Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:08 am Post subject:
Using Westwood assets in mods
Pretty much all mods take some stuff from the various Westwood / EA C&C games. Was just wondering how much of it is ok? Like for example ripping unit sounds or sound effects from C&C4 when it hasn't been out for that long. Is that considered ok? I doubt EA would mind it too much since the mods are for other EA games, but does anyone know their stance on this? I remember hearing that e.g. Blizzard is very strict about their assets being ripped and used in mods.
In my case I've been thinking of adding some music tracks from C&C Renegade into my mod. But I can still see the soundtrack being up for sale. And taking complete songs feels like going further than just taking some shps from RA2 or a unit voice from C&C3. Would you consider it ok to take music from other C&C games for mods? Proper credits would of course be given. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Yeah I guess it could be fine, usually I just downgrade the sound files to WAV to make them less desirable. (since people usually want mp3,etc music files instead of lower quality WAV)
Providing Credit to the original owners is always obvious. Provided you are using them for non-profit I guess it's safe anyway. _________________ ~ Excelsior ~ QUICK_EDIT
EA doesn't care and given its non-profit they have no reason to care either way, only way you could get EA on your ass if you tried sell the mod and there is even C&C TC mods on other non-EA game engines being made and they are not warned (C&D) so chances of you being C& D:ed for using any amount is very unlikely besides AUD quality of 22050 mono is hardly great for music.
Blizzard however, better leave their stuff alone but then they are more or less only developer that strict and only other case to mind was Halo brand mods that got C & D on other developer game engines.
I dont think CnC would mind to move sound's from CnC games to another It's their properties anyways and if they wanted to sue us the should have done that along time ago.. QUICK_EDIT
EA dosent care, they are already fully aware of what we do,
Blizzard and other companies however, stay away from using thier stuff as they are known to track down and find people using thier stuff illegally. they have and will go after people. _________________
The enemy shall be injected with toxic poison - Venom QUICK_EDIT
I was hoping to use the Ghost & Battlecruiser Quotes from SC1 though... still wondering if that would be fine with Blizzard. :V _________________ ~ Excelsior ~ QUICK_EDIT
Yeah I guess it could be fine, usually I just downgrade the sound files to WAV to make them less desirable. (since people usually want mp3,etc music files instead of lower quality WAV)
Providing Credit to the original owners is always obvious. Provided you are using them for non-profit I guess it's safe anyway.
The funny thing is that wav's are higher quality than mp3, they are uncompressed. QUICK_EDIT
The funny thing is that wav's are higher quality than mp3, they are uncompressed.
The funny thing is that what you said is not automatically true. Waveform audio (.wav) is just a wrapper of sorts of various audio encoding codecs, some of which are compressed while others are not. Most audio in RA2/YR are encoded using IMA ADPCM codec, which is lossy compression encoding, albeit with different basic principles when compared to MP3 and likes. Various ADPCM formats (which are always lossy to a degree) are common in other games as well, along with MP3. Pretty sure WW .aud is one as well.
Either way, I suppose you were talking about comparison of uncompressed PCM waves and MP3, in which case PCM is definitely the winner, especially if source audio was lossless. MP3 sucks anyways when compared to more modern audio codecs, in practically every aspect except platform support.
On-topic: EA is unlikely to care, as is case with most other game studios as well altough as mentioned before, Blizzard has had fairly strict policy with usage of their assets and IP in past so would need to be pretty careful with their stuff. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Well, as someone who made models for War craft 3 and who has been in WC3 communities for years, I know that Blizzard allows only if you use anything from one Blizzard's game to another. For example you can extract things from Star craft II to War Craft 3 maps without any problems. (yeah, point is that you import/export things to maps! Their maps are archive, which differs from C&C games which has global settings.)
Exporting blizzard's stuff to other games is forbidden, and they often sue people and close their sites for piracy. Of course, where they have jurisdiction. They do not have power in any country in world, but mainly in USA and Europe. _________________ PPM Halloween Season 2021 QUICK_EDIT
Aaah crap, I was hoping to use the Carrier Voices too since I was planning on making a Protoss Carrier as an Easter Egg Crate Unit in my Mod. _________________ ~ Excelsior ~ QUICK_EDIT
I would not take any music because you can safely turn music off in the options and let a media player run in the background _________________ Free Tibed!
EA for worst company of the decade! QUICK_EDIT
Ever thought of using custom sounds? It takes time but is well worth it. One unit in my mod is a recorded voice of mine with tons of editing and effects added in Audacity and sounds pretty good. _________________ Tiberium Uprising (a few missions for TS): http://www.ppmsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31029 QUICK_EDIT
@PePsiCola you may would like to check out my mod it got nearly all sound exchanched with custom ones, well in the final release its still in demo stage but I have the sound files just not all implemented yet. Theres a demo out http://www.moddb.com/mods/orange-touch-up/downloads/otu-03-51 The site also got a few of my sound files showcasted. Its worth it. I also use Audacity a great tool to make the sound WAV and then convert with XCC to AUD. My experience shows that every sound file can be used the MHz and other properties do not matter much if any at all unlike stated otherwise in the tutorials. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 22 Nov 2010 Location: Iszkaszentgyorgy, Hungary
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:13 pm Post subject:
It's hard creating custom sounds when you don't have a quality equipment or your voice sucks. _________________ "If you didn't get angry and mad and frustrated, that means you don't care about the end result, and are doing something wrong." - Greg Kroah-Hartman
=======================
Past C&C projects: Attacque Supérior (2010-2019); Valiant Shades (2019-2021)
=======================
WeiDU mods: Random Graion Tweaks | Graion's Soundsets
Maintainance: Extra Expanded Enhanced Encounters! | BGEESpawn
Contributions: EE Fixpack | Enhanced Edition Trilogy | DSotSC (Trilogy) | UB_IWD | SotSC & a lot more... QUICK_EDIT
My experience shows that every sound file can be used the MHz and other properties do not matter much if any at all unlike stated otherwise in the tutorials
I can't wait for Apollo to come set you right about how blind you are in regards to sound quality and engine/mix needs in regards to formats when it comes to audio. Using the wrong formats can lead to sound corruption issues down the line. QUICK_EDIT
I have about 30 sound effects implemented from all kind of sources. a game cd from the 90s, various sites, music cds, my own recordings. they all work and there is no noticeable quality drop. I don't say apollo is wrong I just say that it does not apply to me so far. I shared a link to the demo in about 3 days an updated version will come why not try it out if you don't believe me. _________________ Free Tibed!
EA for worst company of the decade! QUICK_EDIT
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
Using Westwood assets in mods
It's their properties anyways and if they wanted to sue us the should have done that along time ago..
