Playing the Open-Source Game
Project Structures and Hierarchies in Open-Source Game Development, its Design Process and the Open-Source Gaming Community
How are the project structures and hierarchies of development teams built around open-source games, and how do their design processes work?
This research work analyses the project structures and hierarchies of open-source games and their communities. It aims to show what kinds of design processes are used and how this style of creating games can provide an educational insight into the different facets of game development. Similar to the practices encountered in modding communities, the development of these games takes place publicly and usually on a voluntary basis.
As part of the research work, an existing development tool of the popular open-source game «SuperTuxKart» will be renewed and further improved in cooperation with the project’s community. The goal is to optimise work processes for contributing developers in the long term and thereby encourage new interested volunteers to start participating themselves.
![The development tool designed for the 3D software "Blender" for creating new in-game content for the open-source game "SuperTuxKart".](/site/assets/files/3793/zhdk-design-hajpss02.1600x0.jpg 1600w,
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![Game-related settings as well as visual properties of the scene can be configured directly in "Blender" and afterwards exported directly to the game.](/site/assets/files/3793/zhdk-design-5gucvhpr.1600x0.jpg 1600w,
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![The exported scene as a racetrack inside the game "SuperTuxKart".](/site/assets/files/3793/zhdk-design-wkkjlx00.1600x0.jpg 1600w,
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![Direct comparison of the scene's look in "SuperTuxKart" and "Blender". The materials and render properties of "SuperTuxKart" are simulated in "Blender".](/site/assets/files/3793/zhdk-design-evzl6lci.1600x0.jpg 1600w,
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