Civ2 Source Code Petition

yoshi said:
As for who has the code (if anyone), the most likely person is Brian Reynolds (and if you’ve read the interview posted in the Civ2 Discussion forum, you’ll probably agree; he did the original work on Civ2—it is among his proudest achievements). If anyone can help, he can. The problem is contacting him.
Click to expand...
According to wikipedia and other souses, Brian Reynolds is CEO of Big Huge Games. Their site provides a mailing address.

Also, a quick search On whitepages.com provides the same information.
 
Mercator said:
That would be Skyer and this thread, but no he doesn't have the source code.

In theory, you can change anything in any computer program without needing the source code. The only problem is that it's about a hundred times harder, and there about a hundred times fewer people who have the required knowledge to do it (... nevermind that software licenses usually expressly forbid it).

So in practice, certainly for a bigger program like Civ2, it's not really feasible to change anything more than just a few minor things unless you have plenty of time... And to add some (more) perspective, even with the source code I wouldn't expect anything significant out of it for several years (just look at the progress of the Call to Power II source code project).
Click to expand...



Wouldn't something like that be approached as a team effort? How many volunteers might there be to work on the code? Presumably there would be some project management with over goals/ strategy set? There must be loads of people on this site with computer project management experience... ... we should match up skills/experience/time of different volunteers with project requirements...
 
happy_Alex said:
Wouldn't something like that be approached as a team effort? How many volunteers might there be to work on the code? Presumably there would be some project management with over goals/ strategy set? There must be loads of people on this site with computer project management experience... ... we should match up skills/experience/time of different volunteers with project requirements...
Click to expand...

Computer project management skills are useless if you don't have any people who can and want to do the programming. I think there are about 3 people who could do that programming and there are about a million people all with their own ideas about what should be changed/fixed.

More importantly, AFAIK, none of those 3 people are active members of the community here. They're just enthusiastic civers who fixed some things that bugged them. Doing something small you like doing is very different from having to work on a coordinated effort doing things you might not be interested in anyway.

I don't think the Civ2 community has the "critical mass" to pull this off (anymore). But then again, I'm always the cynic, so feel free to start a new thread (or whatever else is needed to get it started) and prove me wrong.

happy_Alex said:
Okay, so who has "the list" and "the letter" and who should mail it?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure who has "the list" anymore. I don't think there ever really was a letter. And you should mail it. ;)
 
There was a letter. But first some quasi-approached to get Reynolds' attention were made, as there was no way to contact him directly. Big Huge Games (BHG) also has nothing to do with Civ2, so this would have to be a personal letter to Reynolds, who might hold the secret as to where the code is currently, or who ownes the rights. No reply to either of the approaches were received. We also found out that DarthVeda, a former civ2 community regular, worked alongside Reynolds in BHG. I then sent him an email, so that our "real" mail would be anticipated and not get lost among all the other mails I assume is sent to that corporation. Since no reply was received from DV, who would be our key to Reynolds, the whole thing just lost momentum and the mail was never actually sent. I still have it in word-format along with the list of all the petitioners if anyone wishes to carry on the torch.

I'm sure some of the guys frequenting the Off Topic threads lives in Maryland. Maybe that would be the next approach? Get someone to hand it in person?

See here for more details: http://www.apolyton.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=132525&perpage=30&pagenumber=4 (page 4 and 5)
 
Surely Brian is aware of this? Does he ever visit CFC? There must be contacts between CFC and the civ authoring community, surely? What about old thunderpants?

"is there someone else up there we can talk to"
 
Eivind IV said:
There was a letter. But first some quasi-approached to get Reynolds' attention were made, as there was no way to contact him directly. Big Huge Games (BHG) also has nothing to do with Civ2, so this would have to be a personal letter to Reynolds, who might hold the secret as to where the code is currently, or who ownes the rights. No reply to either of the approaches were received. We also found out that DarthVeda, a former civ2 community regular, worked alongside Reynolds in BHG. I then sent him an email, so that our "real" mail would be anticipated and not get lost among all the other mails I assume is sent to that corporation. Since no reply was received from DV, who would be our key to Reynolds, the whole thing just lost momentum and the mail was never actually sent. I still have it in word-format along with the list of all the petitioners if anyone wishes to carry on the torch.

I'm sure some of the guys frequenting the Off Topic threads lives in Maryland. Maybe that would be the next approach? Get someone to hand it in person?

See here for more details: http://www.apolyton.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=132525&perpage=30&pagenumber=4 (page 4 and 5)
Click to expand...

