Post by GreenWolf13 on Nov 5, 2012 11:11:00 GMT -7
I've had a few questions regarding whether MageCraft will be open source. The answer is yes, MageCraft will be released under an open source license. Once a public release is ready, I will post the source code on GitHub. Why am I doing this? Because I believe in open source software.
One of my biggest issues with the Minecraft modding community is the fact that many mod authors refuse to release their source code. Sure, I can decompile the code in MCP, but the time and effort that goes into doing so is rarely worth it. Fortunately, the number of open source mods is on the rise, as more and more modders realize the advantages of sharing code and working together. A few open source mods that come to mind are Build Craft and Equivalent Exchange 3. In the future, I hope to see more and more mod authors release their source code under an open source license.
A classic example of the benefits of sharing code and collaborating is Xycraft crystals. Azanor, author of Thaumcraft 2, allowed Soaryn, the author of Xycraft, to use his code for rendering crystals. As a result, Xycraft has crystals that are visually appealing, and end user enjoyment of Xycraft is increased.
I can't speak for other mod authors, although I'm sure many of them will agree with me. I started modding because I wanted to make Minecraft more enjoyable for the end user. I don't mod because I want to make money from ad.fly, or because I want to make myself feel important. I mod because I want to make the game more enjoyable. There are times when I don't want to work on MageCraft development, but then I remember that I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing it for the end user. There are times when modding can get tedious and boring, but at the end of the day, the satisfaction in knowing that I'm working towards making the end user experience even better far outweighs the tedium. Making the game better for the end user is why I mod, and making MageCraft open source will help me accomplish that task.
If more modders begin to use open source licenses and collaborate, the end user experience will only get better and better. As the Linux Operating System has shown us, when multiple people work together on an open source project, the results can be astonishing.
One of my biggest issues with the Minecraft modding community is the fact that many mod authors refuse to release their source code. Sure, I can decompile the code in MCP, but the time and effort that goes into doing so is rarely worth it. Fortunately, the number of open source mods is on the rise, as more and more modders realize the advantages of sharing code and working together. A few open source mods that come to mind are Build Craft and Equivalent Exchange 3. In the future, I hope to see more and more mod authors release their source code under an open source license.
A classic example of the benefits of sharing code and collaborating is Xycraft crystals. Azanor, author of Thaumcraft 2, allowed Soaryn, the author of Xycraft, to use his code for rendering crystals. As a result, Xycraft has crystals that are visually appealing, and end user enjoyment of Xycraft is increased.
I can't speak for other mod authors, although I'm sure many of them will agree with me. I started modding because I wanted to make Minecraft more enjoyable for the end user. I don't mod because I want to make money from ad.fly, or because I want to make myself feel important. I mod because I want to make the game more enjoyable. There are times when I don't want to work on MageCraft development, but then I remember that I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing it for the end user. There are times when modding can get tedious and boring, but at the end of the day, the satisfaction in knowing that I'm working towards making the end user experience even better far outweighs the tedium. Making the game better for the end user is why I mod, and making MageCraft open source will help me accomplish that task.
If more modders begin to use open source licenses and collaborate, the end user experience will only get better and better. As the Linux Operating System has shown us, when multiple people work together on an open source project, the results can be astonishing.
