How should reported replicate mods and what are Nexus policies regarding replicate mods?

[Gantz79]

At the bottom of this, and every other, page in the forums, is a link "Contact Us'. It might be a good idea to use that to be in direct contact with a moderator instead of just filing a report.

I just used the button you mentioned and the link says "NO LONGER IN USE", I just wanted to learn how to correctly make reports to be taken into consideration and what type of rules are those that control the replicate of mods, plus this way there is a record and information for other new modders like me to consult.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Gantz79

[tduality]

That's not restricted anyhow. Making changes in the original game does not make you an eternal owner of them. What is restricted, if you have created something special, unique. Double timer on something, c'mon. Have you thought that there are people who know how to make that too.

Edited November 6, 2023 by tduality

[Gantz79]

Of course anyone can create simple newbie mods like mine (it's as easy as taking candy from a child), but that doesn't mean that I have the right to replicate all the simple Nexus mods and start receiving Donation Points for something that I just had to replicate to take them away from the author who had to spend hours to find them.

Again I reiterate, if any moderator is reading this topic tell me if I'm wrong and if I can replicate mods that modify only original game data within Nexus.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Gantz79

[Happybara]

If they have taken your idea and done the same thing with their own work and published with Donation Points enabled, its generally frowned upon but not necessarily against our rules.

 

If you can prove to us in your reports that code that you wrote has been copied and reuploaded in violation of your permissions, that is something we can take action against.

 

We don't protect the mod ideas themselves but we do protect how those ideas are implemented i.e. the files that make the change. If it is something as simple as changing a 1 to a 2 in the game files, thats something anyone can do and not something we will moderate but if the mod code is custom and can be proved to be, then we can investigate.

 

Long story short, if you report a mod you believe is copying yours, you need to provide as much evidence as possible in your report.

[Gantz79]

Thank you very much for the clarification, but I think that just because we make simple mods without textures or 3D models we should not be excluded from moderation.

Right now I am starting to make mods for Kingdom Hearts III of the simple type, God Mode, All Magic MP 0, Resist All Status Effects, All Items Free Price, etc... like this kind of mods that only modify or replace some parameters, clothing, weapons, textures, etc... that already exist within the game and that nothing at all is created and only the assets are modified with a program like UAssetGUI there are about 300 and that only for this game, I do not see the sense of not moderating so much content.

 

Is there any way to request a change in moderation policies for duplicate content?

How should it be requested, to whom and what would it take to be minimally considered?

[showler]

Well, one important question is how would you prove that the next person to make the mod had ever even seen or heard of your mod? People independently making nearly identical simple mods happens all the time. Why would they be punished because you were first?

 

Having a policy that the first person to make a mod has "dibs" would be catastrophic to modding as a hobby.

[Gantz79]

It's true I can't prove it, that makes my day a lot happier, I no longer have to worry about checking if a mod was created before by another author before creating mine, as long as I'm using the existing resources of a game it will be completely legal to post a duplicate.

Now my doubt becomes another one, this type of moderation also applies to those 3D models imported from other games and their textures, since they are existing resources of another game and not own creations, only changed some data of the meshes and the skeleton?

Edited November 8, 2023 by Gantz79

[M48A5]

It's true I can't prove it, that makes my day a lot happier, I no longer have to worry about checking if a mod was created before by another author before creating mine, as long as I'm using the existing resources of a game it will be completely legal to post a duplicate.

 

Now my doubt becomes another one, this type of moderation also applies to those 3D models imported from other games and their textures, since they are existing resources of another game and not own creations, only changed some data of the meshes and the skeleton?

Now you are asking about something that is completely different. Since Bethesda Softworks does not allow porting of game assets, you cannot upload that here. You can do what you want in your game, you just cannot upload ported Bethesda content to the Nexus. I don't know about other games, so you would have to do some research.

[Gantz79]

Thanks for the information I did not know that Bethesda does not allow the transfer of its resources, but my doubt was rather for the transfer of 3D models and textures of AAA games with UE4 that already exist mods in Nexus as between FFVIIR, KH3, DOA, RE4, RDR2, ETC ....

 

P.S: I know that now the question is different but as it is still about duplicates I think it is better to write it here than to create another post, so that all the information is in the same place.

[Gantz79]

I resurrect this post now that I have enough experience to answer and share my experience regarding the rules of replicating mods from other authors in Unreal Engine after having made many reports, this is a guide for new authors not to waste time in collecting evidence to send them in reports.

As Happybara already commented in his day, here in Nexus is allowed to replicate any mod you want as long as you use your own resources, something that is impossible to demonstrate because the Unreal Engine UASSETs are all exactly the same and do not differentiate if they are own or acquired from another author.

Here are some examples of what is not necessary to report and what is allowed for UE:

Extract resources from another author and version the mod to your liking by changing minimally what the mod does, in this case the mod becomes a new version and it is more logical that it is not considered a replica of an existing mod, it is not necessary to report it because it does not make any sense.

Extract resources from another author and then remove part of the assets to offer only a minimal part of what the original mod offered, Example: a mod that grants HP and MP x5 you remove the UASSET that grants HP x5 and leave only the MP x5, to upload it as an own mod, it is not necessary to report it you can not prove anything.

Extract resources from another author and then combine them in the same mod, Example: a mod that grants HP x5 and another that offers MP x5 you pack the two UASSET together, to upload it as your own mod, no need to report it you can't prove anything.

Extracting resources from another author and adding some minimal changes to them (a 1 or a 0) somewhere that will not be read by the game and making the mod have exactly the same functions and then upload it as if it was your own resource, this can be a bad practice but it is allowed and not necessary to report it because you can't prove anything.

Modifying textures from an existing mod that have been imported from another game and linking them to the original mod model is allowed, no author's consent is required and reporting is not necessary.

Translating an author's mod and linking to the original mod is also allowed, no author's consent is required and reporting is not necessary.

Updating a broken mod for a new version of a game before its original author and uploading it as your own is allowed, no reporting is not necessary.

 

At the moment I have no more information to share, but I hope this will help new authors not to waste time in reporting, I invite more authors to share their experience and comment on what is allowed or not for other games that are not UE and I have no experience with them.