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Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

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Re: Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

#81
post #47

Was anyone here at HN into Dark Forces II / Jedi Knight back in the day? The retro graphics of this post made me a bit nostalgic. The in-game scripting in Jedi Knight was my first exposure to software, and the modding community at Massassi was an incredibly creative and lively place. The poor checksums on game assets in Jedi Knight, along with early multiplayer on MSN Gaming Zone made the whole gaming community an ad…

Hello, you could say that. I love JK and I played the thing with the software renderer for years because my s3 virge card wouldn't render the game correctly.

My son teases me these days "Jedi Knight sucks, dad!" when he catches me working on the site (this is Brian from Massassi; it's sort of still around).

Re: Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

#82
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The license can be a problem for some studios, specially ones with uncomfortable contracts with publishers. If you are in that situation, I highly recommend writing a LuaJIT integration layer. The game code is very well separated from the engine, and qengine already removes a lot of non-generic game code from Q2. So all you have to do is delete a little bit more, write some glue code to tie in Lua, and you can write…

I think using Lua scripting like that still counts as "dynamic linking" from the point of view of the GPL. https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLPlugins

Never thought of that. What if code is compiled to VM bytecode first?

Re: Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

#83

I know this will probably get buried here, but like - I want to try this. I was a huge fan of Quake 1 and 2. How the hell do I get started? (Note: I'm not a programmer, I'm a marketer. I know just enough PHP/JS to be stupidly dangerous.)

I think the easiest way to get started is mapping. This is a very cool map editor for Q1 and Q2:

https://github.com/kduske/TrenchBroom

There's plenty of good content here:

http://forum.tastyspleen.net/quake/index.php?topic=21859.0

http://maps.rcmd.org/tutorials/

Map compiling and texture tools are included in the engine code:

https://github.com/klaussilveira/qengine/tree/master/src/too...

The Quake community is awesome: https://quakewiki.org/wiki/Mapping_tutorials

https://www.quaddicted.com/forum/

http://www.celephais.net/board/forum.php

Re: Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

#84

Just a few days ago I was searching on how to implement a software renderer. I remember enjoying the software rendered of quake much more than the opengl version. Great project!

Irrlicht still has 2 software renderers. A simpler one without clipping and a more complex one called burnings renderer.

Re: Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

#85
post #65
post #46

This is really cool, and I can’t believe I’ve lived long enough to see Quake 2 be called “retro.” I’ll likely live long enough to see the Unreal Engine of today called retro. I’ve never thought of this before, and it’s wild.

Reading around, retro seems to be about 20+ years old, which fits. Doesn't make it hurt and less though :( . Ps what do you expect your life span to be if you're excited that you've lived long enough to see quake 2 become retro, and will see the games of today become retro? That's only 40 years. I'm glad that it pleases you all the same.

About the same as anyone else, but let's not tempt fate

Re: Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

#87
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think using Lua scripting like that still counts as "dynamic linking" from the point of view of the GPL. https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html#GPLPlugins

Never thought of that. What if code is compiled to VM bytecode first?

The examples in the FAQ imply that they consider separate binaries that share “complex” data structures to be parts of the same program, blurring the line for what counts as dynamic linking.

Re: Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

#88
post #7

Super cool. I always loved that mid-90s 3D look. I'm familiar with how the GPL applies to regular system/web software, but I haven't had experience with it and game engines before. Since this engine is GPL-licensed it seems like any game built with this engine would then also need to be GPL-licensed, correct?

Yes. If you want a business model for a game with GPL licensed libraries, the best model seems to be to sell the binaries, give away the source (which would also be licensed GPL), and plead others to not distribute binaries. It might also be possible to lock down the artist's assets as long as you comply with the GPL for distribution.

According to the FAQ on gnu.org, it's fine to distribute non-free artwork with a GPLed game:

> Keep in mind that some programs, particularly video games, can have artwork/audio that is licensed separately from the underlying GPLed game.[0]

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html

Re: Retro game engine for developers that enjoy creating games like it's 1997

#89
post #47

Was anyone here at HN into Dark Forces II / Jedi Knight back in the day? The retro graphics of this post made me a bit nostalgic. The in-game scripting in Jedi Knight was my first exposure to software, and the modding community at Massassi was an incredibly creative and lively place. The poor checksums on game assets in Jedi Knight, along with early multiplayer on MSN Gaming Zone made the whole gaming community an ad…

Hello, you could say that. I love JK and I played the thing with the software renderer for years because my s3 virge card wouldn't render the game correctly. My son teases me these days "Jedi Knight sucks, dad!" when he catches me working on the site (this is Brian from Massassi; it's sort of still around).

> this is Brian from Massassi

Oh man, thanks so much. That site's awesome.

Jedi Knight's one of only three online shooters I ever played much of (Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and one of the Elite Force games, I forget which, being the others) and the only one I ever got good enough at to be accused of "hacking" at least a couple times a session (never, ever did). It has a special place in my heart. Thank you for your work in the community.

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