nident on 7/10/2006 at 22:06
Well, it depends on what the goals are. If the only intent is to ensure compatibility with future operating systems then getting the source would mean that the effort required is significantly smaller than starting from scratch. However, if we wish to create something better it isn't necessarily so - having the source would certainly make it easier to figure out the data structures and so on but when you start from scratch you can from the very beginning take into account how to ensure that you can use existing open source code to improve the engine (in addition to physics and graphics probably pathfinding for AI). This is to some extent what scummvm is but taking improvements even further (assuming that you know what scummvm is).
About the petition: It's unfortunate that it is worded quite poorly - in particular I consider "We are asking this because of similar actions taken by other game companies." a poor reason and "Everyone in support will certainly buy this package, regardless of price. This will attract more customers to the game, which would bring in more revenue to your company." a false promise. IMHO it would've been better to state something like "We are asking this since whilst the material doesn't have commercial value anymore fans of the games could keep the legacy alive - as has happened with other, similar releases - and consequently it would yield you goodwill among your customers and continued widespread interest in the game, which would increase sales of any future releases." Since the petition has already been signed by people, we as a matter of principle cannot change it anymore even though everyone that has signed it probably would agree with another wording asking for the same thing.
Volca on 8/10/2006 at 15:15
I was doing data formats reverse engineering till now. So the main utility was a Hexviewer ('Bless' is a good one). I think that the data formats are the main part of the success. There are many already known, but still some which resisted till now. I worked on understanding PHYS_SYSTEM chunk the last month, for example (50% done). There are big unknowns waiting to be found and solved, but with complete data formats knowledge, I think a functioning engine is only a question of time/productivity of coders.
I wonder how legal the disasm would be, so till now, I tried to avoid that. The assembly code would not tell you much anyway i think. The classes/methods lists would be nice to have, but not totally nessesary. Maybe the latter parts of the project, as AI, will requre some deeper knowledge of the original system (other than formats involved), we'll see.
It is sad how the original sources seem to be lost. There would not be a great chance at getting them even if the situation was different.
RavynousHunter on 8/10/2006 at 23:59
i noticed that a lot of the sources on the CVS(?) are listed as ::dead::. any idea what thats all about? :confused: i would use the sources there, but i need confirmation that theyre what you guys are currently using and not something thats most likely outdated.
Volca on 9/10/2006 at 08:44
@RavynousHunter: Hmm. This looks like an issue with the CVS file removal. Did you try to do a clean checkout? I tried to do anonymous checkout, and only the current files were downloaded. (There were some big moves of files lately, so maybe I missed something out). Do let me know, I'll try to look at this issue (There are some specialities when working with sourceforge's CVS, maybe I'm not doing what I should).
nident on 26/10/2006 at 17:27
Are the instructions on the developer page up to date? I managed to compile it but the plugins don't seem to match the instructions.
Volca on 26/10/2006 at 18:58
Not at the moment, I guess I forgot to change those after switching to cmake...
The readme file in the cvs should describe the build process right.
I'll update the wiki, thanks for noticing. If you'll have any further problems, please let me know. I'll try to help.
--
Edit:
Sorry, I should read more carefully before posting.
The DarkSceneManager is now a part of the binary, no need to put it into the plugins.cfg. There were other changes too.
I updated the wiki, and added an example working configuration.
nident on 26/10/2006 at 21:07
Thanks! I got it working but noticed what I believe is a minor mistake in the wiki:
FileSystem=../../../scripts/materials/
FileSystem=../../../scripts/materials/thief1
should be
FileSystem=../../scripts/materials/
FileSystem=../../scripts/materials/thief1
shouldn't it?
Volca on 27/10/2006 at 06:07
Yup, you're right. This is because I hold the extra files separately in the src/main/bin directory (cleaner for me). I'll update this to stop the confusion.
I'm glad you got it working!
Huckeye on 27/10/2006 at 15:02
Skimming this thread, I'm excited. There can't be too much Thief! I've bookmarked the sourceforge page and am anxiously awaiting the release of this as well as the Dark Mod.
Thanks for the great work into it.
I have no skills to aid in development but if you get to a point where you need testers, I am always happy to help in that regard.
dracflamloc on 2/11/2006 at 21:03
Wow...I remember reading about this a long time ago. I can't believe you're still going. When I get some time in december I'd love to start helping you code. I had been working on my own software renderer just for kicks but I think I'd be more motivated to help you out with this. I signed up for the devel mailing list.
