Rand's visit and news for Age Creators

[GPNMilano]

And of course as we all discuss the future. RAWA posts on the "State of the Union"

[Chacal]

LOL Let me understand the logic in this. You want Cyan, to hire fans (With money they're getting from donations by said fans) to pull out code from a plugin/client so that they can then open source said code, and give it to the fans that are pulling out the code? Is that about right?

Under NDA, yes. I have worked with several software companies that hire interns who work with proprietary code. I don't see what's different here. The only concern for Cyan is getting the PhysX code out legally, and this would do the job.

[Tsar Hoikas]

Under NDA, yes. I have worked with several software companies that hire interns who work with proprietary code. I don't see what's different here. The only concern for Cyan is getting the PhysX code out legally, and this would do the job.

The PhysX code isn't the problem. Its license it restrictive, but PhysX is free (as in beer) for everyone to use in a binary format on supported platforms (PC, Linux, XBox 360). I'm glaring at Bink, which is NOT free (as in speech or beer). Source code is $50,000 per platform per title. I really don't think Cyan had this kind of chump change for MOUL.

I can't wait to get the code and tighten up the PhysX integration... And maybe add cloth support. Those banners in the Guild Pubs are SOLID.

[Aloys]

And of course as we all discuss the future. RAWA posts on the "State of the Union"

weeee...
That's because RAWA secretly browses our forums.. My devilish plan worked. (that, or he had this announcement planned already. Which is somehow entirely possible.)
Unfortunately he doesn't answer the most pressing issue to me: we offered help and got no reply. (although a public announcement is probably not the best place for him to answer that.)

Now MOUL starts again, but that's not what was expected or even needed, and that's aggravating and demotivating to me.

First I don't see how this wasn't expected. (...)

I was not expecting it so soon (so to speak), and certainly not before the source was released.. Although that's defnitely a good news for the rest of the community.

How on earth do you plan on pulling out 3d party code from a plugin, when you yourself are not liscensed to see that 3d party code?

Dustin & Chacal have just replied for me; there are a variety of viable options. If money is an issue; I'm sure enough could be raised to pay one coder full time for a month just by seting up a donation system and explaining all the good that will come out of it. (I'm sure many people in the community don't have a clear view of what OS uru could bring). And if Cyan go with this route, I will totally send a fat donation myself just to make sure I don't lose this bet.

[CrimsonMatt]

Ahhh so I learned the basics of blender. Would it make more sense to wait for Cyan's age creation tools? Or if I started making an age now, could it still be incorporated into MOUL in the future?

[ddb174]

MOUL is dead. Do you mean Moulagain? We don't know if Cyan will ever put fan Ages on that shard. Do you mean future open-source (if it happens) servers? That is an uncertain future.

If you make it for Pots now, it will presumably be possible to convert to the format used on Moulagain/Moul-compatible servers. But that's all in the future. So, if you wait, you may well be waiting for something that *never* happens. If you do it now, it will very probably be possible to convert to that format if open-source happens. So I would recommend starting now, if Blender does not frustrate you too much^^

[CrimsonMatt]

MOUL is dead. Do you mean Moulagain? We don't know if Cyan will ever put fan Ages on that shard. Do you mean future open-source (if it happens) servers? That is an uncertain future.

If you make it for Pots now, it will presumably be possible to convert to the format used on Moulagain/Moul-compatible servers. But that's all in the future. So, if you wait, you may well be waiting for something that *never* happens. If you do it now, it will very probably be possible to convert to that format if open-source happens. So I would recommend starting now, if Blender does not frustrate you too much^^

Good point, thanks!