Arianne ALPHA 2 Released

Miguel Angel Blanch Lardin writes "Arianne is a Game Engine to build Internet games and applications. You can use it to create your own games, from RPG to Realtime strategy games, arcade or Turn based strategy ones." We noted Arianne two years ago.

Miguel continues: This release of Arianne is a major milestone on our goal to get a working framework for simple online games creation. It features a new working and playable 2D Client with new gfx, music and sfx.
This release features also a working RP system on C++ with the next actions: Move, Chat, Attack, Spell, Get, Put, Consume, Look.
Arianne allows now a hardware limited number of connections to the server so you can have as much players as your hardware allow.
All files on Arianne features XML syntax.

Go to Arianne and get it.
Report problems with Arianne to Sourceforge Bugs Tracker

P.S:
We need binary packages for BeOS and MacOS X.
We need reports about BeOS, MacOSX, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, IRIX, QNX, Linux and Windows NT.
We need new GFX ( don't ask what are them, look and do ).
We need new SFX ( _.wav )

Comments

Arianne 5?

[Isle]

So when are they going to release Arianne 5?

I would love to see it crash and burn...

Re:Arianne 5?

[anshil]

Well there were quite some sucessfull starts of the Arianne 5, but people will always remember the first bih crash. I will only say "discovery", but do people bringing crashes,burns and deaths in relation to the spaceshuttle?

The really funny thing is you may never make a game with this engine that deals with rockets. Then you're going to violate a trademark.

Yoda

[selderrr]

We need new GFX ( don't ask what are them, look and do ).

You help have from the Force
You need my help not
You need new SPLCHCK (ask what are them not, look and do !)

Re:Yoda

[h4mmer5tein]

Alternatively, you could stop taking the piss out of the guys' English. I'm betting its a second language for him. Unless you can talk his first language (Spanish?) at least as well as he talks English your best bet is prolly to hush up.
OR you could be constructive and sign up with the the project on the Documentation Team and offer to help out with the language side of things.

Licensing

[CaptainAlbert]

From the front page...

We still need to discuss the LICENSE of Arianne as actually code is only usable for GPL projects and being an engine that perhaps is not good, also we need to avoid the GPL 2.0 blackhole by, perhaps, switching to Affero GPL to disallow service providers to avoid the GPL restrictions to enforce users rights. Our goals should be:

Open Source

Disallow possible ways of close RP, AI or framework of the Engine

Allow creation of close source clients easily

Disallow use of Arianne by Service providers that doesn't collaborate into Open Source

The resulting license and the discussion to reach it should be done on arianne-general. I WON'T allow any kind of Arianne special License. We DON'T forbid commercialization of Arianne, we forbid closing source the application.

Apart from the fact that I can only make sense of one word in three, I smell confusion. If the code is currently released under GPL, then I guess that's because either (a) it contains code borrowed from some other GPL'd program, (b) one or more of the developers has decided to copyleft their contribution, or (c) both of the above. If you want to modify the license in some way, you'd better start re-writing the parts of the code which are under GPL.

Let's look at these goals:

> Open Source

GPL does that.

> Disallow possible ways of close RP, AI or
> framework of the Engine

GPL does that.

> Allow creation of close source clients easily

Why would you want to do that? As RMS would say, "We are not excluding them from our community; they are choosing not to enter".

> Disallow use of Arianne by Service providers
> that doesn't collaborate into Open Source

Why would you want to do that? If they're not producing a "derivative work", then they cannot infringe on anyone's copyright. I'm not entirely sure what's meant by "collaborate into"; if it means "contribute", then it's blatantly unfair (why should a distributer/service provider have to also write code for the priviledge?); if it means "co-operate with", well it still doesn't make sense :) Are we trying to stop people making money from selling free software and related services?

> We DON'T forbid commercialization of Arianne

GPL doesn't do that either.

> we forbid closing source the application.

GPL does that.

I don't understand where this compulsion to avoid the GPL is coming from. I mean, we're writing *free* software here, yes? Seems to be the perfect candidate from where I'm sitting.

(For the full story on "commercialisation" vs GPL see http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/pragmatic.html)

Re:Licensing

[dmiller]

> > Disallow possible ways of close RP, AI or
> > framework of the Engine
>
> GPL does that.

I don't see how you can say that. The GPL explicitly denies the possibility of linked code being closed source.

Re:Licensing

[Jorrit]

I doubt that is true. Otherwise you can't link a GPL program on windows because the only way to do anything useful on Windows is trough closed source API's.

Greetings,

Re:Licensing

[aminorex]

You appear not to have read the Affero GPL. See http://distributed.foundries.sourceforge.net/artic le.pl?sid=02/05/21/2245226
for more info. For the lazy executive types,
a capsule summary: ASPs don't distribute code.
Thus, they can keep their enhancements to GPL'ed
code closed. The Affero GPL adds a clause to the
current GPL stating that if the software is meant
to be hosted on the network, and if the software
includes some mechanism for downloading the source
code, you may not remove that mechanism, and you
must provide an additional mechanism for
downloading the modifications over the Web.

