Mods and assets from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

[Thandal]

@Thandal

Well the last one I sent in got ignored despite the fact that I was correct.

Why do you think it's been ignored? The last report I see filed by you is barely 18 hours old, consists of an assertion that materials came from an unauthorized source but without any additional information to verify that claim, (like links to any of the originals) and yet it is being actively Reviewed.

 

That the Staff here does not communicate directly with everyone who makes a report does not mean the report is not taken seriously. Please conduct this kind of conversation via PMs with the Staff if you feel strongly about the way the site is being managed.

 

Thank you

[Starke]

@urbex : The game companies are paying salaries to their staff to produce these assets, or outsourcing at high cost to get them. I think it's fairly reasonable personally that they don't want something that cost them money being handed out for free. All in all, it's pretty generous of GSC and shouldn't just be treated with a sigh and "about effin time" kind of attitude.

 

As for pursuing, make no mistake they do. A friend of mine has a relative in the legal profession who gets plenty of work from games companies sending cease and desists out to sites.

C&D orders. That's cute.

 

Anyways, I don't want to derail another thread so I will admit it was cool of GSC for acknowledging this.

Hey, it's money. If someone would pay me to write up C&Ds, I'd do it. Of course a C&D is the legal equivalent of saying "you stepped on my toe, would you please move your foot a bit." It's when you ignore them that things start to escalate.

[apopcan]

Props to GSC for doing this. Not many devs would be this cool with it. Only other I know of is CD Projekt Red since they let Witcher assets be used in a Dragon Age mod.

 

So yeah, props to them.

 

True, but they have stipulations. Full credit for their work, and recognition of it being their property has to be given to them in any mod that includes their work. And permission to redistribute cannot be given.

Just mentioning that, before anybody gets any ideas ;) -DarkeWolf

[ziitch]

GSC has probably done what I would call the future of gaming asset usage - Assets that have made more than their value or has aged considerably compared to newer games should be in consideration to have their usage rights changed to where they are no longer restricted to the original game it was made for. I'd call it a genius way to advertise a game - See or get something in a game that someone has ported from another, and you might help out that company by making that person using that asset consider buying the game it was originally made for.

 

If you notice, however, a lot of game assets fall into the one-time use category; they're used in one game, and then tossed to the side decaying in some folder on a database somewhere in the developer's basement, then sometimes lost as the developer merges with another or goes bankrupt. They're only reused as either rips or ports into another game done by an end user, or if the asset is a deemed part of "abandonware" due to the game being on a piece of hardware that is no longer supported by other hardware or entirely - This happens to a lot of games from past consoles, specifically lesser-known ones. There's some pretty things that are made, but imagine how the artists would feel if that game didn't sell well with the current rules - Wouldn't you be devastated after all that time put into your work, you find out it wasn't a hit with gamers, and you know it wasn't your department's fault?

[rowtjack07]

Thanyou for doing this, people who use assets from other games and moids are just lazy , for they cannot come up with anything origional.

[Ruadhan2300]

very cool of GSC to do this...

what I wonder about (and I'm aware it goes largely against policy) is doing things like using F3 assets in a FNV mod....

I mean, half the assets from F3 are already in FNV...what's wrong exactly with adding one they missed for the sake of a better mod?

its the same company and virtually the same assets... seriously, I've looked at the meshes, they're the same file.

 

the only alternatives are to use the F3 assets by proxy (ask the downloader to extract the file from F3 and place it correctly) or to scratch build my own versions.

neither appeals. especially when the new vegas team left out that one little part which would make things perfect...and left half a dozen virtually useless pieces of crap. case in point the Rock-It-Launcher. due to a change in the game mechanics, it's no longer possible to make the RIL work how it did in F3. but ALL the assets are there. even the texture-sets, formlists for ammunition, the works...

way I see it, there's nothing wrong with adding an extra part they missed out of the stuff they themselves ported from F3 and didn't use.

[tacitus59]

Its cool that GSC are allowing this. I suspect one reason some companies do not allow reuse of assets is sometimes they buy some assets from others for use in one game. So they don't really own all the assets of that game, so they can get in legal trouble if others use these assets and they do nothing to prevent it. GSC clearly owns outright all of their assets.

[Dark0ne]

Tactitus is right, Bethesda do not make all the assets for their games, they license them off other companies. The license will only apply to that single game and it is Bethesda's job to insure that these assets aren't ported to other games without permission. That's why Morroblivion wasn't allowed.

 

Also remember Fallout 3 was made by Bethesda, New Vegas was made by Obsidian and published by Bethesda. There's a difference ;)

[dree74]

it is very generous for them to let modders use it. It makes me curious though, why would they do this all of sudden?

[Thandal]

it is very generous for them to let modders use it. It makes me curious though, why would they do this all of sudden?

It's not "all of a sudden". It has apparently always been their "unofficial" policy. Way back (years ago) when the question was first asked on this site, Buddah was in direct contact with one of their Lead Developers who gave the green light to this kind of thing. Unfortunately, a) the company itself never made an "official" declaration, and b) that developer left the company a while ago.

 

So when I had the same issue (use of STALKER assets in a mod for another game) reported recently, I started investigating and found out about what had been said in the past, but couldn't find a real declaration. Only assertions by others: "Well, someone said that they said that it was alright..."

 

That started an on-going conversation with one of their Moderators (spread over about two months in total) that resulted in the affirmative public statement now being made by GSC's management, and not just one (former) employee. :thumbsup: