Background

There is no such thing as noble warfare. This development is not designed to glorify war, nor is it designed to provide graphic realism in the reality of war. Noble Warfare can be thought of more like a chess-like war game simulation. Where combatants are pieces rather than people.

Since the mid-1990s, the source code of the Noble Ape Simulation has moved to a level of maturity. It was time for guerilla simulation. I read an article in Develop magazine about the BBC television program, Time Commanders. The main point through the article was the proprietary development of the company associated created the climate for the development of the television program.

This threw the gauntlet down to open source development - which through my precursory investigation - to-date has been very poor in creating coherent non-turn based strategy games (to a release level).

As I started the development, some things from the Noble Ape Simulation integrated well - other things didn't. What continued was a path of least resistance for the development.

What Noble Warfare Is...

Noble Warfare an Open Source development. This means everything about the software is available, from the source code and documentation, to the software's creator.

If you have a problem or some feedback about the software, you can contact the software's creator and you will get a prompt and polite response. If the software doesn't work or you encounter a problem, you can contact the software's creator and you will get a prompt solution to the problem.

Noble Warfare is a game engine. Whilst an example battle is provided with the software, you are free to create your own copyrighted battles and armies that are compatible with Noble Warfare. You are free to create websites, resources, file editing tools or even your own versions of Noble Warfare with your own "house rules" etc.

Whilst some Open Source developments use the mantra "Free as in freedom", the Noble Ape/Warfare mantra has always been "Free as in Free".

What Noble Warfare Isn't...

Noble Warfare isn't a commercial product. It isn't developed to make a fast buck. It doesn't have a budget, in particular it doesn't have an art or sound budget. Noble Warfare wasn't developed to compete with commercial software nor even offer an alternative to a commercial product. To this end. Noble Warfare was not developed to be compared to commercial products.

So Why Was Noble Warfare Developed?

There were two primary reasons for the Noble Warfare development.

(1) The Noble Ape development created a lot of great stuff that was overlooked because of the Noble Ape Simulation's niche appeal. Creating a more mainstream development like Noble Warfare allowed more people to use and enjoy the Noble Ape development.

(2) The Noble Warfare primary developer, Tom Barbalet, is an active member of the International Game Developers' Association. This membership was based on Barbalet's earlier work. Barbalet wanted to see how well the Open Source philosophy would translate to a more traditional game development. To this end, the Noble Warfare development is an active experiment.

Legal Notice - Contents - Armies and Landscapes