Microsoft Releases Allegiance Source Code
February 8th, 2004 by MarvMicrosoft has released the source code to Allegiance, a game that is a mix between Team Fortress, EverQuest, Wing Commander, and Homeworld, as the review that the FiringSquad has done states.Weighing in at 511MB, can someone report on the license that Microsoft has given this release?
Download [Allegiance Source Code]
February 8th, 2004 at 7:17 pm
I wasn’t able to download anything…after agreeing to the Microsoft Shared Source license terms, nothing happened. Has anyone successfully downloaded this?
February 8th, 2004 at 7:25 pm
This is a post on /. about the same story:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=95792&threshold=1&commentsort=0&tid=127&tid=186&tid=206&mode=thread&cid=8202160
February 8th, 2004 at 8:05 pm
here: ftp://131.107.65.20/AllegianceSource.zip
February 8th, 2004 at 8:19 pm
5.That Microsoft is granted back, without any limitations and on a royalty free basis,
the rights to reproduce, install, use, modify, distribute and transfer your
modifications to the Software source code or data.
So please work hard on incorporating new ideas and code into this product so you can see your efforts relized in some other Microsoft title without receiving any kind of recognition or copmpensation. No thanks.
February 9th, 2004 at 12:19 am
Let’s make a propriatary game using most of this game’s source code, and claim we wrote it.
February 9th, 2004 at 2:35 am
non commercial + ms gets the right to use any change you make
not a great license but not a hideous one either
February 9th, 2004 at 4:07 am
A section of the agreement says that the rights to use patents aren’t transfeared to the modified version of the software. So to be allowed to make a public linux version would requier that the sroucecode don’t include anything that Microsoft has a software patent on.
February 9th, 2004 at 4:19 am
Almost all m$ games are stolen ideas. And it sucks badly. Who will made some mod of some mix of clones?
February 9th, 2004 at 10:45 am
yeah, sure try to port it, and fail with a shtity code so they can say ” SEE SEEE??!?! linux sucks for games!!! porting is just a huge waste of $$$!!!” becuse that game must be a big mass of windows dx code, so it should be a rewrote or something… dont be nive, dont ever trust M$, we’re their Enemy so becareful.
February 9th, 2004 at 1:38 pm
It basically looks like it boils down to
1) You can’t sell it
2) If you make any changes we get to use them
The first one is pretty normal for game source releases, most companies don’t want you selling what they are giving out. As for the second, it doesn’t restrict what you can do with it, just says if microsoft wants to use the code they can. Do you really think they plan on using patches made to a 3 or 4 year old game?
Greg
February 9th, 2004 at 1:46 pm
Common guys! Take a step back and try to see it unbiased: Microsoft is actually releasing the sourcecode to software!
As already mentioned: the game is quite old, so Microsoft has no profit whatsoever in any changes made to the code. A new game based on this old code is very, very unlikely.
But we, programmers, can profit from that code. Sure, it’s mostly DirectX. But we can still learn from the gamelogic by learning how to do (or how not to do) it.
I myself am positive surprised; Microsoft has released the code to one of it’s products. Maybe the people there are learning?.. :)
February 9th, 2004 at 2:17 pm
This game was done by “Microsoft Research Games” as a testing ground for DirectX features. You can download the game freely from http://www.freeallegiance.org/ (all 38MB!) but it is distributed as a windows exe (opposed to zip file, etc.). The source zip file is so large because it includes assets like the redbook audio tracks. I wasn’t able to tell whether all of the art, maps, etc. were included. The game uses DirectPlay, of course.
February 9th, 2004 at 6:58 pm
of what wine is not an emulator can do for you.
If anyone successfully links this puppy against winelib, then you do have something that qualifies as native.
Gary (-;
February 10th, 2004 at 3:59 am
Is not it pathetic – sharing an old piece of garbage?
February 11th, 2004 at 2:51 am
The maximum number of allowed connections has been exceeded.
Please try again later.
July 21st, 2005 at 3:50 am
Dear People
I have been given the task of getting links for our websites that have good page rank on the links directories.
In addition we have many categories so your site will be place on an appropriate page.
If you would like to trade links please send me your website details.
If you are not the right person please pass this on to your webmaster.
Best Regards,
Helen Williams