It’s hard to overstate how good the original Far Cry was. And influential too: it’s the game that put developer Crytek on the map and spawned one of Ubisoft’s biggest and best-known series. But he’s also 19, a veritable aeon in video game terms, and that passage of time can certainly be seen and felt: it’s high time to shine.
Unexpectedly, he might get one at some point in the too-distant future thanks to a recent leak of the original Far Cry source code, which appeared “out of nowhere” on the Internet Archive.
The leak is for version 1.34 of the game and claims to be complete, although a reviewer said it was not actually complete, “but close”.
“Based on my educated guesses, this is a source tree leak for the PC version of the game to add support for Ubisoft’s game launcher/DRM,” MobCat wrote. “It contains a few exes but no Xbox code or game assets.” Apparently it also doesn’t compile without many errors, although another reviewer claimed that it compiles “with [a] some changes in Visual Studio .NET 2003.”
It’s unclear exactly where the code came from or why someone would suddenly drop the source for a game that’s been running for two decades. No one has taken credit for the leak at this point, and it is the first and only file to be uploaded by Internet Archive user Llaetha.ro. Members of the Far Cry 1 Community Discord have speculated (with undeniable confidence) that a former Crytek employee with a particular interest in the game shared it with a few friends “to study”, with the intention of make it public later, but one of them jumped the gun and made it public first.
What fans are clearly interested in at this point is what they will be able to do with the source code now that it is in their hands. Far Cry remains available for purchase (and in fact, it’s on sale in Steam’s summer sale for a whopping $3), but its age is impossible to overlook: “The stealth looks super janky, the vehicles can look super janky,” Steam user Sticky wrote, and the whole thing “needs a bit of TLC in the form of a huge quality of life overhaul mod” so it doesn’t feel so – You guess it –janky.
This is where the source code could come in. Far Cry mods are already available thanks to the long ago release of the SDK and level editor, but source code availability opens the door to rework much more extensive as it allows users to make changes and fixes to the game engine itself.
The prospect of an RTX-compatible Far Cry with all the rough and early edges smoothed out excites the Far Cry modding community, but members are also acting very cautiously, aware that Ubisoft might drop the hammer on the whole process. at any time. . “We do not have permission from Ubisoft to use [the] source code leak,” one Discord user wrote. ” But there is [the] Drivers deductible that was reversed [engineered] and had many mods and even [updates]They also noted that in some cases modders have been allowed to use a game’s source code for non-commercial purposes – and in others, such as with Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City, publishers may take a very hard line, including legal action, against any type of use.
Ubisoft has yet to comment on the leak, or give any indication of how it will react to attempts to use the source code. One thing that might work against avid modders is that the Far Cry series remains very active: a rumor in January claimed that Ubisoft currently had two separate Far Cry games in development, a main single-player shooter – the inevitable Far Cry 7 – and a multiplayer spin-off. , and he might not be too eager for a fan project to steal his thunder.
Regardless of all that, the prevailing attitude within the Far Cry community for now seems to be very cautiously optimistic. “This game just needs a breath of fresh air,” said one Discord user. “And we would be very grateful to Ubisoft if they gave modders the green light.”
I have contacted Ubisoft for comment and will update if I receive a response. Oh, and in case you forgot, Uwe Boll once made a Far Cry movie. In a way, Anthony Bourdain is in it.