Now that Google Code is going to die...

[Sauer2]

I want you to be aware that this could lead to stuff becoming lost, if the original author lost the interest.

Even if there might not be a chance to revive the project.

Like:

https://code.google.com/p/hopyone/
https://code.google.com/p/l-echo/

[Vandar]

I don't understand why google is doing this ... they have been stopping quite some services over the past years, some of them well liked services like the google reader. They are damaging their reputation, particularly people will stop seeing google offers as reliable enough for long term plans.

[Akien]

I read an interesting justification here: http://google-opensource.blogspot.dk/20 ... -code.html

It's true that they don't compete against GitHub or similar platforms, so it's understandable that they want to close theirs. A "read only" mode for existing projects would have been nice though.

[Akien]

Should we start an effort to import dead open source games that we find interesting to GitHub (e.g. on github.com/freegamedev) or another similar platform?

[charlie]

I don't understand why google is doing this

Google is a company. Companies that just waste money wildly will eventually go bust. They will always be looking at ways of shutting down unwanted services/divisions. At the end of the day, their main focus is profit.

[rogerdv]

It is closed for my country, so it is a good thing they shut down. That way developers will be forced to use github. the bad thing is that github is blocked in Russia (I think), so perhaps we all should use bitbucket. Or Sourceforge.

[Calinou]

Free/libre hosting platforms like Notabug (runs on Gogs, the Go Git Service) should be favored over proprietary solutions like GitHub and GitLab (the latter being partially proprietary, using an “open core” model).

[rogerdv]

Interesting, going to check that to host my current project.

[Akien]

Should we start an effort to import dead open source games that we find interesting to GitHub (e.g. on github.com/freegamedev) or another similar platform?

What do you guys think about this idea? We could create a "FreeGameDev" or "LibreGamesArchive" organisation on GitHub (or Notabug as Calinou suggested, but the main plus of GitHub is its huge community of users).

Then we could browse through the games currently hosted on Google Code, and export the ones that haven't been exported yet (a quick search in your favourite search engine usually shows if there is a new upstream or at least a backup repo somewhere) to our archive organisation.

I just exported one of those games to my own namespace (https://github.com/akien-mga/hopyone), but a multi-headed organisation of FreeGameDev contributors would be better suited IMO.

I've browsed through the first 5 pages of the search linked above, and there aren't so many orphan projects, at least not too many that are worth salvaging. All the mods and tools for proprietary games are not really relevant for us IMO, and that seems to account for a huge part of what is currently hosted on Google Code. There are also many Unity/Unreal/XNA or whichever-nonfree-technology projects, and I guess we shouldn't bother exporting them either.

[jcantero]

Ufff, It would be faster to search "code.google.com" in pages with lists of free games (such as the Libregamewiki, or this one) and look for anything that is not exported yet.

[Akien]

Should we start an effort to import dead open source games that we find interesting to GitHub (e.g. on github.com/freegamedev) or another similar platform?

What do you guys think about this idea? We could create a "FreeGameDev" or "LibreGamesArchive" organisation on GitHub (or Notabug as Calinou suggested, but the main plus of GitHub is its huge community of users).

In the end I created a "LibreGameArchive" GitHub organisation: https://github.com/LibreGameArchive
I'm looking for games which seem advanced enough to warrant an export; I don't want a repo with tons of dead two-week students projects, but more with projects with a significant code-base that someone might want to take over.

If someone wants to help me archive worthy old repos, feel free to contact me.

[Julius]

cool, thanks for making this.

[Nikita_Sadkov]

If someone wants to help me archive worthy old repos, feel free to contact me.

I propose forking https://code.google.com/p/pocketheroes/

I've copied the original graphics from it under https://github.com/saniv/free-game-art/ ... ket-heroes

but the code is worth preserving too.

[Akien]

If someone wants to help me archive worthy old repos, feel free to contact me.

I propose forking https://code.google.com/p/pocketheroes/

Good idea, I've forked it: https://github.com/LibreGameArchive/pocketheroes
Now it needs porting to Android and desktop Linux

Edit: Fixed link.

[Nikita_Sadkov]

If someone wants to help me archive worthy old repos, feel free to contact me.

I propose forking https://code.google.com/p/pocketheroes/

Good idea, I've forked it: index.php
Now it needs porting to Android and desktop Linux

BTW, besides Hopy-One, TLK Games have also open sourced https://code.google.com/p/tecnoballz/

which is a nice Arkanoid clone, worth supporting.

[Akien]

BTW, besides Hopy-One, TLK Games have also open sourced https://code.google.com/p/tecnoballz/

which is a nice Arkanoid clone, worth supporting.

Yeah Tecnoballz is pretty cool. It is still maintained though, so I'd expect it to move to another hosting platform ASAP.
But to be on the safe side and avoid losing the SVN history, let's fork it too

[Nikita_Sadkov]

http://freegamer.blogspot.ru/2009/03/to ... evive.html

source code for some of these game became lost. If somebody has preserved it, it would be nice to publish it now.

For example,
http://pygame.org/project/87/

and some games from now dead Berlios.

[Sauer2]

Windstille has a repository on github: https://github.com/WindstilleTeam/windstille

[Akien]

http://freegamer.blogspot.ru/2009/03/top-10-projects-to-revive.html

Thanks for this link, there are indeed some interesting projects there, I'll check them out to see which ones could be archived in https://github.com/LibreGameArchive if they have no known continuation.

[Andrettin]

Should we start an effort to import dead open source games that we find interesting to GitHub (e.g. on github.com/freegamedev) or another similar platform?

What do you guys think about this idea? We could create a "FreeGameDev" or "LibreGamesArchive" organisation on GitHub (or Notabug as Calinou suggested, but the main plus of GitHub is its huge community of users).

Then we could browse through the games currently hosted on Google Code, and export the ones that haven't been exported yet (a quick search in your favourite search engine usually shows if there is a new upstream or at least a backup repo somewhere) to our archive organisation.

I just exported one of those games to my own namespace (https://github.com/akien-mga/hopyone), but a multi-headed organisation of FreeGameDev contributors would be better suited IMO.

I've browsed through the first 5 pages of the search linked above, and there aren't so many orphan projects, at least not too many that are worth salvaging. All the mods and tools for proprietary games are not really relevant for us IMO, and that seems to account for a huge part of what is currently hosted on Google Code. There are also many Unity/Unreal/XNA or whichever-nonfree-technology projects, and I guess we shouldn't bother exporting them either.

I think that's a great idea. It would be a pity to see that hard work be lost.