Harmony: Standalone/DOS Edition!

[TheCaneOfTheTophat]

1 minute ago, t.v. said:

When I return, I will fully test it. It 'should' be ready August 2023!

Can't wait!

 

2 minutes ago, t.v. said:

I even got it to run on Nintendo Wii 😀.

Harmon-wii...
I'll see myself out.

[t.v.]

I was thinking 'HarmoWii' myself. 😜 

[Redneckerz]

On 7/26/2023 at 8:10 PM, t.v. said:

When I return, I will fully test it. It 'should' be ready August 2023!

There is still a few days left, but still. And Wii support? Heck yea! Why not also Vita? Lets make Harmony a multi-stage release :P

 

<- waits in subtle anquish

[t.v.]

This weekend I will wrap up a test version.

I don't want to share it publicly yet. So if you are interested, send me a private message.

And I will give you a link when it is done.

 

If all goes well with the testing, I will upload the final version to the idArchive.

Thanks for waiting!

 

[t.v.]

The test version is ready for testing.

It runs on all limit-removing ports I tested so far: GZDoom, PrBoom+, Eternity, Chocolate Doom, Crispy-Doom, Unity, Boom202 [DOS] and Doom32 [DOS].

 

'Save game' crashes the game in Doom32.exe

I probably missed some things a fresh eye would spot.

 

If you want to help out, just send me a private message. And I will give you a link.

Edited September 4, 2023 by t.v.

[OpenRift]

1 hour ago, t.v. said:

The test version is ready for testing.

 It runs on all limit-removing ports I tested so far: GZDoom, PrBoom+, Eternity, Chocolate Doom, Crispy-Doom, Unity, Boom202 [DOS] and Doom32 [DOS].

  

'Save game' crashes the game in Doom32.exe

 I probably missed some things a fresh eye would spot.

 

If you want to help out, just send me a private message. And I will give you a link.

The savegame crash in Doom32 just means you need to set your memsize higher in DOSBox. Set it to like 63 in your config. Feel free to send me a copy so I can have a look ;)

[t.v.]

I just released the finished version of Harmony Compatible.

Read all about it on this thread !

[OpenRift]

15 hours ago, t.v. said:

I just released the finished version of Harmony Compatible.

Read all about it on this thread !

Updated!

[Voidette]

Oooooooo I gotta play thissssssssss

[Redneckerz]

Awesome to have this playable on DOS. @MrFlibble can you mention this on the standalone sites you frequent?

[MrFlibble]

Excellent news, thanks for the release!

 

@OpenRift, maybe it would be a good idea to edit out this message from the loading screen as well?

Edited November 8, 2023 by MrFlibble
added the part about the loading screen message

[OpenRift]

8 hours ago, MrFlibble said:

Excellent news, thanks for the release!

  

@OpenRift, maybe it would be a good idea to edit out this message from the loading screen as well?



Hmmm... Yeah, I'll see what I can do a bit later.

[MrFlibble]

To be very honest, I generally have some doubts about using Doom32 for a free stand-alone game, especially since it is released under a free license (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0). After all, Doom32 is still just a hacked DOOM2.EXE from the commercial release, which users that do not own that game technically aren't supposed to have in their possession, and it contains proprietary code in the form of the DMX library.

 

I guess it would be more okay to supply the hacked Doom32-based executable as an addition to the HarmonyC PWAD, to make it possible to use it with vanilla Doom II for those who own the game (kind of like how the original HacX worked).

Edited November 9, 2023 by MrFlibble
added second paragraph

[OpenRift]

10 hours ago, MrFlibble said:

To be very honest, I generally have some doubts about using Doom32 for a free stand-alone game, especially since it is released under a free license (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0). After all, Doom32 is still just a hacked DOOM2.EXE from the commercial release, which users that do not own that game technically aren't supposed to have in their possession, and it contains proprietary code in the form of the DMX library.

  

I guess it would be more okay to supply the hacked Doom32-based executable as an addition to the HarmonyC PWAD, to make it possible to use it with vanilla Doom II for those who own the game (kind of like how the original HacX worked).

The main reason I don't have reservations about it is that it's a hacked executable with modified functionality that is being distributed as freeware. That and I've seen hacked EXEs distributed many a time before on Doomworld before. As long as the actual IWAD files that are required to play registered Doom aren't included, it shouldn't be a problem.

