I think this is good news on the doorstep today! Yeap! After long thoughts I came to the decision to finally open the source code of Sylphis3D. This is going to be a big step for the development of the game engine and I would really like to welcome you to it.
If you followed me for some time you would know that this is not an unexpected step. I have been an open source enthusiast and contributor for many years, with some valuable contributions to the overall open source community. However this is going to be the greatest!
Sylphis3D is the product of hard work and dedication. The engine’s development began at early 2002 and continued since then, with small pauses in between. The purpose was to develop a state of the art game engine with realtime shadows and per pixel lighting. Something that was not available by engines of the time. The goal was achieved, and further goals where created to keep the development going. Even now the engine provides features that no other engine provides. Effects like realtime motion blur are not available by other game engines. At the moment the only engine that supports the features of Sylphis3D is the engine the guys at Project Offset are creating. However their engine is not available for real testing and only videos are available of it in action.
This is what makes the release of Sylphis3D so important. People are going to get their hands on cutting edge features of computer graphics. From my side, what I want to see in return, is the formation of a community that will support Sylphis3D and create wonderful things with it. I really believe in open development communities and what they have to offer.
The actual release is going to happen sometime in the Easter holidays (consider it as a gift!!!). At the moment I’m preparing the engine for the release so there will be no big problems.
One issue that I haven’t really cleared yet is the license under which it will be released. In the beginning I was considering a BSD style license to be maximally liberal and allow the wide use of the engine. But later after some discussions that I had with some open-source-heads I’m also considering GPL to ensure that there will be always an up-to-date open source version of Sylphis3D. There I would like to ask for your opinion, what do you think? Is it worth it to go for a BSD license, or there is nothing to be gained?
I’m waiting for your thoughts and opinions ….
p.s. Don’t forget about the upcoming Carnival Of Game Programming… we need your articles!!!
