About merging with ScummVM, open-source and AGS

[subspark]

Or even Jython?

Or perhaps Pava?  :o

[scotch]

No one implementation is going to be portable to all systems whatever language it's in, and Python is far too slow for most handhelds, Java is too slow for many, or unsupported. Python running on a JVM is right out. Most Python games rely on specific C libraries like SDL which have their own platform requirements, and there is no standard Java graphics system (MIDlets on phones are a completely different world to desktop Java games, or games that use one of the Java 3D APIs).

Standard C with a sensibly designed interface for porting is the best approach if you want widest support. Like SCUMMVM. Anyone doing a port to a new device will have to write a bit of C but I don't think it's avoidable.

A C engine effectively rules out J2ME only phones, but you can't please everyone (without a lot of different implementations).

None of this matters of course. Unless someone documents the AGS file formats nobody could produce a compatible engine, be it compatible with exes or sources, and since (although I think they're shooting themselves in the foot) people don't want the file formats to be public, no compatible engine is going to be made.

I almost want to make a game ripper just to get this imaginary barrier out of the way. But of course I wouldn't do that

[rivadolmo]

 
If I want to spend my time to make a good adventure I would be pleased that it could be played by the wider audiance possible.
So If I trust on my story I'll choose a tool that give me the possibility to play it in PDA, DS, PSP....

AGS could have been the choice but it preferes to stay under a "warmy" cristall bowl.

That force me and everyone that wants a space around the idea and not an island to move to another tool.

Too bad  :'(

I know you won't worry about but it's a leak on your perfect world that someday may crack. Think about it 

(Still my admiration about the works on AGS and to the persons that spend time to give a creative opportunity to others! 

[Pumaman]

I almost want to make a game ripper just to get this imaginary barrier out of the way.

But it's not an imaginery barrier -- I've been asked in PMs by different people who have been working on large and/or commercial games whether their work is "safe" from being decompiled when they use AGS. If I changed my mind now and made it open source, I'd be letting these people down and going back on my word.

But that's not the only reason. I don't think I'd be comfortable with AGS being open source anyway, regardless of that. What I would seriously consider would be giving a copy of the source code to somebody to write a port to a particular system (as I have done with the Linux and Mac ports), but I wouldn't want it publicly available.
And since ScummVM is GPL, that basically rules it out.

[scotch]

Well fair enough then! If you'd rather it wasn't then that's reason enough for me.

[subspark]

Would you consider tasking someone with a private copy of the source code for a Windows Mobile port Chris?
That would be one step closer to an internal and closed group support for other platforms.

Paul.

[SSH]

CJ, would you consider making the formats of the editor's files public, so that someone else could read in the XML, scripts and sprite files etc to compile their own back-end?

[rivadolmo]

I almost want to make a game ripper just to get this imaginary barrier out of the way.

But it's not an imaginery barrier -- I've been asked in PMs by different people who have been working on large and/or commercial games whether their work is "safe" from being decompiled when they use AGS. If I changed my mind now and made it open source, I'd be letting these people down and going back on my word.

But that's not the only reason. I don't think I'd be comfortable with AGS being open source anyway, regardless of that. What I would seriously consider would be giving a copy of the source code to somebody to write a port to a particular system (as I have done with the Linux and Mac ports), but I wouldn't want it publicly available.
And since ScummVM is GPL, that basically rules it out.

Thank you for your answer and if you decide to release a light version for scummvm ....it's Xmas time.......!
Hope will surprise you with a new adventure !

[Pumaman]

CJ, would you consider making the formats of the editor's files public, so that someone else could read in the XML, scripts and sprite files etc to compile their own back-end?

Well, apart from the sprites this is pretty much already self-documenting; I'm not sure how much more 'public' you could want?

Would you consider tasking someone with a private copy of the source code for a Windows Mobile port Chris?
That would be one step closer to an internal and closed group support for other platforms.

If somebody with the necessary skills and dedication was to offer to do this, I would consider it.

[Joseph DiPerla]

Would you consider tasking someone with a private copy of the source code for a Windows Mobile port Chris?
That would be one step closer to an internal and closed group support for other platforms.

If somebody with the necessary skills and dedication was to offer to do this, I would consider it.

Chris, does AGS still use Allegro for graphics? And it uses wxwindows as well? WXwindows can be ported to a portable Windows OS. Look here: http://www.wxwidgets.org/wiki/index.php/Developers_Notebook-WxWinCECompiling
Seems like a dauting thing to do though.

As far as Allegro, there is no port for another platform. If it were to be ported to Windows Mobile, it would have to start using the SDL graphics library or some other graphics library.

I think that would be the other problem with merging AGS with ScummVM. ScummVM uses SDL and AGS uses Allegro(I think). I think for now AGS would stay with Mac, Ubuntu Linux and windows. If the dos port came back, we can use Dos virtual machines on practically any other system to run the games. But I think thats the limits AGS could reach in portability honestly.

Although I really hope I am wrong... But I do not see it being ported to Windows Mobile or merging with ScummVM without A LOT OF WORK. I rather much see Chris keep updating the greatest adventure game engine of all time...

[deadsuperhero]

Just saying, that "someone will write a ripper" isn't the best arguement against Open Sourcing the engine.

[scotch]

Well, apart from the sprites this is pretty much already self-documenting; I'm not sure how much more 'public' you could want?

The XML and script files are very handy, but yeah being able to get the sprites from the .spr file reliably, as well as the room masks from the .crms, that's the main difficulty currently.

I was only ever nosing around because my interest was in porting an AGS game to DS, and I haven't looked into it much recently since I broke my DS, so I'm not desperate to work it out.

Alliance: yeah I've tried to explain to people how easy it is to take content out of a game, and how it doesn't matter in the slightest, but that issue is done really. CJ doesn't want to open up the engine for his own reasons, and that's up to him.

[Dave Gilbert]

Just to throw in my two cents, as a commercial developer I can definitely see the upsides of an open source engine.  The lack of portability has always been a problem for me, and would be the primary reason for me switching to another engine if I ever wanted to expand.  The benefits of being able to port (and sell!) my games on other platforms would be a huge boon, and would far outweigh the downsides. 

[rivadolmo]

 
Are a relative of Ron Gilbert.....

[Dave Gilbert]

Yes.

He's four years old and my cousin's son.