

Open source remakes of games you're still loving - murkt
http://osgameclones.com/

======
misterbwong
I'm still a bit sour about Square forcing the Chrono Trigger: Resurrection
guys to cancel their remake of Chrono Trigger. CT is my favorite game of _all
time_ so hearing that this fan project got C&D'd killed me.

The screens and the trailers looked awesome, especially considering it was
2004.

<http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/Crono0.jpg>

<http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/Guardia0.jpg>

<http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/MagusLair2.jpg>

<http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/>

~~~
possibilistic
I don't understand how Square can legally force them from making a remake. If
it's open source software and not being sold, how can they shut you down? If
the code is widely distributed, then there's no central site or repository
they can force to shut down.

Wouldn't this fall under the domain of artistic expression? I don't understand
how fans can make artwork, music remixes (<http://ocremix.org/>), or even a
miniseries (<http://www.therewillbebrawl.com/>) representing a particular
franchise and not get sued, yet indie game remakes are hit with fire and
brimstone. On that note, aren't games now considered art
([http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109835-Games-
Now-L...](http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109835-Games-Now-Legally-
Considered-an-Art-Form-in-the-USA))? What gives?

(I've been wanting to make an open source Ocarina of Time remake, but I am
fearful of such lawsuits.)

~~~
Impossible
Free fan games are largely ignored by game companies and sometimes actively
supported, but once the game starts to look like something that competes with
or damages the company's output they have to take legal action to protect
their IP. This is what happened with the Chrono Trigger remake and more
recently with the Unity Sonic demo that looked and played better than Sonic 4.

What I don't understand is why certain talented people don't develop original
IP for these sorts of things. This happens occasionally but more often than
not the projects just die after getting a cease and desist. Nostalgia is a
powerful thing but its easy enough to make a game that is similar to Chrono
Trigger, Ocarina of Time, Sonic, etc. using original concepts inspired by
them.

~~~
Jach
I figure it's got to be the fanfiction aspect of it. I've wanted to make a
Starfox 64 prequel with Fox's father, but to spend that much effort in the
Silver Age of indie development on something you're not even going to try and
capitalize on seems wasteful. Might as well just write the fanfiction if you
want a plot. The guys over at <http://www.shadowsoflylat.net/> have been busy
for a long time, it's sad that they won't be able to sell the end result.

------
udp
On a slightly different vein, if you still have the old games you can often
find an open source engine to play them with :-

* Old Bioware games (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, ...) - GemRB: <http://www.gemrb.org>

* SCUMM (Monkey Island, Simon the Sorcerer, ...) - ScummVM: <http://www.scummvm.org/>

* Transport Tycoon Deluxe - OpenTTD: <http://www.openttd.org/en/> (this has optional free replacements for the graphics/sound/music, too)

~~~
mambodog
Let's not forget the venerable DOSBox, which allows a huge variety of old
games to run on Win7, Mac and Linux.

Some of my favourites: Wolf3D, Doom, Rise of the Triad, Hexen, Duke3D, Quake,
Sim City 2000, Sim Ant, Civilization, Command & Conquer, Red Alert, Warcraft &
Warcraft 2, Theme Hospital, Syndicate, System Shock, X-Wing

<http://www.dosbox.com/>

~~~
eru
Apropos System Shock, the sequel runs fine in wine, and is easier to enjoy,
because they use the modern fps controlling conventions. Thief: The Dark
Project uses a the same engine as System Shock 2 and is also worth playing.

If you are going to play X-Com: Ufo Defense, you owe it to yourself to use
XComUtil [1]. XComUtil patches the binary to remove some bugs and can
optionally introduce new gameplay elements.

Also the original Master of Orion is still one of the best civilization type
games, if not the best. It has aged well, and really shines in its
concentration on large scale decisions, and avoidance of micro-management.

[1] <http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=XcomUtil>

------
mikemaccana
You know how when you play things you played as a kid, they don't feel like
you remember them, because your standards have unfortunately changed?

First programming I ever really did (in terms of understanding logic and its
effects on end product) was Doom PWADs when I was a kid.

15 years later, I can get:

\- Doomsday engine on my Mac

\- 500MB of high-res textures hand-crafted to replace all the original walls
and ceiling/floors.

\- MD models for every object and monster

\- High resolution re-sampled sound and music

\- My original WAD - me and a friend made one of the largest (and highest tech
- deep water, transparent textures on doors, invisible platforms) Doom II wads
ever - lost it, but the internet still has thepath.zip

And play Doom II like I remember it, not like how it was.

