The Dink Network

I like makin' games. How couldn't you?

seth@rtsoft.com
http://www.rtsoft.com
Private Message

Well, the main reasons why I couldn't let you guys put my stuff on steam (at least not under the name Dink Smallwood, which is copyrighted by me and can't be used as a condition of the source code release) are:

* The person doing it needs to be a legal entity responsible for handling complaints and issues like copyright infringement, etc (games with addons especially deal with this. What if someone makes a DMOD "Dink genocide and super rape" and posts it in the forums there and stuff? The community here is probably pretty well behaved and tame compared to what you'd get.

* If any mistakes are made or support isn't given, or the build is broken on 50% of the platforms, it reflects back to me and my company in a probably negative way (why did he let that happen?!!)

* Even if it does get Greenlit (no guarantee of this, although it seems pretty easy these days) you still need a programmer or whoever to package it for Steam and also do updates, and hopefully fix bugs. This is a big job and not one that can be done by normal players. Languishing for an eternity because nobody could do the rel work after being greenlit would be worse than being greenlit at all. The $100 fee to submit it is the least of my worries here.

I like Dink and I am not interested in making any more money from it honestly, I don't think it should be sold on desktops. Maybe it's time to make it free on iOS/Android too. I would like it to be available to everybody and the DMODS super easy to run.

I don't like freedink because it's GPL, which infects the code in such a way that it cannot be used with closed source code which can cause any number of headaches with many libraries. This is why I didn't use any pieces of it or its translations for the iOS/Android port.

I don't like the original 1.08 because it's DirectDraw, non-portable to other platforms, and will probably stop working at some point, and doesn't work at all with mobiles.

I would be willing to open source the HD GL/GLES version with some kind of license that makes sure it will never be GPLed - but I don't think there any programmers out there willing to take that on as a project or could even get it to compile. Am I wrong? Any C++/Proton SDK capable volunteers out there? It would be possible to also curate the .php file it reads the DMOD lists from so new DMODS can be added automatically on the "Install DMOD" menu from inside the game. The nice thing about this is it makes iOS/Android versions able to easily install DMODs too.

On the other hand, if someone decided "I want to put the existing open sourced version on steam (freedink/1.08), but not as Dink Smallwood, but another name" then I think that would be ok, as it avoids the problem with it reflecting bad on RTsoft when/if it is botched. Called "freedink" or 'communitydink" but not Dink Smallwood. But even more fragmentation and confusion.

I think the HD version that runs everywhere (don't underestimate the reach mobile can have, especially if it's made free) is probably the best way forward. I don't think the Steam part matters that much if the overall vision is achieved: One version that works everywhere on every device, that has an "official" group managing it.

Anyway, I don't know if any of that is possible, just spewing out thoughts here.