Puzzle Moppet open-sourced under the WTFPL

[KIAaze]

After being made available for free as in beer recently, due to low sales, the source code for Puzzle Moppet has now also been made free as in free speech under the WTFPL:
http://garnetgames.com/puzzlemoppet/

Art assets remain non-free.

Donations can be made via bitcoin if desired.

As for the game itself, it's a very good puzzle game.
Also available on Desura for those who use it: http://www.desura.com/games/puzzle-moppet

A sort of "official" git repository has been created here: https://bitbucket.org/Knitter/puzzlemoppet
And here's a thread for Converting Puzzle Moppet assets.
So if you would like to help package/replace art assets/fix bugs/enhance the game/fork/whatever, please join in.

Here's the README file included with the source code:

> Info regarding the open sourcing of Puzzle Moppet.


> LICENSES / COPYRIGHTS

- All source code, (*.cpp, *.h) files should be considered to be licensed under the WTFPL (version 2.0). *except where otherwise noted*

- All assets (textures, sound, 3D models) should be considered only *freeware*, and may only be used in "Puzzle Moppet" and may NOT be re-used in other projects. This is because a lot are from purchased asset packs with copyrights owned by various other entities.


> BUILD INSTRUCTIONS

Hmm. It's a long time since I built Puzzle Moppet so I don't entirely remember the procedure.

CMake is used. Take a look in the build directory. (./cmake.sh; cd Linux; make;)

Some third party libraries are required: Irrlicht 1.6.1, ODE, OpenAL...??

Irrlicht 1.6.1 is expected to be in the thirdparty subdirectory. (Note the version, 1.6.1. Later versions won't work without significant effort).


> OTHER NOTES

Some minor patches were made to the Irrlicht 1.6.1 source code which have since been *lost*. The ones I remember are:

- an opengl tweak to fix the sea's transparency in the final scene of the game
--> In COpenGLMaterialRenderer.h, COpenGLMaterialRenderer_TRANSPARENT_REFLECTION_2_LAYER::OnSetMaterial
Change glBlendFunc(GL_ONE, GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_COLOR) to glBlendFunc(GL_SRC_ALPHA, GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA)
- in linux, changing to use XRandR rather than XVidMode fixed an occasional fullscreen freezing problem.
- some modifications to the OS X device, to do with it crashing at certain screen sizes...
--> http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/forum/v ... 11#p254941


> SOURCE CODE QUALITY DISCLAIMER

Garnet Games disclaims all responsibility for any sudden onsets of mental retardation which result from viewing the Puzzle Moppet source code.


> CONTACT

dan@xzist.org
http://xzist.org

[Julius]

Well I find the wording , reason and specific license choice very telling of that the author seems to think of open-sourcing games... e.g. a game scrapyard.
But even though I strongly disagree with this notion, I guess it is nice to see another game with libre code out there.

[xDan]

Well I find the wording , reason and specific license choice very telling of that the author seems to think of open-sourcing games... e.g. a game scrapyard.
But even though I strongly disagree with this notion, I guess it is nice to see another game with libre code out there.

Developer here, after using my all seeing palantir to locate this thread:

I find your assumption really quite disheartening.

Yes, there certainly is an air of abandonment: the game was a total -commercial- failure and I am rather cynical about that aspect.

But this cynicism has absolutely no relation to the act of open sourcing it. I chose the WTFPL because I am a fan of the more liberal licenses, such as zlib as used by Irrlicht (which my engine makes use of) and the BSD as used by ODE (also used). They make a developer's life so much easier, as I don't have to worry about tripping over any red tape or forgetting to properly credit the authors. The WTFPL is my way of reciprocating; not that I really expect anyone to find much use for my engine code, but on the off chance somebody does I want them to be able to take the code with no concern for crediting me whatsoever.

Sure, I could have used zlib, but the WTFPL is in my opinion the better license and also appeals to my sense of humour.

And I sincerely hope this isn't consigning Puzzle Moppet to the "scrapyard": I thought of this move as the exact opposite. I don't personally have any time left to dedicate to improving the game any more (please consider the large amount of full time work I put in already), and if the open source release seems a little rushed it's because I'm now very busy with other work that sadly does not involve games but does actually earn me a living. But the sole reason for making it free and open source was so it shall now reach the widest audience possible and perhaps actually get -played-.

