The recent release of System Shock 2 source code has sparked a heated debate among gamers and developers alike. As someone who has been involved in the development of Thief Deadly Shadows (TDS), I must say that the excitement is palpable.

In fact, the way people are talking about it, you'd think this was officially released. I've been reading the recently opened thread about this in the TTLG editor's guild forum and it seems like everyone is eager to get their hands on the source code.

As someone who has contributed to TDS, I can attest that we would not have minded any help or support, regardless of whether it came from total strangers, Thief fans, or even aliens. And I'm certain that we wouldn't feel that our work was diminished if there were more people contributing. In fact, having more people involved in the project would be like having twenty people building a house instead of ten.

Of course, some might argue that this is not entirely necessary, given the existence of Thief Deadly Mission (TDM). However, I believe that having access to System Shock 2 source code could potentially benefit TDM as well. Just imagine if the whole TTLG community had jumped on board with TDM from the get-go. We would have tons of vocal sets, both female and male, and more FMs.

It's also worth noting that clinging to proprietary products can be limiting. The Dark Engine code, for instance, is still sanctioned and a native version of the older games for my platform would be fantastic. But let's not get too caught up in trying to give Thief a graphical makeover at this point. That's re-doing work that has already been done.

If someone wanted to create a next-generation, cross-platform, completely moddable, and non-sabotaged by the XBOX stealth game, it's already available - in the form of TDM. And I'm with the crowd who is sad that the Thief community is trying to mess with this stuff, but most never contributed to TDM.

In conclusion, the release of System Shock 2 source code has brought about a new wave of excitement and possibilities for gamers and developers alike. While some might see it as an unnecessary move, I believe that having access to this code could potentially benefit the gaming community at large.