I had a ridiculously detailed dream last night. When I woke up, I felt compelled to instantly start working on a crude game design document because I was so damn excited by the idea! Once I started writing, more exciting ideas started pouring out.
I am NOT a video game designer. I don't code. But I think this game idea has legs.
I've also learned to never ignore these ideas that originate in your dreams.
So I guess the big question is: NOW WHAT
@killyourfm By the way, are you planning on making this game open source?
@ProfessorCode honestly I’ve barely thought about how to make the game, but I believe strongly in open source. And there need to be more good open source games in the world.
@killyourfm If you do decide to go that route, I would recommend using GPL v3 for the source code and possibly CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 to protect your game's assets.
If you want to, you can also sell the source code and assets on Itch.io rather than share them publicly on GitHub. Take a look at Thrive and @liblast (by @unfa).
@killyourfm As for making the game itself, I think both Godot and GDevelop are great options. If not, both Unity and Unreal Engine are supported as well on Linux.
https://itsfoss.com/unity-editor-linux/
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/07/unreal-engine-5-editor-quietly-gets-a-proper-linux-version/
@killyourfm Yes! We do need to make good, modern, ethical open-source games!
As @ProfessorCode mentioned - my main project now is @liblast , and it's licensed under AGPL + CC-BY-SA for that exact reason.
We also use 100% FOSS to make the game starting from the engine, to asset production to git hosting to team comms, whiteboarding etc.
@unfa Your work with FOSS, and especially Liblast, has been very inspiring. As an amateur game developer myself, it really showed me what can be achieved using FOSS tools. Thanks!
@unfa @killyourfm @ProfessorCode @liblast I've been pondering about how to go about this for my game for a while. I'm 100% planning a commercial Steam release, but feel no need to be secretive about the code. I've written blog posts about how some of it works, and ended up mirroring the code so I can answer people's questions with links. I know there are a few games like Mindustry that manage to walk the paid/FOSS line, but they are pretty rare.
https://github.com/slembcke/veridian-expanse
@unfa @killyourfm @ProfessorCode @liblast If for no other reason, DRM is pointless because it's a waste of my time. So why bother keeping the source secret then? The data and some assets could be CC-NCed too. It wouldn't keep people from posting "free" builds, but *every* game can be pirated. Our previous game on Steam was on pirate sites on the first page of search hits within a day of release.
@unfa @killyourfm @ProfessorCode @liblast In the past I've made OSS game libraries that have been used in tens of thousands of titles, but I'm not really a hardcore FOSS type either. I released things under permissive licenses because I figured people would find them useful, and then made money from contracting or selling enhancements for particular platforms. So despite working in the OSS game space for a decade, I have no idea what makes sense for an actual *game*. >_<
@slembcke @unfa @killyourfm Woah! It's an honor to meet the developer behind Chipmunk2D.
I haven't used the library directly, but I've interacted with it via Pymunk. It's amazing! Thank you.
@ProfessorCode @unfa @killyourfm Ah thanks! Viblio, the Pymunk dev has been a pretty active part of the community going back like... jeez 10 years now? With how well they seem to support it, it's no wonder it's still a popular wrapper.