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Freespace 2 Source Code Released
Initri writes "I read a news article (here) on Gamespot that the Freespace 2 source code has been released by Volition. You can download it there, or you can also download it here. Since I don't have the game installed anymore, I wasn't able to try out the code, but it did successfully compile under MSVC 6.0. Looks like there's a lot of learning potential here." Freespace 2 was one of my favorite games, and I wasted many hours playing it.
Under what license is this released? And is it the full sourcecode (with other words: is the 'engine' code also included)?
I don't want to download the whole file through a dial-up connection...
xer.xes -- 4181
this place has more information, and the code for free download. it's only a 4MB download so it won't take long. let's see how fast it gets slashdotted...
http://www.freespace-2.com/ddn/sources/freespace2
People may have stopped playing Freespace, but they certainly haven't stopped playing Freespace2! Just look at the fansites - FS2 has a very active modding community and plenty of people still play multiplayer.
As I've never heard of the game before this /. article - would somebody mind filling me in as to what type of game it is - what it's about etc?
Video Game cheats, hints a
/*
* Copyright (C) Volition, Inc. 1999. All rights reserved.
*
* All source code herein is the property of Volition, Inc. You may not sell
* or otherwise commercially exploit the source or things you created based on the
* source.
*
*/
line 447, projects\freespace2_public\code\Parse\Encrypt.cpp
"ushort haha_you_dumbass = 0xe2A8;"
I've mirrored the code on FilePlanet for those of you who can't download from 3DDownloads. Enjoy!
As a major contributor to the fan community of Freespace 1/2 I'll give you the background on this. Freespaces 1 and 2 were Originally relesed when Volition used Interplay as their Publisher. Since then Volition has been bought by THQ, a rival publisher although Interlplay still heald the rights which is why thes has been a bit sluggish. Interplay, as you know, was consumed by Titus recently and with a lot af campaigning by Dave Baranec (Head Programmer for Volition), on behalf of the fan community managed to get it relesed. Go over to http://www.3dap.com/hlp (Hard Light Productions) which is where the main hub of FreeSpace Development exists now since Volition's official BB was closed due to abuse. And don't forget to check out the forums. There is also a project going to create a Freespace Like game from scratch.
Well, first off, there's more information at http://www.freespace-2.com/ddn/sources/freespace2/ , along with a rar version that's about 2.7 meg.
/ , along with information about the engine and a mailing list.
The source code for Descent 1 and for Descent 2 has also been released, and you can find them at http://www.freespace-2.com/ddn/sources/freespace2
I'm not entirely sure, but since Parallax developed Descent 1 & 2 for Interplay, and Volition developed the Freespace games for Interplay, I think that Interplay would be the one to get credit, at the very least for convincing the other two to release the source. Interplay is earning major karma points...
-Jason-
Freespace 2 was one of my favorite games, and I wasted many hours playing it.
Weakling. It isn't a good game unless you have wasted YEARS playing it. %-)
For is interested in developing MODs and whatnot for this game I'll stick a load of links to the fan communities for this game and with some info about them.
Hard Light Productions It has only been going for about a year but this is where the main development for freespace goes on with active forums containing Render art mods and general discussion.
Freespace Watch The freespace branch of Volitionwatch, a large fan site covering all volition games with fairly strong links to Volition themselvs. Volition frequent the forums there. The place is slightly less MOD oientated than HLP but there are still lots of projects hosted including one total conversion for Babylon 5 which is well underway.
http://www.gamespy.com/games/971.shtml
People have stopped palying[sic] FreeSpace about 3 years ago
:-)
:-)
That doesn't stop people from learning from the code and making neat projects with it.
Open Source isn't just about getting a free dinner...it's about getting to play around with code. We just covered Wolf 3d and Doom algorithms in our graphics course when covering older graphics techniques.
If you want direct, practical, non-developer benefits, it's led to Linux ports of neat games, such as Bungie's Marathon/Aleph One. It's led to improved games, like PrBoom. It's revived development interest in various projects, such as zsnes (still the only Linux snes emulator that can do Seiken Densetsu 3).
Besides, maybe you're the type that plays games for a bit, but there are also people (myself included) that don't play new releases much, but love going back and playing an old nostalgic game now and then.
I guarantee you that people will be poking around at and playing with Freespace 2 much longer because of the source release. I suspect that most people would have forgotten about neat games like Abuse had it not been for its open-sourcing. The result of an open-source clone -- Exult has produced quite a bit of Ultima 7 playing again. The same goes for scummvm, the clone of Lucasart's engine used in Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max. Plus AGIL and Sierra's AGI system.
Open Source is generally a Good Thing. Please don't rag on people for doing good things like this -- sit back and enjoy it, or if you aren't yet interested, wait until someone hacks around with the code a bit. Then enjoy.
I wanna know if this will compile under gcc.
May we never see th
Since I don't have the game installed anymore, I wasn't able to try out the code, but it did successfully compile under MSVC 6.0.
Is this the complete source code of the game and if so, why couldn't the author try out the code without having the game installed?
Also, I had never heard of this game before now (I live under the third rock on the left) so I'm wondering if it is still available for sale somewhere or if I need to start scouring the web for a used copy? From the screenshots, Freespace 2 appears to be similar to Homeworld and Terminus. The latter is noteworthy as a there are versions for Linux and Mac OS 9. I was quite suprised (and very pleased) to find all three versions included in the same box.
