Infogrames' latest strategy statement.

[Hoi]

CA already has 60% of the 3do OTA textures replaced, so all we need to do is cut out the OTA models, the remaining OTA textures, and retex any third-party units to use only our origional textures.

Yep, I think ca could already be otacontent-free if it just gets some 3do's from unituniverse and uses those to replace the old ta units.

[[Krogoth86]]

CA already has 60% of the 3do OTA textures replaced, so all we need to do is cut out the OTA models, the remaining OTA textures, and retex any third-party units to use only our origional textures.

The question is rather "How long did it take to get those 60% of the OTA textures replaced?" Still even if you'd be able to finish that and if you went to Unit Universe and replaced the literally hundreds of units you still wouldn't be OTA free. The sounds e.g. are from OTA and finding good replacements (that are free to use) is kinda hard to impossible...

And if becoming "OTA-free" would just be about getting rid of textures & 3dos that's nothing only CA can achieve...

[KDR_11k]

Keep in mind that OTA-free also means free of OTA derivatives. Many of the "OTA model replacements" were just reimplementations of OTA units.

[BaNa]

Is there anybody actually playing Spring who does not have OTA? I have it at least thrice over. They bundled it with newpapers ffs. What is this Infogrames? grames? Wtf?

Anyhow, more on topic: it shouldn't be too hard to bundle otacontent with the specific mods that require it, and link to a "getting started" part of jobjols where these mods are. That would give a level of separation that would be needed from it. IMO this would only be a problem if the mythical turning point was reached and we had a huge explosion of player numbers, no gaming company in their right mind would attack a community of about 300 people.

Keep in mind that OTA-free also means free of OTA derivatives. Many of the "OTA model replacements" were just reimplementations of OTA units.

Sooooooooooooo... where does that slope end? Are you really sure that would be grounds for legal action?

[[Krogoth86]]

I also think bundling otacontent in the mods might not just be more wise in a legal perspective but also solves lots of problems: How many times do newbies install Spring and try to run a TA mod afterwards and wonder why it won't work as they just don't have the OTA content which wasn't installed as they didn't hit a TA themed mod in the installer? With all that contents in the modfiles this entire problem would be solved and it wouldn't make the modfiles bigger in a dramatical way...

So I'd vote for excluding that otacontent download in the installer when checking a *A mod and including that instead in the modfiles themselves...

Sooooooooooooo... where does that slope end? Are you really sure that would be grounds for legal action?

I think he's right. I'm not too sure though what would happen if you'd rename things and remove as much of the original setting as possible. I'm not sure how much effect that would have though - laws about this probably differ from country to country. To my mind that would be not different to Super Mario Clones then which have the same gameplay & stuff but different visuals (waaaay different visuals when comparing 3dos with new and shiny s3os)...

[KDR_11k]

Infogrames is french, I suppose an infogram is like a telegram or so.

Derivative works are explicitely prohibited by copyright law, redesigned OTA units would probably be okay (since the link is very faint then) but if it's pretty much just a prettier version of the old design it's strongly derivative. If this wasn't the case IW would be immune to Lucas Arts because they use their own models that are just made after the SW designs.

Whether the downloader owns OTA or not is completely irrelevant. Even more when you're distributing. I have no idea how this whole owning OTA crap got started but it has zero legal bearing.

Whether they C&D doesn't depend on our size (in fact many mods got C&Ded before release), it depends on whether they think having an opensource engine use their IP somehow impacts the value of that IP (even if they're just selling it a prospective buyer might not like the idea that there's a bunch of people freely violating the copyright on the IP).

As for the installer, kick otacontent out (I agree that mods using it should just include it into their own file), remove the legally dubious mods (I'm not sure e.g. Gundam should be kept in there either, SWIW seems to be safe due to the Lucas Arts fan art rules) and if people want them let them grab them from third party hosts that bear the responsibility then.

[Satirik]

infogram doesn't mean anything and now it renamed to atari plus i think that blabla thing is just blabla small text on a page nobody has ever read except argh, so stop being scared

[smoth]

[Krogoth86]

ota content.sdz should not even exist. Those projects need to go ahead and included as part of their package and the problem is solved. The rest of us have to include all of our content and we are not crying.

[Caradhras]

Well, what about contacting Infogrames about our problem and asking "for advice" or whatever?

[smoth]

because it gives us no time to react and depending on the person who did it and what they describe spring as it would have different reactions.

[lurker]

One is like saying, "if you speak this magic word into a room, various people will be willing to hand you words from Shakespeare's plays, which, if you have the magic word, you can assemble into a play".

