I'm not sure as to the free-software-ness of the ADK. If the ADK is completely free software, and it's possible to set up a working android image for it using only free software, then an android entry would be legal. That said, if you were to do that, you should be prepared to:
a) provide a working ADK image and fast instructions on how to get your game up and running so we don't have to figure it out ourselves, and
b) be very specific about what all is in your android image so that we can be certain that it's all free software.
Please note that this is in no way a confirmation on the part of the LPC staff that the ADK is free software. If someone can answer that question definitively (and provide documentation) I'd appreciate it. :)
The CC0 license means the work is essentially public domain, so you can use it in whatever you want, commercial or otherwise, open source or closed source, etc. Crediting the author is appreciated. :)
For the record, I don't know python and can't provide much in the way of specific technical input in that direction (although I'm a reasonably good coder in general). That said, I'd be happy to playtest and help in other ways.
So that's no for Android... :) Making it to run native on Android and Linux would mean to make it actually as two different engines... Noone of the judges has access to Android phone? Really wanted to finally get my hands on Android development... just could not make myself to finally start... this contest could be good push :)
I can't say for sure that none of the judges have access to an android phone, but I can say that not all of them do.
Much as I wish we could support a bunch of different platforms, it's not realistic. It's more important that we be able to say "if you write your program for x86 GNU/Linux, the judges will be able to run it". Hence the platform requirement.
It's not about pushing Linux over everything else; it's more about what we can expect all of the judges to reasonably have access to.
For the convenience of the judges, your program will need to run on an x86 system. It's fine if it also runs on other platforms, such as Android, Windows, Mac, etc.
The FSF defines free (as in freedom) software as having these four freedoms:
Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish.
Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits.
Note that freedoms 1 and 3 require that you be able to view and modify the source of a program; thus, all free software is open source (although not necessarily vice-versa).
It's true that it's possible to create a game that's free and open source using flex and flashdevelop. However, the contest makes some additional stipulations that would prevent a program like that from being entered. Specifically, you have to be able to take the source of the program, compile it, and run it, using nothing but free software. That is to say, since Flash itself doesn't satisfy the four freedoms above (Adobe hasn't released the source code for Flash, for one thing), the program wouldn't comply with the contest rules, since you'd need to download and install some non-free software (Flash) in order for it to run.
I hope that helps somewhat. The following is a very brief and non-exhaustive list of languages and libraries you might use in LPC:
HTML5 and Javascript, running on Firefox.
C/C++, using any combination of the following libraries: SDL, SFML, OpenGL, OpelAL, Qt, Gtk, and many others.
Python, using PyGame
Java, running on the OpenJDK.
Lua, using Love2d
Basing your game on an existing game engine that's already free and open source, like Frogatto.
As I said, the above list isn't even remotely exaustive. If you don't have access to a GNU/Linux system, yout safest bet might be to go with HTML5+Javascript on Firefox, as that's consistent across the three major platforms. The other languages are too, but you have to be a bit more careful.
Some off-the-record advice (not speaking as LPC staff here):
If you decide to go with C/C++ and you're running Windows, look into MinGW, which is a Windows version of the GNU C++ compiler, and should be pretty consistent syntax-wise. Your program will still need to compile and run under GNU/Linux, but there are friendly people in the IRC channel (myself included) who would be willing to help with that if you ask. Don't wait until the last minute if you're going to do this! :)
Final note: As I said, this list is incomplete. Note that if there's some other library that you want to use that's not listed, be sure to ask about it specifically and we'll look into it and get back to you. If your program requires any proprietary libraries, you won't be eligible to enter the contest, so please ask if you're not sure. :)
@hendrik:
I'm not sure as to the free-software-ness of the ADK. If the ADK is completely free software, and it's possible to set up a working android image for it using only free software, then an android entry would be legal. That said, if you were to do that, you should be prepared to:
a) provide a working ADK image and fast instructions on how to get your game up and running so we don't have to figure it out ourselves, and
b) be very specific about what all is in your android image so that we can be certain that it's all free software.
Please note that this is in no way a confirmation on the part of the LPC staff that the ADK is free software. If someone can answer that question definitively (and provide documentation) I'd appreciate it. :)
Okay. I'm probably not the best person to ask about this, since I don't do any Java development myself and wouldn't really know where to start.
Would anyone else reading this be willing to jump in and help out?
@Anonymous:
The CC0 license means the work is essentially public domain, so you can use it in whatever you want, commercial or otherwise, open source or closed source, etc. Crediting the author is appreciated. :)
Can you do me a favor and set up a webpage that runs the applet?
Thanks,
Bart
Yes, I'd absolutely be interested! :)
For the record, I don't know python and can't provide much in the way of specific technical input in that direction (although I'm a reasonably good coder in general). That said, I'd be happy to playtest and help in other ways.
Bart
So that's no for Android... :) Making it to run native on Android and Linux would mean to make it actually as two different engines... Noone of the judges has access to Android phone? Really wanted to finally get my hands on Android development... just could not make myself to finally start... this contest could be good push :)
I can't say for sure that none of the judges have access to an android phone, but I can say that not all of them do.
Much as I wish we could support a bunch of different platforms, it's not realistic. It's more important that we be able to say "if you write your program for x86 GNU/Linux, the judges will be able to run it". Hence the platform requirement.
It's not about pushing Linux over everything else; it's more about what we can expect all of the judges to reasonably have access to.
Testing forum reply...
@DarkUranium:
How exactly would you go about creating a chiptune in Audacity? It doesn't have a sequencer that I'm aware of.
For the convenience of the judges, your program will need to run on an x86 system. It's fine if it also runs on other platforms, such as Android, Windows, Mac, etc.
Actually, that was quite helpful. :)
The FSF defines free (as in freedom) software as having these four freedoms:
Note that freedoms 1 and 3 require that you be able to view and modify the source of a program; thus, all free software is open source (although not necessarily vice-versa).
It's true that it's possible to create a game that's free and open source using flex and flashdevelop. However, the contest makes some additional stipulations that would prevent a program like that from being entered. Specifically, you have to be able to take the source of the program, compile it, and run it, using nothing but free software. That is to say, since Flash itself doesn't satisfy the four freedoms above (Adobe hasn't released the source code for Flash, for one thing), the program wouldn't comply with the contest rules, since you'd need to download and install some non-free software (Flash) in order for it to run.
I hope that helps somewhat. The following is a very brief and non-exhaustive list of languages and libraries you might use in LPC:
As I said, the above list isn't even remotely exaustive. If you don't have access to a GNU/Linux system, yout safest bet might be to go with HTML5+Javascript on Firefox, as that's consistent across the three major platforms. The other languages are too, but you have to be a bit more careful.
Some off-the-record advice (not speaking as LPC staff here):
If you decide to go with C/C++ and you're running Windows, look into MinGW, which is a Windows version of the GNU C++ compiler, and should be pretty consistent syntax-wise. Your program will still need to compile and run under GNU/Linux, but there are friendly people in the IRC channel (myself included) who would be willing to help with that if you ask. Don't wait until the last minute if you're going to do this! :)
Final note: As I said, this list is incomplete. Note that if there's some other library that you want to use that's not listed, be sure to ask about it specifically and we'll look into it and get back to you. If your program requires any proprietary libraries, you won't be eligible to enter the contest, so please ask if you're not sure. :)
Peace,
Bart
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