Here's BFC's real problem...

[KG_Jag]

Even if the one fix would be to update the graphics glitch so that is could run on new cards and Windows Vista would potentially give the game a lot more life, and most definately a few more sales for BFC, I would think?

But then again, that's based on the system of how BFC gets paid (some in the bargain bins, which from what Steve sez, has already been paid to BFC in large licensing deals while direct sales would still be direct cash to BFC).

Ultimately market dynamics are keeping CMx1 from being taken up and revitalized. That doesn't mean that some day the screw will turn and BFC will see an opportunity to make a buck off of it again. I still predict that the code will not head to the bottom of the Atlantic a la the Titanic, but will some day (like almost all valuable code) find its way to new hands or into open source.

Cheers!

Leto

I agree, but the time for that to happen is not now.

As long as BF sees CM x 1 are a competitor to its own CM x 2 WW2 and so long as they continue to control their own viability, it almost certainly will not happen. If either or both of these things fall away, then it is possible and maybe even likely.

 

[mOBIUS]

I agree, but the time for that to happen is not now.
As long as BF sees CM x 1 are a competitor to its own CM x 2 WW2 and so long as they continue to control their own viability, it almost certainly will not happen. If either or both of these things fall away, then it is possible and maybe even likely.

Well, ya. They aren't going to give away something that is still selling. And they are still in the business. Maybe in 10 years they will opensource it. Not anytime soon. A few years I finally gave away all the source to my 1992ish ANSI graphics BBS games as no one is likely to create new comercial games with it.

 

[Mustang2.0]

The "at the TOP" thread.....

turned into a discussion on open source game engines,
but started by applauding BFC for being "on top of wargaming"

That's why I asked

-What is BFC's reputation with the online wargaming or mainstream gaming community?

-What sort of buzz is there about BFC or CM:SF on gaming sites.

-What is the typical opinion of CM:SF(current) that you have seen on other gaming sites?

-What is the typical opinion regarding CM's future on other gaming sites?

My answers would be: wary, none, not good, the next game needs to be a big hit

 

[Redwolf]

The problem is that an improved open source CM x 1 would cannibalize sales from their upcoming CM x 2 WW2 releases. So I agree with Steve's bottom line (if not necessary his stated reasoning), that it would be a bad business decision for Battlefront to release the code, given the path they chose for the design of CM x 2.

Not necessarily.

It is unlikely that an OpenSource CMx1 would move to 1:1 and finer graded modeling. I certainly have no interest in that. Bugfixes, and if new development then bigger battles, formations, multiplayer per side and interfaces to campaign layers, that's where CMx1 music lies.

Steve has said it at the beginning of that very thread: right now another CM like game would probably improve the situation, right now there is not enough buzz about that kind of game, the whole genre as a whole. The posting is on one of the first pages, I probably shouldn't fluffy-quote any more.

And I think that those hardcore enough to use a non-QAed OpenSource CMx1 will certainly all be BFC customers and buy CMx2:WW2 - unless they have already decided that they hate all things CMx2.

I don't see some kid who knows nothing about any CM look at CMx2:WW2, then go and instead track down an obscure alternative exe file for CMx1, pirate the artwork and follow a 2-page README to set it up. That kid might easily pirate the whole CMx1 game, but he won't bother with the special exe file. The fastest way to pirate the artwork would be downloading the whole CMx1 disk. The OpenSource project certainly won't offer illegal artwork.

 

[KG_Jag]

My read is that the CM x 1 customers would much rather play CM x 1 + Redwolf & Friends than CM x 2. It's my guess that deep in their secret lair, BF fears the same thing.

If that is correct--the only question is: what will the size of the negative impact be on the sale of CM x 2 games and modules, now fortified with yummy DRM? Remember also that Steve says that each of these will represent only a six month (or so) snack.

 

[Redwolf]

My read is that the CM x 1 customers would much rather play CM x 1 + Redwolf & Friends than CM x 2. It's my guess that deep in their secret lair, BF fears the same thing.

If that is correct--the only question is: what will the size of the negative impact be on the sale of CM x 2 games and modules, now fortified with yummy DRM? Remember also that Steve says that each of these will represent only a six month (or so) snack.

Dunno, really. Steve is right about one thing, and that is that the customer base is numerically dominated by shallow gamers. A free CMx1 with no looks improvement won't influence their decision about CMx2 at all, it's just too ugly and they couldn't care less about Hungarian tankettes.

If I got that correctly, then Steve's fear is this: once there is "buzz" about an OpenSource CM (any CM), that creates an atmosphere of "CM being free" and people who right now do not pirate the CM games will. That means even if the OpenSource CM website says that you must buy the BFC game to get the artwork people will be taken by some kind of "wave" of expecting everything for free and just get it any way they want. I do not agree with this view (and gave my reasons on the BFC forum), but this is what I read out of Steve's objections.