Could be done but it would be very difficult and time consuming and I'm not sure if anyone in the community is skilled enough to make it from scratch.

Creating a new enigine better then halos right now would take at least a year or 2. But getting the source code would lets us be able to do the same in less then a year.

Would probally be faster then asking for it, I would be surprised if Microsoft even responds to this request at all.

Or what they COULD do use use available engines.

Unreal Developement Kit is free, you can literally make your own game on it. Unreal is a very well-optimized, flexible engine that can support pretty much anything anybody could think of. Only problem being you would need skilled programmers in order to make things work, and considering Halo's much-easier-than-programming tag system where all you really need to do is edit variables, that's not very common in this community.

Actually the only way we could acquire the source code and prevent a sh*t load of variants popping up is if we made some sort of official modding company (like gearbox) or non-profit organization. If we told M$ that we would be willing to work on it for free. As for updates, people could choose to play on Halo CE *classic* or the variant that we would be working on. Also if the source code got pirated out to the public by one of our members M$ would sue us for all our organs. To me it seems more reasonable to just make the game from scratch.

Yeah but i doubt Microsoft would let us have it even if we did say we were a Gaming organization.

that's why everyone in it would have to sign a contract and provide rl info

To be quite honest, I think it's a terrible idea to release the source code to this community.

a) We waste so much time complaining about protection and squabbling about petty feuds.
b) We rarely get much done. Those who want things done don't normally have the capability to accomplish these tasks by themselves, and don't try to learn, or those who can do it lack motivation to do so.

Just look at this. Imagine you came from a different community, and stayed here for a few days, browsing the forums. Do you honestly believe that this community deserves the source code? Only about a quarter or a third of this community (referring to the forums) still play Halo on a regular basis. Most of us rarely play it anymore, as we're attracted to other games. Even if the source code were released to us, we'd probably be able to invent a new kind of drama, like neo-protection, and we'd never get anything done.

In the end, it wouldn't benefit Microsoft at all. A lot of you hate Microsoft, calling it Microsuck, or M$, because you view them as a greedy capitalist corporation that's gone crazy over money. However, all of us desire money, and money is important in this world, for our survival. They're just doing their jobs, just trying to survive. You even call them out a lot, and you expect them to give you the source code? Even though it doesn't generate a lot of money, it's still a potential source of money, and that's worth something.

TL;DR, we don't deserve it.

Gamma works for microsoft :o

this

Dam gamma did u even read anything I posted? I know M$ won't release the code to this community, I was actually exploring other possibilities.

And if Microsoft isn't squeezing out the little money the are making from Halo PC they totally won't be able to survive.... There's a difference between trying to make money and just pure greed.

Just because no one can actually make something with the source code, doesn't mean it shouldn't be released. It's all just to explore it out of interest. People ARE switching to different games, and if the source isn't released the game would just go to waste. And by this time Microsoft won't be making money from it anymore, so it won't be a disadvantage for them.

I'm pretty sure someone was creating a halo-like engine with XNA, I'm drawing a blank on the name right now. He might have gotten a C&D from M$, though.

E3p0 tried, then microsoft said C&D and he didn't, so they took his computer or something. Then JHOW also tried, but he gave up before they could C&D him.

Where in my post have I implied that I was talking to you? Unless you're Slayer117 in an alternate account.


They aren't obligated to release the source code. You're condemning them for not giving out free stuff, work that Bungie spent two years developing. Time is worth much more than money, and two years would be equivalent to around 52 trillion US dollars. Please explain to me how it's greedy that they won't publicly release work that Bungie spent lots of time and effort into.
Edited by Gamma927 on Feb 23, 2010 at 09:35 PM

JHOW is the one I was thinking of. I don't see what's wrong with doing that though. Just because it HAPPENS to support the Blam! shader system and run halo maps doesn't mean anything...

Lmao, took his computer, that's funny.
Edited by Advancebo on Feb 23, 2010 at 09:34 PM

They would XD.



People have to realize that microsoft is a business that is trying to make money its not entirely greed its just how the business world works. The only way I could see microsoft releasing the source code is in the form of a chargeable dowload or something like which would have to have a patch to prevent anyone who didn't have it from playing new versions. It wouldn't matter because no one would buy it unless they really knew how to use it well and it would just be far too chaotic for microsoft to want to deal with. Peoples best bet is to eitther make new code from scratch or use other code from other games.

Protection is a custom made feature that users made for Halo. And I'm pretty sure if someone can make a protection method, someone can make an unprotection method, without the source code.

It would be a giant mess...
Lets look at it this way.

M$ releases the source code (giant uproar of happiness)
100 people who know how to work with programming download it.
Each one makes their own version. Now, being one man teams, none of them know the basics of software distribution other than going on the Halomaps forums and posting "LOOK WHAT I MADE LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!1!11111one *insert filefront link here*"
All the people who play the game download individual versions of the game, anxious to see what has been changed.
They try to get on servers aaaaaaaannnddd......
Compatibility issues, everywhere.
Because of the fact that there would be no organized distribution of product, the compatibility issues would be insane. Not everyone would be using Bob Bobberson's SUPER EXTREME HALO MOD or whatever. It would become a disorganized mess and the community would become even worse than it already is.
What would make sense, however, is if M$ released the code to certain teams (of people who know what they are doing) or whatnot and had all of them develop their own versions and, in an orderly fashion, distribute them. Sort of like what happened with Marathon when Bungie released the source and the Aleph One team took over from there and made one engine that anyone can use to run the game.
All I'm saying is that just releasing the source code would be A) a huge loss of money on M$'s part and B) a recipe for disaster amongst the Halo PC/CE community.
[/long post]

it wouldnt be chaos cause only a few people on this site know how to script.like 5 at the tops.

