Arduboy

[ajsb113]

I agree with most of this thread about the ideas being similar, but it being alright because people can have their own ideas, but my main issue with it is how they didn't even ask if they could use our games/demos. I'm all for the open source, but just taking Rodot's UFO race, Myndale's 3d demo, and my Maruino without first letting us know/asking us is a little unprofessional. I don't know if anything can be done about it or if anything should happen, but it just rubs me the wrong way.

[MegaPikaKeroro]

Just asking: other than the size of the screen and console, which is the difference?
also, is possible to run the game from team arg on gamebuino?
because they are really cool!

[rodot]

I was pretty surprised to see UFO race, Myndale's 3D demo or Marduino on their kickstarter page, ok it's open source but they could have just asked. And it's not just screenshots as they say, they actually ported the games. At least now they added a link to the Gamebuino website.

I read on the Arduboy page that the author has given up his day job to build the Arduboy. I think he has perhaps overestimated the business potential. Or I might be wrong. Rodot, are you planning to give up your degree in engineering and become a full time Gamebuinoist ?

If the Gamebuino campaign had such a success I would have certainly gave up on my engineering school

[Drakker]

Would you have changed your name to Gamebuino? ;)

[erico]

Yep, the use of the games without mentioning is quite unpro and that is the reason I made the post.
The now `thanks´ msg is ok, but would be nice to see a quote on the actual creator of the games itself.

Still, good luck to them.

[jonnection]

Yep, the use of the games without mentioning is quite unpro and that is the reason I made the post

Yes, there really is no excuse for not giving proper credit, especially in the case of open source.

In addition to Gamebuino games, all the rest seem to be ripped-off Nootropic design (makers of Hackvision) games. I say ripped off, because usually its good etiquette to notify/ask permission from the original author before porting the code.

[nownew]

Yes, there really is no excuse for not giving proper credit, especially in the case of open source.

In addition to Gamebuino games, all the rest seem to be ripped-off Nootropic design (makers of Hackvision) games. I say ripped off, because usually its good etiquette to notify/ask permission from the original author before porting the code.

I don't know if they need to notify/ask permission, because these games are open source. Nobody needs to ask John Carmack to make a Doom source port or a Linus Torvalds that want to port linux for a new Hardware. So, I think they would more smart if they stay close on arduino game developers because it's a small community

Sorry, my english is terrible. I speak brazilian portuguese.

[erico]

Agreed, maybe they don´t ´need´ to notify creators but it is a wise move to do so, specially on a small community.
Also, there is a big difference between Doom, Linux and our community´s software.

Two points I really enjoyed on the Gamebuino´s campaign are:
. Great attention with hardware tweaking/messing. Files were open to users so anyone could create their own Gamebuino, from board to cover. Also, the Gamebuino is quite rich with ports. So I´d say makers are happy with it.

. Great attention with software dev. There has always been a focus on easiness of development. Rodot created a lib so to make it easy for people to code. The lib is open and is updated as the community grows with it.

Overall, the Gamebuino was target at experimentation and learning + a great pinch of game development.
We are all here today mostly because of those 2 points I believe?
So that was an excellent way of growing a community, which I believe is something absolutely necessary when it comes to new hardware.

In comparison, the Arduboy does not seem to touch both of those points. It dosen´t look like a handheld that could be mixed with other hardware projects nor it could be extended. It just looks like a simpler version of a gaming handheld and that is it. Their attention to software development is pretty crap on the campaign and here it makes me feel like after the thing is released, the need for software and ports are going to be pushed to the users.

Here Rodot is releasing his own games and tools, helping people out where he can and doing his work to keep this community going.
I don´t know if the Arduboy will have such attention, but by the campaign´s style so far, it dosen´t seem to me it will hold up.

It is going to be interesting to follow up with how it is going to come out. Rodot´s compaing was flawless, everything delivered on time and proper updates and communication for such. Now that is not something you see everyday when it comes to crowdfunding.

So, if you did read this wall of text , you will see why I think the credit was important, even more important to them if what they want is to create a community and not just sell hardware and done. The Gamebuino, Arduboy and the others are all kind of different things for different people, so I think they didn´t mention it so people more interested in other designs would not simply go to the others, like their kickstart is going to support(propaganda) other products but their own.

Heck, we have been talking about Gamebuino alternatives on this forum even before the Gamebuino got shipped, it was never a problem. Rodot supported and supports people here even if they did not give him 1 cent for the hardware or built by themselves. These and other actions endorse a high level of commitment in my book, something I so far don´t see going on the Arduboy.

PS: Ei Nownew, não se preocupe com o inglês, essa é uma comunidade internacional e muitos não tem Inglês como lingua primária. O que vale é o esforço na comunicação, e teu inglês está jóia.

[jonnection]

I don't know if they need to notify/ask permission, because these games are open source. Nobody needs to ask John Carmack to make a Doom source port or a Linus Torvalds that want to port linux for a new Hardware. So, I think they would more smart if they stay close on arduino game developers because it's a small community

Sorry, my english is terrible. I speak brazilian portuguese.

@nownew: your english is fully understandable.

I don't mean to argue about this because I think we all agree that copy-pasting others work is in principle a bad idea - when you fail to give credit.

However, I was involved with the Hackvision community before, and I know the dude who made it. His 'Asteroids' is a really top-notch game with excellent coding and ideas. Its also LGPL 2.1. Open source is not the same thing as public domain. You can't just take LGPL code, modify it a bit and pretend you've done it. Its still copyrighted work regardless of the fact that it is open source. LGPL is a license by which you allow the distribution and derivative works based on your code, but it does not (as far as I know) remove the rights of the original author to be credited for their work. Furthermore LGPL requires a) source code and modifications to be made available b) retain original copyright c) mention that the work has been published under LGPL because it is irrevocable and affects all the derivative works after that. I do not see any mention of this in Arduboy page. And they've had the nerve to change the name to "Space Rocks" to obfuscate the fact that its a 1:1 copy. I think that is just lame.

I have nothing more to comment on this, excuse my ranting. And I also understand your point about porting doom/linux... you still cant remove the copyright though. Ok enough about this. Peace.

[erico]

Don´t worry about ranting Jonnection, I think this is a nice and healthy conversation to have as we can share different POVs even the ones we may particularly be annoyed about. I believe we all learn with it.

edit: I didn´t know about earlier communities and neither about the´asteroid´ case, thanks!