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My take on the attempt
Sanfam
I like clocks.
Here's how I see things:
(for the record, a "Mod" refers to a project, whether an actual modification/modifier for a game or a a standalone application, which is a part of the B5 gaming community)
the world is, for the most part, cheery, rosy, happy place. The people in this world are (at least 75% of them) inherently trustworthy, and when given a fair environment and a chance to act on their natural desires, will want to contribute back to the community they drew from. The problem is typically that most people feel too disconnected from said community, or simply feel that they have no capability of making an impact. The goal of this project is to allow for these people to make a positive impact by starting off on the right foot.
So many mods are ruined by low-quality meshes or textures, or poorly planned storylines. However, a number of them are quite successful and have many high quality models or very well thought-out plots or other elements. I see this as both a good and a bad thing. Good because it shows what the community is capable of, but bad because it often mandates a large amount of effort be put into manufacturing "unique" replicas of "props" used on the TV show we so dearly love. I think that many up and coming mods groups would appreciate the availablity of high-quality, accurate models from the show, and that the community as a whole could benefit from the varied expertise it contains all contributing towards better quality source materials.
The problem then begins to arise: How do we handle this source material?
Well, there's a couple of ways: Open distribution, closed distribution, and hybrid distribution. Open distribution consists of simply placing the files upf for download, perhaps in a wiki environment, with no real restrictions. Closed is the exact opposite: One must register and "apply" for access to any particular material, the creator of which must approve each download request. Hybrid, of course, refers to a combination of these two extremes. I believe that each of the two former models have aspects which could be contributed to the project as a whole.
First off, I personally believe that while it's all fine and dandy to claim personal ownership and restrict distribution of a mesh of, say, a starfury or Omega-class destroyer, there's very little benefit to doing so. All you have achieved is the containment of something which, while of potentially high quality, may only be used in one or two projects and be lost from that point on. However, placing it into the hands of the cooperative means that others could use your model as a basis for their project and give it extra life, perhaps a while down the road or maybe right after going online. Either way, the publishing of your model has suddenly opened many doors for other, perhaps less modelling-talented individuals to step in and take on modding, while simultaneously benefitting you by showcasing your talent.
Yes, there are some bad eggs out there. Some people [b]will[/b] try to rip off your work and steal your material, but closing the system won't prevent that. If someone really wants your meshes, textures, or hell, even story ideas, then they will find a way to take it from the finished project. I also suspect that there will be many innocent errors, such as mis-crediting or inuntentional lack of crediting, occuring because newbies may just not be familiar with doing so. But my suspicion is that the majority of those who would be interested in the project would be of the friendly, pleasant type with the subconcious will to benefit their community, as doing so will eventually give back to them in the form of higher quality models and mods in the future.
In my optimal scenario, content creators would post their material to a site, with terms of use and redistribution attached (stating exactly how they want to be credited and and if they permit free redistribution of the content outside of the cooperative repository), and would simply leave it be. If anyone wants to use their material, they could download it and adapt it to their game. However, it would be suggested that once the content is stable and dubbed 'complete" that it be re-submitted to the cooperative as a 'variation' of the source material. I suspect it could be handled in a tree-format, with the distinct possibility of content "forking" into two or more distinct variations after a couple of generations of adjustments and tweaks. Each version of a model would retain the original model's terms, and are not permitted to become any more free or open than the initial state. This means that content could, however, be locked down from distribution by the modifier's variation of the terms tightening the wording.
It's just unfeasable to think a small team could (or even should) have to re-make the B5 universe each and every damned time they want to make a mod or standalone. Why should they? It's just going to be the same model, with the exact same aspirations of perfection. One of the biggest roadblocks has always been the initial investment of time required, so by reducing or removing it, we can see more effort being focused on content or variation in engines and environments.
so come on! lets see this stuff happen.
(for the record, a "Mod" refers to a project, whether an actual modification/modifier for a game or a a standalone application, which is a part of the B5 gaming community)
the world is, for the most part, cheery, rosy, happy place. The people in this world are (at least 75% of them) inherently trustworthy, and when given a fair environment and a chance to act on their natural desires, will want to contribute back to the community they drew from. The problem is typically that most people feel too disconnected from said community, or simply feel that they have no capability of making an impact. The goal of this project is to allow for these people to make a positive impact by starting off on the right foot.