~~~
aw3c2
I really wonder why so many people consider models like this
<http://risen3d.drdteam.org/caco.jpg> (guessing you use those) superior to
pixel art like this
[http://images.wikia.com/doom/images/e/ef/Cacodemon_encounter...](http://images.wikia.com/doom/images/e/ef/Cacodemon_encounter.png)

Is it just the "it is something different/new and thus feels fresh" or do you
really consider it look better objectively?

~~~
pflats
In a 3d environment, sprites have systemic issues regarding viewing angles. If
a bad guy runs directly at you, or at you from a 30 degree angle, he looks
exactly the same. Models convey more information than sprites do about their
environment.

This isn't a blanket statement about models and sprites, but given a free
camera and a 3d world, I think models work better. They don't have to look
better, though: I'd say that Quake looked a lot worse Duke3D, even though they
were both released in '96.

------
rnemo
Just as a point of correction, Doomsday is not a Doom remake, it's an advanced
source port. Freedoom (freedoom.sourceforge.net) is the closest thing to a
remake, it's a project to create a free IWAD (the game data). It needs to be
paired with an engine though, Doomsday is one, but there's also ZDoom
(zdoom.org), PrBoom+ (prboom-plus.sourceforge.net) and my personal favorite,
Eternity (doomworld.com/vb/eternity).

~~~
technomancy
Conspicuously absent is Marathon and its OSS successor Aleph One:
<http://marathon.sourceforge.net/>

~~~
windsurfer
Aleph One is amazing. Anyone who considers themselves a gamer should play this
Bungie classic.

------
barkingcat
I emailed the author with a link to Ur-Quan Masters for Star Control 2!

~~~
Androsynth
you beat me to it. Although UQM is not a clone or inspired by SC2, it is the
actual source code used to build the game.

~~~
JamesNK
It has a lot of improvements over the original game though.

If you look at them side by side (UQM against the original PC Starcon 2) it is
remarkable how much work has been put in to improving the graphics and sound
for modern computers.

------
estel
It's always worth mentioning Spring, which used to be an open source version
of Total Annihilation, but now encompasses so much more:

<http://springrts.com/>

------
bitsai
For those who enjoyed Wing Commander Privateer, there's WCP Gemini Gold, a
remake using the open source Vega Strike engine:

<http://privateer.sourceforge.net/>

I've emailed the author to see if he'd like to add it to the list.

------
rvavruch
Good Old Games (www.gog.com) are selling classics, for really good prices some
of which work in Wine:
[http://www.gog.com/en/mix/great_gog_games_that_works_on_linu...](http://www.gog.com/en/mix/great_gog_games_that_works_on_linux)

There are a few for free as well:
<http://www.gog.com/en/catalogue#all_genres/price/0/>

------
roschdal
There's also <http://www.freeciv.net/> which is a HTML5 version of Freeciv,
with a AGPL license.

~~~
GeneralMaximus
FreeCiv is not HTML5. The game itself is implemented as a server, and you can
write clients for it. I only know of a GTK+ client and a SDL client. Is there
a HTML5 client around now?

~~~
sciurus
"Freeciv.net is an open-source turn-based strategy game. It's built entirely
in HTML5 and features in-depth game-play and a wide variety of game modes and
options. Your goal is to build cities, collect resources, organize your
government, and build an army, with the ultimate goal of creating the best
empire.

Freeciv.net is an open source project, released under the GNU Affero General
Public License 3.0 or later. The project is a fork of the C server from
Freeciv.org, which has origins back to 1996. The idea of creating a version
for Freeciv which would be playable online in a browser came about some time
in 2007, and this project has evolved into what it is now since then. The
first public beta release of Freeciv.net was available in December 2009, and
the code is still under continuous development."

------
mambodog
Some FPS additions:

AlienArena - like UT, Q3A. Graphically impressive, seems to be actively
developed.

<http://red.planetarena.org/>

Nexuiz - like UT, Q3A. Also decent graphics, seems devs are working on a
commercial sequel now, so the last major version was in 2009.

<http://sourceforge.net/projects/nexuiz/>

OpenArena - like Q3A. Seems to be an attempt to recreate Quake 3 Team Arena
from the GPL source with new content, some graphical improvements.

<http://www.openarena.ws/>

Tremulous - like Gloom, Natural Selection etc. Sci-fi FPS/RTS hybrid.

<http://tremulous.net/>

Urban Terror - like Counter-Strike, but a little more arcade-style.

EDIT: free but not yet open source

<http://www.urbanterror.info/>