It's far from a perfect game, but I'm still pleased with what I achieved, and I don't just want to see it disappear into a black hole.

You know what I'd really love? If someday it made its way into any Linux software repositories - "apt-get puzzle-moppet". I've no idea of the likelihood of that happening, but it would make me really proud.

/apologies for ranting, but you really hit a nerve

[charlie]

That's not a rant. It is quite an interesting read!

The way to get it into Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora is to raise a task on the appropriate task trackers, or nudge any package maintainers of similar things (i.e. games) if you can discover who they are.

[Tranberry]

I agree with charlie, always nice to read other people thoughts and reasoning.

[KIAaze]

Also glad to see a response by the developer.
Getting it into the repositories would sure be nice, but before that it will be necessary to replace the art with appropriately licensed art.

In principle anybody can create a debian package for the game and then submit it to http://mentors.debian.net/
Launchpad is also a good place to practice and test packaging. Once it works there, you've got a PPA people can use to apt-get install things and your package should already be more or less correctly done.
(Yes, I know there are non-debian distros as well, but I don't know as much about them. The OpenSUSE build service would do for .rpms and .debs.)

http://www.getdeb.net will probably accept packages with non-free art in the meanwhile.

I guess I could take care of packaging it, but there are so many things I could and would like to do, but never get done that I would rather not give any promises. :/
Desura and the current installer are so easy to use anyways that the main issue is really the art at the moment I think. (and compiling from source, but I guess that can be solved given enough time)

[xDan]

Hmm, what art licenses are required? Must it all be creative commons or GPL or something?

There is some of the art that I own the copyright to + could release how I liked - all of the 3D meshes, and the main character's texture map, and a few other things. Most of the textures and sfx are not "owned" by me though.

[alexander]

any free art licenses. i.e. licenses that give the user the freedom to use, distribute, modify, and distribute with modifications. various versions of the Creative Commons licenses are increasingly popular.

[qubodup]

Hmm, what art licenses are required? Must it all be creative commons or GPL or something?

GPL would be ok, CC-BY-SA 3.0 is another popular choice (note that it is important that it is not a "NonCommercial" or "No Derivative" type CC license). You can also dual-license under both of these, which would allow people to use it under either.

We also have an Art licensing guide on our wiki. (Feedback is welcome, since we want people not dealing with licenses all the time to find it helpful).

I have been helping SuperTuxKart to replace some sounds, DNT to replace some images and textures and am in the process of helping Trigger Rally to replace sounds and textures. I'd gladly help with replacing art assets in Moppet too, if needed! The first starting point for that would be a list of all files that need to be replaced.

Cheers

[xDan]

Ok then, here's a list of files that most likely need replacements if anyone feels inspired to attempt this


Textures:

grass1_lighter.jpg
ground6_color.jpg
box.jpg
mud.jpg (same graphic also duplicated 5 times as mud_x.jpg, where x is back,front,left,right,bottom)
magicfan_grid.png
rock_color.jpg
sand1.png
water.png
watersand.png
watersand_add.png
lift.png
main sky box: 1.png, 2.png, 3.png, 4.png, 5.png, 6.png
final scene sky box: final_1.png, final_2.png, final_3.png, final_4.png, final_5.png, final_6.png

SFX:

appear.ogg
balloonpush.ogg
beep.ogg
bell.ogg
buttonflutter_micro.ogg
excellent.ogg
extraordinary.ogg
fair.ogg
fallblock.ogg
good.ogg
hithard.ogg
laugh.ogg
liftrun.ogg
perfect.ogg
sea.ogg
slide.ogg
step.ogg
stepballoon.ogg
windy.ogg

There is also a font used "NovaSquare" which appears licensed under the "SIL OPEN FONT LICENSE". (font20.png, fontlarge20.png)

Also there is "lucida" font used in the config app which I don't honestly know the license for, I think it was rendered from a Windows font. However the config app isn't a necessity.