The other's like walking up to somebody and asking for the play, and they hand it to you- entire.

No, the second case is like saying, "Bob has one of Shakespeare's plays, and he gives away copies when you ask him to".

Killing Spring would take one good lawyer about one man-day.

Ooh, an injunction; I'm so scared. Not going to kill Spring.

[Satirik]

you can't sue spring, first in what country ? you can't kill an open source project, anyone here can host a server, can compile the sources etc, the spring ressources files are spread on websites all over the world so good luck killing spring

[Sheekel]

I loled when read this topic and saw a gigantic model of a Zeus in the media banner at the top of the page.

[BigSteve]

Ive been on these forums for about 3 years, and every year there's somebody who starts a thread...

"OMG OMG we're gonna get shut doooown!"

Everybody has a panic attack for 3 days, forgets about it and nothing ever happens. Yawn.

[Gota]

THEY,ARE,COMING.....

[Evil4Zerggin]

Without saying anything about this particular threat, I would like to say that it only takes once.

[Noruas]

Infogrames today announced that it has entered into a evil plan with OTA-based Xta mod involving Infogrames├óÔé¼Ôäó Total Annihilation franchise.

"Under the terms of the deal, Infogrames has licensed to Noruas the name, logo and code for the U.S. version of Total Annihilation for the purpose of developing a Total Annihilation title for the Spring. Infogrames will continue to work closely with Noruas to achieve the highest quality title possible. The license for the new game, which will be co-branded Infogrames/Noruas, will be distributed globally by Noruas, except for Sweden and Mexico, which will be exclusively handled by Noruas.



The agreement also grants Noruas the first option to develop an additional Total Annihilation game for the PC, as well as a version for next-generation consoles. The deal was structured by Infogrames Studio Asia and Noruas.

Real-time strategy gamers have been eagerly anticipating the next Total Annihilation game, which promises to push real-time strategy (RTS) gaming to new levels under Noruass direction.


├óÔé¼┼ôTotal Annihilation is a wonderful franchise and we├óÔé¼Ôäóre delighted that a new audience of gamers will have access to it through the Infogrames/Noruas title,├óÔé¼┬Ø said Adam Lancman, Managing Director and CEO of Infogrames Studio Asia. ├óÔé¼┼ôAs one of the leading publishers and distributors of interactive games in Pirate Bay, Noruas is the ideal partner with which to extend this franchise.├óÔé¼┬Ø


├óÔé¼┼ôWith our expertise and know-how in the development of RTS, combined with our intimate relationship with Infogrames, the new Total Annihilation promises to be one of the most innovative and futuristic strategy games ever,├óÔé¼┬Ø said Noruas, CEO of Noruas.

I will take direct action within 5 months to lock down any transfer of BA/CA with all variants, only allowing for XTA in the lobby, otherwise Spring shall be locked down

[Sleksa]

├óÔé¼┼ôATARI INSIDE": a gradual relaunch plan for the Group's historic franchises (Alone In the Dark, Neverwinter Nights, Test Drive, VRally, Baldur's Gate, Total Annihilation, etc.) and the enhancement of other intellectual property holdings with significant potential; in the course of the ordinary operation of its publishing business, the Group may also optimize its holdings by disposing of or acquiring intellectual properties.

Why is everyone getting jumpy from infrogames saying that they at best, MIGHT get rid of ota, or at worst(to us), start selling it for 2$ at steam? In my wet dreams i can see CT and square enix buying rights to OTA and releasing supcom 2 as TA 2 ~~

Also what argh (or his friend) says about the lawyers being able to shut down the spring project in a matter of hours is bollocks.

first of all, this site has a message somewhere(or had?) saying that you need to legally own TA to play the *a games. Secondly,

you can't sue spring, first in what country ?

Who will they sue, the SY´s who arent here anymore?
WarC, who made ba and are scattered all around europe? everyone working on CA? bota, and every other of the billion mods spawned from aa and ba?
or everyone involved in the spring project?

and what will they sue us for, that would allow them to also kill the spring project? cease 'n desist order would just mean that people dump the otacontent.sdz, and *A mods from their filehosts, only to be available from another filehost, or torrent host, which they cant touch (if theyre based in sweden)

[[TS]Lollocide]

"Sup guys, we're like, totally suing you for distributing our stuff man, even though its like 3000 copies or whatever and that you'll all end up buying 'TA 2: Revenge of TA' anyway."

[Gota]

Heh i hope they don't make TA 2...It will fail.