Thats because the source been relesed under GPL, which is licence that infects other project to open source and let free redistribution… for free, so you can’t really make commercial project with it.
I don’t want to get into GPL vs world debate, but you are mistaken. Yes, anything added to GPL code has to become GPL. So naturally you can’t add GPL-incompatible middleware to GPL engine. However, it doesn’t affect the content. Also, learning how idSoftware did it, and implementing your own game code from scratch following principles you learn from GPL code doesn’t make your code GPL.
Using GPL in non-game dev business is risky, but in game dev it’s harmless. I’ve had these conversations many times before and the only thing that people can come up with is A) can’t release on consoles B) can’t implement non-GPL middleware. That’s all. No one can even explain why they think GPL evil.
We made a game using Darkplaces engine (heavily modified GLQuake GPL) and released it on Steam, with source code included. People can do whatever they want with the code (although no one did), they still have to buy the game.
Are you talking about UE4? Of course you can build on top of UE4 and make a commercial game with it. Its just that you cant sell engine code as part of a product, say a plugin on the marketplace that uses editor UI code fragments.
subject is kind of hard to come by so might as well say it here. I hate DRM as much as anybody else but I was wondering what can be done if you want to include expiration dates into it like timed demos, subscription and other things that need some way of locking and unlocking over the internet (or why not SMS or other code generating thingamajig). All it needs to be is a little more advanced than changing the calendar date, that kind of “hacking” is grandparents level of skill. I don’t think it is an impractical thing to have overall, it’s just another way of doing business. Any thoughts on that?
make your game run on server, ofc with required internet connection
They still have to buy the game on Steam, but with your software being under GPL they can freely redistribute it else where even paid without giving you any cent and you can’t do nothing about it because they do that legally according to GPL. Thats why GPL is not used in any commercial software, because commertal lose any sense with GPL… it was design for that specific perpace