Request for sample

[UnknownSoldier]

I see a lot of discussion about the million of variants that will arise if the source code is ever released. But if I recall correctly, Thomas has said that the code is not well written and organized.
If this is the case not many variants will be done, maybe not even the silliest ones (AKA you find all artifacts laying at your feets in Terinyo)

To help basing the discussion on better facts, could Thomas release a sample of the code, maybe a single file or even a single function (as long as it is meaningfull) ? Something that is pretty average in the way that things are coded in ADOM but is not to spoilerish (does this word even exists)

I think it will help us see if any variants will in fact be possible to make.

Seeing all the reactions to the code sample may also help Thomas reach a decision.

[chalup]

If ADOM source is a spaghetti code, it should be gradually refactored after code release. At some point it will be neatly organized and every halfwit will be able to write their own lightsaber/UFO/whatever mod. So I don't think it's a valid argument.

[Silfir]

That or people will focus on adding features and fixing bugs, like they should. Though getting code more organized might become a prerequisite for bugfixing...

It's best not to give in to illusions that there won't be silly variants, though, that much is true. There will be silly variants. It was always and is still a matter of tolerating them for the sake of the greater good.

[UnknownSoldier]

I've seen some code professionally that was so messed up that a total rewrite was much cheaper than implementing even a moderatly complicated function. The cost of understanding the code was too great.

This means that a rewrite of Adom may have to start from an empty page. Would a team of developper be sufficiently motivated to do it ?
Would the result still be Adom ?

This is why I'd like to see a sample. If a rewrite is necessary, does it have to be from the ground up ? Is the code commented ?
I'd like us to be able to base our thinking on more than supositions.

[sbumps]

I don't really get it what the problem with someone writing a variant for ADOM is.

Even if the code was organized and every line commented, how many people would have the knowhow to make effective changes to it? The people who are able to do that with reasonable amounts of time and labor have already been writing other roguelikes for years, and many are likely unwilling to drop everything they've already grasped from their own code jumbles. I don't mean adding simple items or editing existing ones (who would play an edit like that a second time, anyway?) - It's when you add something significant to the game play and have to debug the monster AI for 42^x nights through that the actual variants start to form. Those who already know how to code would much more likely use the ADOM source as a reference of sorts for starting their own roguelike projects.

If someone thinks they can start studying a language and take on a project the size of ADOM, their enthusiasm will die pretty quickly after they realize what they've gotten into.

[Sintaluva]

Who cares about silly variants anyway? As long as they are called EDAM or somthing to distinguish them from the ADOM n.n.n and there is an "official" site where the real thing can be downloaded, I don't give a s**t about silly variants. And yet some variants might be funny if done properly.

[zzo38]

Who cares about silly variants anyway? As long as they are called EDAM or somthing to distinguish them from the ADOM n.n.n and there is an "official" site where the real thing can be downloaded, I don't give a s**t about silly variants. And yet some variants might be funny if done properly.

This is what I said about trademarks, effectively. I agree with Sintaluva;11757

[3AM]

Who cares about silly variants anyway?

For the purposes of this discussion, the only person who matters: TB.

[jaked122]

This is good, there seems to be an erosion of the reasoning that would dissuade TB from choosing not to release it.

[Elone]

Who cares about silly variants anyway? As long as they are called EDAM or somthing to distinguish them from the ADOM n.n.n and there is an "official" site where the real thing can be downloaded, I don't give a s**t about silly variants. And yet some variants might be funny if done properly.

Silfir never held these words back, or hid them under asterisks. Either use them fully, or not. Because you're not doing any lesser evil by "hiding" a word in a manner like this.

All others, if you dont know which word I mean, just carry on.