[MrFlibble]

On 11/9/2023 at 9:32 PM, OpenRift said:

it's a hacked executable with modified functionality that is being distributed as freeware

I'm fairly certain that a hacked DOOM2.EXE cannot be called "freeware" in a true sense, as it is still a piece of copyrighted, proprietary software that is sold commercially. It's probably fine to include it with a mod, just like any other copyrighted assets that get a free pass/fair use exception when used in mods, but here we're talking about a complete, free game.

 

I wouldn't say that basing a stand-alone Doom engine game like Harmony or REKKR on a modified DOOM2.EXE violates the Doom II EULA in a major way or is completely unacceptable. But it certainly clashes with the spirit of free software, at least as I understand it. Unfortunately, the GPL release of the Doom source code does not retroactively cover the original binary executables, because of the proprietary components therein.

 

I wonder how complicated it would be to modify a proper DOS port like doom-vanille to incorporate the DeHacked changes and raise limits to make Harmony playable through it.

[OpenRift]

4 hours ago, MrFlibble said:

I'm fairly certain that a hacked DOOM2.EXE cannot be called "freeware" in a true sense, as it is still a piece of copyrighted, proprietary software that is sold commercially. It's probably fine to include it with a mod, just like any other copyrighted assets that get a free pass/fair use exception when used in mods, but here we're talking about a complete, free game.

  

I wouldn't say that basing a stand-alone Doom engine game like Harmony or REKKR on a modified DOOM2.EXE violates the Doom II EULA in a major way or is completely unacceptable. But it certainly clashes with the spirit of free software, at least as I understand it. Unfortunately, the GPL release of the Doom source code does not retroactively cover the original binary executables, because of the proprietary components therein.

  

I wonder how complicated it would be to modify a proper DOS port like doom-vanille to incorporate the DeHacked changes and raise limits to make Harmony playable through it.

I think something to consider is that this based on the EXE that's distributed with Doom 1.9 shareware (which Doom II 1.9 registered uses), so from that perspective I don't consider it to be too much of an issue. If there was a dehacked like tool that could apply DEH patches on a source code level and have the changes baked into an EXE, then I would use that instead, but sadly that doesn't seem to be a thing as far as I know.

[MrFlibble]

2 hours ago, OpenRift said:

I think something to consider is that this based on the EXE that's distributed with Doom 1.9 shareware (which Doom II 1.9 registered uses), so from that perspective I don't consider it to be too much of an issue.

That does not solve the problem at all, because the Doom shareware license explicitly states that

Quote

ID SOFTWARE LICENSE

     1.   Grant of License.  ID grants to you the right to use the 
Id Software game program (the "Software"), which is the shareware version 
or episode one  of the game program.  For purposes of this section, "use" 
means loading the Software into RAM, as well as installation on a hard disk 
or other storage  device.  You may not:  modify, translate, disassemble, 
decompile, reverse engineer, or create derivative works based upon the 
Software.  You agree thatd the Software will not be shipped, transferred or 
exported into any country in violation of the U.S. Export Administration Act 
and that you will not utilize, in any other manner, the Software in violation 
of any applicable law.

I've attached the full text of the license for reference: LICENSE.zip

[OpenRift]

On 11/11/2023 at 3:04 PM, MrFlibble said:

That does not solve the problem at all, because the Doom shareware license explicitly states that

I've attached the full text of the license for reference: LICENSE.zip

I do have to wonder though about how the game's subsequent source release changed those rules, not to mention you have the part about not being able to "create derivative works based upon the software, which when you consider the multiple total conversions that were sold commercially within a few years of the game's release, makes you wonder if it really matters. 

 

To me it seems like formal legalese and given the nature of id on these kinds of projects, I don't think they'll come after us for it. I think as long as we're not trying to sell these EXEs for money without authorization or distributing the full registered game IWAD for free, then we have nothing to worry about.

[MrFlibble]

14 hours ago, OpenRift said:

I do have to wonder though about how the game's subsequent source release changed those rules

It's really simple: the source code release has not changed the Doom shareware or commercial license retroactively, at all.

