What kinds of games are most suited to open source?
Posted: 12 Apr 2017, 02:57
What kinds (genres, sub-genres, scale etc) of games are most suitable for the open source model?
I recently watched a talk by Daniel Cook (aka Danc) which was thought-provoking; he made the point that a lot of game genres evolved as a result of their business model, for example lots of games from the 90's are well-suited to the retail model, and to port them to a different one (retail + DLC, F2P, subscription-based) requires drastic changes in game design. Some genres simply don't work well with a particular business or development model.
It occurred to me that open source is a distinct business and development model too (although the primary "business" goal is often not "to make a profit"). Therefore by the same argument, there are certain types of games that are well-suited to the open source model, and others that are not suitable. For example, there's often talk about how story-based games don't work well for various reasons (hard to release incrementally, keeping the plot a secret). Not saying it's impossible, just that it's harder: it's much harder to make a successful retail game on mobile than on consoles, for instance.
So what kinds of games are most suited to open source? I think one proven sub-genre is roguelikes; they rely on programmer skill more than others like artistic ones, can be endlessly extended and replayed. Some of the best roguelikes happen to be open source, which is unusual for other genres.
I recently watched a talk by Daniel Cook (aka Danc) which was thought-provoking; he made the point that a lot of game genres evolved as a result of their business model, for example lots of games from the 90's are well-suited to the retail model, and to port them to a different one (retail + DLC, F2P, subscription-based) requires drastic changes in game design. Some genres simply don't work well with a particular business or development model.
It occurred to me that open source is a distinct business and development model too (although the primary "business" goal is often not "to make a profit"). Therefore by the same argument, there are certain types of games that are well-suited to the open source model, and others that are not suitable. For example, there's often talk about how story-based games don't work well for various reasons (hard to release incrementally, keeping the plot a secret). Not saying it's impossible, just that it's harder: it's much harder to make a successful retail game on mobile than on consoles, for instance.
So what kinds of games are most suited to open source? I think one proven sub-genre is roguelikes; they rely on programmer skill more than others like artistic ones, can be endlessly extended and replayed. Some of the best roguelikes happen to be open source, which is unusual for other genres.