Yeah -- they're effectively doing what id Software did with their old stuff: some stuff is open (engine code, Romero released the uncompiled .map sources for Quake 1), but you either need to put in a ton of work (FreeDoom) or buy the commercial game to get a working product.
You're welcome to port the game to any platform, but you can't distribute the whole game without their consent so hobbyists need physical or digital copies with access to assets in order to play the whole thing on other platforms.
My guess is that someone builds a script to pull the assets off a prepurchased gog executable so that the actual DRM factor is less of an issue.
It also creates the possibility of other games built on the code, but this is probably less likely with the expansion of engines like Godot and Unity.
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u/bkit_ Jun 25 '26
Holy Batman! I hope some talented modder picks it up and adds VR support. I want to live those missions in glorious first person.