Myst Online Goes Open-source!

[Forcen]

I read this newspost, and the Pandora was my first thought:

QUOTE
As you may be aware, Cyan's situation has not improved on the "resources" front. We continue to work on small projects (including Myst for the iPhone/iPod Touch), and it looks like we will only be able to concentrate on projects that are fully funded for the foreseeable future.

However, all of us at Cyan and everybody that has ever worked on the creation and building of the dream called UruLive (a.k.a. Mudpie, Until Uru, MystOnline:UruLive and MORE) can not just let it die! (My definitions: "UruLive" is the original dream of the virtual world. And "MystOnline" is the current implementation of UruLive.)

So, Cyan has decided to give make MystOnline available to the fans by releasing the source code for the servers, client and tools for MystOnline as an open source project. We will also host a data server with the data for MystOnline. MORE is still possible but only with the help from fans.

This release will probably be accomplished in stages, but we hope to get things ready for the first stage very quickly. More details to surely follow.

http://www.mystonline.com/

I am not a programmer myself, i'm just forwarding news. Do you think this is something that can be ported? or maybe the code can be used in other projects.

 

[Trip]

Not too sure if it can be ported. The last I heared it used a tailored version of WINE to run on MacOS and that would mean that it's x86 hardware only I'm afraid. Please feel free to correct me though, as I would be very happy to be wrong about this.

Maybe there is a Linux client in the making?

 

[PoisonedV]

However, all of us at Cyan and everybody that has ever worked on the creation and building of the dream called UruLive (a.k.a. Mudpie, Until Uru, MystOnline:UruLive and MORE) can not just let it die! (My definitions: "UruLive" is the original dream of the virtual world. And "MystOnline" is the current implementation of UruLive.)

just curious, what do they mean? What is the difference between all of those

 

[nubie]

Judging from the late beta of Myst Online that I played I don't think this is very feasible unless somebody with a lot of skill and time works on it.

I have Uru here beside me and I would like to point out that the requirements for this game are pretty high.

It could work on the Pandora at reduced quality, but I don't know what kind of physics engine it could run, and that is a pretty important part. (they changed the physics engine for Myst:Online and I was launched a few kilometers into the air when I touched a barrel with my legs.)

This is cool news though, might be a real game if it is ported (I am sure we have enough power for an iPhone style port.)

 

[Svartalf]

Not too sure if it can be ported. The last I heared it used a tailored version of WINE to run on MacOS and that would mean that it's x86 hardware only I'm afraid. Please feel free to correct me though, as I would be very happy to be wrong about this.

Maybe there is a Linux client in the making?

With the source available, a Linux client is liable to be in the making- unless they've done a couple of a class of very stupid things in the code (unlikely but possible...) the rendering, input, and sound code is probably abstracted or abstractable and can be made to properly work on Linux- thereby making a version for Pandora a remote possibility. It's on my to-check-into list, but I've got a few other axes to grind first (namely helping get the Pandora firmware finalized and to get my first ports of the stuff I honestly know more than is healthy about over to Pandora... )

just curious, what do they mean? What is the difference between all of those

Each one is an incarnation of their vision, mentioned in order from technology demo, initial product using the engine as a single-player iteration, then as the multiplayer that GameTap published and ran for a year's time.