CM Then and Now

[RNL Tiger]

The problem is I don't see any way which would not require significant investment of time/money. Since CMx1 is left to rot (unlike SPWAW or SPMBT) the situation is not that bright...The best would be to purchase the source code from BFC (what they won't do, as stated on their forums several times)...

Re: source code - most companies are concerned about loss of intellectual property. The open source community is a good example of what can be done for "free"; the question is whether Battlefront would ever release the code to the community for example under the GNU public licence or similar. It is in their interest that they have a vibrant community of players of their games so I think the right approach is to consider how could Battlefront benefit if they released their code for free...

After saying that, I guess that the real issue is what do the CM playing public want? Chess as a game has not changed much for centuries. There will always be wishlists for improvements the real key is what will generate the playing interest. It may be game engine improvements but I think it is the energy and enthusiasm of a core set of people organising things [tournaments, ladders, competitions, novelties...] that will generate ongoing interest.