I remember something about it being legal to create a free version of games that can no longer be played on computers produced today. Since Tie Fighter was DOS based, and can no longer be played, would it be legal to start an open-source project to re-create it for modern computers? Are there any good sources that I can research on this topic? Thanks. -Nick

Sorry but this isn''t even close to being correct.

The law you are thinking of allows you to crack the protection on old games (on systems no longer available) so that they can be backed up etc for your own use. The law is specific to this one point (the copy protection). It does not give you the right to make copies for distribution or to in any other way breach the copyright of the game (by making your own version for example).

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions (www.obscure.co.uk)
Game Development & Design consultant

TIE Fighter has already been remade in a Win32 version; it was released together with a remake of X-Wing as the X-Wing Collector''s Edition. (As a matter of fact, the TIE Fighter CD is lying right beside me as I type ...)

As for re-creating it for old computers, I would suggest you devote your effort to something like the wonderful DOSBox project which allows you to run old DOS games on modern computers. (Its support for TIE Figher is, at present, lacking.)

quote: Original post by nickwinters
I remember something about it being legal to create a free version of games that can no longer be played on computers produced today. Since Tie Fighter was DOS based, and can no longer be played, would it be legal to start an open-source project to re-create it for modern computers? Are there any good sources that I can research on this topic?

Thanks.

-Nick

It is legal to create a game with similar gameplay and style, but using Star Wars models in a game would more than likely be a violation of Lucas Arts trademarks/copyrights.