Mods discussion, links, etc

[Pursuivant]

[QUOTE=SaQSoN;283630Nevertheless, there was clear and strict order from Ilya and earlier by Maddox, that DT should not touch any US ships, or NG related planes and cockpits.[/QUOTE]

So, what does this leave on the table? Is it possible to mod the smaller or older U.S. ships that weren't built by NG corporate precursors.

Personally, I don't really care about the big capital ships. I'd like to see more smaller, cargo and coastal craft which made up the bulk of the various national fleets and which accounted for most of the shipping sunk during the war.

If I'm flying a strike fighter/light bomber over the Bay of Biscay, Port Moresby or Norway, I'm going to stay the heck away from anything with serious guns on it and try to take out something that will sink if it takes a single torpedo or bomb hit, like a coastal steamer or frigate.

[_1SMV_Gitano]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

So, what does this leave on the table? Is it possible to mod the smaller or older U.S. ships that weren't built by NG corporate precursors.

Personally, I don't really care about the big capital ships. I'd like to see more smaller, cargo and coastal craft which made up the bulk of the various national fleets and which accounted for most of the shipping sunk during the war.

If I'm flying a strike fighter/light bomber over the Bay of Biscay, Port Moresby or Norway, I'm going to stay the heck away from anything with serious guns on it and try to take out something that will sink if it takes a single torpedo or bomb hit, like a coastal steamer or frigate.

There is no doubt that a more varied cargo/steamer fleet would be welcomed by most players, provided the models are made according to specs and do not violate any copyright.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by _1SMV_Gitano

There is no doubt that a more varied cargo/steamer fleet would be welcomed by most players, provided the models are made according to specs and do not violate any copyright.

That's excellent news, since most of the U.S., U.K., German, Italian and Japanese civilian shipbuilders are out of business and have been for some time. Anyhow, there can't be any copyright issues with Axis equipment, since those would have fallen by the wayside as "spoils of war." As for the Soviet stuff, that's all in the public domain because it was government designed and planned.

I did a tiny bit of research on this, and there are a whole bunch of U.S. auxiliary ships, such as the Liberty Ship and C2 "Victory Ship" variants, which were specifically designed by the U.S. Maritime Commission for war use. They look to be copyright free, since they were government designed and produced by shipyards which went out of business after the war. That opens up a lot of minor U.S. types.

[SaQSoN]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

So, what does this leave on the table? Is it possible to mod the smaller or older U.S. ships that weren't built by NG corporate precursors.

For official add-on - nothing, which looks like actual USN ship, or called like it. Which mean, we can make some generic looking WWII battleship, or destroyer, or whatever and call it "generic US battleship", or "generic US destroyer", etc. But we can not add anything, that looks close enough to the real thing.

As for the smaller generic vessels, well, what Gitano said.

[Oktoberfest]

Hello Saqson,

well, I just want to share a bit about intellectual properties in 3D models as I have (had) the same problem at the moment. I work for a big hardware company that provide a lot of stuff for aicraft companies, and we are planning to release an application with 3D modelling for the Paris Air Show in June.

We needed an aircraft to show where exactly the components are placed in the aircrafts we equip, however we don't have the money to pay fees to any company to have the right to use their aircraft in our promotion. So we took an existing 3D model of an aircraft and modified it to be a 'generic' aircraft. It's totally legal and we will have that on public display on the biggest Air Show in the world.

I tell you 100% sure that you can model a ship that looks like an american BB and call it 'Generic BB' or 'Generic Cruiser' without having legal issues as long as :
-You make enough changes to be able to prove that NG never designed this ship EVEN if it has some ressemblance with US WWII ships. For example, put 15 - 20 meters more hull. Put or remove additionnal turrets, change the place of the catapults, etc... Changes that wouldn't change the general feeling that the ship is an US BB, but enough to put you out of reach of NG.

- You don't put any name related to a NG ship. So you'll just have to find new names or change them a bit like : Essex > Essecs... That would be enough.

Obviously, those modifications cannot be made to aircrafts, but so many designs were made in ships in WWII that nothing can stop you to create a ship that looks real and credible enough.

To help mission editors, I would even suggest to not give a name to those generic ships, but to put, in the FMB, the ability to name a ship that would then appear on the hull of the ship in the mission, a bit like the aircraft markings.

No more legal issues

[SaQSoN]

Originally Posted by Oktoberfest

Hello Saqson,

well, I just want to share a bit about intellectual properties in 3D models as I have (had) the same problem at the moment.

Thanks, yes, I know this approach. This is what Ubi did with SH5. I was discussing this once with Ilya (I still have Yorktown model, built for PF and not included in the game because of NG, so I suggested to modify it in a similar way, as you proposed). But he just said, "better to keep away from them completely".

[Oktoberfest]

Originally Posted by SaQSoN

Thanks, yes, I know this approach. This is what Ubi did with SH5. I was discussing this once with Ilya (I still have Yorktown model, built for PF and not included in the game because of NG, so I suggested to modify it in a similar way, as you proposed). But he just said, "better to keep away from them completely".

Sad because it's just impossible to get sued for doing this. Just moving the superstructures a bit would do the trick.

For your info, on my aircraft, we changed the engine nacelle and put a cargo door...

[Asheshouse]

Originally Posted by Oktoberfest

Sad because it's just impossible to get sued for doing this. Just moving the superstructures a bit would do the trick.

For your info, on my aircraft, we changed the engine nacelle and put a cargo door...

Unfortunately I think what you mean to say is that it is impossible to be successfully sued. It is always possible for a corporation to commence legal proceedings, even if their case is weak. Then the party being sued is liable to incur significant costs simply to get the case dismissed. Grumman have deep pockets and huge resources.

[csThor]

Originally Posted by Asheshouse

Grumman have deep pockets and huge resources.

But, unfortunately and obviously, no common sense.