336 replies to this topic

[Alaskan Nobody]

Alistair Winter, on 11 December 2013 - 01:42 AM, said:

How long does it take for computer games to become public domain? I hope I live long enough to see the Mechwarrior games become public domain, so we can remake the Mech Commander games with pixel art

I believe it is actually a case by case decision on the part of the copyright owners.
There are some games out there who's older versions are P-D (if I recall correctly, the whole of GoG is public domain games type thing), and others where there have not been new games in years, but the CR owners do not want to give them up quite yet.

That is actually about a big a legal mess as the HG/MW/Unseen issue, as people occasionally assume an old game is public domain, while the copyright holders still say no.

I would have to assume that as long as Micro$oft holds the MW license.... none of them are going to be P-D games though.

Edit: P-D without the - is censored.... and I am wracking my brain trying to figure out what that would be used for that would need censoring (it is the first thing I have not been able to see why for <---and that was phrased BADLY)

Edited by Shar Wolf, 11 December 2013 - 11:01 AM.

[Karyudo ds]

Alistair Winter, on 10 December 2013 - 10:26 PM, said:

Go for it. It's freeware!

It's tempting really. When looking though the colors I had the original Front Mission going through my head. I could see something like that having worked for Battletech and with Pixel games being the rage with kids these days maybe it might work now.

So now I'm going to need a large order of isometric mech sprites

STAT!

Shar Wolf, on 11 December 2013 - 10:23 AM, said:

That is actually about a big a legal mess as the HG/MW/Unseen issue, as people occasionally assume an old game is public domain, while the copyright holders still say no.

At least with public domain you can get answers. What HG did with Macross is just a mess of legal bile only funny because Macross actually still exists and HG can't actually do much with the most popular part of their own series... well back to renting Condos I guess.

Shar Wolf, on 11 December 2013 - 10:23 AM, said:

I would have to assume that as long as Microsoft holds the MW license.... none of them are going to be P-D games though.

Not the MW license exactly. I think what they have are the actual digital rights to MW and thus license it out to third parties like PGI here. So while that's easily a no on public domain (Topps might care otherwise) that's ignoring a slightly gargantuan fact; Mechwarrior can be licensed.

Which might not be cheap, or worthwhile unless you're serious, but it's plausible in the crowd funding era. On the plus side these sprites alone look better than any of the screencaps from the existing iOS game so there's that

Edited by Karyudo ds, 11 December 2013 - 12:40 PM.

[Alistair Winter]

Bishop Steiner, on 11 December 2013 - 08:24 AM, said:

ah latter day(well, as in post Babylon) Germanic Nimrod worship! Got it! Tis so entertaining to me to see the blind adherence so many people put toward things they don't even remotely understand, ja?

Haha, Scandinavians don't really end their sentences with "ja", except in Hollywood, where Scandinavian = German = Dutch and Italian = Spanish = Portugese. Anyway, I don't really consider the popular adherence to holidays like Christmas, Easter or even Valentine's Day a sign of "blindness" or ignorance, even though people don't understand their origins. It's like those Christians who will argue that certain Norwegian holidays are actually connected to ancient Norse rituals, which means false idols, which means you're guilty of devil worship.

To me, it doesn't really matter if Christmas can be traced back to some proto-Indoeuropean day of worship when they used to kill kittens by drowning them in big barrels of wet squirrels. Christmas means whatever I want it to mean. I would prefer to live in a society where we have secular holidays based on our modern scientific and humanistic views instead of religion and commercialism, but I'm not going to go off on my own and celebrate Festivus either.

I don't mean to go off on a tangent here, but since I started a thread with X-mas in the title, I may as well explain myself. The bottom line is: X-mas means whatever people want it to mean. There's no need to bring romans or jewish rabbi into this. Everyone knows the only true god is Santa Claus.

Shar Wolf, on 11 December 2013 - 10:23 AM, said:

I believe it is actually a case by case decision on the part of the copyright owners.

I think it has more to do with local jurisdiction, looking at Wikipedia. If it was up to the copyright owners, then someone would be free to say "This product will be protected by copyright for.... one billion years."

Shar Wolf, on 11 December 2013 - 10:23 AM, said:

Edit: P-D without the - is censored.... and I am wracking my brain trying to figure out what that would be used for that would need censoring (it is the first thing I have not been able to see why for <---and that was phrased BADLY)

One of several inexplicable examples of censorship on this forum.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Alistair Winter, on 11 December 2013 - 12:49 PM, said:

I think it has more to do with local jurisdiction, looking at Wikipedia. If it was up to the copyright owners, then someone would be free to say "This product will be protected by copyright for.... one billion years."

I meant that more in a - if there is still an owner to the copyright, you might want to check with them first.
I rather doubt anyone could legally say that someone cannot touch it for one billion years
(here in the US I think copyrights are good for 25 years, but don't quote me on that )

[Bishop Steiner]

Alistair Winter, on 11 December 2013 - 12:49 PM, said:

Haha, Scandinavians don't really end their sentences with "ja", except in Hollywood, where Scandinavian = German = Dutch and Italian = Spanish = Portugese. Anyway, I don't really consider the popular adherence to holidays like Christmas, Easter or even Valentine's Day a sign of "blindness" or ignorance, even though people don't understand their origins. It's like those Christians who will argue that certain Norwegian holidays are actually connected to ancient Norse rituals, which means false idols, which means you're guilty of devil worship.

