pwaffle2, thank you for taking the time to add your comments. I want to say some things about how Josh inspired people, but maybe it's still a little too soon for that.
On a more practical note, I can endorse nearly every single one of your suggestions. (Other than GPL.
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In particular, the single biggest question in an open project is how it's managed -- both the assets and the people. Basically, if there's no one with power running the thing, who gets firm commitments from participants and actively pushes toward delivery on those commitments, the odds of an actual product ever being released drop to near zero. That's maybe not a happy thought for some, but it's the only conclusion an honest person who's seen a lot of open projects can hold.
And specifically:
pwaffle2 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 4:06 am
The next thing is that whether this is successful or not depends on the management of the project the most in my view. How the source is released, under what conditions is very important here. To ensure best success i would create a github repository and give someone trustworthy complete access.
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usually a given contributor lasts for about 3 years. Likewise, working in your free time takes a lot longer, so just bear that in mind
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1.Please do make a decision on what you would like to see happen with LT in the ideal world. and then let us know, if you would like to see the game finished by someone else, or by this community, or would prefer to see it kept in its current state, or something else entirely, please do let everyone know of your intentions. Writing just a few lines will greatly shape the future of this place. Depending on your answer, you can stop reading here
2.If you would like to see this game developed by the LT community: When releasing the source, please do release it in a github repo, and give a clear line of succession, rather than just throwing it into the air. Pick someone you trust and hand over the rights to them. That way, they would be able to organize this community for years to come, and your project will live on.
3.You may or may not want to have anything to do with LT anymore, but please do let the community know, even if its "i will now move house and never code again" it will really define the direction that this community will go in, and certainty is certainly(!) better than uncertainty. I have a little hope that you may pop in once a year or so but its really not up to anyone but you.
Every bit of that is very well said. In particular, I can't emphasize enough the importance of there being one person with control over and interest in the entire project. Without that, without someone who actively drives progress, progress doesn't happen. This is true in many aspects of human life, and it's true in software development generally and open game development specifically.
So much depends on Josh. If for whatever reason he makes the grand, passionate gesture of simply flinging the existing LT code into the winds, then LT will IMO never happen. If instead he wants some version of LT to exist, and hands over unitary control of the code to one person, then whether a version of LT happens depends on how far Josh got on making the LuaJIT engine work for a restricted subset of the promised gameplay features of Limit Theory. We need to find out whether his terminating the project was due to him personally running out of steam (for which no decent person can blame him), or if there were insuperable technical difficulties that apply even to the most basic subset of desired LT features.
If the former, a new team might succeed. If the latter, then some individual person still ought to be in control of how the assets -- which seem amazing -- are parceled out to the public.
And I say all this because I believe delivering some version of Limit Theory for people to enjoy would be the most wonderful testament to Josh, and to his positive, energetic, smart, creative, and friendly outlook on life in general.