Blades of Exile Source Code Released

Spiderweb Software’s Jeff Vogel has released the original source code for Blades of Exile, providing a means for the community to keep the ten-year-old RPG up and running. Here’s the letter he wrote to go along with the release:

In 1997, Spiderweb Software released one of our most successful and popular games: Blades of Exile for Windows and Macintosh. Part of the award-winning Exile series, Blades of Exile wasn’t just a game, it was an adventure construction kit. In addition to the three large adventures the game came with, you could download dozens of free, entertaining scenarios on our web site. And, if you were ambitious, you could even make your own adventure and share it with the world.

Now, ten years later, Blades of Exile is old. Very old. Recent developments in both the Macintosh and Windows sides of things have left the game no longer functioning. We don’t want the game to die, though. Too many people put too much time into making adventures to let their work disappear forever.

Therefore, we have released the source code (along with all necessary support files, graphics files, sound effects, etc.) for the Windows and Macintosh versions of Blades of Exile to the world. Do what you want with it (within the sensible legal guidelines described in the license), and have fun.

This code is released under the Common Public License. This means, that, with a few modest limitations, you can modify this code, create your own version of Blades of Exile, and share it with the world. Before you do this, however, be sure to read the license. You should know what your rights and responsibilities are. If you release a buggy program that hurts other peoples’ machines, we aren’t legally responsible. You are.

Also, be sure to read the “READ ME” file in the code folder. The information in there is very valuable and can save you a lot of time.

Doing anything with this code will take work and skill. It is old and outdated. I wrote it early in my career, and parts of it are pretty darn clunky. As time passes, when people create improved versions of the code, I hope to host it here. Be sure to stop back from time to time.

Finally, if you are a neophyte game developer and simply want to see what the code for a game looks like, take a look. Many people have requested bits of source code from us over the years, just to see how a game program is structured. At last, here is something to look it.

Hope you find it useful! And many thanks to all of the Blades of Exile fans over the last decade. You made a lot of wonderful work, and I hope that people can continue to enjoy it well into the new century.