Open Source Devil Whiskey?

[Growler]

So, all ye gamy adventurers--what are the Prose & Conz of Open-Sourcing the Devil's Whiskers? 8)

I can't think of any cons other than small risk it could negatively impact revenue for the game, but odds are better it would ultimately improve revenue.

Pro's:

- it would be the cool (hip?) thing to do
- it would be nice

- the previous devs promised to open-source it
- it would generate good press in the open-source community

- it would allow development (stalled for past few years) to continue by those who love the game

- it would allow bugs & limitations to finally get fixed!
- it would 'open' so many doors..incl doors of perception & restroom

- Thor would smile again
- the potential for modding would be greatly enhanced

- could still sell the game, esp boxed editions
- could add add'l revenue streams such as 'Donations'

- the potential user/player/modder base would grow exponentially--which could then be monetized in various cool'n'creative ways.. sell related merchandise such as t-shirts, mugs, calendars, clue-books, and other game-related books such as spell-books, books of items (weapons, armors, etc), monsters, heroes, story-line, history/lore..

- maybe even an online player version could be created?

Thoughts? Suggestions?
What does 'open-source' mean to Yew?

[chaney]

Pro's(I refuse to imitate Growler-It would be embarrasing, and socially isolating ) It would allow the potential for someone to do a sequal, that was talked about when you gave up the statue.
This would definitely improve sales of the original.

[Growler]

Ah, Yes--excellent point, Chaney!

Folks are more likely to want to play (thus, buy) a game which does not appear to be a dead-end. I mean, ya spend ALL that time building UP yer team, then...ker-plooey. So, Open-source to Save the Future!

Now would it kill ya ta vote..


*Growler, maintaining dignity as per usual, chooses to studiously ignore the off-topic 'imitation' pointy*

[chaney]

Just to end your blathering, I have voted.

[Growler]

..for which ye getz a sticker.*

*dutifully proclaiming..

8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
Yo, I Voted.
8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[KSS]

Aah, to finally be able to implement the Wineskin.

We need that source code...

[dragonbait]

Heya Growler, Sorry I didn't see this post earlier, otherwise I would have posted before now.

Open Source the Devil Whiskey? Absolutely a Good Idea!!!!!!!
It would help if
>> the code was released. Then some skilled
>> programmers could release updated versions with better
>> compatibility, which in turn could extend the life of the
>> game as more people would be willing to spend time making
>> mods or making a DW2 using the existing DW1 code and
>> expanding.

I've seen an increasing population of folks posting on these forums (including personal emails to me), asking how to get this game running on their Vista or Windows 7 operating system, because the game is not displaying correctly visually or that they are having some other difficulties with getting the game to run correctly.

>For example of what the DW could achieve with opensource, take a look at Dungeon Craft (open source RPG editor which mimics FRUA)
>
http://uaf.sourceforge.net/

>They have hordes of people working on Dungeon Craft.
>+Plus, they have all the people whom are still using FRUA merging together at
>
http://ua.reonis.com/

>
>In the case of DW, we'd have the usual DW crew + players of the Bard's Tale series. I'm sure there are some folks over at the Adventurer's Guild, and the other Bard's Tale sites that would jump onto the scene if DW source code were to be released.
>
http://bardstale.brotherhood.de/talefiles/board/

Open sourcing the game would help it enormously. Release the code & all the files etc. as downloadable files.

Money can still be made by selling physical copies of the game, rather than downloadable versions. Manuals, Cluebooks, and other game memorabilia can be sold via places like Cafepress and other publishing/selling sites.

Getting more people involved by open sourcing it will bring more, programmers, more artists, more musicians, and more people that can assemble and create mods and sequels to the game. It seems a no brainer to me that releasing the code would aid the Devil Whiskey community MUCH more than asking folks to purchase this very old game at $34.95 , when it very well may not even run on their OS correctly.

edited to include my sticker...
8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
Yo, I Voted.
8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[chaney]

How about feedback of any sort Decklin?

[Growler]

Hey, appreciate you guys voting and crankin' great comments.. well, except fur Chaney's questionable antix

Hope Decklin (assuming he sees this?) doesn't feel we're trying to give him a hard time, but rather we want to Help him! We understand he's super-busy and doesn't have time to fix issues with DW, much less continue development of the game. That's where open-sourcing comes in--he then gets to leverage all sorts of good-will by letting/helping the fans fix bugs, fix issues related to newer operating systems, and expand the game!

Imagine the main concern is related to income once the game is open-sourced.. I recall a previous owner acknowledging such concerns, and wish I could've convinced him that open-sourcing will open up new revenue streams while not eliminating old ones.

As I've stated before--it's not like this game can't be copied & shared already--so when folks buy it, they're buying LUV, and in some cases--an actual case..box. So Decklin can continue selling the game as a download (hopefully cheaper--say, 5~10 considering it is an older game now) as well as a boxed version that'll have a nice disc and manual..and hey--mebe toss in a nice fold-out map/poster.. could make decent profit even at $20 + shipping..

Key is also that open-sourcing will bring in lots of new folks--who are then potential buyers of either the download, the box, or add-ons such as clue books, etc.

So, Deck--we're trying to Help ya here!
Please don't let this game just slowly wither.. let US help You!

Together, we can make the world a butter place. 8)
One sweet bug-fix & mod at a time.

[dragonbait]

Another Plus Side to open sourcing the Devil Whiskey, would be that we'd get more than just the usual suspects posting on these forums. For the past year or so the forum has mostly been emanating the sound of crickets and pins dropping on the forum floor. And that's with your speakers volume turned up to the maximum level.

[DarkStar]

I love Bard's Tale and that type of game. I'm all for Open Source. I follow many Open Source projects and it's nice to see people come together and help fix problems and add features.

I really hope that it's released as Open Source. As people have said money could still be made off the packaged version and also other stuff like hint books. If the Open Source version gets enough fans those people might turn around and buy the full version.

At the very least it would get more people here and the Devil Whiskey name out there. Could be useful if there was ever a sequel. We could also see more MODS or adventures created.

I see many pros and not many cons. Please consider doing this.

[Growler]

Yes! Here-Here!
Good to have sensible voices speak up.

Anything that will generate add'l press/publicity can only help DW.

Also, a promise was made on the record early on that DW would be released as Open Source--and it seems reasonable to have some expectation that would not be after 2012 (when the world ends).


To DarkStar's point, I don't see how there can be any DW sequel *unless* it's open-sourced and fans are able to create such.. in which case, the sequel could be packaged & then...Sold -- ding-ding-ding! 8)

which translates to.. Cha-Ching..?

[DarkStar]

The other interesting thing is I believe that the games uses many OpenSource code and tools. SDL for example. So you would think the owner would want to give back to the Open Source scene.

The FAQ also does state (as Growler said) that it would become Open Source once it made back it's money. Who knows when that might be - if ever.

Maybe start a new thread where people could post the things they would add/fix/change if it went Open Source. Are there people on this forum that have the skills to do the changes?

I guess once it went Open Source it would draw people into helping to fix the game. I have seen this happen in other projects.

[origen]

I would support Open Source, although it would require programming greater than I to actually do something with it. But hopefully it is a direction that makes sense to move forward with. I really do not see any reason not to.

[chaney]

Good to see ya back Oman