Possibility of other Legacy games source codes bging released?

T-Squared · 05-25-2013, 12:45 PM

Is there a possibility that source code from Apogee/3DRealms' legacy games might be released to the public sometime?

(Also, VERY long time no see. Still workin' on that Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure mod!)

King Duke · 05-27-2013, 09:36 AM

I strongly doubt that. Just look at Duke Nukem II for iOS: Interceptor had to use a DOS/PC emulator to get the game working on iOS. If not even the guys that actually have a license to port/re-release the old Apoge games can get the source code, why would you expect them to release anything to the public?

My guess is that Apogee/3D Realms has already released any source code they could find (and had exclusive rights to), including RotT, Duke3D, SW and some early text-based games (pre 1991).

Most of the later Apogee games (post 1992) were developed by external studios, like id Software, JAM Productions (Blake Stone & Planet Strike) and Moonlite (Hocus Pocus), so one cannot even say for sure that Apogee even had a copy of the source code to begin with.

For Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure (which I'm guessing you are most interested in) you'd probably have to contact Todd Replogle or maybe Allen Blum and ask them about it. But as both Duke Nukem II and Cosmo were written by Todd Replogle and use almost the same engine, I don't think you'll have much luck.

A disassembly might be the only way to get something even close to the original source. But the game's license doesn't allow disassembling and you'd have to actually understand 80286 assembly instructions to begin with. An advanced C/C++ decompiler would definitely be more helpful, but I've yet to see one that actually works.

05-25-2013, 12:45 PM	#1
T-Squared	Possibility of other Legacy games source codes bging released? Is there a possibility that source code from Apogee/3DRealms' legacy games might be released to the public sometime? (Also, VERY long time no see. Still workin' on that Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure mod!) __________________ No, you're not seeing things, my avatar IS Cosmo, humanized by me. I need people skilled in music and graphics to help me finish The Humanizer Project.

05-27-2013, 09:36 AM	#2
King Duke	Re: Possibility of other Legacy games source codes bging released? I strongly doubt that. Just look at Duke Nukem II for iOS: Interceptor had to use a DOS/PC emulator to get the game working on iOS. If not even the guys that actually have a license to port/re-release the old Apoge games can get the source code, why would you expect them to release anything to the public? My guess is that Apogee/3D Realms has already released any source code they could find (and had exclusive rights to), including RotT, Duke3D, SW and some early text-based games (pre 1991). Most of the later Apogee games (post 1992) were developed by external studios, like id Software, JAM Productions (Blake Stone & Planet Strike) and Moonlite (Hocus Pocus), so one cannot even say for sure that Apogee even had a copy of the source code to begin with. For Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure (which I'm guessing you are most interested in) you'd probably have to contact Todd Replogle or maybe Allen Blum and ask them about it. But as both Duke Nukem II and Cosmo were written by Todd Replogle and use almost the same engine, I don't think you'll have much luck. A disassembly might be the only way to get something even close to the original source. But the game's license doesn't allow disassembling and you'd have to actually understand 80286 assembly instructions to begin with. An advanced C/C++ decompiler would definitely be more helpful, but I've yet to see one that actually works.