CCP Tuxford discusses CCP’s decision to open source the Carbon game engine, highlighting their focus on transparency, community engagement, and long-term sustainability, while carefully managing quality and security. The open sourcing primarily involves the engine itself and supporting tools, with plans to foster community contributions and future collaborative projects, all while maintaining control over core development.
The video features CCP Tuxford discussing the decision to open source the Carbon game engine, which has been in development for over 20 years. He explains that CCP’s motivation is rooted in aligning with the company’s values of transparency, community engagement, and long-term project sustainability. While open sourcing can enhance trust and security, CCP emphasizes that it is more about fostering a culture of openness rather than expecting immediate measurable returns. Tuxford also reflects on his personal history with open source, noting that CCP’s approach is consistent with their tradition of involving the community in game development.
Tuxford addresses common concerns about open sourcing, such as code quality, security vulnerabilities, documentation, and potential misuse. He argues that the codebase is likely more robust than perceived, given its longevity and ability to evolve over time. He also notes that exposing the code to public scrutiny can lead to improvements in security, documentation, and usability, as community involvement often uncovers new use cases and enhancements. Despite worries about internet negativity, he reassures that the majority of contributions and interactions are positive and beneficial.
The presentation details what parts of CCP’s technology are being open sourced, primarily the game engine itself, starting with the Trinity engine. The modular nature of the engine allows for an iterative open source process, with plans to release supporting libraries and tools like the Carbon Editor (Graphite). CCP aims to develop these components transparently, enabling external developers to understand, extend, and potentially contribute to the engine. They have already begun by open sourcing projects like spatial audio object clustering and the Carbon ruler, which were well-received and demonstrated the company’s cultural shift toward openness.
CC Tuxford discusses the legal and logistical aspects of open sourcing, including licensing under MIT and managing the code’s history during migration to Git. He emphasizes that CCP is proceeding cautiously, learning as they go, and carefully documenting their code to facilitate community contributions. While they are open to accepting pull requests, CCP is mindful of maintaining control over quality and capabilities, ensuring that their core team remains capable of developing and maintaining the engine without being overwhelmed by external contributions.
Finally, the team touches on future possibilities, such as running private Eve servers or community-driven projects based on the open source engine. They clarify that only the engine and tools are being released, not the full game code, which remains proprietary. CCP also plans to unify their various open source projects into a single accessible platform to make it easier for the community to find and contribute to their efforts. The session concludes with a reminder of upcoming presentations, emphasizing CCP’s ongoing commitment to transparency, community engagement, and technological innovation.