RichardUther Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I'm posting this here because it's related to a NWN2 mod, but it's more of a general question. If there is a forum in the Nexus that is more suitable I apologise in advance, I'm one of the guys who just came from the Bioware forums and I'm still finding my way around here. In any case, long story short: I worked on a PW until 6 months ago, when we decided to cancel it for the time being, and I moved on to play and mod Skyrim. Last week we decided to resurrect our project, so I'm back into Electron. The thing is, most of my areas still have placeholders for things that I was supposed to model myself, but kept postponing the job. Now, while playing around in the Skyrim toolset, I noticed that there're several assets that would suit me perfectly, and save me a lot of time in front of Blender, Photoshop, etc. The question is: Does anyone know what the legal boundaries are for such a thing? Can I get them into NWN2 as they are without any issues? Is it only ok if I modify them drastically? Or is it just a big no-no? It's probably a stupid question, since I've seen mods that use assets from other games, but I rather sound stupid now than being completely stupid and go through over a hundred areas worth of placeables twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVampireDante Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 You cannot take Vanilla Skyrim content and port it anywhere legally, it's not allowed. Mod content - you'll have to ask the one that created it for permission, unless they have stated that it's a freely usable file - even at that, if planning on using it in another platform it's best to ask first. Just to see what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skevitj Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 (edited) As far as I've heard and seen enforced, Bethesda doesn't allow any of their assets to be used in other games, even other Bethesda ones. So no, you definitely can't use them as is (if the project is to even be released publicly), and if you were to use modified versions, they'd have to be different enough such that the source item isn't immediately obvious (that being the definition I've seen most often used in relation to asset reuse). You can only directly re-purpose assets if there is explicit permission (aka STALKER) from their owner, which there isn't in this case (in fact the opposite case is true). Edited May 11, 2012 by Skevitj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardUther Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 That's pretty much what I thought, or at least what I thought was logical. The reason I asked is because there are several mods in the vault that have been available for years and seem to be using assets from other companies (I'm not taking Infinity engine or anything Atari related in account here, I mean Oblivion, Lineage and some others) With that in mind, I figure that it's not that they used the original assets, but rather made original content that kinda looks like the ones in other games. So I reckon that if I model a placeable from scratch, that looks "skyrim-ish" but isn't taken from the game should be fair game, right? As for using content from other mods, we only used assets that are allowed and the authors will get credit if we ever launch the damn thing. I'm extremely respectful of the work of others, which is why I asked this question. Believe it or not, it's about rocks and rubble. I just think that some rocks and rubble from Skyrim would look awesome in some of my areas. If my idea would've been to do a Whiterun remake using the original models, then I'd certainly be a complete moron. In any case, thanks for the responses, guys. I guess I'll just have to put a little more effort in the project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skevitj Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 (edited) If it's the same design theme it's fine, if it's a very similar mesh I can see there potentially being problems. At any rate, the moderators are probably the best people to go to for help here. Rig up an example model as you want to use it, then using the private message system (don't publicly release it, just in case) ask a moderator to take a look at it. Since they're the ones who decide if the content is "safe" they're in the best position to judge fair use and the like. (Obviously this only applies if you're going to release it here. It would likely vary between other sites) Edited May 12, 2012 by Skevitj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardUther Posted May 12, 2012 Author Share Posted May 12, 2012 The similar mesh thingie is my issue. Let me give you an example here: http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/7497/tesrock1.jpg http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4208/tesrock2.jpg Now, those are just rocks (wich NWN2 lacks, REALLY lacks) So, basically, if I take pictures of rocks, cliffs and other generic landmarks, and based my models in them, they wouldn't be too different in the end. Just to clarify here, I'm not whining because "how dare Bethesda not let me use their stuff!". It's more like "Why would I spend time modeling something in Blender and then doing the textures in photoshop, if I can save time by using something that looks just as good or better, and it happens that it has been already done" In a nutshell: Saving time. If it was allowed I could have gone the export/import way and get something for the community in a few days. Since it's not allowed, I'll have to do them from scratch, which I would say it'd take me a week. BUT, I'll probably be distracted during that week. If it's not that I have to write jokes about Kim Kardashian or writting a movie review, it will be something else. I repeat: I'm not whining here, and I don't really care about the Nexus standards for publishing, because even if it was allowed to use stuff without consent I wouldn't do it. (And that's not an insult, I'm just saying that I'm on the same page regarding this issue) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tchos Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 (edited) How about the RWS Cliffs and More? There are probably some suitable rock faces in there which can be toolset-resized and/or sunk into the terrain to create smaller rocks of a similar style as the Oblivion ones.http://nwvault.ign.c...l.Detail&id=418 I also found a pack of rocks in the Foliage Pack 3 beta, though they're all just round rocks, not like the ones you posted above.http://nwvault.ign.c...s.Detail&id=144 Still, for something like rocks, it should be possible to take an existing rock model and use sculpting tools in the 3D program to deform it into different shapes, providing variety while retaining a single texture. I don't know how well Blender does that kind of thing, but I've seen several other free programs that have very good clay-like sculpting tools, and there's surely a common file format that the programs could exchange between for the purpose of texturing. I know it's not what you were asking about, since as you say the objects you want are right there and just need to be converted. Edited May 19, 2012 by Tchos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardUther Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 Yeah, I'm already using the RWS cliffs. I just wanted a little more variety. My question was about fair use, but as always I started ranting. I already have a few new rocks modeled, and the textures are coming along nicely so far. As soon as I have something worth showing I'll post screenies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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