Spring RTS Engine

Okay, Obviously we can't CALL it a Warcraft II mod... and I'm not volunteering to make it... but how much do you think we could get away with...

I mean it's Blizzard can hold the copyright on "Elven Archers" or "Foot Soldiers" or even "Gold Mine", "Town Hall" or "peon" can they?

And it's not like they can really stop another game from requiring one to build a lumber mill to allow one to build a unit that requires wood right?

But could we really get away with a Mod that basically duplicated the entire game without using any trademarks?

Cause I know a couple people that think Warcraft II was the be-all and end-all of RTSes and wouldn't mind playing a 3D version of it.

As long as its hosted in China or something, no worries. That way even if Blizzard cares (unlikely), nothing will happen oh and if you can get a WCII mod working, it would be cool. DO IT!

Would it be illegal? Yes.

Is pretty much every game of Spring played online illegal anyways? Yes.

Does anybody give a shit? Jury's still out on that one, but leaning toward no.

If by anybody you mean ANYBODY, yes. If by anybody you mean the average spring player, no.

P3374H wrote:If by anybody you mean ANYBODY, yes. If by anybody you mean the average spring player, no.

By "anybody" I mean "anybody with the power to issue cease-and-desist orders and/or take legal action against makers of mods that violate their intellectual property rights".

There are two ways to go here:

1: Make it feel the same but yet make it a little bit different here and there all over the place. Basically try to push it as far as possible without getting the bloodsucking lawyers after you in the first place.

2: Be a rebel and piss off corporate scum as much as possible, use the names and trademarks and everything, but make sure you take precautions like the china server and stuff, then laugh at the bloodsucking lawyers.

Woo...Now just for the melee combat to work >.<!

Spring doesn't do anything illegal. We just provide an engine that runs player made content. There's nothing illegal about allowing that engine compatibility with older unit formats from other games. Any given spring mod has their own responsibility in terms of copyright and trademark adherence.

Out of the question. Blizzard is very territorial, and they have the financial muscle to back it up.

Besides, AoE II was a better game. Superior features and game economics. Oh, and texturing.

neddiedrow wrote:Out of the question. Blizzard is very territorial, and they have the financial muscle to back it up.

ive always wondered why blizzard hasn't shut this down yet....http://server.war2.ru/modules/mydownloads/

That server is in Russia (.ru domain), maybe that's the reason?

WarCraft II? Very, very original...

Aside from legal issues the game was partially focused on melee.

freecraft was a similar project and got a c&d letter from blizzard

I would rather see more original IPs rather than modders leeching off other successful commercial work that although may be enjoyable create copyright problems (no offense). KP, EE, or Nanoblobs for example.

wht not just FINISH the kingdoms port?!?!

oh wait.. melee doesn't work.

SwiftSpear wrote:Spring doesn't do anything illegal. We just provide an engine that runs player made content. There's nothing illegal about allowing that engine compatibility with older unit formats from other games. Any given spring mod has their own responsibility in terms of copyright and trademark adherence.

Yeah but Spring usually ships with XTA.

Bah, I dislike all of the TA branched things.. Too many units and counter-units...

SinbadEV wrote:...
But could we really get away with a Mod that basically duplicated the entire game without using any trademarks?
...

Read up on freecraft.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?si ... 86&tid=210
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratagus

SwiftSpear wrote:Spring doesn't do anything illegal. We just provide an engine that runs player made content. There's nothing illegal about allowing that engine compatibility with older unit formats from other games. Any given spring mod has their own responsibility in terms of copyright and trademark adherence.

If you're replying to my post, note that I said "pretty much every game of Spring played online" is of questionable legality at best.