About
Hi there!
What is OpenGGS?
OpenGGS is my humble attempt to reimplement “The Great Giana Sisters” as an easily portable Free Software/Open Source project. The goal is to stay as close to the original game as possible. However, it does not use any source code from the original games.
What are the project goals?
The main goal is a pixel perfect reimplementation of the C64 version of “The Great Giana Sisters”.
…plus a (more or less) usable leveleditor.
Is the project finnished?
Definitely not. The game is completable, but there is still lots of stuff to be implemented.
Why don’t you use the sprites of the Amiga version and the original sounds/music?
I don’t want to break any copyrights. I do have most of the sprites and sounds to make the game look like the original but I don’t want to distribute them without permission from the copyright holders. But, if you consider yourself a pixelartist, feel free to work on the sprite sheets and send them to me. If they aren’t worse then mine, I’ll gladly host them here.
As of August 2009 I have been given permission to use the C64 sprites of the original game by Manfred Trenz. He had created the original graphics back in the eighties! Thanks a lot!!! Find out more about Manfred Trenz here and make sure to check out the games he is still developing with the company Denaris Entertainment Software.
Can I use ROMs/disk files from the original game to work with this game?
No, this game is no emulator or virtual machine.
Don’t you break all kinds of copyright laws nevertheless?
I sure hope I don’t. If you are the owner of copyrights of any aspects of “The Great Giana Sisters” please let me know whether it is ok for you if I release the game. So far, I have received permission to release the game from Armin Gessert and Manfred Trenz. (THANKS!!!)
Can the game be made to look like the original?
Yepp, I have done so myself. The easiest way to get to the original graphics is to start your favorite emulator (Amiga, Atari, C64, Amstrad CPC) and screenshoot away. Cut out all the sprites, place them in the appropriate file and there you have it. To add the original music files (rip them yourself or guugle them) just edit the “audio.ini” file in the appropriate folder (base/[name of the system]/) and place the track in the same directory. The game plays most commonly used formats thanks to the SDL_mixer library.
Don’t ask me for the original sprite sheets or the music tracks. I will not distribute them unless I have written permission to do so by the appropriate copyright holder(s).
Why another Giana Sisters remake?
Seriously, can there ever be too many? I am a big fan of all the other remakes/sequels of the game and I don’t view my little game as being in competition to them. When I started programming the game a few years ago I wanted to recreate the game as faithfully as possible. I wanted to be able to play the original game on as many different plattforms as possible. That’s all.
Why is feature X not implemented?
The game is not finnished yet. I’m working on it.
In level Y there is an enemy in the wrong position and it moves slightly differently than in the original game.
I know, I’m working on it.
Why is the sourcecode such a mess?
Is it that bad? Ok, I promiss, over time, I will clean it up more and more. But please be aware that programming is just a hobby of mine. I am not a computer scientist. I only play one on the Interwebs…