A Mod Idea: Epic 40,0000, Spring Style

j5mello · Post by **j5mello** » 23 Jan 2006, 18:25

sry for double post.

Just curious but what did u see get shutdown argh???

FizWizz · Post by **FizWizz** » 23 Jan 2006, 19:44

J5mello wrote:And FizWizz is right. we can get it hosted in sweden as their copyright laws are really odd. Check out this bit torrent site based there: http://thepiratebay.org/legal.php. thats a list of their legal threats.

Yeah, that's what I was reading...
I took another look at it, and unfortunately it actually isn't that simple. Piratebay only hold torrents, not any of the actual copyrighted material, so we wouldn't be able to just host the mod in Sweden... we would only be able to have torrents provided in Sweden if we were to follow the Piratebay model....

Guessmyname · Post by **Guessmyname** » 23 Jan 2006, 21:31

The GW guys know we exist. I posted some info on the mod in their forums a while ago (for critique puposes mainly). Also, I seem to be the only one working on this, plus I do have a fair bit of homework to do (not to mention CZTA, my personal pet project)

Zoombie · Post by **Zoombie** » 24 Jan 2006, 01:31

ARGH! your just like your namesake...bringer of ill news...

Argh · Post by **Argh** » 24 Jan 2006, 02:08

Sorry, normally I try to bring good news... but, in this case, y'all are playing with fire. I don't see why it would be such a 'orrible thing to just label the Eldar "Star Elves", Space Orks "Orc Hordes", etc., and to change the way that the units look enough that you wouldn't be ripping off GW's IP in a blatant fashion. It's not like they can sue you, if you've made modifications that make it clear that it's not using their "universe" any more. The fact that it could also include Giant Robot Death Machines (erm, Titans) and lots of other tanks, infantry, etc, that looks vaguely like 40K but not quite... would give you a game that was legal and still entirely fun and true to the GW game.

Sorry if you don't like that choice... these discussions about how to host this pseudo-legally are, however, not going to protect you from getting sued. The point of distribution doesn't matter, under IP law- the persons who distribute it are the ones who're generally sued.

This is not a big deal so long as you can relax, except the name changes and some minor alterations to the art and design- in short, keep the same game design, just lose the fluff. Don't like that? Tough. I'd sue if I were GW, too- making up a backstory as huge and rich as theirs is has taken them the better part of 20 years, and it's not really fair to expect them to sit idly by when other people attempt to steal it for their own purposes.

The fact is, any project that makes use of others' IP is very much illegal. Most companies (such as, for example, LucasArts, Atari in the case of Spring) are fairly relaxed about it, because they know that we modder folks aren't going to hurt their sales (like... nobody here is likely to skip Supreme Commander, just because of Spring). For GW, video game sales based on their IP have become a fairly important part of their overall revenue stream- the DoW series has really helped them finally erase their reputation as a tabletop games company that wasn't able to translate over to the computer world. Sooo... I expect them to be rather persnickety about projects like these for awhile, unlike LucasArts, which:

A. Has really significant sources of income other than video games.
B. Doesn't expect a video game to markedly change people's perception of their core IP (the Star Wars series of films, duh).

At any rate... for more information about games that GW has shut down because they went too close to the "line", just Google a bit... it isn't hard to find projects they've killed, and establish that they're really quite serious about their IP policy, which you can read on their website.

FizWizz · Post by **FizWizz** » 24 Jan 2006, 02:39

I would agree with Argh, after all, what's one more game with humans in big f**king armor and gunz, savage hoardling beasties, and advanced intelligent mind-over-matter aliens? Hell, look at it that way and you may just see WH40K, SC, and others as something vaguely being "Lord of the Rings in Space 'n stuff". So what is one more?
[edit]Oh yeah, you'll also be able to make the "Tau".....-ish race into something more communists/socialist or whatever the heck Zoombie was talking about

Zoombie · Post by **Zoombie** » 24 Jan 2006, 03:08

We dont need there fluff anyway. I would write the fluff, if i wasnt so incredably lazy!

Also do we really need fluff? I mean its humains Vs green aliens with big horns (Space Devils?) Vs a splinter group of humaninty that has created a communist utiopia...in space...with clones Vs a hyper advanced form of fish and so on.

j5mello · Post by **j5mello** » 24 Jan 2006, 03:28

VOTE:
Do we want to lose the GW naming and stuff and go with something different or should we proceed as we are now?

Vote now!!!

Zoombie · Post by **Zoombie** » 24 Jan 2006, 03:56

I wouldent mind as long as we have <GASP!>

ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!
ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!
ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!
ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!
ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!
ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!ORKS!

Sorry man! I thought it would paragraph atoumaticaly!

Now iz fixed!

j5mello · Post by **j5mello** » 24 Jan 2006, 04:01

Zoombie don't do that (i mean the really long sentences) as that screws up the the thread.

SinbadEV · Post by **SinbadEV** » 24 Jan 2006, 05:46

Get Firefox

j5mello · Post by **j5mello** » 24 Jan 2006, 06:31

have it but when his is last post my screen stretches

i don't know maybe i forgot to check some box when i reinstalled it

and Sinbad u didn't vote. Shame, Shame!!

Aun · Post by **Aun** » 24 Jan 2006, 17:39

How different would it be? I wouldn't be bothered about name changes, but serious cosmetic changes would be...

Zoombie · Post by **Zoombie** » 25 Jan 2006, 03:16

I fixed it... also we should stay away from too many comsmetic changes, casue we want to play with WH40...even if we cant admit it !

j5mello · Post by **j5mello** » 25 Jan 2006, 03:36

well whatever we decide ill tell GMN and benito.

AND GOOD NEWS:

WE HAVE A WEBSITE!!!!!!

http://epic40k.tauniverse.com its not much atm but that can be dealt with later. we should have forums soon i just need to talk to Storm about that. if anyone wants a go at making a website then by all means contact me with a pm and ill give u teh info u need!!

Sabutai · Post by **Sabutai** » 25 Jan 2006, 05:04

i vote for stick with the original names n stuff. just dont tell anybody about it. this is just a mod and as long as u dont run around yelling "deres an kick-ass wh40k game u should downl0ad! best is its fre3!!!" noone will notice until its finished. and when its finished we go underground...

if we start changing it we wont see an epic 40k game. full stop. shall we alter the models? the names? the rules? finish it first then erase the website... and keep ur mouths shut or ill do that for you...

i could help making teh website.

Argh · Post by **Argh** » 25 Jan 2006, 05:48

meh thinks: you're going to... uh... play yourselves on a LAN, then, after getting done with this? LOL!

Yup... that'll get done...

Doomweaver · Post by **Doomweaver** » 25 Jan 2006, 06:05

Yianni@itsmanaged.com.au
If you want to send me some unit descriptions/stats I'll have a go at naming units. No promises though.

Neuralize · Post by **Neuralize** » 25 Jan 2006, 06:55

This half-life mod has existed for several years and never seemed to be attacked by GW or any party. Maybe because of their disclaimer? http://www.rivalspecies.com/

Zoombie · Post by **Zoombie** » 25 Jan 2006, 07:09

Disclamer: Plese buy lots and lots of Gamerworks shop modles so they dont sue our pants off?

hows that?

Spring RTS Engine

A Mod Idea: Epic 40,0000, Spring Style