Re:Licensing

[Alsee]

If you want to modify the license in some way, you'd better start re-writing the parts of the code which are under GPL.

The authors of the code can issue a new licence at will. If you have a limited number of contributers and a cooperative atmosphere this is not a problem.

-

Is it just me

[swaic]

or does anyone else tremble in fear at the thought of clicking on any link in the .cx domain.

Risque

[IamTheRealMike]

Join Arianne
Know Arianne
RoadMap
Who is who
Latest Code

Oooh err, we get to "know" Arianne as well? Anybody else find those biblical connotations amusing?

Cheating Clients

[the_real_tigga]

The design of Arianne takes care of that.

The server don't trust client information, and does not reveal expoitable information to the client.

This increases server work, but prohibits cheating as much as possible.

As far as the licensing issue, the Arianne team has nothing against closed-source clients, but will always provide an Open Source one.

Engines, but where are the RPGs?

[truthsearch]

Almost offtopic, but it relates:

So I'm browsing around last night for an RPG, or really any game which looks especially interesting. I run across many RPG engines... more engines than games. While this and other engines of course are interesting, I'm looking to play on them. Can someone tell me (us) where to get the good RPGs and other games?

Re:Engines, but where are the RPGs?

[Saint Fnordius]

Good point.

Look, I'll be honest. Without a compelling "first world", this project is not gonna get off of the ground. The engine behind my favorite single-player modifiable games (Marathon, Myth, Diablo) had compelling stories that drew me deeper into the world (and interested me in writing my own scenarios).

The developers had better remember this, and have a team specifically for fleshing out their default world. It might also be enough to attract more coders into helping complete the project so that they can begin exploring the world (or write their own in a fit of "I can do better!" envy).

Re:Engines, but where are the RPGs?

[Zathrus]

I think you hit the nail on the head... the engines that get licensed are those that had successful first-worlds. Look at the various id Software engines, at the Duke Nukem engine, or the Unreal engine. No, they're not RPG engines, but the same basis is there.

And the reason that the engine becomes popular isn't because it has all the gizmos and doodads to do what you want (more often than not you find developers being frustrated by the lack of a feature), but because people played the game and said "wow, cool! How did they do that?" or "that was interesting, but I bet I could change it and make it even better".

Releasing an engine without a world is about as useful as releasing a compiler without programs. It's impressive on an abstract level, but if your goal was to actually get it adopted and used by others you've failed rather miserably.

Re:Engines, but where are the RPGs?

[Cycon]

Can someone tell me (us) where to get the good RPGs and other games?

In an act of shameless self-promotion, you might want to check out the Cog Engine, which lets you create graphical and text-based adventure games, with an interface somewhere between the old Sierra games, and MYST.

It's not an RPG, but there is already a complete game available, although it's missing graphics here and there, it's still playable from beginning to end.

sidenote: it's tough to meet all of the dependancies under Linux, but with Windows all you need to install is the Microsoft Text-To-Speech API, and you're good to go.

--Cycon

Word processors, but where are the novels?

[Thag]

How many word processors are there? How many people write the Great Amercian Novel?

An RPG, even a console-style one, takes a ton of work, not only programming, but lots and lots of art, scripting, CGI and other specialized tasks. One person can't bang it out and have something that meets professional standards, at least on the PC.

So far, we're not seeing a lot of successful community game projects. Maybe that will change, I'd like to think so, but I don't see it happening.

Jon Acheson

WildTangent?

[stevarooski]

Sounds [from an outsiders point of view] like its similar to wildtangent. Wildtangent has a pretty nice engine, very well documented. Of course, I don't think its GPLd, but just to point out that there are other 'internet engines' out there.

On an aside, try some of the games if you can. They're good-looking, and some of them are real fun.

Cheating...

[RobertFisher]

"Cheating is not going to be allowed nor tolerated; if you are caught cheating you are going to be kicked off of the server and your possessions given to the local lord."

Wow! Too bad the US government wasn't running Arianne prior to Enron et al...

Re:But look at his lousy C++ code!

[Nindalf]

Alternatively, you could stop taking the piss out of the guys' C++. I'm betting its a second language for him. Unless you can program in his first language (Logo?) at least as well as he programs in C++ your best bet is prolly to hush up.

As in the case of a ski lodge in which young women look for husbands and husbands look for young women, the situation is not as symmetric as it first appears.

Re:could it be they dont have a clue

[kesuki]

Because of the way the client/server model works they could easilly have a 3-d engine that works with the same server as the 2-d engine. FWIW the movement is along three Axis, so it is truly capable of a real 3-d engine too. Perhaps somone will write an arianne capable client salvaging code that was open sourced by id software or something.
BTW the 2-d graphics are actually prety good, some improvements in the tiles, the addition of some layers (ala SNES) and you could almost get baldur's gate quality.
And yeah as a framework this project hasn't come very far in the past two years. However with enough interest they could easilly have a better system. MUDs weren't written in a day (and they're mostly text) for a graphical engine framework that can do everything from a single player RPG to a MMORPG to (potentially) a 3-d shooter they've managed to come a long way.