So many mods are ruined by low-quality meshes or textures, or poorly planned storylines. However, a number of them are quite successful and have many high quality models or very well thought-out plots or other elements. I see this as both a good and a bad thing. Good because it shows what the community is capable of, but bad because it often mandates a large amount of effort be put into manufacturing "unique" replicas of "props" used on the TV show we so dearly love. I think that many up and coming mods groups would appreciate the availablity of high-quality, accurate models from the show, and that the community as a whole could benefit from the varied expertise it contains all contributing towards better quality source materials.
The problem then begins to arise: How do we handle this source material?
Well, there's a couple of ways: Open distribution, closed distribution, and hybrid distribution. Open distribution consists of simply placing the files upf for download, perhaps in a wiki environment, with no real restrictions. Closed is the exact opposite: One must register and "apply" for access to any particular material, the creator of which must approve each download request. Hybrid, of course, refers to a combination of these two extremes. I believe that each of the two former models have aspects which could be contributed to the project as a whole.
First off, I personally believe that while it's all fine and dandy to claim personal ownership and restrict distribution of a mesh of, say, a starfury or Omega-class destroyer, there's very little benefit to doing so. All you have achieved is the containment of something which, while of potentially high quality, may only be used in one or two projects and be lost from that point on. However, placing it into the hands of the cooperative means that others could use your model as a basis for their project and give it extra life, perhaps a while down the road or maybe right after going online. Either way, the publishing of your model has suddenly opened many doors for other, perhaps less modelling-talented individuals to step in and take on modding, while simultaneously benefitting you by showcasing your talent.
Yes, there are some bad eggs out there. Some people [b]will[/b] try to rip off your work and steal your material, but closing the system won't prevent that. If someone really wants your meshes, textures, or hell, even story ideas, then they will find a way to take it from the finished project. I also suspect that there will be many innocent errors, such as mis-crediting or inuntentional lack of crediting, occuring because newbies may just not be familiar with doing so. But my suspicion is that the majority of those who would be interested in the project would be of the friendly, pleasant type with the subconcious will to benefit their community, as doing so will eventually give back to them in the form of higher quality models and mods in the future.
In my optimal scenario, content creators would post their material to a site, with terms of use and redistribution attached (stating exactly how they want to be credited and and if they permit free redistribution of the content outside of the cooperative repository), and would simply leave it be. If anyone wants to use their material, they could download it and adapt it to their game. However, it would be suggested that once the content is stable and dubbed 'complete" that it be re-submitted to the cooperative as a 'variation' of the source material. I suspect it could be handled in a tree-format, with the distinct possibility of content "forking" into two or more distinct variations after a couple of generations of adjustments and tweaks. Each version of a model would retain the original model's terms, and are not permitted to become any more free or open than the initial state. This means that content could, however, be locked down from distribution by the modifier's variation of the terms tightening the wording.
It's just unfeasable to think a small team could (or even should) have to re-make the B5 universe each and every damned time they want to make a mod or standalone. Why should they? It's just going to be the same model, with the exact same aspirations of perfection. One of the biggest roadblocks has always been the initial investment of time required, so by reducing or removing it, we can see more effort being focused on content or variation in engines and environments.
so come on! lets see this stuff happen.
Comments
I very much see this as an open source/wiki system. Coders add their code to an open source project and sure enough somebody may probably rip it with no credit. But how many plagiarizers are there compared to the number of people that would benefit and thank you? Also no one is forcing the artists or code writers of any firstones hosted project to publish their work in this fashion, they will voluntarily submit their project understanding what kind of benefits/risks are involved.
But it also reminds me of the Current Halo: CE condition.
People just invnet new stuff and keep it to themselves, making so that only the most experienced programmers can create their own advanced scripts etc...
So yeah, we should make something similar to The Lancer's Reactor ([url]www.lancersreactor.com[/url])
We will just create a public site with a need for login prior to download, then add copyright stuff to read before downloads if the uploader of the file wishes so, just to state the ownership/creator of the model.
It would work out great :)