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Game Source Code Collection

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Re: Game Source Code Collection

#71

Post by waqf »

gmueckl wrote: post #59
benj111 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The BBC used to have a policy of wiping tapes for reuse, seems crazy in retrospect but there you go. Sometimes people just don't realise what they've got.

The BBC did that to save money for new magnetic tape used for archiving. They thought that parts of their archives were just not valuable enough to preserve and chise to overwrite them instead. Unfortunately, some of the overwritten material turned out to be much more interesting and valuable in retrospect, for example a host of Doctor Who episodes which are now lost completely.

Context that's often forgotten here is that the BBC typically didn't even have the contractual right to rebroadcast these programmes (the actors' union would have stipulated a maximum number of broadcasts, for example two within 7 days).

And video releases weren't yet a thing even if the rights could have been secured, so the apparent value of these archives was minimal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiping#Rights

Re: Game Source Code Collection

#72

Post by textfiles »

splatzone wrote: post #68
guiambros wrote: post #38

Gotta love Jason Scott and his work to preserve computer history. From the list: Leisure Suit Larry Source Code Reading Excerpt https://archive.org/details/Leisure_Suit_Larry_Source_Code_R...

I'm not sure I understand what he's doing here. Is he reading out the whole source code to the game as a performance art piece so he can share it without infringing copyright laws?

I am carefully enunciating the words that will undo the locks on the key to the universe.

Re: Game Source Code Collection

#73

Post by djmips »

lofikrom wrote: post #14
tamalerhino wrote: post #5

Heck Yea! I didn't know this was a thing?!

Right? Lots of classics.. Half Life, Sim City and Beyond Castle to name a few. If you like spongebob you're in luck too. Probably gonna spend the next few weekends building these.

Good luck building. It's probably going to be a bit more than a few weekends... ;-) if you do get something built, maybe blog it / share it somewhere.

Re: Game Source Code Collection

#74

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

pvg wrote: post #24
benologist wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Game companies are learning old IP can be modernized for fresh new profits so most likely a lot of old game copyrights will become retroactively enforced and sources hunted down and expunged as they're remastered and made exclusively available in whatever online shop or subscription service. https://www.polygon.com/2018/7/22/17600008/nintendo-roms-law... https://www.maxim.com/entertainment/best-video-games-remaste...

People have been reworking old IP, neglecting or enforcing various rights, etc for years. I don't think it's some new trend game companies recently learned or that it affects how aggressive (or not) owners are that much. Old sources in particular are not all that valuable in many cases, beside historically.

Low value doesn't make copyright disappear.

Re: Game Source Code Collection

#76

Post by hermitdev »

iforgotpassword wrote: post #31
benologist wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Game companies are learning old IP can be modernized for fresh new profits so most likely a lot of old game copyrights will become retroactively enforced and sources hunted down and expunged as they're remastered and made exclusively available in whatever online shop or subscription service. https://www.polygon.com/2018/7/22/17600008/nintendo-roms-law... https://www.maxim.com/entertainment/best-video-games-remaste...

IMHO that shouldn't be too much of a concern. As long as it's just the sources leaked and you only distribute your modified versions of it plus binaries, but not all the games assets, players still need a copy of the original game to actually play it. (So as long as people don't pirate it, it should be fine and if it's still on sale make them an additional buck or two, but that question is somewhat orthogonal.) I'd e…

This model is how early shareware/demos for the likes of Doom or Wolfenstein worked. All the final code is there, but you only include the asserts for the first level or so.

That said, it's still up to the copyright holder on what to disclose, and pretty sure distributing a binary based upon stolen copyrighted source would still be a violation, but I'm not a lawyer. I certainly wouldn't do it...

Re: Game Source Code Collection

#77

Post by phendrenad2 »

fireattack wrote: post #51

Something I want to ask for quite a while: what is the copyright status of Archive.org? Is it legal? I'm asking not just for this source code collection: they host lots of DOS and console games on their website, which I highly doubt are in public domain or under a free license. They also have lots of scans of some recent publishings (particularly in my mind, I knew they have plenty of Japanese manga magazines from th…

This really worries me. Could the internet archive be eventually taken down due to too much copyright-infringing stuff?

Re: Game Source Code Collection

#78

Post by iforgotpassword »

gmueckl wrote: post #57
iforgotpassword wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO that shouldn't be too much of a concern. As long as it's just the sources leaked and you only distribute your modified versions of it plus binaries, but not all the games assets, players still need a copy of the original game to actually play it. (So as long as people don't pirate it, it should be fine and if it's still on sale make them an additional buck or two, but that question is somewhat orthogonal.) I'd e…

Wow, this comment is far removed from reality. The copyright holders are the only ones allowed by law to modify and or distribute the game or any of its parts unless they hand out licenses. In other words, touching leaked source code is pretty much illegal. It is mostly a question of how long it takes until they will bother to send lawyers after you if you do. Game develipers often don't own the thengames they are wo…

After you sure you replied to the right comment? I don't think I said anywhere it would be legal. My post was about how released sources could actually be beneficial to the IP holder.

Re: Game Source Code Collection

#79

Post by claudeganon »

fireattack wrote: post #51

Something I want to ask for quite a while: what is the copyright status of Archive.org? Is it legal? I'm asking not just for this source code collection: they host lots of DOS and console games on their website, which I highly doubt are in public domain or under a free license. They also have lots of scans of some recent publishings (particularly in my mind, I knew they have plenty of Japanese manga magazines from th…

Magazines like Shonen Jump or something else? Any examples?

Re: Game Source Code Collection

#80

Post by Agentlien »

gatherhunterer wrote: post #70

Some of my favorites are not listed. Notably, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy had some of the best gameplay of all time. I played through a couple of months ago and the lightsaber combat is still amazing by modern standards. https://github.com/grayj/Jedi-Academy

Jedi Academy had its source code officially available shortly after launch. I did some modding of it, back then. It was a ton of fun.
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