Hi! There are a lot of tutorials on loading Quake, HL e.t.c map files, specially as BSP tutorials. And I've also seen many indie game projects relying on these for their world geometry. Is this actually legal? Thanks in advance Regards, /Omid

You can make a program that load the quake levels if you own them - ie if you bought the game. If you did, then it is perfectly legal.

Regards,

Quote: Original post by Emmanuel Deloget
You can make a program that load the quake levels if you own them - ie if you bought the game. If you did, then it is perfectly legal.

Well, if he bought the game, he would be entitled to do anything with it or its contents. However, I have yet to see a game for sale. All I could find are end user licenses to play the game. This is what you buy when you pick a game box off the shelf, for instance. You don't own the game, but you own the right to do certain things with it.

Quote: Original post by ToohrVyk

Quote: Original post by Emmanuel Deloget
You can make a program that load the quake levels if you own them - ie if you bought the game. If you did, then it is perfectly legal.

Well, if he bought the game, he would be entitled to do anything with it or its contents. However, I have yet to see a game for sale. All I could find are end user licenses to play the game. This is what you buy when you pick a game box off the shelf, for instance. You don't own the game, but you own the right to do certain things with it.

Hair splitting [smile]! Let's say "if you own them - ie if you bought the game" == "if you legally own a license of the game".

And Acclaim games were on sale [grin]

This seems like a thread that's better suited to the business side of game development.

Quote: Original post by Ravuya
This seems like a thread that's better suited to the business side of game development.

Thanks for moving it Ravuya!
I wasn't sure where to post it :)

What you are saying ofcourse makes sense to me, as in, I can edit the maps and create a mod for the game.
But is it legal for me to use their map format, use their editor, make maps for my own game, maybe even use their maps, and then distribute my game.
To me that sounds like a hell of an infringement. I do however not possess any actual knowlegde here, so that's why I'm asking :)
Also let's distinguish cases: Freeware, Commercial.

Thanks for replies!

Regards,
/Omid

Quote: Original post by ToohrVyk

Quote: Original post by Emmanuel Deloget
You can make a program that load the quake levels if you own them - ie if you bought the game. If you did, then it is perfectly legal.

Well, if he bought the game, he would be entitled to do anything with it or its contents. However, I have yet to see a game for sale. All I could find are end user licenses to play the game. This is what you buy when you pick a game box off the shelf, for instance. You don't own the game, but you own the right to do certain things with it.

It's a legal issue, talk to lawyers, etc.

On the state level, various courts are finding both ways. Software might be licensed or sold, and the decisions are a mess. EULAs might be valid or not, or not decided on, depending on your state.

On the federal level, most of the appeals courts have looked at the issue. The prevailing decision is that a one-time transfer of money for a perpetual license is a sale. It's no different than the sale of a chair or smoke detector -- you can do pretty much whatever you want with the one you bought. If you want to rip the smoke detector to shreds and use the parts as a prototype to develop alternative energy then the smoke detector company can't stop you. Similarly, you can reverse engineer the game and do whatever you like (within normal copyright and other law) with the parts. EULAs for a one-time pament game are becoming invalid in FEDERAL courts.

If you have an IP lawyer friend, the topic can lead to great discussions.