Open Source Games
Open source games (also known as open games) are nothing but video games which are open-source software. Most open source games are sideshow projects, created by programmers in their free time and coded from ground up. Several open source games are also channels for aspiring game designers to put their talent in the market. Open source games, which are free software and contain free content are usually free games.In comparison to the mainstream commercial games (proprietary games) available in the market, the majority of open source games are relatively simpler with respect to graphics, sounds etc. With proprietary games getting more and more advanced and expensive, open source games rarely, though with notable exceptions, compete with their proprietary siblings.
Of course, there are also the proprietary-open source hybrids. Where, while retaining content rights, the game developers open source the engine, allowing other programmers to add to the game. This is one combination that has really taken gaming quality up a few notches, with such games overtaking even the proprietary game play time.
One example of an open source game is WarSow, which is based on a open source engine, and has competed with proprietary games of the same genre (First Person Shooter), often leaving behind competitors like Quake 2 (the engine on which it is based), and Unreal Tournament behind. Quake and Unreal have of course, had sequels, but WarSow continues to evolve as more additions are made to it on the open source engine. The challenge that arises is that to compete with such proprietary games, it needs to compete with state of the art gaming engines, whereas WarSow still functions on the old outdated Quake 2 engine.
Another downside for open games in general is that building high quality content often requires expensive tools like 3D-modeller or a toolset for level design. But this is something that the current open source software industry is solving itself. Now as open source applications like Blender improve and even professional tools like GtkRadiant are published under open licenses, this is becoming less of an issue.
Open Source Games?
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