The Open2 Engine - part 1 - The Open Game License

    Okay, so a quick re-cap for anyone new to the blog:  I started this blog after finding a program called Twine that was designed to make Interactive Narratives (sometimes called Interactive Fiction, or "Choose Your Own Adventure).  I wanted to convert an old 80s adventure-book series called "Lone Wolf" by Joe Dever to Twine.  Which was fun, and frustrating, since my knowledge of programming was pretty limited.  After getting a ways through that project I started wondering about what I was doing.  The Lone Wolf books are not mine to use, and I didn't want to waste all the effort I'd been putting into that project.  So I decided that I needed to make something that I could legally use.  I thought about making my own system, decided against it, did it anyways (with my QND-Quest framework) (I would call it a "system" but it's not complete, so "framework" has the appropriately skeletal feeling :), then got that out of my system.
    Okay, this is the first post in my new project: The Open2 Engine.  I am going back to my original decision and I'm going to build it off of material that I can legally use.  And since I started having some rel troubles with Twine, I'm going to write the whole thing myself in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.  Over this week I'm going to post a series of articles that cover the groundwork for the project.  I'm going to talk about the tools and resources I'm using, and even do a crash-course in the technologies I'm using.  So this is going to lay the ground for regular postings about how the project grows.

    Creating a role-playing game is a lot of work, on top of learning how to program it's a ****-ton of work.  So I want to use an existing game that I can modify (since, lets face it, I'm going to end up tinkering :).  How then does one find a game one can modify legally?  Well, there are several options - okay, mostly two options: Creative Commons or Open Game License.

    Creative Commons refers to a website that creates licenses for people who want to allow some type of non-traditional copyright for their works.  This is a great community of artists who are willing to share their work (to varying degrees).  There are quite a few independent RPGs that have been released under a Creative Commons license.  The trick is, there are several different types of CC licenses, all allowing or requiring different things.  So you have to read over them carefully.  Another thing is, many designers who release an RPG under a CC license usually forbid commercial use.  Now, it's a little early to worry about making money for something I haven't even created yet: but I've already put a lot of planning hours into this project that I'm going to put a ****-ton of writing and coding hours into, so I would like to have the option to try to make some money off my labors.  So while I tip my hat to the CC projects out there (and I did release my own QND-Quest under a pretty open CC license), I don't think those kinds of games are going to work for what I want to do.

    Which leaves option #2, the Open Game License.  The OGL has quite a history, having been created for Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition and then taking on a life of it's own.  Pathfinder, a pretty popular RPG, was created with the OGL.  This license allows commercial use, has a huge base of material, and is pretty easy to follow (you just copy the OGL itself and then add a few lines crediting all the projects you're using that are OGL content).
    Now, all the games I know of that are covered by the OGL have been pen-and-paper RPGs, but I'm creating a "computer game" - so is the OGL still okay?  That's a good question, so I did some digging and came up with this webpage that was written by Wizards of the Coast, the creators of the OGL:

There has been some confusion about how these licenses are applied to software. We will attempt to clarify the major sticking points. This FAQ assumes you have read and are reasonably familiar with the Open Game License, the d20 System Trademark License, and the d20 System Trademark Guide.

Q: Can the licenses be used with software?

A: Yes, both licenses can be used with software. However, several sections of the licenses require a bit more work to properly implement in software than they do in printed material and the d20 License has restrictions specific to software.

Q: How can the OGL be used with software?

A: Just like with other material, the OGL allows you to use any Open Content, provided you follow the terms of the OGL. Follow the requirements of the License, include the text of the license and the appropriate copyright information, and clearly identify Open Content.

NOTE: The biggest problem we've found with software and the OGL is that programmers aren't paying attention to Section 8 of the OGL. Section 8 states: ñIf you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Content.î This doesn't mean you can say all rules in my program are Open, the users need to be able to see all that Open Content. You can do this by putting Open Content in a format that is easy to understand. Popular solutions have been to place everything in text files that the program pulls info from, having everything in a viewable database within the software, using Java script on a webpage (viewing the source of the webpage will display the code and Java script is relatively easy for a user to interpret). The key is that the user has to see everything that is Open Content that the program uses and be able to understand it without too much effort. The whole point of the OGL is that once information is declared Open everyone has free access to it under the OGL. Compiling that information into a program denies the user that access and violates the spirit of the Open Gaming License.

Q: So what kinds of programs can I make with the OGL?

A: Anything. Character generators are popular, as are programs that help GMs keep track of their adventure. Random treasure generators are also fun.

Q: So I could make a game?

A: Sure. Remember though, you cannot use any Product Identity with the OGL or claim compatibility with anything. So you can't say your game is a d20 System game or uses D&D rules or call it Elminster's Undermountain Crawl.

