Open Source Games -part2
With the Open Source revolutions hitting hard, people are willing to give Open Source a real good try. However the gaming community has always been disappointed in this respect. However developers are now more encouraged to make games under the Open Source GPL license. Compared to proprietary games, the majority of open source games are relatively simple in terms of 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. Open Source games are made for Linux or for Windows.
A major drawback of Open Source games was the lack of rich graphics. However with Open Source 3-D software such as blender and Open Source gaming engines are being developed and matured this is becoming less of an issue. Some notable Open Source games are FreeDoom, America’s Army, Wolfenstien Enemy’s Territory. Open Source gaming is being encouraged however as they run on cross platform such as Java powered mobile phones and Symbian phones. The movement is however backed by individual gamers who are passionate about gaming and believe gaming should be for everyone. With the top companies refusing to participate as there is no commercial gain, Open Source games are still lacking far behind compared to commercial games.
Recently, search giants, Google announced their open source mobile platform – Android. Gamers say that this could give Open Source games the required boost that they have needed. To counter, some top analysts say that Open Source is not an advantage in game development. It is clear that building a top-quality game is harder than ever. The amazing amount of work required, the short schedules, and the need for experts in many domains all combine to make game development one of the most challenging areas of software development. Developing a game as open source without the backing of expertise of the top guns is hazardous. In reality Open Source games still have a long way to go and develop to match up but the questions whether is right or wrong always remains open for debate.
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