Hi was wondering if there is the possibility for open source gaming; in the face of more expensive games we settle on a few games in each genre that are open source and built by the gamers for gamers. Does this idea make any sense?

On the topic of "by players, for players", this often isn't as great an idea as it initially seems.

A lot of time and effort often goes into designing, testing and balancing the most popular games, and that level of precise detail isn't something a lot of players properly understand when they have their own ideas. As one specific example, after a lot of work and testing the developers of Halo found that by adjusting the reload time of the sniper rifle by less than one second the game was significantly better balanced and players had a lot more fun; that sort of precise tweaking just isn't something that's likely to happen in a "by the players, for the players" type of system, nor are they likely to properly and thoroughly think through the huge impact a single new feature can have on an existing game.



On a side note, if you check our "coding horrors" forum right now you'll find a little experiment where members are gradually adding to a small game with no real guidelines or overall design in place - the results so far are pretty interesting, but aren't really a great (or even particularly good) game. There's also a second one that hasn't taken off as well.

As the others have said above though, open source games (in the traditional sense of the term open source) have been around for years, and some of them are very popular.

(Posted from mobile.)

On the topic of "by players, for players", this often isn't as great an idea as it initially seems.

A lot of time and effort often goes into designing, testing and balancing the most popular games, and that level of precise detail isn't something a lot of players properly understand when they have their own ideas. As one specific example, after a lot of work and testing the developers of Halo found that by adjusting the reload time of the sniper rifle by less than one second the game was significantly better balanced and players had a lot more fun; that sort of precise tweaking just isn't something that's likely to happen in a "by the players, for the players" type of system, nor are they likely to properly and thoroughly think through the huge impact a single new feature can have on an existing game.

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So the problem is too many cooks would be in the kitchen? Is this because game design is an art? Is it possible to make game design more of a fool proof science like how they gather tens of producers in hollywood to work on one american idol and manage to get that unknown persons songs stuck into our head? Isn't it good to blend art with science like how they say Steve Jobs did with his career? What about that Linus's Law: "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow"?

It's too many cooks to a certain extent, but also a lack of proper training and experience.

All of the people working together to get an American Idol's latest song stuck in your head are professionals with years of experience; they have access to data and focus groups on what makes new songs popular, they have experience working with other artists, and established well-tested methods to minimize the chances of failure.

Similarly, AAA games are made by very large teams of experienced developers with huge budgets and established systems for minimizing risk and maximizing the potential of their games selling at least well enough to make back the initial investment. Indie games are typically made by smaller teams, but are either teams of skilled and experienced (often ex-industry) developers, or are made by less experienced developers with a much more hit-and-miss process and a lot of learning and mistakes along the way; very few indie teams are actually all that successful, and only a tiny minority make a lot of money.

Coming back to the "too many cooks" analogy, good restaurants do actually have a lot of cooks; they are all professionally trained however, and are lead by an experienced and well-trained head-chef. Everyone has well defined responsibilities, and there are established procedures in place for minimizing the risk of a bad dish and ensuring the customers receive good meals in a timely fashion.

Does that make sense?

@jbadams So an open source series can be achieved with leadership, organization and skill?

But what isn't this easier now to accomplish because isn't game development democratized and old enough to a point where most dedicated groups or individuals can apply the principles to create a decent product while requiring little resources?

So I guess what I’m asking is if a hockey game, or other genre, can become a viable quality competitive choice for users compared to the commercial titles like NHL2K11 or NHL by EA Sports. Is this just a matter of dedication towards creating a polished piece of free art or are there forces at work that have prevented this from happening? I see people that complain about NHL by EA but I’ve never seen a competitor rise yet?