    Okay, I get that, most programs are only readable by the computers that run them, so that would hide all the rules that the system is using.  Well, that's great because JavaScript does not have that problem.  JavaScript is an "interpreted" language, the browser reads and runs it on the fly from regular text files that are easy to read (once you know the syntax of course) - unlike other languages like C++ that are "compiled" into machine-code.  Ditto with HTML and CSS, both are quite easily readable (in fact, later I'll introduce you to them and help you start learning how if you don't already know).  There's another OGL FAQ page, and it seems to agree, and everything in it is something I can live with.

    Okay, legal issues seem to be good, and so I've got my basis for creating my own game.  Well, the thing is, I actually have a whole lot of options for creating my own game.  You see, the OGL has been around for a while and there have been a lot of games released under it:

The 3.5 SRD has the rules that formed the basis of the OGL when it was created.

The Modern Path was created for a modern or futuristic version of the 3.5's fantasy.

d20 Hero added super-heroes.

As I mentioned before, the RPG Pathfinder was built on the OGL, and has a metric-ton of books and supplements.

Swords & Wizardry is an "old-school" retroclone with the feel of the earlier D&D games, built from the OGL.

Dungeon World is another old-school-styled game.

Gumshoe was designed for mystery games, again it's OGL.

Traveller is the latest version of a sci-fi game I remember from my youth (never played it much, but it had a unique (at the time) character creation system).

Fate Core is a very different game from many other OGLs, it's has a more narrative focus (that the mechanic focus of the original OGL works).

13th Age is a newer RPG, which has some issues but also some neat concepts.

Starfinder is the latest RPg from Paizo, the creators of Pathfinder.  It has a strange fantasy/sci-fi mix, from the little I've seen of it (haven't fully read the rules or played it).

The D6 System is the core of the original Star Wars and Ghostbusters games by West End Games back in the 80s, and adds a lot of mechanical depth to the OGL pool.

The 4C System is another update to an old game, the Marvel Superheroes also from the 80s.  It isn't a part of the OGL, it's in the Public Domain so it can be added to the OGL mix.

    And I'm pretty sure this list is incomplete :)  I'll wager I could find a few more OGL works if I tried.
    There is another possible source, the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY) only requires that you give credit to the original creator - which under the OGL you have to do, there is list of the works you're pulling from at the end of the license document.  It seems like the two should live together just fine, though I'm leery of mixing licenses.  I'll look into this some more down the road.
    Okay, with all that material to choose from, where to start?  Well, with the one I haven't mentioned yet, the 5e System Reference Document.  This is the basis for the latest version of D&D, and one thing you'll notice when you read the document itself is that it's pretty sparse.  There are not very many option for races and characters - which suits me just fine.  The thing I like about 5e is that it's pretty simple mechanically.  It's a good, lean skeleton to build off of (and to translate into computer code).  I'm going to be creating my own races and classes and abilities (which I'd need to do anyways, the OGL only really covers mechanics).

    Now, something I didn't do in my last project (since it wasn't mine really) was make things look pretty.  Now that I'm creating something that's going to have my name on it, I want it to be good and to look good.  So on top of rules I need some art I can use (since my skills as an artist border between laughable and horrific).  To that end, there are some sites that have "open" artwork too...

Open Game Art has a lot of great resources, more for 2D computer games, but I'm sure I can find some useful stuff here.

Craftpix has some free stuff and some paid stuff.

Icon Finder is a list to some free icons (have to watch carefully which ones are okay for commercial use though) (and, if I ever get paid for this, I will happily pass on some money to the people I'm drawing resources from).

Icons8 has some really cool icons.

Honestly though, Game-icons.net is the greatest collection of, well, game icons.

Google Fonts has some greats fonts that are open to use (most just need credit, that's true of most everything I've listed here actually) (so my "Credits Page" for this project is going to be huge).

Free Sound and Ambient Mixer are both supposed to have some good sounds, from what I've read, though I haven't looked around either site much yet.

And lastly, for this list, Wikimedia Commons has a bunch of public domain art and other stuff.

    Whew!!!  So that's a lot of stuff that's all legal to use (well, with the proper attribution and such - I'm just laying out the resources right now).  A pretty darn good pool to draw from, and it's easier for me to build on top of something else right now (though in the future, who knows?).

    So, that was part 1 of this project, figuring out what material we have to use.  With this start, we're going to have to start writing code to make it all snap, crackle and pop: so in the post tomorrow I'll take a look at the programming tools I'm going to use to bring all this to digital life, and again, there are a lot of great free options out there.
    Until tomorrow !