Reproduction?

by L. Tempris on 06/23/2008 23:35, 8 messages, last message: 06/26/2008 08:31, 2582 views, last view: 04/29/2024 17:25

Could it be posible to take data from Saurbraten and turn it into my own game. Ive stared working on that but stoped because I didnt know if that is legal.

I mean like manipulating text and menus and also title of the game.

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#1: RE

by TetrisMaster512 on 06/23/2008 23:38

Read the license included and it will become clear. The engine is open source, the materials (textures, etc.) are not.

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#2: Liscense

by tman_elite on 06/23/2008 23:51

Straight from the README:

"The Sauerbraten game is freeware, you may freely distribute the Sauerbraten archive/installer unmodified on any media. You may re-compress using different archival formats suitable for your OS (i.e. zip/tgz/rpm/deb/dmg), any changes beyond that require my explicit permission.

You may play Sauerbraten for any purpose as long as you don't blame the authors for any damages incurred.

If you want to produce new content with the sauerbraten engine, you have to be aware that the source code may be Open Source, but the game and the media it consist of have their individual licenses and copyrights. This means that you have roughly 3 options:

* You may produce new content for the sauerbraten game, for example as a "custom map" (.ogz/.cfg/textures etc). Contributing to the original game is most welcome, and the most productive way of working with Sauerbraten.
* If you want to create your own gameplay beyond what you can do with a map, the best way to do this is as a "mod" (same as above, but with new executable that incorporates your gameplay), that requires an existing install of sauerbraten, and installs only the new files you created in parallel to the existing files.
* If you insist on making a standalone game based on sauerbraten, do realize that only the sourcecode is yours to use freely (if you abide by the ZLIB license, see below), not the media. You CANNOT simply redistribute the entire sauerbraten package with your modified files, as the majority of game media is not yours to use freely (it is made by many authors with a variety of licences and copyright restrictions). Unless you have explicit permission from the authors, or the readme says explicitly "may be used for any purpose" or similar language, it will be illegal to include in your standalone game based on the sauerbraten engine (you may not assume that just because a file has no explicit license, that it is free of copyright). Therefore, if you wish to produce a standalone game, be prepared to make many of the maps, models, textures, sounds etc from scratch yourself.

In this sense sauerbraten is similar to games like Quake (its code is Open Source, but its media is not), it is a game that is meant to be added to, not copied and used as a template. Sauerbraten is not meant to be a quick game creation kit, it is a game.

If you wish to use the Sauerbraten source code (ZLIB license) in any way, read the src/readme_source.txt file carefully. "

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#3: ..

by Quin on 06/24/2008 03:10

http://cube.wikispaces.com/Modding+Guide

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#4: Re: RE

by scanf on 06/24/2008 08:42, refers to #1

Basically the "engine" part is open source (the code) but the maps, textures, graphics and models are not.

So if you use the code with your own content and give the engine credits with your game you should be fine.

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#5: textures

by L. Tempris on 06/25/2008 21:13

I was working on that. but the only thing is that I was using the textures that came with sauerbraten. I was going to make a game called Cyber Pod. A game where your in a building like pod that takes you to anywhere you are allowed to go- golf, football, tennis- anything. So if I wanted to do that then i would have to make it as a single player game in sauer. Is that right.

I was thinking that I could do it based on sauerbraten. If i did use the textures on saurbraten -ONLY THE TEXTURES-, then it would be property of Sauerbraten, right?

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#6: Re: textures

by SheeEttin on 06/25/2008 21:58, refers to #5

You can use whatever you want, you just can't redistribute things or claim that you made them. (Without permission, of course.)

For example, only about half of the maps on Quadropolis (pulled that number out of my ass, of course) include their own textures. The rest all use the textures that come with Sauer.

For example, take the map I just finished and put up on Quadropolis, Sandtrap Station. I used maybe 30 textures. I only included three texture files with the map (two of which were glowmaps). The licenses on the original textures allowed me to modify and distribute them, which I did.

So basically what you can do is make a mod, and change the source and everything, and drop it in a directory like sauerbraten/ltempris. In there, just set everything up like you would in the main Sauer dir, but only include things you changed (i.e. the source, binaries). Then, people could install Sauer, and load your mod with "-kltempris".

I highly doubt I expressed that the way I meant to, but whatever.

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#7: Re: textures

by scanf on 06/26/2008 07:38, refers to #6

lol .. I understood you SheeEttin.

As for the textures I'd be careful. Look at the readme's in the base dir.

One thing I'd suggest is just develop your project using the engine, you can always swap out the textures for your own at the end.

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#8: Re: textures

by tentus_ on 06/26/2008 08:31, refers to #5

Personally, my experience in modding has been that you're best off stripping _everything_ out that you absolutely don't need, and then really putting a lot of effort into what's left. We all see lots of games and mods that try to do lots of things and cover lots of material... but most of them either suck or they've got a fantastic (and usually well-paid) development team. The best games people can name are usually the most elegantly simple and focused.

Don't be afraid to strip it down to just one textureset, so long as that one textureset is good. Also, there's nothing wrong with repetition in models and such: find a single ammobox that works and stick with it. When I made CL I decided to have unique models for each type of ammo, which ended up consuming a lot of time and energy.

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