I'm just wondering is there licensing plans for engine , like price , free version for non-commercial use or something like that ?
BTW nice work with web page , it's getting really nice 
Licencing plans
Thu, 06/17/2010 - 19:46
#1
Licencing plans
Thu, 06/17/2010 - 21:52
#2
Hi
Hi Drazen,
Thanks a lot for the comment on the web page . I'm learning CSS along the way and it is quite difficult to grasp as Drupal can get overly complicated.
But anyway, about licensing:
Yes, there are plans for this. While not everything is decided yet there will probably be three main distinct licenses. Please keep in mind that this is mostly what I would like to do but that I am currently consulting with legal people to determine what can be done and how.
- An indie/hobbyist license: I plan to make it very accessible (current estimation is around 150€) with an optional access to the C++ SDK (this feature needs a lot of foreseeing and care as everything can change a lot in the SDK while the editor and script remains unchanged). This license will allow you to publish on all supported platforms for all major desktops (Windows, OSX and Linux).
- A pro license: (~<500€) This license will publish to all supported platforms to come (iPhone/iPad/Android).
- A source license: This license gives access to the engine source code and is meant to be used by companies with programming staff so that they can expand, modify and eventually share back improvements or bug fixes with the core distribution.
There will be an additional license for big players (with revenues exceeding a certain threshold) that will need to be discussed on a case per case basis.
Of course, support priority will be highly dependent on the license.
As for upgrades, they will be available for a fraction of the full license cost. 2D support which deactivated in the current beta will not be a major upgrade as it mostly needs editor code and polishing at this point.
Hope this answers your question.
Thu, 06/17/2010 - 22:26
#3
One more thing
In the actual context where everything goes free (Unity but also Gamecore which very recently went free too) there will probably be a comparable option.
Now, I'm not really sure on how to do that as I don't see feature crippling as a good thing. After all, why spend time polishing a tool if you are going to distribute it by crippling it.
So, there might very well be a free version with no publishing support so that you can test and develop your application and decide when its good enough to warrant your financial support to this project.
Fri, 06/18/2010 - 00:38
#5
Yes, I agree. I think that
Yes, I agree. I think that striking the balance between affordable and profitable enough not to be canceled is a very hard thing to do. The problem is as you say, keeping the software up to date requires a minimum income while the competition is mostly free.
3DRad author has opted for a community founded model but I am not sure 3DRad is his main source of income. While I checked NeoAxis not long ago I'm not very up to date on what they are doing on the license front so I will go check on that.
I think that a non-publishing version of the editor is an acceptable compromise for a real 'trial'. And, as you say, if the product got exposure it will be cracked in a very short amount of time anyway.
Thank you for your input on the matter. I plan to setup several polls to gather general opinion on these questions once the public beta starts.
Wed, 06/23/2010 - 20:07
#6
Hey Drazen! Nice to meet
Hey Drazen! Nice to meet you!
Thanks for helping the forum coming to life.
Are you a programmer or an artist? Or both? Maybe you can write a short introduction to who you are and what are your interests in the community forum?
Question for Emmanuel: As far as licensing goes, does one "hobbyist" license allow to publish one game? Or as many as you like ? Or will we have to re-license every year or something like that?
For the free non-commercial version, I think it's fine if it doesn't allow for publishing/compiling an executable. But you could then still make it possible to share free stuff made with it, for example by making it possible to export projects in a certain file format for which there would be a "GS player" for? Maybe that's completely stupid and misses the point, I don't know. But I'm throwing it out there...
Wed, 06/23/2010 - 20:36
#7
Hey Romain :)
As far as licensing goes, does one "hobbyist" license allow to publish one game? Or as many as you like ? Or will we have to re-license every year or something like that?
As many as you like, of course.
There will be an upgrade fee for major versions only.
Regarding the distribution of your project I think the best course of action is to provide a packed project file format which can be previewed directly by the editor. This is mostly done already but I would need to write some obfuscation code to provide a minimum of assets protection.
Tue, 05/10/2011 - 23:07
#8
Re: Hey Romain :)
Sorry for my English. I am from Russia. Regarding the license for the engine. It would be nice if you provide a full version of the engine is not for commercial projects. So that developers can immediately start doing your project, and when the game is almost ready to buy a license. At least for windows version. And if the price is from 100-150 euros I think indie developers from Russia it will become
Tue, 05/10/2011 - 23:29
#9
Re: Hey Romain :)
Hi pekar666,
Nice to meet you, no problem with your English, I am French myself. Well, the engine provided here is a fully working version with no restriction beyond having no C++ source code access. Of course, if you are talking about a feature complete/bug free version that's something I am (unfortunately still) working on.
I am tinkering with the idea of providing free access to a C++ SDK but to be honest I am afraid it would badly affect my opportunities for development. Maybe by doing a hard version freeze and only providing bug fixes when really needed...? That definitively is something I am considering.
Anyway, the price range you talk about is spot on what I am planning.
Wed, 05/11/2011 - 16:00
#10
Re: Hey Romain :)
Btw, I may have missed an occasion to make clear that if you are not planning on doing commercial work: go ahead and use it as you please 
.
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 00:30
#11
Re: Licencing plans
Hello) I'm from Ukraine. Your engine is very good, I would like to know how much it will cost full license, and when i can buy it))
if you can, add me in Skype: FrankyKey1
Freeware versions are always good for creating user base and small engines need that , most of small engines that didn't have it got crushed by freeware unity3d , ones that survived somehow started offering free version (like rad3d , 3d game studio , 3impact and others). I also don't like crippleware and I know other people don't , but what most people like is free for non-commercial use , some engines got that some don't. Of course this is not good for author because reduces income and you got fully working version floating around and can be abused. But good product sells and amount like 150euros is not problem for someone that wish to make money from something that is based on your engine. You should check Neoaxis engine that got this kind of license. From my experience most people that really got intention of buying product , first download shareware / crippleware version of product , then if they are still interest download full warez version work with it for a little while to be shore and then if product meet demands they buy it. This is just my 2c , game engine market is really changing rapidly and you will need to make some smart steps to find place for you product in market.