The Legality of Texture Mods

[Aegrus]

I have a random question. I've been modding textures in a couple of games lately. I'm not a great with painting things from scratch, so I usually use free images gathered from texture distribution sites or random google images as bases which I then modify.

 

One of the sites I get free textures from says that the textures may not be distributed by anyone but the site itself. Does including those textures in a mod, then putting the mod up for free download on the Nexus count as distribution? I'm guessing it does, but maybe not. IDK. Where do most texture modders get their images from? I highly doubt many of the photo-real things I've seen for download on the nexus have been painted from scratch.

 

(Just a note to the admins, I have not actually released any mods with potentially illegal assets in them.)

[billyro]

Yeah, if you're not allowed to distribute it, then you can't. You could try asking for permission though. Edited January 7, 2013 by billyro

[Brittainy]

Just ignore it and do what you want.

If someone puts their images on the internet, they're up for grabs as far as I'm concerned. Mine is far from the moral or legal side, but I say neither of those things have a place in the realm of modding to begin with.

On a side note, when it comes to random Google images, by the time you get through modding them and get them in game, it's nearly impossible to recognise the original picture anyhow...especially since you're usually just pinching scraps from an image.

 

*EDIT* Another side note: Depending on what you're working on, I find using my own photographs to be ideal as a source. (Obviously they're perfect for ground textures, rocks, fabrics, metals, plants, etc.) They'll give a much better quality result than most other people's textures anyhow.

 

But, if you can't get your hands on what you want, just grab them from another source, whether it's a random Google image or a texture resource. I personally find random images are better to work with than other people's textures, but that's just me.

Edited March 13, 2013 by Brittainy

[Dark0ne]

 

Just ignore it and do what you want.

 

I'd recommend not taking that advice on board if you want to hold on to your account here. Distribution permissions matter to us, as does legality. If someone spots the google images you're using in your textures and reports you your account will be banned instantly with no recourse.

[Brittainy]

^ As I said, my opinion is neither legal nor moral. I stand by it nonetheless.

 

If using someone's else work gets you the results you want, just do it. And it's not as though every mod has to be shared publicly. I do plenty of tweaks that rip things from one game to another, but I do them only for myself and they never see the light of day as far as modding communities go.

 

Obviously it's Ideal and definitely more satisfying for a public mod to be reliant on your own unique textures / resources, etc, but you have to start somewhere. A fair compromise (I think, anyway) is using any assets you want in private, using other people's assets in public releases (with permission), and generally that will give you enough of a beginning to get a feel for how to start creating your own resources. That way you're not breaking any rules on here by uploading 'dubious' works and you're getting much needed practice in.

 

Where you go from there is entirely up to you. By that stage you'll likely be good enough to do 90% of your own work...and what you do to get the remaining 10% is in the air. You'll either be better at finding legitimate resources or you'll be good enough at manipulating illegitimate ones so that they're unrecognizable.

 

The above will never be the popular opinion in many modding communities...but it's practical nonetheless.

Edited March 13, 2013 by Brittainy

[Ironman5000]

Redistribution of textures/images and using them for you mod is different, in the same way using downloaded fonts are. I have a pretty vast collection of both and many users specifiy they don't want their work to be redistributed, i.e re-uploaded on another site HOWEVER using these resources for non commercial use in editing is ok...or not depending on the authors specifications.

 

So basically check your source for uploaders permissions on usage. Most people don't want you using their images for commercial purposes as you would be profiting from their work, but modding falls under non-commercial as we do not profit directly from them.