I dream of a Starbound with custom commands, plugins, a full blown Bukkit-Like system to unify it all, custom mods that add more than simple config edits could even dream of doing, community bug fixes, and more that I couldn't think of! Just think about the epicness! I just don't see these modding possibilities possible with simple config edits... So... Discuss??? Dev input???
I'm sorry if I was implying that, to clarify: I am not expecting this at all, it's just a discussion topic to possibly get dev input.
I've seen a few posts about people working on server wrappers already, so I imagine what you want isn't too far off. I don't quite see what the point of plugins will be since we have mods. In a version or two they will be making it so clients automatically download mods from the server they connect to. I'd say wait a month or two and most of the stuff you want will be in.
Given the support he's already giving to modders, there's a good chance Chucklefish will be releasing slightly more robust tools as time goes on. That being said, I don't think the game would go open source anytime soon. Because it's not Java like Minecraft, we don't have the benefit of manually editing the game, so we'll see what tools are developed much later down the line. I'd assume 'serious' modding ability to come around 8-12 months from now.
You do realize that if they did that they couldn't sell the game anymore? That's basically giving everyone a free copy. They'd have to resort to a central server system like Minecraft, which for what is intended to be a primarily singleplayer game, is rather irritating.
I seriously doubt they will be going completely open source as it's not economic, however given the direction of the dev team that I've seen, I would imagine that serious Lua hooks are not too far down the road. I would hope it's nothing like Minecraft when you have architectures like Forge and Bukkit going head-to-head in dominating the mod scene. If ChuckleFish has anything to learn from Minecraft it's that a fully staff backed API will go a long way for the future modding scene.
Only partially true my good sir, they just couldn't sell the ENGINE, That is the Quake route. OR the source could come with purchase only, that is the Uplink route. EDIT: Minecraft doesn't have a central server system. I assume you mean MMOs like WoW and MOBAs such as DOTA 2. Is that correct?
Logins and authentication are all handled centrally, that's what I mean. Which is pretty annoying considering Mojang can't keep their authentication servers going for more than a week at a time without breaking down. Chucklefish's servers can't even handle attachments and downloads on the forums, I'd rather not have to sit through a similar experience trying to log in to Starbound.
We will probably have more modding possibilities in the future, but I don't think the game will go "Open Source".
Tiy and Kyren have already mentioned the possibility of Starbound being made open source in the future. However, it is much too early to care. They need to make money off of it first, to support the ongoing development, full release, and continued employment of the developers.
As it happens, the devs have already stated that they are seriously considering making Starbound open source in the future. However, that's probably only going to happen once the game has been released as the full version and has had several years of updates after that. So don't get too anxious for it quite yet.
I can't remember where I read it, I think it was in an IRC chat log. But they also said that they wouldn't do so until very far in the future, so I wouldn't even bother thinking about it until a few years from now.
Yeah, I know, I know. It seams they probably want to go the Quake route and make it open source a few years after release.