 

If id Software were to release the entire DOS source code, then you'd be able to compile the exact duplicate of DOOM2.EXE out of the box, under whichever license that hypothetical release would've been made, and use it in any way you desired (again, as said license would permit). However, they chose to omit the proprietary DMX sound library (it is my understanding that id wasn't very happy with how it worked, so they likely did not bother to negotiate for it to be made open source, but that's up to speculation). Because of this, the subsequent GPL license of the Doom source cannot retroactively apply to the original binary releases. However, even if it did, it would still be advisable to build a new EXE from source for new projects, rather than take one from non-free original releases of the game.

15 hours ago, OpenRift said:

not to mention you have the part about not being able to "create derivative works based upon the software, which when you consider the multiple total conversions that were sold commercially within a few years of the game's release, makes you wonder if it really matters

I'm glad you mentioned the licensed TCs. I don't think there were too many of them, though, -- IIRC, only Chex Quest and HacX were fully-fledged TCs, while others like Hell to Pay and Perdition's Gate are little more than map packs with some new/replaced art (and I'm not sure about their licensing either).

 

As for Chex Quest and HacX, there is very little doubt that both Digital Café and Banjo Software negotiated their individual license terms to use the Doom engine for their games, which might not be known in exact detail, but are sure to be completely different from both the source code licenses (either the original license or GPL) and the original Doom shareware/commercial EULAs. Indeed, in a way, the wording of the shareware license did not matter for either Digital Café or Banjo Software -- because they were using the Doom engine under their own licenses from id Software. At any rate, the existence of these commercial products does not in any way invalidate Doom's original EULA.

 

BTW, I think it is worth noting that even though Banjo Software obtained the license to produce HacX as a commercial Doom II add-on, the original release (IIRC) still does not contain any modified Doom binary executable: instead, the installer makes a copy of the user's DOOM2.EXE and patches it into HACX.EXE.

15 hours ago, OpenRift said:

given the nature of id on these kinds of projects, I don't think they'll come after us for it.

I never argued otherwise. No one is likely coming after you for making a mod.

 

I just wanted to point out that using a modified shareware or commercial EXE in a free stand-alone game is not in the spirit of free software -- and Harmony is very much "free as in freedom" kind of free software, and has an appropriate license. Basically, your stand-alone version takes a free game and puts a non-free component into it, even though it is perfectly possible to use a GPL-licensed Doom source port instead.

 

Something tells me that John Carmack wouldn't approve of this practice either -- he didn't go all the lengths to release the Doom source code for someone then to create a standalone Doom engine game and base it on an EXE hack, instead of building from source.

[OpenRift]

7 hours ago, MrFlibble said:

Something tells me that John Carmack wouldn't approve of this practice either -- he didn't go all the lengths to release the Doom source code for someone then to create a standalone Doom engine game and base it on an EXE hack, instead of building from source.

Well I'm not really a programmer (yet), so I'm approaching this in a manner that I know how. Also making a new DOS EXE while also applying dehacked sounds like an absolute nightmare, given how dehacked relies pretty much solely on the offsets of certain data within an EXE in order for it to work. The alternatives to this are either making a whole new version of dehacked to support the new offsets or going directly into the source code and making those changes manually, which is just utter insanity and is far beyond my skill level.

 

I wanna be clear and say that I am in no way claiming any of this as my own work aside from the steps necessary to make a more standalone experience in DOS.

 

I also wouldn't look to Carmack for approval anyway. He's a brilliant programmer and I respect him for that, but he also sold out to Facebook for almost a decade (with some other questionable things along the way), so I'm not really going to hold him as a figure of strong moral or ethical principle.

 

If a moderator and cornerstone member of this forum can distribute the EXEs without the commercial IWAD without issue, then I'm sure I can as well, legalese be damned.

[MrFlibble]

15 hours ago, OpenRift said:

The alternatives to this are either making a whole new version of dehacked to support the new offsets

That's very certainly not the feasible or recommended route. Back when you released a similar stand-alone pack for REKKR, I actually took up DeHackEd and tried to change the offsets so that it would work with FastDoom's then-current release. In fact, I managed to identify most arrays of data without problem, except for sounds, which I believe was due to the same issue of FastDoom using a completely different sound library compared to DMX, and without the complete set of arrays DeHackEd would not work, or it would simply corrupt the FastDoom binary.