Assuming it isn't using MFC, it probably could be ported to gcc in a week tops.
May we never see th
I have seen many VB apps claim to be under the GPL; but since Visual Basic has no open source compiler, no sir, they are not.
It doesn't need a free compiler to be free software. (Wasn't Emacs GPL'd before GCC was finished?) The GNU GPL, section 3, states that "However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable." So as long as you distribute Visual Basic's runtime separately from the application, it's possible to GPL a VB app. (VB.NET makes this even easier because the .NET runtime is available from Windows Update.) However, a free app that relies on a non-free compiler is still useless to the Free World.
Will I retire or break 10K?
there's a robotech mod for freespace. very neat. i'm hoping the source to freespace will help them out.
bah. start over
You can compile VB apps without the VB IDE.
Time playing Freespace 2 was NEVER wasted.
Watch the Teaser Trailer for "The Lightning Thief" Her
It would take quite a lot of effort to port it to Linux -- its all written in DirectX 5 and the rendering code isn't particularly well abstracted.
That makes it a bit unclear what you can do with it. On the one hand it says "All rights reserved", which means you can't distribute derivative works without Volition's consent. But on the other hand, it explicitly says you can't sell or otherwise commercially exploit derivative works, which sort of implies that you can distribute them as long as you're not doing it for profit. But it'd be nice if this were more explicitly stated.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
There's also a glide backend. And one of the links posted in another comment said that there's also a bare-bones opengl renderer, so it sounds like the whole thing's pretty well abstracted.
See you, space cowboy...
Okay, my gaming backlog has gotten seriously out of control. They've released the source code for a game that I haven't even gotten around to playing yet! I really need a few weeks off from real life to catch up. (Of course, I probably need to upgrade my Pentium 200 first.)
Does that mean that Gamespot are commercially exploiting the source? ;-)
(I was refering to the copyright notice mentioned above)
This is what Open Source should be about. Granted, there will never be a day where all software is free and source code is available. The simple idea of that is balderdash. Most of the software industry would grind to a halt. But I digress.
:) ). Chances are they won't. Chances are, if they become familiar with the code enough and learn enough about game programming, there is a good chance the person may seek employment from that company. So it does have potential to benefit the company.
This is definitely a step in the right direction and should be viewed as a giant step in the right direction for the open source movement. Granted, the code isn't free to use commercially, and only the engine is included in the source; the point is that several free projects have this engine to work off of, and programmers-in-training can examine the code and learn from it.
This should be seen as 'doing a good deed' and 'helping the community'. It's there so everyone can learn from it and boost the overall gaming industry.
It is also a giant leap in the right direction for free software in that companies are acknowledging the free software movement and releasing the sources to the products which no longer are sold or generate a substantial revenue. If the BeOS source were to be released, the community as a whole would benefit greatly. Not to serve as flamebait, but BeOS is superior to almost all othe Operating systems today, and if the source were released, it would have a good chance of becoming #1 if the vollunteer developers put enough effort into it. Other projects benefit from seeing the source, as well. They may choose to intergrate certain elements (the BeOS UI on linux.. *wipes drool off keyboard*), or they may choose to simply examine the technique of how an operating system SHOULD be written. Heck, the thing boots in less then 5 seconds on my slightly dated pc.
This is certainly a nice change from the game publishers requesting that sites such as The Underdogs take down full versions of titles produced by independent developers whose assets were purchased by the publisher after they went bankrupt.... and the games are no longer sold in any stores, and the publisher refuses to sell them or provide a copy if contacted. and many of these games were made over 10 years ago. Sometimes lobbying them to make the games free works, but there is a little-known organization which is the software world's equivilant to the RIAA which urges companies not to release their dated products free with the thinking that other companies may follow and unintentionally destroy the software industry.
Isn't that pathetic.
But why would the publisher want people to learn from their code? They could be worried the person may found his own gaming company, release a product which puts them out of business (highly unlikely
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
No you are not an idiot. The hell with school and just hack like a mofo. Seriously, in the end, all professionals are self-trained. Best of luck.
It's nota my planet, monkey-boy - Dr Lizardo.
I just dug this game out again a few days ago and was looking forward to playing again. Then I found out I was missing Disc 2. Aaargh!! Now this story shows up just to rub salt in my wound. :(
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
OK, now the source is out, let's see if anyone can help me here :-) (Or direct me to the better people to talk to)
:-)
Neither Freespace game works on my PC. This sucks, because they've always seemed really cool when playing them elsewhere. However, it misreads my joystick. Despite nominally taking its config from Windows, it puts the centre quite some distance off meaning the hands off attitude is a spin and I have a very low possible turn angle in one direction.
This, as you can imagine, is irritating, especially as tech support, once I'd confirmed latest DX, took the 'oh, it does that sometimes' position.
I already own a legal but useless copy of Freespace 2 and a Cyborg 3D, so can test it pretty extensively. I like this sort of game and want to be able to play it. If anyone wishes to debug this problem I will gladly assist with playtesting any fixes produced, debug info from my PC as required, whatever is needed beyond actual code because I'm not too hot at C++
Anyone?
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.