Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Classic Shooters Heretic and Hexen Released Under GPL

Posted by Soulskill on from the giblets-want-to-be-free dept.

phanboy_iv writes "Fans of both of the Raven classics, Heretic and Hexen, have been trying for almost a decade to convince Raven Software to release engine source code for the games under the GPL, much like the DOOM engine on which both of them are based. Well, they finally did it! Source code is available at Sourceforge. Both of these games have had the source available for a while, but under a restrictive license that hindered ports and modifications. Now, thanks to dedicated fans, that's no longer a problem."

5 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. And the result... by WK2 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    And the result is ... nothing. This is an old engine, and we have had better ones released under GPL already, such as that of Quake I/II and III. Lots of work has already gone to debugging the Doom, Quake I, and Quake III engine code, and I doubt anyone wants to start over and debug something that is similar to the Doom engine, but not debugged already, like prboom or chocolate doom.

    --
    Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
    1. Re:And the result... by D'Sphitz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Someone cares, even if you don't.

    2. Re:And the result... by Naughty+Bob · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So why were people so eager to have the restrictive license removed?

      --
      "Be light, stinging, insolent and melancholy"
    3. Re:And the result... by NoobixCube · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If I've learned anything from my time on Slashdot, it's that there's a community for everything. No matter how weird or insignificant a software project is, there will be a dedicated community around it.

      --
      Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
  2. Re:just the source? by hedwards · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The source is really the important thing here. I believe you can still buy all of those games still as part of a collection or second hand.

    Having the source means that the software needed to run the game files can be ported to whatever platform is necessary and fixed. It also means that freeware level packs are useful even without paying for the game.

    Still, it would be nice if the WADs and such were included as well. But this is pretty significant to a lot of people.