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Quake 3: Arena Source GPL'ed
inotocracy writes "At John Carmack's Quakecon 2005 keynote he promised that the Quake 3 Arena source code would soon be released-- turns out he wasn't just pulling our leg! Today it was released, weighing in at 5.45mb, it makes for a quick download and a whole lotta fun. Developers, start your compilers!"
I wonder what the most bizarre platform this can be ported to now is?
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Anyone fancy posting a link to the actual download, rather than yet another javascript-implemented, advert-laden bullshit fest, registration required download portal?
In this day and age of everyone trying to patent this, litigate that, and everything in between, it's refreshing to see a company, that really doesn't have any motive to make any money off of this, AND in an industry where this concept seems somewhat unusual, release its source code, instead of letting this go off into some useless void. Actions like can only help the industry as a whole, as some burgeoning programmer will have many sleepless nights ahead spending his/her own time learning the tips and tricks employed in this source code. Thank you.
No, id Software doesn't rule because they are open sourcing an outdated graphics engine. There will always be complainers...
They rule because they are open sourcing it to make room for cheap games based on that engine. Carmack and Co know that they don't have to give the engine out, but the people that follow their games religiously, this is kind of 'giving back to the community'. The fact this engine will be open sourced means that it can also be improved upon, free of charge. Indy developers (mind you, id Software is one of the FEW left) get a chance to develop a great game -- albeit one that lacks a bit graphically compared to the D3 and HL2 standards -- to cater to a niche crowd and make a name for themselves.
The sheer price to enter the market for game developing is HUGE. Especially when it costs more money to develop a reliable engine than to buy one from somebody else. Those engines can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and for a small gaming firm, or even a lone developer, that entry fee is too high a price to pay.
id Software should be commended for their efforts to continue supporting open source, make room for solo developers, and help broaden the PC gaming genre as we know it by including those who previously had restraints on their investment into gaming.
And to those of you assholes who continually compare Doom3's engine to the Source engine, and say it sucks... just write an engine that's even half as good as the Q3 engine, and then maybe you can say what sucks, and what doesn't. Doom3 may not have been graphically spectacular in its own instance, but I have a feeling that the engine behind it will do much of what the Q3 engine did -- pave the way for amazing games, and challenge hardware AND software vendors to up their efforts to support the T&L and effects that the D3 engine is spectacular at.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
I see quite a bit of BSD licensed code in there or usage thereof. Any BSD license with an advertising clausal is incompatible with the GPL (see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html) still Quake3 is licensed under the GPL. Wouldn't this be a problem?