Script =/= Coding. While similar. HSC is a much easier to understand and basic version of modern coding language. With Java being the exception to similarities.

@Gamma: I do agree we don't deserve it, I mean, this is one of the worst communities I've actually been with. But, if it's one of the worst, then why are most of us still here? Because we like Halo so much? Well, maybe not. As you said in your post, many few of us actually play Halo on a regular basis. The shine of playing Halo is lost some-what. Open Source provides some new shine to the game. Granted, it's un-likely it'll ever happen. But, I'm behind it happening 100%. On a side note, about the protection thing. Yeah, like you said, someone will un-doubtedly make a neo-protection edition. But for some reason, people in this community don't understand the concept of Open Source. Several other communities, rather successful ones mind you, don't have any form of protection, and so all content is open sourced. However, there will obviously be people who want some way to 'tag' their work so other people cant claim it's theres. Then how about that then, a 'tagging' system where all work compiled by you has your name to it, that no one can replace. Tl;dr: Open Source is cool. Community is not cool.

@SiM: I was discussing this with Gamma actually. Instead of just having the new custom/edited version of HCE over-writing the original. Have it install elsewhere, and as a seperate game, so that you can still play the original if you wanted to.

Yes it would be chaos. It would probably cut the community up so much. People will find many more security risks now that they could look at the original code and create things like aimbots and anything else they can come up with.

Were thinking of 2 different disasters here.

you think if a new source is released new patched will be made. like aim bots. well sry to burst your bubble there dude but any update wont stop botters making bots. were already playing on botted servers so it must be hell right now

The other disaster was there would be too many different updates. and no, no there wouldn't be. cause like i said before not that many people can figure out how to code the engine.

If you think botters are hell. Having the source could open up security risks that allow clients to crash servers and issues like that. It's more than just botting.

I agree with SiMuLaCrUm's idea, the only way microsoft would release the code is if they could control the number of new versions so it wouldn't be chaotic and produce a ton of security risks. The best idea that I can think of is if a group of the more expierienced users who no how to manipulate the source code were to get together and form a group. Microsoft could then transfer rights of the source code to the group but limit the groups actions with legal agreements that would prevent them from selling or giving out the source code.

Even w/ out the source code now we have security risks. noobs still crash servers and bot. and look halo goes on every day. so if the source was released it would be the same as. unless you wanna take the apps out by puting in a code but that wouldnt be cool. So i see no problems with the code being released.

so we dont want to release the source code for fear of splitting up the community, but dropping a 1.09 into the mix to fix miscellaneous problems that the vast majority of people didnt have that cut the player count by nearly half is ok?

iv been on 1.09. every time i go on there theres like 50 servers with nobody in them, then one server with 16 people in it. yeah thats fun.

go to the first update there like 500 to 1000 players there.

Speaking of which, how do you go back to earlier versions? When I use the version changer it doesn't work.

@Gamma: When I say they're greedy, I'm not referring to just the source code, but how you said in general they are a company trying to make money survive like everyone else. They try to own every single technology market, and take away from other companies, usually ripping them off.
Also what does the work bungie did have to do withe releasing the code. I'm sure none of the original developers are getting paid for it anymore, and would likely support the idea of having the game open sourced, instead of it going to waste.

@Others: There are many coders in the this community, and were many more at another time, who would likely come back if the game was open source. Maybe they won't be able to actually make something, but they likely would. And even if not, that doesn't mean it would be useless.
A lot of you, also, don't understand that if the source is released, the game has the potential to do anything. Issues and compatibility problems could be patched by the users.

I don't think Microsoft is going to open source the game, and I don't think they are at all obligated to, but dare say it's a bad idea. So much could be learned from the code, even if nothing is made from it.
Edited by colter13 on Feb 24, 2010 at 06:11 PM

So all we've been doing is saying why and why not we should be getting the source code, from what I see the pros outweigh the cons. I don't want to say this again but the code will NEVER be released to the public, only to a dedicated programming team. As for what to do 1st, I would like to fix lag issues related to newer graphic drivers. After that perhaps get some anti-aliasing going etc. Just make the game's graphics more modern to make for a more enjoyable experience. Now if your somebody with a computer that belongs in a museum, simply don't download the patch.

Also, how would we go about getting the source code? I don't think that simply calling M$ wouldn't cut it, maybe if we got recommendations by both gearbox and bungie saying that releasing the source code to (insert Halo CE team name here) would be a good thing, we would have a better chance getting approval with M$.

I have the same exact problem.

If you can get Bungie and Gearbox's aproval tell me. I've been trying for 2 years.

What exactly have you tried?