Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Various things about Spring that do not fit in any of the other forums listed below, including forum rules.

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SeanHeron
Engines Of War Developer
Posts: 614
Joined: 09 Jun 2005, 23:39

Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by SeanHeron »

Hey, my previous thread ( viewtopic.php?f=1&t=45013 ) had two topics, so I'm moving one here.

I'll just quote myself to start with:
SeanHeron wrote: 17 Nov 2021, 00:27
I think one of the really neat things about the Spring community was the "cross-pollination" of different games + game devs. I mean, I ended up making a game with a guy from across the atlantic that I'd never seen (BobThe Dino). How cool was that :) !

So I've been reading around the last two days, but the first idea and impression I had stuck: Having a place where likeminded people can come together and debate + showcase their games is awesome, and something worth putting time and energy into. Sure these places exist (eg IndieDB, or FreeGameDev), but I think there's an argument to be made for a Libre/Open Source and RTS focused one (ie - lets take the folks from 0AD and such along with us).
raaar
Metal Factions Developer
Posts: 1094
Joined: 20 Feb 2010, 12:17

Re: Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by raaar »

You mean one community that spans across different engines (not just SpringRTS variants)?
SeanHeron
Engines Of War Developer
Posts: 614
Joined: 09 Jun 2005, 23:39

Re: Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by SeanHeron »

I guess my thought is "Why not!" :).

To be honest, I've had this idea and thought of getting better cooperation (or lets call it, at least greater awareness and reciprocal support) of different Open Source games going since like forever (ok, since the early 2000's tbh - it was actually part of my motivation to make an own game :P ).

I think most projects first reaction is often "we've got enough on our plate", but I think everyone has to gain by and large.

I'd focus on open source RTS right now, because my feeling is:
a) That's something I can tackle / get rolling by myself if need be.
b) Its the genre I know my way around the best (and gain the most from myself I guess - I do have a current project in mind :P).

Anyway, guiding principles for this I see as:
  • Perfect is the enemy of the good - I had to learn that the hard way (repeatedly :P) .
  • Move step by step / Poco a poco (that's linked to the above)

Regarding interactions of community members, or general "project management" I think the Rust community is a very good example to go by (so I'd try to emulate their Code of conduct + Decision making structures for now).

----

Long story short: I'm going to be moving this forward regardless of pickup here, if anyone is interested, be happy to move to Video / Voice chat (on Gather.town or Jitsi or such)! Or you can watch things get started and hop aboard later of course :).

Regards Sean
SeanHeron
Engines Of War Developer
Posts: 614
Joined: 09 Jun 2005, 23:39

Re: Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by SeanHeron »

Ok, yesterday was an epic fail by me :). (I was going for perfect and wanted to do everything at once :P).

I'll do a bit of progress report here (even if noone is interested):

Instead of setting up a Matrix room, I ended up looking into Communities that are doing something similiar (ie see https://libregaming.org/ ). I've yet to say hello there, but I think their focus and approach is basically from the opposite side that what I'm thinking of (they seem to be looking at getting potential players of - all kinds - of Libre games together ; while I'm thinking of getting the developers of just RTS games in one place, for just one difference :P ). Still, could well make sense to cooperate further down the road.

So this morning, I set up a Gitlab project, to have a central place for collecting stuff for now. -> https://gitlab.com/libre-studios/libre-strategy-games

Whats still missing is a "neutral" place for chatting and/or forum (I don't think Gitlab eithers either of those? Certainly the "Issues" seems like a poor solution).

Will see. I'm starting to post on Games forums now (starting with 0 A.D. , Zero-K, Evo-RTS, BAR, Warzone 2100, off the top of my head).

See you :) .
SeanHeron
Engines Of War Developer
Posts: 614
Joined: 09 Jun 2005, 23:39

Re: Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by SeanHeron »

Oh, PS - I've installed and tried Beyond-All-Reason and Zero-K : Very impressed with both! Totally different world from the games I was playing on Spring way back when :P !
raaar
Metal Factions Developer
Posts: 1094
Joined: 20 Feb 2010, 12:17

Re: Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by raaar »

SeanHeron wrote: 24 Nov 2021, 11:03 (...)
Whats still missing is a "neutral" place for chatting and/or forum (I don't think Gitlab eithers either of those? Certainly the "Issues" seems like a poor solution).
(...)
What does "Neutral" mean exactly? How to achieve that? Players seem to converge to the most popular games, but for devs....I've seen disagreements and a trend towards fragmentation, not convergence.

Well, given the 6x :P on the previous posts, you seem enthusiastic about it, so good luck :)
SeanHeron
Engines Of War Developer
Posts: 614
Joined: 09 Jun 2005, 23:39

Re: Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by SeanHeron »

Thanks, and yes, I think I can do pretty well on the enthusiasm department :) . (and yes, that does tend to carry things pretty far :P ).

I have some ideas for what a "community" of RTS game lovers + makers might look like - but really, it doesn't depend on my plan, but what the various communities and devs are interested in having (of course).

If you're interested though, I could lay my rough ideas out here for you :) .

Oh finally - feedback so far has been pretty positive (at least in my perception :P ) :

https://wildfiregames.com/forum/topic/6 ... ent-466711

http://zero-k.info/Forum/Post/246239#246239

Still got a bunch of communities to knock doors at yet though ( BAR being high on my list - Discord is a hurdle for me). But you'll be hearing back again I guess :P . (btw - I'd be interested in what you might find useful - or not - which is part of why I PMed you regarding where we might chat.
raaar
Metal Factions Developer
Posts: 1094
Joined: 20 Feb 2010, 12:17

Re: Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by raaar »

Stuff I might find useful for open source game dev communities that might work across different engines:

1- library of shareable assets: 3d models, textures, sounds, etc. which can be useful across games

2- places where people can promote stuff : latest developments, tournaments, etc. in a way that allows for some visibility with ability to comment but also where less regular projects are not easily drowned out
(this implies rules and moderation and is probably a can of worms)

Is your vision some place where people mirror content they've already put on the existing forums,etc. or an alternative to them?

It's probably not the first time someone thought about making what you're trying to do, what others do you know of and why did they "fail" ?
SeanHeron
Engines Of War Developer
Posts: 614
Joined: 09 Jun 2005, 23:39

Re: Vision for a Open Source RTS games Community

Post by SeanHeron »

Sorry, short answer for now:

I am aware of this effort or that. What I've learned over the years (or at least, this has been my "takehome message"), is what tools (and based on what technology, etc.) you want to put together is not as relevant as the *team* and their common vision and understanding that is driving tool development.

So that's the approach I want to take: Find other people that share (at least largely) the vision of Open Source RTS games giving each other a bit of a boost, and then get working together in a way thats both effective and fun for all those involved.

If you nail that, everything else comes easy :).
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