~~~
naner
Urban Terror is not open source.

~~~
mambodog
Hmm, you're right, I saw the source for the GPL ioquake3 based part and
assumed it was for the entire game.

------
jamesu
Missing the impressive reverse-engineering of Dune2 effort:
<http://www.opendune.org>

------
naner
These aren't all remakes/clones. For example: ioquake3 started from the GPL
release of the Quake 3 engine from iD software. It is not a clone or remake it
is just a continuation. And it doesn't replace Quake 3, it is just the game
engine.

------
scorxn
FreeSpace 2: <http://scp.indiegames.us/>

------
vckadath
This is part of what bugs me about the OS mentality. All that effort to clone
a commercial release and very little going towards coming up with new ideas
and gameplay improvements.

This is true of EVERY important category of software (From the OS on down!),
not just games. Until the FOSS movement starts focusing on creating new things
and not just cheap knockoffs of original, innovative software it will remain a
niche.

------
duhprey
If anyone here remembers the game Netstorm, we're doing a remake of it here,
<http://risingstormhq.com>. It's not entirely opensource at the moment (and
built on unity), but I'm the only coder and I'm releasing components
(especially generic ones) as I go (as they are cleanly separable). In the end,
I'll release all the code I feel I can without making the team unhappy.

------
tobylane
Brilliant one here - CorsixTH, remake of ThemeHospital.
<https://code.google.com/p/corsix-th/>

~~~
StavrosK
A heroic effort, that game deserves to be in the museum. Just brilliant.

That said, my all-time favorite is Heroes of Might and Magic 2. I always
return to it, and am just overjoyed to see the open source project there.

------
matticakes
For Sierra (kings quest, etc) fans there are a couple good options:

<http://sarien.net/> (web based!) <http://www.agdinteractive.com/> (high-res
remakes) <http://www.tsl-game.com/> (The Silver Lining - a completely new game
continuing the Kings Quest story line)

------
MrJagil
Dungeon Keeper is probably my favourite game of all time. A shame theres no
mac version of OpenDungeons and that they didn't make it closer to the
original.

------
joeyespo
I immediately thought of the Chrono Trigger remake and how they were going to
open source the project. It looked beautiful while keeping true to the
original. Such a shame Square Enix's forcefully shut it down.

<http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/>

------
lucasjung
My all-time favorite is d2x-xl, a re-work of the Descent II engine (which
isn't quite a clone, because you still need some of the original game files to
play): <http://www.descent2.de/>

Stratagus/Wargus is a clone of the Warcraft II engine (which you also need
original game files to play). It's no longer being actively developed, but the
last release was stable and only had minor bugs (you can play all of the way
through with no problem, plus multiplayer):
<http://wargus.sourceforge.net/index.shtml>

There's also a glacially-slow effort to re-work the Homeworld source code to
openGL (and cross-platform): <http://homesource.nekomimicon.net/sourceforum/>

------
faboo
I had a lot of love for SimCity on the Atari ST as a kid, and was ecstatic to
find Lincity a few years ago. It isn't a remake of SimCity, really; it's very
much the Freeciv to SimCity's Civilization, but I've played a lot of it off
and on. Good times.