Other assets (i.e. all meshes and any textures or sfx files not mentioned) I hereby release under the WTFPL.

[ctdabomb]

look for textures here http://opengameart.org/textures/all

[qubodup]

Where can I download the source code/data?

[xDan]

Where can I download the source code/data?

It's in the top post, but here are direct links-

Source: http://garnetgames.com/PuzzleMoppetSource.tar.gz
Linux 32-bit binary version: http://garnetgames.com/PuzzleMoppetFull.tar.gz

[qubodup]

Thanks. Now I also saw the link at the top of http://garnetgames.com/puzzlemoppet/ .

Are the .b3d and .irrmesh models available in a format that is intended for editing?

Are you intentionally avoiding "conventional" payment processors for donations? I think now that you released the game for free, it would make sense to add PayPal or similar.

[xDan]

Ok, here's some more stuff: http://garnetgames.com/PuzzleMoppetAssetSources.tar.gz

This includes Blender files, gimp files, and a few other things. To view the .blend files properly you'll need the textures from the other source or binary release.

> Are you intentionally avoiding "conventional" payment processors for donations?

Yes I'm supporting an open source currency! I'm happy simply to encourage people to do a little research on Bitcoin, even if it does mean forfeiting any donations. I don't honestly expect much in the way of donations anyway though, from my experience with other projects.

[charlie]

I'm impressed xDan and like your approach, I hope bitcoiners show you some love.

I'm curious, why are you uploading tar.gz files instead of using e.g. github.com or bitbucket.org or [pick your favourite SCM/host]?

[xDan]

> why are you uploading tar.gz files instead of using e.g. github.com or bitbucket.org or [pick your favourite SCM/host]?

well, it just seems a bit superfluous.. the game is "finished" as far as I'm concerned. And though making it completely free may take some work, it's not something I really want to be involved in or oversee right now (see my first post)...

[qubodup]

Thanks for uploading the meshes. I'm very glad they are available and in an open format too!

I'm done replacing sounds: https://www.box.com/s/8f17004d6fb3ed7a7441 (33.18MB zip, contains lossless .flac of each file, converted version in correct format of each file, license.txt with author and license info and sox/bash convert script). Freesound.org is so awesome! I wasn't able to compile the game on 64bit arch linux yet but tested the sounds using wine.

Does speedcore.ogg also need replacement? If yes, I'd pick a track from http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=spee ... advanced=0 .

Also: I love the ending (I skipped to it, as I was testing the sounds).

all: It would be great if somebody would be willing to coordinate a git or mercurial repository of puzzle moppet. The organizer would have to push free art and hopefully patches for easier compiling.

xDan, may we use the "Puzzle Moppet" name for such a project?

[alexander]

it's WTFPL. that is literally the only thing you can't do. just prefix it with free, like everyone else, heh.

[qubodup]

it's WTFPL. that is literally the only thing you can't do.

Read it again.

just prefix it with free, like everyone else, heh.

Nobody wants that. (edit: except maybe some people of the FSF )

[alexander]

have *you* read it?

«Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed ***as long
as the name is changed***. »

changing the name is literally the only restriction.


EDIT:
omg I completely misread that

[qubodup]

The top part is the license of the license. The bottom part is the license of the software.

[qubodup]

I created a texture replacement pack: https://www.box.com/s/7e412a92970265b4a364 (3.8MB, license.txt info included). http://OpenGameArt.org was very helpful.
I tested in-game using wine and I think the look is very close to the original.


youtu.be/4ckpdV6piN0

[NaN]

Nice work qubodup. Anyone interested in pushing it to github? The license can be changed to GPL or something. I think it could find some contributors.

I've got a feature request already: Coop mode with 2 players

[Knitter]

I could push it to github (or another system ) under my account or any other created but I'll only be able to integrate patches that are provided, I won't have the time (at the moment) to develop or correct bugs.

EDIT:

Instead of suggesting that I can do it, I'll just do it. Any name suggestions? I'll either add the repo under my bitbucket account (most likely) or create one for the project.

EDIT2:

Just created the repository, will be organizing code and assets to push to https://bitbucket.org/Knitter/puzzlemoppet