 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
A source port is a software project based on the source code of a game engine that allows the game to be played on operating systems or computing platforms with which the game was not originally compatible.
Source ports are often created by fans after the original developer hands over the maintenance support for a game by releasing its source code to the public (see List of commercial video games with later released source code). In some cases, the source code used to create a source port must be obtained through reverse engineering, in situations where the original source was never formally released by the game's developers. The term was coined after the release of the source code to Doom. Due to copyright issues concerning the sound library used by the original DOS version, id Software released only the source code to the Linux version of the game. [1] [2] Since the majority of Doom players were DOS users the first step for a fan project was to port the Linux source code to DOS. [3] A source port typically only includes the engine portion of the game and requires that the data files of the game in question already be present on users' systems.
Source ports share the similarity with unofficial patches that both don't change the original gameplay as such projects are by definition mods. However many source ports add support for gameplay mods, which is usually optional (e.g. DarkPlaces consists of a source port engine and a gameplay mod that are even distributed separately [4] ). While the primary goal of any source port is compatibility with newer hardware, many projects support other enhancements. Common examples of additions include support for higher video resolutions and different aspect ratios, hardware accelerated renderers (OpenGL and/or Direct3D), enhanced input support (including the ability to map controls onto additional input devices), 3D character models (in case of 2.5D games), higher resolution textures, support to replace MIDI with digital audio (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, etc.), and enhanced multiplayer support using the Internet.
Several source ports have been created for various games specifically to address online multiplayer support. Most older games were not created to take advantage of the Internet and the low latency, high bandwidth Internet connections available to computer gamers today. Furthermore, old games may use outdated network protocols to create multiplayer connections, such as IPX protocol, instead of Internet Protocol. Another problem was games that required a specific IP address for connecting with another player. This requirement made it difficult to quickly find a group of strangers to play with — the way that online games are most commonly played today. To address this shortcoming, specific source ports such as Skulltag added "lobbies", which are basically integrated chat rooms in which players can meet and post the location of games they are hosting or may wish to join. Similar facilities may be found in newer games and online game services such as Valve's Steam, Blizzard's battle.net, and GameSpy Arcade.
If the source code of a software is not available, alternative approaches to achieve portability are Emulation, Engine remakes, and Static recompilation.
| Original name | Port |
|---|---|
| Aliens versus Predator | icculus.org/avp |
| Arx Fatalis | Arx Libertatis |
| Blake Stone: Aliens Of Gold | BStone, Blake4SDL |
| Blake Stone: Planet Strike | BStone, Blake4SDL |
| Blood | BloodGDX, NBlood, Raze |
| Carmageddon | Dethrace |
| Catacomb | CatacombSDL |
| Catacomb 3D | Reflection Keen, CatacombGL |
| Call to Power II | Apolyton Civilization Site: Call to Power II: Source Code Project |
| Commander Keen | Commander Genius |
| Descent/Descent II | DXX-Rebirth, D2X-XL, DXX-Retro |
| Diablo/Hellfire Expansion | DevilutionX, Diablo 1 Mod (Belzebub) |
| Doom/Doom II | See List of Doom source ports for a detailed list. |
| Doom 64 | Doom64EX, Doom64Ex+ |
| Doom 3 | dhewm3, RBDOOM-3-BFG |
| Duke Nukem II | Rigel Engine [5] |
| Duke Nukem 3D | EDuke32, DukeGDX, JFDuke3D, Rancidmeat Port, xDuke Port, nDuke Port, hDuke Port, Rednukem, Raze |
| FreeSpace 2 | FreeSpace 2 Source Code Project |
| Gloom | ZGloom |
| Heretic | Chocolate Heretic, ZDoom, Doomsday, GLHeretic for Linux, Heretic for Linux, HHeretic |
| Hexen | Chocolate Hexen, ZDoom, Doomsday, GLHexen, HHexen, WinHexen |
| Hexen II | jsHexen 2, UQE Hexen 2, Hammer of Thyrion |
| Homeworld | Homeworld SDL |
| Ken's Labyrinth | LAB3D/SDL |
| Jagged Alliance 2 Wildfire | Stracciatella/SDL |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Ship of Harkinian |
| Marathon 2 | Aleph One, Aleph One/SDL |
| Myth II | Project Magma |
| PowerSlave | PowerSlaveGDX, PCExhumed, PowerSlaveEX, ExhumedEX-Plus |
| Quake | QuakeSpasm, QuakeDS, DarkPlaces, FitzQuake, GLQuake, Project: Twilight, Telejano, Tenebrae, WinQuake, QuakeWorld, ezQuake, fodQuake, FreeQuake, vkQuake |
| Quake II | vkQuake2, KMQuake II, q^2, Q2PRO, Yamagi Quake II |
| Quake III | ioquake3, Quake3e, OpenMoHAA, Q3Base, Quake III: Arena for FreeBSD, Spearmint |
| Quake 4 | Quake4Doom, gbQuake4 |
| Redneck Rampage | RedneckGDX, Rednukem, Raze |
| Return to Castle Wolfenstein | iortcw |
| Rise of the Triad | WinROTT, GLROTT, icculus, rottexpr, NakedTriad |
| Savage: The Battle for Newerth | Savage: Rebirth |
| Serious Sam: The First Encounter / Serious Sam: The Second Encounter | icculus, [6] Ray-Traced, [7] Serious Sam Classic, Serious Sam Evolution |
| Shadow Warrior | JFShadowWarrior, SWP, VoidSW, Raze, WangGDX |
| SimCity | Micropolis |
| Spelunky | Spelunky ClassicHD [8] |
| Star Control II | The Ur-Quan Masters |
| Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force (holomatch) | iostvoyHM, [9] cMod, [10] Lilium Voyager [11] |
| Star Wars: Dark Forces | The Force Engine [12] |
| Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II / Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith | OpenJKDF2 [13] |
| Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast / Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy | OpenJK |
| Strife | Chocolate Strife, Vavoom |
| Super 3D Noah's Ark | ECWolf |
| Super Mario 64 | Super Mario 64 PC Port |
| System Shock | Shockolate [14] [15] |
| System Shock 2 | NewDark |
| Thief: The Dark Project | NewDark |
| Thief II: The Metal Age | NewDark |
| Tomb Raider | OpenTomb, [16] OpenCroft, OpenLara, [17] CroftEngine, TR1X [18] |
| Tyrian | OpenTyrian |
| Warzone 2100 | Warzone Resurrection |
| William Shatner's TekWar | BuildGDX, JFTekWar |
| Witchaven | BuildGDX, JFWitchaven |
| Wolfenstein 3D | ECWolf, NewWolf, Wolf4SDL, Wolfenstein 3-D Redux, WolfGL, WolfGL-3D |
| Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory | ioWolfET, ET: Legacy |
Quake II is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the Quake series, following Quake.
