VGOEmulator.net

After doing some investigating, it appears that Smedley stepped down from Daybreak games because of various issues like harassment from hacker groups, and other such. Looks like he's making his own company. Wish he would take VG with him so he could give us the source code.

Just caught him saying this on twitter:

(Read from the bottom up).

Here's his twitter page so you can see it and the replies people left him: https://twitter.com/j_smedley

Oh he's still going. I asked if that means Daybreak will start cracking down on emulators. (Since I guess he's not there anymore).

Its not likely (a crackdown), I mean Daybreak gave the official nod to Project 1999, the EQ emulator, and that was AFTER Smed left. If anything Daybreak created a template to follow for emus to do what they do in a way that cooperates with the original developer and demonstrates commitment to protecting their intellectual property. (Daybreak does not have a lot of extra capital to spend on crackdowns anyway..they are no Blizzard)

The key seems to be having enough of a proven, reputable organization established that is capable of speaking with an entity like Daybreak on a business to business level, speaking to each other as professionals, rather than Oliver with his hat in had going "please sir, may I have another?". Maybe some day, THIS project can pull a repeat of what P99 did. I know John Adams runs this ship quite professionally, and transparently too, and if any emu could qualify to get Daybreak-sanctioned, its this one.

There is hope that we will get an approving "nod" someday, but likely only after the game is actually playable and valid in that respect. I appreciate Smed's words about our teams who work so hard.

It's nearly impossible to trust people "on the internet", so I certainly respect the hesitation to release any sources to anyone - what with all the leaks and virtual egos out there. People know me well enough to know if you say keep it private, it stays private, and it will for life. Hell, I'd even sign a legally binding agreement if it meant I could take a peek into some of the twisted logic of the VG client/server

But the good thing about us having to reverse and build everything line-by-line ourselves, there is no legal ramifications (really) to offering open source and allowing customization, etc. With the "official source", that would not be possible and there would be only 1 VG server with 1 ruleset.

Now what would be truly helpful (aside form the server source of course)...is if one could talk Daybreak into allowing binary redistribution of the VG client but only via an approved outlet. Some publishers have done that, allowing a reputable 3rd party to host binary downloads of their game clients (the Star Fleet Command games are a prime example of that, they even secured permission to host the online portion as well).

That seems attainable, and there is precedent. Perhaps a much more realistic goal than open sourcing of Daybreaks's code, but still useful to the community. The client is often what gets emu's into trouble as well, given it is 100% the IP of the publisher but the emus are still 100% dependent on them.

It would be nice to be able to say "here is a copy of the client" w/o having to look over one's shoulder and relying on inaction by the publisher as being the same thing as consent.