome looking Train simulator, called openBVE, which is also written in C#:
You can find a nice overview in how far openBVE has surpassed its spiritual successor BVE over here (link also includes some more nice screenshots).
Licensing seems a bit complicated however... the main source download and some search in their forums seem to implicate that openBVE is completely Public Domain. However for the artwork I am a bit skeptical (maybe taken from the commercial BVE?) and there also seems to be a closed source server component (according to the original author to prevent commercial forks...).
Anyways, I am amazed how much work some people put into such seemingly boring simulation topics... but each to his own I guess :p
Hmm...but putting my creative hat on... it would be awesome if someone would take openBVE as a base and make an awesome zombicalypse escape simulator out of it. Trying to escape from an infested Britain (similar to the movie 28 days later) with a group of survivors in a train: Manage the group in the train (including hidden infections etc.), upgrade your train with weapons, plan a route through the British rail network avoiding zombie hotspots and military "cleaning campaigns", replenish your stocks at zombie infested train stations and so on... game of the year guaranteed :D (Disclamer: if you make this game you can use my idea for free :p )
Continue Reading
But I know that Mono/C# is a controversial topic (see also the comments for the linked article) so fire away in our comment section about how you feel about using it for FOSS game development ;)
Personally I see no reason why it should be preferred over Java or Python, but plenty against using it... but the slides might convince you otherwise ;)
However the main reason why I posted about Mono games was to have a nice intro to this really awesome looking Train simulator, called openBVE, which is also written in C#:
You can find a nice overview in how far openBVE has surpassed its spiritual successor BVE over here (link also includes some more nice screenshots).
Licensing seems a bit complicated however... the main source download and some search in their forums seem to implicate that openBVE is completely Public Domain. However for the artwork I am a bit skeptical (maybe taken from the commercial BVE?) and there also seems to be a closed source server component (according to the original author to prevent commercial forks...).
Anyways, I am amazed how much work some people put into such seemingly boring simulation topics... but each to his own I guess :p
Hmm...but putting my creative hat on... it would be awesome if someone would take openBVE as a base and make an awesome zombicalypse escape simulator out of it. Trying to escape from an infested Britain (similar to the movie 28 days later) with a group of survivors in a train: Manage the group in the train (including hidden infections etc.), upgrade your train with weapons, plan a route through the British rail network avoiding zombie hotspots and military "cleaning campaigns", replenish your stocks at zombie infested train stations and so on... game of the year guaranteed :D (Disclamer: if you make this game you can use my idea for free :p )
Open Source RPG Development Talk, #AltDevConf
Thứ Bảy, 11 tháng 2, 2012 | 0 nhận xét
Arthur Huillet of Freedroid talked about RPG development at FOSDEM 2012:
In two and a half hours, the online #AltDevConf starts. There seems to be no way to attend live unless you use Windows or OS X but the talks will be recorded and made available online later.
There will be 25 talks from the range of game programming, education, design and production.
There will be 25 talks from the range of game programming, education, design and production.
AltDevConf is an online community-driven conference...
We aim provide free access to a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts, and to create a space where bright and innovative voices can be heard.
Dev Corner: Crowdfunding, OpenGameArt and Kickstarter
Thứ Sáu, 10 tháng 2, 2012 | 0 nhận xét
Donations: Commercial use of Free Software and Libre Art
Kickstarter for Game Dev
I'm sure you heard the amazing Kickstarter news ;) Dusted, author of Wizznic! shared a short thought about the news I'm actually talking about.
FOSS Games and Donations Now
The FLARE RPG project page now has a PayPal donation button.
0A.D. uses Pledgie for funding.
There is a list of FOSS projects that accept BitCoin here and a more general list here.
OGA and Kickstarter Thoughts
OpenGameArt founder and admin Bart K, shared that he is considering Kickstarter, but could use some more inspiration about what rewards could be given to high pledge-givers.
OGA/CC/FSF Game Dev Contest Plan
There's also a game dev contest in the works, which will be organized this summer by Creative Commons, Free Software Foundation and OpenGameArt. The details are still getting ironed out.
Donations on Free Gamer
By the way: here on FreeGamer, we have Flattr widgets below the posts of the authors who provided their Flattr IDs and other donation methods are available on the about page.
So far no "Donations" page on our wiki, where setting up of PayPal, BitCoin, Flattr and other services is explained for open source game dev projects. There is a rather long thread on the topic of making money with free/FOSS games.
Any donation statistics from open source (game) projects and expertise on the subject are highly welcome in the comments!
Đăng ký:
Bài đăng (Atom)