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Return To Castle Wolfenstein Source Code Released

Posted by timothy on from the now-you-can-be-free dept.

geefau writes with news that id Software has released the source code to Return To Castle Wolfenstein (single player and multiplayer), along with Wolfenstein – Enemy Territory, under the GPL. The linked article notes that "these only include the game source code, not the graphics. You need the full games for those."

9 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I'm a Little Confused by fbjon · · Score: 5, Informative

    Perhaps ET-GPL.zip, RTCW-SP-GPL.zip and RTCW-MP-GPL.zip are of interest?

    --
    True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  2. Re:I'm a Little Confused by cheater512 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hmm a FPS based at the Emmy Awards? That could become a best seller.

  3. no need to port - ET is already a native Linux app by darkeye · · Score: 4, Informative

    ET itself has already been ported by iD software to Linux, the build environment should be there too...

  4. Good News! by pandrijeczko · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I actually loaded up RTCW on both a Windows XP and Linux PC the other week as I was feeling a bit nostalgic.

    It took a bit of Googling to work out how to get it to run on both platforms as even with the latest patched executables (v1.41 off the top of my head), there's some kind of buffer overflow that happens due to the large number of GL Extensions that newer graphics card announce to the game - it took a bit of hex editing on the executable to get it to run.

    It should be a bit easier now it's Open Source as hopefully someone will fix this, and other, issues.

    --
    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
  5. Old news, eh? by BagOCrap · · Score: 4, Informative

    The source code for Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Enemy Territory was released under the GNU GPL on August 12, 2010.

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    -- Chaos, panic, pandemonium... My job here is done!
    1. Re:Old news, eh? by shish · · Score: 4, Informative

      The source code for Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Enemy Territory was released under the GNU GPL on August 12, 2010.

      Slashdot reported it on August 12th too o_O

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      I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
  6. Re:I'm a Little Confused by noidentity · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yeah, no need to call the guy a troll. I just opened the FTP link and at first it just showed an empty directory. After refreshing, it showed a bunch of files. So he probably ran into this issue. What's up with the Troll mod these days, anyway? Seems it's applied to anything the mods have even a slight problem with, rather than a person posting something to intentionally cause trouble.

  7. Unilateral copyright law by ID by horza · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Valve and ID have pretty much redefined copyright law in their own way, much to the benefit of consumers and society as a whole. I can buy my ID games through Steam, and I know the moment I buy a new computer I can be running all my games again in a couple of mouse clicks. No complicated DRM, limited number of installs, needing my CD in the drive, or any other BS. It IS DRM but Valve have slowly earned the trust of users over the years.

    Then after a number of years, when sales have long since peaked and dropped, ID release the source code. This fulfills the social contract whereupon we give copyright for a number of years on the software after which it drops into the public domain. A DRM-ridden binary blob from a long-defunct software house is hardly fulfilling their end of the bargain. Looking at the source code also gets people interested in writing graphics code or games, can be used for educational purposes, some of the useful algorithms can be re-purposed (and not necessarily in the same domain, it could be anywhere), and it can give a new lease of life to the game through enthusiasts.

    I know if I was a games programmer who I would want to work for. As it is, I'll just be a satisfied customer.

    Phillip.

    --
    Property for sale in Nice, France
    1. Re:Unilateral copyright law by ID by b4dc0d3r · · Score: 4, Informative

      Technically correct, but gp was talking about the context of buying a DRM-encumbered game. So ownership is already there. You buy it, play for a few years, then you get the source. You can rebuild it without DRM, or someone else will. And it will come with a giant "You have to own the original game files" disclaimer. From that perspective, DRM works as it should. A temporary monopoly.

      This benefits people who legally own the game but have an encumbered copy. If you don't own the game, you are not affected by the DRM, so there is no solution to be provided. You wait until the copyright expires like everyone else does for every other bit of work. If you are affected, ID provides a reasonable remedy, and in a reasonable time frame, above and beyond what they are required to provide.

      That requirement btw is public domain status after a limited time. This is an intermediate step where the owner can make changes or improvements, like fixing the legs on a wobbly table or sawing off a third of it to fit it in a new space. If you aren't affected, the copyright status of the game files affects you as much as if you didn't own the table - which is to say not at all, positively or negatively.