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Originally Posted by Mnemonic
Yes, it must have been long time ago, in the early days of WME when I wasn't sure about licencing. It has been sorted out (also long time ago, now) and the current commercial licence is pretty much fixed and pretty developer-friendly, IMHO  |
Hmm, the FAQ on WME site still shows the same as when I wrote my e-mail:
Q: Is it possible to use WME to make a commercial game?
A: Yes, it is possible, but you will have to obtain a separate commercial license. The licencing fees will be discussed on a case-by-case basis. Please enquire with the developer about what would be fair in your particular case.
So, I were to ask you how much it would roughly cost if I made "Syberia" with WME, what would you say? If you're uncomfortable stating estimates on public forums, could you say that I would actually be given such an estimate if I were to ask by e-mail now, even if a project hasn't been started yet?
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Originally Posted by Golan
The reason I wanted to rule out registration fees was not because SLUDGE had one for the full version but because I did not want someone to say the following. "I like SLUDGE but I chose to use AGS because it's free." That kind of statement would not help me draw out the information I was looking for. I have an extra $50 and so I could care less about a fee one way or the other. I'm a 29 year old with a full time job. If I can't afford to help out the guy who wrote the engine then I should be spending my time reevaluating my life plan and not creating adventure games. If I did chose a "free" engine I would probably send the creator $50 anyway.
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Even if someone did say, "I like SLUDGE but I chose to use AGS because it's free", it does not automatically mean that it's solely because they do not want to spend any money or cannot afford it. Let me give you an example and then hopefully you will see my point. If SLUDGE developer is asking for $50 to support his development of the engine, that implies that if the engine sale isn't successful, the development may very well stop or slow to a crawl because there's no motivation. One person may think they're making a difference by paying for it but look at some of the underrated adventure games that the fans absolutely loved but yet the publilshers and/or developers weren't happy with because of the low sales. I may try to "guess" SLUDGE developer's mentality that he's "not like those other guys" but I do not know him personally, so that won't work. Now, take a look at AGS -- Chris never asked for any fees, and yet he's so dedicated to updating it. There's always a new beta out, always something added. He will even make custom adjustments to the engine if a developer team so requires. If a person who doesn't want any fees for his engine is still so highly motivated and dedicated to updating it, that's even more motivation for me. So, the fee for me has absolutely nothing to do with having a job or life in order. It's called smart investment and/or spending.
Yes, I know people with mentality "hey, who cares, it's just $50, I make more in a week". But once you start donating money to charities or various organizations that help sick people, ever penny counts, no matter how rich you are. Besides, $50 can buy you an additional (hopefully adventure) game or two. Also, as I said in one of my earlier replies, I'd be much more inclined to donate something to Chris because he's not asking for money in the first place and yet finds motivation to constantly update AGS than if he asked for something upfront. Because I know that AGS "life" does not depend on the fees at all.
Now that it's out of the way, let me at least point out that I actually agree with many things that have been mentioned:
1) AGS is perfect for classic style adventure games, best for lower resolutions like 320x200 but still doable for 640x480. And supports 32-bit. And it's free for commercial games. It IS slower at higher resolutions than some alternatives. Will it ever change in the future? Who knows.
2) SLUDGE is still cheap enough, even if it does require a fee, so if you're absolutely sure you want to use it, it won't make you poor. But no 32-bit support, which is an issue to some people, including myself. And $50 is still not free when it's not obviously ahead in features than something else.
3) WME, probably best technically from dedicated adventure engines but somewhat unclear commercial license. Great for free high res 32-bit games though. But I will mention that in a game like "Five Magical Amulets" the saving time took suspiciously long further in the game. Saving in commercial games is practically instant for me. I don't know if it was game-specific or an engine itself.
Personally, I've been using CrystalSpace engine, especially after finding out about its use in the upcoming commercial adventure game called "Keepsake". Plenty of coding and scripting in it for those who love it, and good enough high res, 32-bit and 3D support, if needed.
That's it. In the end we just want to make games because we love to play them. Hopefully, this will clear some air.