The top-down version apparently hasn't been updated in a while, but it's
archived here: <http://lincity.sourceforge.net/>

The fully 3D, iso-metric version looks like it's still being worked on though:
<http://lincity-ng.berlios.de/wiki/index.php/Main_Page>

~~~
jcl
FWIW, the source to the original SimCity was released under the GPL.

<http://www.donhopkins.com/home/micropolis/>

------
jholman
Reading this made me think, what other old games do I _want_ to see open-
source-cloned, and what does Google think about that?

Mech Commander 2 : No open-source clone, BUT...
[http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=...](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=6d790cde-c3e5-46be-b3a5-729581269a9c&DisplayLang=en)

Morrowind : <http://crystalscrolls.sourceforge.net/> <http://openmw.com> (zomg
I want a co-op MP TES:MW clone)

Not found: Project Space Station.

------
z303
Not a remake but Warzone 2100 was open sourced by the developers a number of
years ago, with people still working to enhance the game

<http://wz2100.net/>

------
yellowbkpk
Anyone remember the Mac game from Ambrosia called Avara? I've been meaning to
try to clone that for quite a while. The graphics are so simple but the
gameplay was mindbogglingly awesome.

~~~
pdsull
I loved that game. I tried to make a clone with Unity a few years ago but gave
up pretty early on. If you ever get something started let me know.

------
bherms
I wish someone would tackle a remake of Grim Fandango or a sequel.

~~~
asb
Grim Fandango is now completable with residual:
<http://residual.sourceforge.net/> (the intention is residual is to 3D
adventure games as ScummVM is to 2D adventures).

------
jfeldstein2
How would you feel about a Myst / Riven clone for touch devices?

~~~
aaronbrethorst
i think they're both on iOS...

~~~
jfeldstein2
They are... this by far the top reason to ever get an ipad.

------
malkia
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is the game I played most. It was great fun when
playing hot-seat with other players sometimes for a full day!

Also big love for HOMM1 and 2

~~~
ysangkok
Good news! These Russians are remaking the HOMM3 engine:
<http://forum.vcmi.eu/portal.php>

~~~
murkt
They are Poles, in fact.

------
lmok
Widelands is an open source real-time strategy game very similar to The
Settlers.

<http://wl.widelands.org/>

------
Goladus
Not an open source remake, rather a rebalancing and increased difficulty patch
of the original, is Final Fantasy Tactics 1.3:

[http://www.insanedifficulty.com/board/index.php?/forum/13-fi...](http://www.insanedifficulty.com/board/index.php?/forum/13-final-
fantasy-tactics-13/)

------
GvS
Open source Worms: <http://hedgewars.org/>

~~~
ysangkok
Don't forget Warmux. There's OpenLieroX and NiL too, but they're Liero clones
instead. Like Worms, but not turn-based.

------
minikomi
This is kind of the opposite - a newly made homebrew game for an obsolete
system - <http://morphcat.de/superbatpuncher/>

Super creative use within the limitaitons

------
byteclub
Would be awesome to see some of these games implemented with Node.js and
HTML5... Angry Birds and others have demonstrated that HTML5 is good enough
for graphics, and Node.js is a good fit for server-side logic.

~~~
ysangkok
There are many tested evented I/O frameworks for other languages. Node.js is a
good thing, but people are hyping this stuff too much.

------
icefox
Clicked on the first link to the doom project to find not a single link to a
"screenshots" page. For a remake of a game I can't help but wonder if you
could screw up the marketing any more than that.

------
martinp
I was kind of hoping to see Age of Empires on that list, no luck though.

~~~
beza1e1
Try 0AD: <http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/>

------
doctororange
Some friends and I are getting started on cloning Tank Wars with a view to
making it an AI contest. Will be sure to submit it to that list when (read:
if) we finish.

------
jester8113
FreeCol is a very good replica of Sid Meier's Colonization.
<http://www.freecol.org/>

------
panza
There's also 0AD, inspired by Age of Empires <http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/>

------
pearle
I'm still waiting for a clone of Darklands.

~~~
murkt
Looks like there was an attempt to do that as a mod to The Elder Scrolls IV -
<http://www.thedarklands.com/>

------
kleiba
Oh gosh, all of these games came out long, long, LONG after I stopped playing
computer games. I feel so old... :(

------
theclay
Hopefully this will also clue in some developers to cool projects that they
can contribute to.

------
chrisjsmith
In the interest of us British people brought up with BBC Micros, you can find
Chuckie Egg here:

<http://www.repton3.co.uk/chuckieegg.aspx>

