Good Bye Origin

The collective gaming community is suffering from the delusion that there's a collection of "noble" companies that give away source code as part of their contribution to the greater glory of mankind.

This is not the truth - you are being tricked by equally vapid marketing departments. ID, the company we all laude as the bastion of source code "freedom", makes the vast majority of their money by developing engines. Quake and DooM are a tiny slice of their pie - they license their source code to other companies.

They release the source code to their games because *and only because* they need to make it obsolete. Why license the Quake III engine when you've already bought the Quake II one? Because they're *giving away* the Quake II engine now! Any teenage idiot can make their own Half Life! Their business model is to give away the previous source code to force licensors to purchase the newest model.

This is *not* EA's business model. EA sells only content - they develop games and when they're obsolete they build on them to develop new games. If they gave away the source code, everyone in the universe can build on the original game and produce an equal or better end product.

It's all business, and you're helping someone get screwed either way. :)
 
I'm going to have to agree with LOAF on this one. The companies source code is its livelihood. Some will sell it and by some means try to make previous versions unattractive and others will put it under lock and key.

It must also be mentioned that these companies usually release the source under very restrictive licenses that most don't really consider open source at all.

The philosophy of giving away source is the way of the open source community and is a successful model as shown by the Vega Strike people. That is, unless you want to make lots of money.

But, one thing is for certain. With Origin pretty much out of the picture, it is projects like Vega Strike, Battle Stations and the game being developed here (no name yet) that hold the future of gaming in the WC community.

I'm just trying to point out that without a commercial entity creating new games for this community it will be up to fan projects to create that content. And it'll be up to developers to update the engines to keep the graphics, physics, etc. current enough to be worth playing. I hope that one day I will fit into this category. I guess time will tell.
 
PopsiclePete said:
I love WC1-WC2 talking heads. WC2's storyline mades of a few sprites were my fav.
Click to expand...


The old KISS Principle. Keep It Simple Stupid.

I liked the later games, but a simpler storyline makes the game far more playable.

Also, you now have the chance for WC games based on much larger events, such as the Battle of Earth.
 
But what makes WC so great is not only the gameplay, but also the story around it. Even WC1 had a very good story for that time.
 
Response to sigma and Loaf's posts on source code..

Games go obsolete with or without source code released, But who knows...even a revival further down the road might be in store. That seems to be the trend in alot of media lately, reviving old stuff making them new again, introducing them to new audiences etc. Why would WC be any different? Why cant WC break byond that limited box and become something far byond cats and dragons?!!

Well its just sad to see them go, sad to see how loose ended the entire thing has been.

At this point...there isnt any reason for EA to maintain that policy.

They did bring us a great run for awhile. I give them that much, however some of their approaches to all this could have been handled better.
 
If EA gives out the source code to Wing Commander {X} and then developes Wing Commander {X+Y}, their expensive product will be competing directly with a *free* equivalent. This does not fit their business model.
 
That would not be a real risk with the source code of, say, Wing Commander I. Hey, even the Vision engine, as great as it is, is outdated compared to what modern 3D cards can do. Remember, it plays well on a 3DFX I card.

EDIT: All right, it's not their business model. I'm not saying they should do it, or that they are evil for not doing it, it's just that there would be no real competition. It would probably be neutral to EA or at least do some indirect benefit by bringing attention to one of their franchises.
 
Disagree - Wing Commander I would still make an excellent portable (GBA, Sony whatever, Nokia whatever) port.

Giving away the source code provides nothing but risk for EA - there's no reason to do it. (There's also some legal problems surrounding the 'pre-EA' games... since a lot of work was done without contracts before EA took over.)
 
LOAF is right. Obviously some people still want the source for this game - people like you - and releasing that does absolutely nothing to put money back in their pockets. They're here to run a business, not charity.
 
Yeah... I'm not saying I wouldn't love to see the source code released - it would be great. But as I've been pointing out since the whole WESCRP debacle, it's just incredibly unlikely ever to happen.
 
Well I suppose a buisness model that develops into what it is today...or what it is not today....says alot about said business model! :p

Actually they did good, just weak on certian parts of the whole thing. Little things can go along way when it comes to games. And its those little things that make worlds big on the player end. Again...evidence from other game developers *PROVES* it. But I dont blame EA or Origin for anything really...just somewhat disgruntled that for so long a series that had, and still does...have great potential to go byond that little model thought of in the meeting room. Just a matter of marketing and research, and of course...as other developers did...listening to the wants and desires of the ones that either make or break the model.....

....the end users.

Well, my hat is off to Origin and EA, as well as CR and ER and all the fine folks who created the WC world. May the wind be at their backs. Err....solar wind. :D
 
Just a note, I don't think that the release of a source code would allow someone to legally make a port of WC1 to GBA and release it commercialy. Not that's not a good idea.
 
GBA cartridge writers are readily available - people can and do develop their own freeware GBA games (and port things to the system).
 
There's no such thing as a generous and giving company...they are all in it (talking execs mostly, developers might actually care about the people they entertain) for profits. Nothing but hard currency.
 
Because Allegiance was an evolutionary dead end for Microsoft. There's no danger in overshadowing "Allegience 2" with freeware versions of the original game because there's never going to be an Allegience 2. (It is also in Microsofts best interest to relsease the source code for paltry things - from a PR standpoint).

Any future Wing Commander game will be essentially the same format as Wing Commander I through Prophecy... so it can only hurt EA to allow that format to be given away for free.
 
Maybe one day EA will let another developer/investment group to take WC over from them.

If not...well too bad. What a waste.
 
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