I think the code itself is not what is important- it's the ideas behind the code. I'm sure Carmack could code all the features of HL2 himself, but it takes a highly inspired and innovative team like Valve to come up with these ideas in the first place. Even if every game company copies off Valve (which they would have done anyways- with the source code or not), Valve will blow them out of the water again with their next release. THAT'S what is important. There are so many great coders out there, and it's really just a way to put your ideas and thoughts and visions into something more tangible, like an artist.
I'm sure a lot of the code for HL2 is very good, but I also think other coders could do what Valve did. That's why the source code itself isn't as important. But would those other coders have a development team with such vision to come up with the ideas that HL2 has in the first place? Probably not. Ok, I think you get my drift... As far as hackers/cheaters/exploiters go... well... if you write good secure code, it won't matter if the source is freely known or not, right? Besides I'm sure they will take extra measures to fix any possible security issues before the full release, in addition Steam is an excellent tool to patch up any problems very quickly. I think this whole situation will just be a bump in the road... Will it delay HL2's release further? Maybe- but not because of programmers having to "fix" code- rather all this media attention and FBI and lawyers, checking comprimised computers, etc, etc might distract them from their original schedule. I hope they have a couple of guys handling all this BS, while the rest of them pick up the pace and stay on schedule. Remember, when you change your schedule because of hackers- the hackers win ;p __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