15 hours ago, OpenRift said:

or going directly into the source code and making those changes manually, which is just utter insanity and is far beyond my skill level

Actually I think this might not be as complicated as you're painting it here, but very certainly it is a lot of tedious work. In this respect, going for a DOS source port that already includes DEH support in some form is much easier. Here's hoping that @Frenkel will add DEH support to djdoom eventually, but for now there are other options like MBF. Oh, and there's also that "vanilla" build with DEH support (what was it called again?), but IIRC that one has some licensing limitations as well.

15 hours ago, OpenRift said:

I also wouldn't look to Carmack for approval anyway. He's a brilliant programmer and I respect him for that, but he also sold out to Facebook for almost a decade (with some other questionable things along the way), so I'm not really going to hold him as a figure of strong moral or ethical principle.

I wasn't alluding to Carmack as some kind of moral example. The issue here is not about morals at all, it's about the principles of free software, and Carmack very certainly has pioneered and championed these principles, in particular by his release of all id's games' source code to the public.

 

See, I'm not against using a hacked DOOM.EXE for a stand-alone game because it would be allegedly "stealing" or "illegal" (God forbid!), or whatever else. I'm not in the least trying to imply that, this is not my line of argument at all. It's solely about stopping short of making a true free-as-in-freedom complete DOS game but not seeing it through because of some arbitrary limitations -- namely the lack of a proper free vanilla/limit-removing DOS binary that would easily read DeHackEd patches.

 

I'll try to briefly explain my idea of free software, and why it irks me that a hacked vanilla binary is used for a free game. Doom shareware is gratis, as you can download and share it for free, but it is still proprietary, non-free software. How do I know that? Because it includes a license that restricts me from doing whatever I want with it. Instead, the license says that I cannot do this and that (for example, I cannot make my own game using anything from Doom), for very obvious reasons that id Software wanted to protect its interest in selling the full game. It's very logical and I'm alright with using the shareware version, or the commercial version, within these limitations.

 

Now let's take Harmony Compatible. it comes with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, which basically means that @t.v. gives me permission to do anything I want with the game data, use it in whichever projects I feel like, for example create a completely new game using some or all of the assets, as long as I give credit and never try to make money off anything that contains Harmony data. You can see that this license gives a considerable amount of freedom to users, whereas the proprietary Doom license is mostly about restrictions.

 

These two types of license are not really compatible -- in fact, if I wanted to make a free game with Harmony data and use the DOOM.EXE from the shareware version, it would not be entirely in accord with the Doom EULA. But let's imagine I got permission from id Software to do exactly that and build my Harmony-based game with the modified shareware DOOM.EXE. It would be all right, yes? It would, if you just want to play, but you can immediately see how it would place additional restrictions on this resulting game, which did not exist in Harmony's original CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license: namely, anyone who'd want to produce any derivative works from this hypothetical game would not be able to do anything further with the binary executable, because they would, too, need a special permission from id to do so. This is the essence of proprietary software: you're always in the shadow of the copyright holder who tells you not to do this and that. I'm not saying this is super bad, but free software is so much better.

15 hours ago, OpenRift said:

If a moderator and cornerstone member of this forum can distribute the EXEs without the commercial IWAD without issue, then I'm sure I can as well, legalese be damned.

I think it is pretty obvious that what @Doomkid has uploaded is a collection of mods intended to be used with the original Doom/Doom II. (BTW, I'm totally downloading this ASAP.) As with any other mods that contain copyrighted content, this type of distribution generally gets a free pass by the way of the fair use exception or similar logic. Basically, any user that downloads and plays this pack still uses the base game and the extra levels and modifications within the permissions of the original Doom/Doom II EULA.

 

You, on the other hand, have created a stand-alone game that goes beyond being simply a mod or add-on. It is not the question of whether you're allowed to distribute a file or not, it's about how you use it. Technically, this kind of use is not provided for in the shareware or commercial Doom EULA (remember, licenses tell you what you can or cannot do with software).

 

I wish to reiterate that my intent is not to criticize you for doing a supposedly wrong thing. I'm pretty certain that on a personal level, mixing the proprietary binary with free and open content is no big deal to me. But I would not upload your stand-alone version to a free games website that wants to stay legally clear. And I also like the idea of a free game being completely free and not relying on proprietary crutches, especially when there are very viable free alternatives because the Doom source code itself is free. What you have produced is essentially still a stand-alone mod for Doom, not a stand-alone free DOS game.