Doom 3 is a 2004 survival horror first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. Doom 3 was originally released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004, adapted for Linux later that year, and ported by Aspyr Media for Mac OS X in 2005. Developer Vicarious Visions ported the game to the Xbox, releasing it worldwide on April 4, 2005.
Video game modding is the process of alteration by players or fans of one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves, and is a sub-discipline of general modding. Mods may range from small changes and tweaks to complete overhauls, and can extend the replay value and interest of the game.
The Build Engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman, author of Ken's Labyrinth, for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, the Build Engine represents its world on a two-dimensional grid using closed 2D shapes called sectors, and uses simple flat objects called sprites to populate the world geometry with objects.
The Quake engine is the game engine developed by id Software to power their 1996 video game Quake. It featured true 3D real-time rendering. Since 1999, it has been licensed under the terms of GNU General Public License v2.0 or later.
id Tech 3, popularly known as the Quake III Arena engine, is a game engine developed by id Software for its Quake III Arena. It has been adopted by numerous games. It competed with the Unreal Engine; both engines were widely licensed.
The Quake II engine is a game engine developed by id Software for use in their 1997 first-person shooter Quake II. It is the successor to the Quake engine. Since its release, the Quake II engine has been licensed for use in several other games.
Cube 2: Sauerbraten is a first-person shooter released for Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Mac OS X using OpenGL and SDL.
id Tech 4, popularly known as the Doom 3 engine, is a game engine developed by id Software and first used in the video game Doom 3. The engine was designed by John Carmack, who also created previous game engines, such as those for Doom and Quake, which are widely recognized as significant advances in the field. This OpenGL-based game engine has also been used in Quake 4, Prey, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Wolfenstein, and Brink. id Tech 4 is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.
Alien Arena is an open-source, stand-alone first-person shooter video game. Begun by COR Entertainment in 2004, the game combines a 1950s-era sci-fi atmosphere with gameplay similar to the Quake, Doom, and Unreal Tournament series. Alien Arena focuses mainly on online multiplayer action, although it does contain single-player matches against bots.
Linux Game Publishing was a software company based in Nottingham in England. It ported, published and sold video games running on Linux operating systems. As well as porting games, LGP also sponsored the development of Grapple, a free software network library for games. As well as acting as a Linux game porter in of themselves, they also functioned as a publisher for other Linux game developers and porters. The company was dissolved on 3 May 2011.
An open-source video game, or simply an open-source game, is a video game whose source code is open-source. They are often freely distributable and sometimes cross-platform compatible.
Linux-based operating systems can be used for playing video games. Because many games are not natively supported for the Linux kernel, various software has been made to run Windows games, software, and programs, such as Wine, Cedega, DXVK, and Proton, and managers such as Lutris and PlayOnLinux. The Linux gaming community has a presence on the internet with users who attempt to run games that are not officially supported on Linux.
Ryan C. Gordon is a computer programmer and former Loki Software employee responsible for icculus.org, which hosts many Loki Software projects as well as others. Gordon's site hosts projects with the code from such commercial games as Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Quake III Arena and other free and open source projects for multiple platforms.
Timothée Besset is a French software programmer, best known for supporting Linux, as well as some Macintosh, ports of id Software's products. He was involved with the game ports of various id properties through the 2000s, starting with Quake III Arena. Since the development of Doom 3 he was also in charge of the multiplayer network code and various aspects of game coding for id, a role which had him heavily involved in the development of their online game QuakeLive. Since departing id in January 2012 he has worked as a software contractor, including for Valve Software.
Xonotic is a free and open-source first-person shooter video game. It was developed as a fork of Nexuiz, following controversy surrounding the game's development. The game runs on a heavily modified version of the Quake engine known as the DarkPlaces engine. Its gameplay is inspired by Unreal Tournament and Quake, but with various unique elements.
Oil Rush is a tower defense real-time strategy game developed by UNIGINE Holding S.à r.l. using their Unigine engine technology. Set in a flooded, post-apocalyptic world, the game consists of players fighting over control of the world's last remaining oil reserves. The game was released as a digital download for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and OS X.
Unvanquished is a free and open-source video game. It is a multiplayer first-person shooter and real-time strategy game where Humans and Aliens fight for domination.
Red Eclipse is an open-source first-person shooter that is forked from Cube 2: Sauerbraten. Like the original Cube 2, it features multiplayer gameplay as well as in-game level editing, but with improved graphics and a focus on parkour movement. The game is free and open-source software, released under the zlib license, and developed by an open community of contributors. Its content is free, and released under a CC BY-SA license.