To me, it doesn't really matter if Christmas can be traced back to some proto-Indoeuropean day of worship when they used to kill kittens by drowning them in big barrels of wet squirrels. Christmas means whatever I want it to mean. I would prefer to live in a society where we have secular holidays based on our modern scientific and humanistic views instead of religion and commercialism, but I'm not going to go off on my own and celebrate Festivus either.

I don't mean to go off on a tangent here, but since I started a thread with X-mas in the title, I may as well explain myself. The bottom line is: X-mas means whatever people want it to mean. There's no need to bring romans or jewish rabbi into this. Everyone knows the only true god is Santa Claus.


I think it has more to do with local jurisdiction, looking at Wikipedia. If it was up to the copyright owners, then someone would be free to say "This product will be protected by copyright for.... one billion years."

One of several inexplicable examples of censorship on this forum.

well played sir. I just love tweaking people about these things in our uber PC society. And actually the "Ja" ist because I am Steiner.

[Charles Fornton]

Thanks for making the effort. Cheers!

[Sandpit]

This is awesome sir! Great job!

[DrSlamastika]

thank you

[Karyudo ds]

I'm not suggesting anything but...



...I'm also not not suggesting anything.

[GrandLocomon]

so cute! ...and OMG YES PLEASE to the game that would be so cool!

[AceTimberwolf]

Karyudo ds, on 13 December 2013 - 04:28 PM, said:

I'm not suggesting anything but...



...I'm also not not suggesting anything.

Advance Wars: BattleTech Edition


...Just saying....It would make Money

[XtremWarrior]

I was so much looking for that... Thx a lot man.

[DarthPayne]

Big Mech Thumbs up, man! Thanks!

[Karyudo ds]

AceTimberwolf, on 13 December 2013 - 09:41 PM, said:

Advance Wars: BattleTech Edition


...Just saying....It would make Money

And recent reports suggest that Money is good. Of course those tiles are literally blank ones for testing. I'd get slightly more detailed

[Alistair Winter]

AceTimberwolf, on 13 December 2013 - 09:41 PM, said:

Advance Wars: BattleTech Edition
...Just saying....It would make Money

**** you.

Seriously, **** you. Why do you have to go and pitch such an awesome idea? Now I will have to create some kind of pixel art mockup that will take dozens of hours out of my christmas vacation. Only to stare at the finished image with melancholy and regret, knowing that it will never materialize.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Alistair Winter, on 14 December 2013 - 05:20 PM, said:

**** you.

Seriously, **** you. Why do you have to go and pitch such an awesome idea? Now I will have to create some kind of pixel art mockup that will take dozens of hours out of my christmas vacation. Only to stare at the finished image with melancholy and regret, knowing that it will never materialize.

At least you have the skills to create the image.
Advance wars is a bit simple mechanically speaking for MW though....

[Karyudo ds]

Alistair Winter, on 14 December 2013 - 05:20 PM, said:

Only to stare at the finished image with melancholy and regret, knowing that it will never materialize.

*Cracks whip*

I don't hear pixels!

Shar Wolf, on 14 December 2013 - 05:34 PM, said:

At least you have the skills to create the image.
Advance wars is a bit simple mechanically speaking for MW though....

I haven't played Advanced wars but I was thinking something sort of like Front Mission (SNES). So all animated and featuring such favorites as "Infantry".

[Alaskan Nobody]

Karyudo ds, on 14 December 2013 - 05:50 PM, said:

I haven't played Advanced wars but I was thinking something sort of like Front Mission (SNES). So all animated and featuring such favorites as "Infantry".

Except simplified to the near extreme.
Don't get me wrong, I like Advance Wars, but your choice in customization is basically: who do I choose as CO?
All "Infantry" "Tank" or whatever have the same stats, unless your CO is exceptionally competent/incompetent at using that piece.

[Karyudo ds]

Ah okay. As close as I got to that type of game was mostly FM, which did a bit more complex. If it's done right though the game could seem simplified while still running a near carbon copy of the Battletech rules under the hood and looking like adorable pixel art all at the same time.

It would be an elaborate magic trick.

[Alistair Winter]

Shar Wolf, on 14 December 2013 - 05:34 PM, said:

At least you have the skills to create the image.
Advance wars is a bit simple mechanically speaking for MW though....

Yeah, but it just tickles two kinds of nostalgia simultaneously and I always have a soft spot for such games. If you really wanted to make a good Battletech strategy, I think the best route would be some kind of RTS along the lines of Z. No building bases, just using the forces deployed and possibly getting reinforcements bases on your ability to hold vital positions. Though preferably with more realism than Z had.

A Battletech mod for Starcraft 2 would be pretty sweet.

Karyudo ds, on 14 December 2013 - 05:50 PM, said:

*Cracks whip*
I don't hear pixels!
I haven't played Advanced wars but I was thinking something sort of like Front Mission (SNES). So all animated and featuring such favorites as "Infantry".

Hehe! I never played Front Mission, unfortunately. It looks pretty cool. From screenshots, it looks reminiscent of turn based strategy games like the X-com games.