ref: 76dd7ccbc3fe1d1d129bfe132ecf1c88ab23609c
parent: 4f5b2b8a2f45229114e66e546d0795e6373afd88
author: Simon Howard <fraggle@soulsphere.org>
date: Thu Nov 24 15:36:07 EST 2016
PHILOSOPHY: Add exception for demo format extensions. This follows some recent discussions around the project's philosophy and which fan-made hacks are supported (specifically the Doom v1.91 / -longtics feature). It's worth providing some explicit guidance as to why this feature is supported, while other executable hacks are not. Some of the features of this new clause are not yet implemented (the -strictdemos flag and the warnings when playing non-vanilla demos). This is part of #817. Thanks to @AXDOOMER for challenging some of the perceived inconsistencies in the project philosophy and inspiring me to explain this in a more rational/structured way.
--- a/PHILOSOPHY.md
+++ b/PHILOSOPHY.md
@@ -152,6 +152,17 @@
-regdev used by id internally for development; these have been
removed.
+ 8. Expansions to the vanilla demo formats are allowed, to make
+ recording and playback of vanilla gameplay more convenient, with
+ the following restrictions:
+
+ - Such expansions are not supported in WAD files (they are not
+ an editing feature for WAD authors to use).
+ - Support for these features can be completely disabled using the
+ -strictdemos command line argument.
+ - A warning is shown to the user on the console (stdout) when a
+ demo using one of these features is recorded or played back.
+
A good litmus test of when it’s acceptable to break from Vanilla
behavior is to ask the question: “Although this is Vanilla behavior,
is there anyone who would want this?”