[ Thanks to BeOpen
for this link. ]
“To help determine the natural boundary between Open Source
and closed source game development, BeOpen consulted with two of
the leading members of the Linux gaming community. Scott
Draeker is the president and CEO of Loki Entertainment Software, a
software company that specializes in porting popular PC-based games
over to the Linux platform. … Jorrit Tyberghein… is a volunteer
project leader for Crystal Space, an Open Source, LPGL-licensed 3D
engine.”
“BeOpen: Computer games represent an
interesting frontier for Open Source development. Unlike other
desktop applications, games tend to be hybrid organisms — half
software program, half artistic work. How do you balance the
strengths of the Open Source development model with the
entertainment demands of the medium?
Draeker: …What does make sense is to use as
many Open Source tools and libraries as you possibly can. A game
developer using OpenGL, OpenAL and SDL could spend more time
concentrating on the game aspect of the project and less time
writing software that already exists. Open Source solutions reduce
costs and development time for both commercial and shareware games.
They also promote open standards which improve the user experience
and the reliability of your product.
Tyberghein: I think that the Open Source
development model is at least useful for the coding part of a game:
the 3D engine, physics, AI logic, even game logic. I’m not sure
about the art that is used in a game — i.e. textures, models,
sounds, music, etc. I don’t think the current Open Source licenses
can easily be used for those…”