MEGATRAVELLER 3: Unknown Worlds

[Spaceresearcher]

Back in November 1992, the next installment of the Traveller computer games, "Megatraveller 3: Unknown Worlds" was soon to be released.

Alas it was cancelled as the project was dropped.

Does anyone know if any of the code survived? Due to it's age, it surely wouldn't be top secret anymore and I don't even know that copyright(besides title owned by) would be relevant to software that old(eg it could be in the domain of open free ware along side MT1 and 2).

It would have been interesting to see it and try it out, even if it wasn't complete. (Apparently it was based on MT2's engine). The full surviving details can be seen on the Megatraveller CDROM available from FFE in the Misc directory along with manuals and information on the other 2 games as well.

 

[aramis]

Back in November 1992, the next installment of the Traveller computer games, "Megatraveller 3: Unknown Worlds" was soon to be released.

Alas it was cancelled as the project was dropped.

Does anyone know if any of the code survived? Due to it's age, it surely wouldn't be top secret anymore and I don't even know that copyright(besides title owned by) would be relevant to software that old(eg it could be in the domain of open free ware along side MT1 and 2).

It would have been interesting to see it and try it out, even if it wasn't complete. (Apparently it was based on MT2's engine). The full surviving details can be seen on the Megatraveller CDROM available from FFE in the Misc directory along with manuals and information on the other 2 games as well.

Copyright on code lasts the same as anything else, at least in the US... which is 70+ years.

So, unless it was specifically released to the public domain, the code is still copyrighted.

 

[Spaceresearcher]

Unless it's abandonware, correct? Eg, there is no longer any sales potential of any kind and the creators have given full permission for it to be freely copied in the interest of it remaining at the very least a curio and enjoyment for retro gamers as opposed to software that will never see the light of day again.

Any older games that sell on ebay (Bards Tale, Ultima and yes even MT), are purely because primarily retro gamers want to collect the artwork and original manuals.(Most are available freely on various abandonware sites who also check this is ok with software houses. MT 1 and 2 are part of this category).

Also as the MT3 project was abandoned, surely it's code would be of no possible use now and hence, why not offer it freely for developers who might want to complete it?

 

[aramis]

Unless it's abandonware, correct? Eg, there is no longer any sales potential of any kind and the creators have given full permission for it to be freely copied in the interest of it remaining at the very least a curio and enjoyment for retro gamers as opposed to software that will never see the light of day again.

You're confusing source code with compiled software.

The source code is copyrighted, and usually unreleased. You almost never see it allowed to be copied, and only in extremely rare cases is it released at all.

the compiled program code is also copyrighted, in as much as one is allowed to copyright code (but there is an interesting legal battle going on that could drastically alter copyright for programming right now at the federal appellate level). this is what is licensed to the "purchaser"... often now, the actual terms include that it's a revokable license to use, essentially a lease rather than a purchase.

Odds are good that the source code for the MT games is non-extant. Recompiling for new systems would require reverse engineering the source.

Abandonware constitutes several broad groups:

1. The authors have not released anything, but have not defended their rights.
2. The authors have decided to offer license to the software for free
3. The authors have decided to allow open hosting of a free license copy
4. the authors have explicitly placed the program code in the public domain.
5. The authors cannot be found

Group 1 is the most numerous - and is still "piracy" - criminal copyright infringement.

Groups 2 & 3 technically aren't abandonware - they're freeware. But the distinction is trivial when the software is old. Especially if the code used security lookups...

group 4 is not abandonware, either - its' explicit self-revocation of the rights. Not many companies have gone that route, tho' a few did.

group 5 is the source of the term. They provide no means of legally obtaining, and unlike group 1, the level of threat is unknown. It's still technically piracy, as well.

the various Traveller softwares Marc has allowed to go up (Space, Space II, MT 1 & 2) are not "Abandonware" as the term was originally coined - they're still under copyright, the owner of which allows new licenses at no cost. Elite has fallen into the same category, but with less clear ownership.

 

[Spaceresearcher]

So the simple answer is, depends if it's 'freeware' or not, only for the compiled code. Uncompiled code not normally freely distributable.

 

[aramis]

So the simple answer is, depends if it's 'freeware' or not, only for the compiled code. Uncompiled code not normally freely distributable.

Uncompiled code almost never available outside the Open Software movement.

 

[Shonner]

I've been doing computers since the mid '70s. And I'm thinking of the number of times I was able to get my hands on non-opened source code for abandonware or orphanware from their authors...