Run Game in Cloud, avoid GPL?

http://sphere3d.com/our-platform-glassware-2-0/

http://gaminganywhere.org/ -Linux and windows

Can a cloud running linux serve a android phone in real time? Iphone?

Can we make it so with our own in house software?

Does this not “go around” GPL as the service sends video and information not a Exe?

Ever heard of OnLive? Latency is more of an issue with gaming compared to general computing. Generally, the closer you are to the server the better. Overall the tchnology is getting there but it still has some way to go.

I mentioned this before but the “cloud” is one method to turn GPL software into proprietary software. So if somebody sticks Blender in the cloud, they can close source it.

Your thread title looks like advertising spam for glassware. If you want to discuss “Game streaming technology”, use that for the title, not the url of some specific product.

Anyway:

There are a number of companies entering into this area, one of which is Amazon, with their AppStream service. It seems like one of those “magic bullet” solutions, that can completely resolve incompatibility, and general “cross platform development” issues. Although, if you take the time to think about it, there are serious drawbacks.

For one, your application now depends entirely on the network, and on the back-end infrastructure that must constantly (and consistently) serve the video stream. Companies that push these services will have nice demos to show, but in the real world, the network is much slower, much less reliable, and highly inconsistent. This means that, in practice, responsiveness suffers, and latency is noticeable.

However, even if all those technical problems are resolved (in the next 5 to 10 years, if we’re optimistic), there is still the question of price at scale:

When you create a game for a specific platform, the price of release (for you as the developer) is a one-time cost. You upload to a distribution service, from which all other users will download, and there are no (or very small) costs beyond that, regardless of how many people play your game.

When you create a game for a cloud platform, you must pay the services fees, which are recurring, for as long as your game is streamed.

You could argue that the economics would work out for games which generate recurring revenue, but even then, porting directly to a specific platform is likely to be far less expensive, especially if your game is really popular.

I’m pretty sure the GPL still applies, regardless of the serve source and method.

I should’ve said in a sense of the word. The GPL license can’t be changed but the distribution can be side-stepped. If a video of the application is streamed and the application binary is never downloaded, technically it’s not being distributed so the source doesn’t need to be released. It’s the reason the AGPL was created.

I haven’t really seen anybody try this but that’s probably because of all the other issues mentioned.

So let the client have a client that sends data to the server, but have something the server hosts that is necessary?

so client = GPL

Data->Protected/intellectual property?

There are several different approaches:

  • standalone application - offline installation
  • standalone application - offline installation, online update
  • standalone application - online installation, online update
  • network-able applications - can optionally connect against another entity (such as DBMS, network file systems, multi-player games) which are not essential part of the application
  • fat client - large part of the application as client - typically requires a connection to a server
  • thin client - the client consists of UI components only - the remaining parts of the application run on a server - requires constant connection

Just a list out of my head. I’m sure there are better classifications somewhere else.

Regarding GPL. The licence belongs to the distributed GPLed parts.
Screen output is not GPL.
The .blend is not GPL.
Rendered images are not GPL.
Exported meshes are not GPL.
Exported application file is GPL.

If you received GPL data (e.g. via an application file = blenderplayer + .blend), the data remains GPL.
If you received non-GPL (via download, filetransfer etc), the data remains non-GPL.
If you created the data … it is up to you. You can distribute it under GPL or not, even both. But GPLed remains GPLed.

Is cloud centralized thing?

While traditional games are products, cloud gaming is a service. You’re selling people the service of ability to receive video stream and send back data that is used to manipulate the video stream in a form of a game.

Someone providing this service doesn’t have to worry about Blender’s GPL more than someone who is rendering and selling still images produced by the application.

Not that GPL would be much of a problem with BGE games anyway.

No, it is more a term that expressed that the processing is somewhere (out of your view and therefore out of your control).

While there are known contact points (otherwise you would not know how to interact), the final implementation is hidden.

Possible implementations can be:

  • single server
    –> running multiple instances
    –> running a single instance

  • multiple servers
    –> running multiple instances
    –> running a single instance

I kind of dont like it. It sounds like a government central control.

There is nothing governmental in there. But you have to trust the company running that service (as it is for each application that needs connection the internet).

Commercial game companies have already been using cloud systems to put a complete stop to piracy (which is a big deal when you note that some indie studios lose up to 80 percent of their potential revenue because of that).

Basically, you would download a client or a launcher for the game that would be streamed to you from the internet. The advantage is that this would theoretically serve as a way to avoid making the source available, the disadvantage though is that you would have to ensure the servers keep running so no one’s game experienced becomes interrupted (which could be expensive).

A possible alternative would be the game itself looking for a ‘ping’ from the studio’s website and then run the game with no need to connect, but that assumes you can make the game non-functional without it without running afoul of the GPL.

Why do you want to avoid GPL ?, make a server and make the interesting stuff happen there, sell in-game stuff via PIN codes you can make with UUID.
:slight_smile:

if I want to make money selling a game, that is GPL, then I need a “killswitch” so if the player does not buy it , it will not work ,

so the killswitch needs to be non GPL, or it will be turned off on day 2.

Distribute the game for Free, use serverside validation, compile the core to binary (0s and 1s) with Nuitka, sell in-game stuff via uuid pin, that can make you roll.