Dude, pass it over I will send it...
 
Mercator said:
Computer project management skills are useless if you don't have any people who can and want to do the programming. I think there are about 3 people who could do that programming and there are about a million people all with their own ideas about what should be changed/fixed.

More importantly, AFAIK, none of those 3 people are active members of the community here. They're just enthusiastic civers who fixed some things that bugged them. Doing something small you like doing is very different from having to work on a coordinated effort doing things you might not be interested in anyway.

I don't think the Civ2 community has the "critical mass" to pull this off (anymore). But then again, I'm always the cynic, so feel free to start a new thread (or whatever else is needed to get it started) and prove me wrong.
Click to expand...

Yah, but surely there's loads of donkey work that needs to be done, for example sorting out all the code into chunks, which could given to volunteers with appropriate training? With the right presentation this could be sold as an exciting project to be involved in... ...theres alot of love out there for civ2 still.
 
Thanks, I got that, I'm kinda busy at work right now but will defo look it over and tweek it. I'll send it to Brian Reynolds @ BigHugeGames pos. by this weekend.


Alex
 
Surreal news. Brian responded to my email. Don't send the letter, Alex. I'll give you guys an update shortly.
 
Ok, here we go:

Bascially Brian doesn't own the code, nor does he know exactly whom to contact to get it. He says that the source code for Civ 1, 2, 3, and 4 all rest with Take 2, which is also were Sid Meier works. This he points out might be to our benefit, that we may get higher up in the 2K Games bureaucracy. He advised me to convince their PR & Marketing director, whose email I now have. If we can convince him that the release of the civ2 source code would benefit the entire civ series, we just might have a shot.

He goes on my saying how personally pleased he would be to have the source code released, and that he would have fun and enjoy talking to the gamers about it (he's humble enough to refer to us as 'gamers', and not nutty fans :D ). He personally sees no harm about releasing it, although, as he points out, his word would not weigh heavy, as he is their competitor.

He wishes us the best of luck, and wishes to know of any progress we might make.

This is pretty amazing. Although we're just as far as we were this morning, I think if we make our non-financial means clear, and make up good arguments for the release, we might be able to persuade 2K. If we manage to do that, the ball will roll on by itself.

They're definately not running a charity, so I strongly urge any of you to post here the arguments you wish to be presented, and I will take these with Harry Tuttles', which are also very good, and try to get in touch with this PR contact. :)
 
Good work Eivind and Alex. I read this yesterday but as too busy to post. Now we have the petition, the letter, the support of Brian Reynolds and a contact with the owners of the source code, getting there ;)

If there is anything I can do to help just shout.

This argument may have been put forward already but I will say it again. I think that giving the fans the source code would stimulate more interest in the Civ series which would inevitably lead to a percentage of fans purchasing the newer versions of Civilization III/IV. Most computer games have a limited shelf life nowadays but games with a strong fan base like Civ II keep sales going for longer. I know I must have purchased 5-6 different versions of CivII over the years (Original/FW/MGE/ToT as well as backup copies and replacements for scratched CD's) and I have also purchased Civ III (although I did not like it). I may well purchase Civ IV at some point and Civ V if it is ever released. If it had not been for Apolyton and Civ Fanatics and all the mods/scenarios made by fans I would have given up on CivII many years ago and would probably not have purchased CivIII!

If we had the source code do you think it would be possible to add more playable nations (IE 7+) and give the Railroad a movement multiplier that could be modified like roads. Could extra units slots be added as in ToT?

Just wondering what the source code would actually allow us to do if we can find enthusiastic programers willing to help us.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

4
Is the DLL source code for the latest (October 2014, version 1.0.3.276) patch available?
Replies
11
Views
352
whoward69
whoward69
Blake00
[CTP] Call To Power 2 SDL2 Port for Modern Windows, Linux & MacOS
Replies
0
Views
945
Blake00
Blake00
Blake00
  • Sticky
[CTP] ATTENTION: Civilization Call To Power 25th Anniversary Celebration - Communities, Fan Mods & Ports, 4K AI Upscale, Multiplayer Server, & More!
Replies
5
Views
1K
Blake00
Blake00
Blake00
Cyberpunk Night Themed Scenarios (Blade Runner, Deus Ex, Blood Dragon, Tron, 2077 etc)
Replies
0
Views
2K
Blake00
Blake00
Blake00
[Civ2] Final Fantasy & Other JRPG scenarios & assets for Civ2
Replies
2
Views
2K
Blake00
Blake00
Top Bottom