David Mikesell wrote:
Thanks, but I'm not looking to make this an open source project and
am
initially only targeting the Windows market.
So, does anyone out there use Windows?
There's two things I foolishly feel compelled to say at this point.
I'm probably going to regret it, and people are probably going to
think I'm some sort of brainwashed OSS zealot. But here's what I
think:
First, closed source does not mean people won't reverse engineer your
game and copy it (especially if your platform is Python/pygame --
Python is very easy to decompile). In other words, if you have
written some truly ingenius code, it will be easy for other people to
rip you off, closed source or not. The way to deal with this is not
trying to keep your code hidden, because all code can be reverse
engineered, but instead get proper legal counsel so you know which
legal actions you can take to protect your intellectual property.
Security through obscurity is no security.
Secondly, open source does not mean you can't make money off your
game. Again, if your game is truly worth it, people will be willing
to pay for it -- regardless of whether they can read the source code
or not. Being able to download a limited shareware version of your
game has nothing to do with whether you ship the source for the game.
In general, however, making any significant amount of money off
end-user applications (games or otherwise) as an independant software
developer, is unlikely (but certainly possible). Don't mean to burst
your bubble, but that's just how it is.
Now, I realise that it's your privilege to write closed source
applications (whatever your reasons for doing so), and honestly, I
welcome more commercially successful games written in Python/Pygame
whether they are open or closed source.
However, it's also my privilege to deny you my help because you have
decided to write a closed source application.
Best wishes,
/Troels Therkelsen