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

[RomanR]

On 11/7/2023 at 9:05 PM, Gantz79 said:

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?

With due respect why should they? It shows rather low quality of modding scene for this game, which can't come with better ideas and work. The only cure is to make something more complex/unique. Only then you can at least prove there was something stolen from you if you feel like it, as your work can be identified as truly yours, and moderation team has a chance to react accordingly. @Happybara said it all already.

[Gantz79]

You have just quoted a post from more than a year and a half ago when I was still a misunderstood on the subject, as I comment in the new post, it is allowed to extract assets from other authors and re-upload them as your own because for Unreal Engine modifications there is no way to prove that the files are your modifications when modifying the game mechanics, all files have the same PackageGuid, PackageFlags and PackageSource and must be the same as vanilla in order to replace them, so there is no difference if I have extracted them from the game or extracted them from another author's mod.

In the only cases that you can prove that they are yours is when you export models and textures from other EU games, then you have to use Blender to square the meshes and skeletons and the thing is a little more complex and difficult to replicate.

Regarding the modding scene I disagree a lot with your opinion about KHIII, the modding scene for that game is excellent and in general for the whole UE modding scene, something that is very complex given the few tools that exist to be able to make reverse grafting and then repackage everything.

I have never talked about stealing anything, everything that is done in UE is to replicate the ideas and mods of other authors, the problem is that thinking that because you modified some mechanics of the game already belong to you is a mistake and that's why I have written these new lines so that other authors do not waste time as it has happened to me and bother the moderation team when they find mods exactly identical to theirs, collecting information, screenshots, precise wording, unpacked files, etc.. ... will do them absolutely no good because they will never be able to prove that those modified vanilla files were extracted by him or by another author, it is not possible in any way to prove it.

I know Happybara said the following:

On 11/7/2023 at 11:52 AM, Happybara said:

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 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

I just wanted to clarify a few points to keep in mind that are not explained anywhere in the forums or the rules, so that other novice authors like me do not feel stupid to waste time trying to prove something that is totally impossible to prove, that a vanilla file with UE modifications belongs to them, just by changing a 1 or , the moderators will close the case saying that you do not have sufficient evidence.

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.

[RomanR]

I reacted to older post because in my opinion your last one still shows misundertanding of this subject (or it's me?) and providing same wrong examples - seemingly low effort mods (in fact it can be a lot of work making a trainer, but still...), which "everyone" could make and so on this level it's very hard to prove anything. This results in running in circles, which blocks any effective debate.

9 hours ago, Gantz79 said:

I have never talked about stealing anything, everything that is done in UE is to replicate the ideas and mods of other authors, the problem is that thinking that because you modified some mechanics of the game already belong to you is a mistake and that's why I have written these new lines so that other authors do not waste time as it has happened to me and bother the moderation team when they find mods exactly identical to theirs, collecting information, screenshots, precise wording, unpacked files, etc..

But of course using other's work without author's permission and pretending to be yours is a theft. But on other hand you really can't point a finger to somenone and call him a thief without any proof. You can feel robbed, but if your idea wasn't such unique and original as you though, it's more worth to make something better next time.  And wording "everything that is done in UE is to replicate the ideas and mods of other authors" makes Unreal Engine modding scene like bunch of lousy plagiators and thieves, certainly it's not that bad? But it can also explain your confusion what is truly original work and just copying something.

Lets make similar example - I modified a Tenseiryuu (Saint Dragon) game for PC-Engine to make my dragon invincible. Can I swell with pride that I'm propably the only one in Central Europe who did it? Maybe yes or maybe not. On gamehacking.org there is still only address for lives for example. But in reality it could be already done by some unnamed japanase hacker two decades ago.