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Geek Culture / Solutions to protect art assets in your commercial games?

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fallen one
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 16:18
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I have seen an open source C++ game, the game is good, but the graphics are bad and outdated, I want to change all the graphics and then sell the new graphics for the game, I will have to protect them somehow, what are my options? Also I want to include different resolution types, the game doesn't have any coding in the game to point it to different resolution graphics, so Ill have to do that a different way, perhaps the only way might be an installer that asks what version of the graphics to install.

Ill note that I will be hosting the open source game for download for free, but will offer the graphics for purchase, though there is nothing stopping me legally from having both the game and the graphics together as one download.

One answer might be in changing the source code, but it could take time to find a coder, and finding good coders is not easy.


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David R
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 16:24 Edited at: 15th Dec 2011 16:25
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I would say don't bother trying to protect the assets. If someone is determined to redistribute your content they will simply put it online with whatever information is needed to unlock/decrypt it (serial etc.)

09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0
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Quik
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 16:32
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pretty much what David R said


The result of origin.. Oh and ponies
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fallen one
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 17:22
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But you need something there, because as its originally an open source game, some people will get all up tight and even justify stealing the art by saying, well, its for an open source game, why should I pay, so you see, you need something there. I also doubt any hacker of any regard will give a damn about some small game I distribute, that's only a problem if it gets popular, buy which time you have made some money from it already to justify the time you spent on it.


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Quik
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 18:02
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Quote: "some people will get all up tight and even justify stealing the art by saying, well, its for an open source game, why should I pay,"


It is still protected by Copyright laws.
Unless you state otherwise.


The result of origin.. Oh and ponies
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MrValentine
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 18:38
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I agree with Quik... also you can simply hide tge textures by means of file name and type...

IE... 123456789.xxxxxx

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fallen one
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 19:56
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Quote: "It is still protected by Copyright laws.
Unless you state otherwise."


But that means you have to sue every person that posts the files, or puts them on a site, copyright laws or not, it does not stop people.

There was someone on these boards that had a program to protect files, it may of been on the fpsc creator boards, Ill do a search.


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Quik
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 20:01
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Quote: " or puts them on a site, copyright laws or not, it does not stop people."


nothing does.


The result of origin.. Oh and ponies
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Benjamin
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 20:07
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Something like MoleBox would be the best solution, but even then there's nothing stopping the person from ripping the data directly from memory.



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henry ham
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 20:12
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Quote: "There was someone on these boards that had a program to protect files, it may of been on the fpsc creator boards, Ill do a search."


here you go mate i think this is what you are looking for

http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=159861&b=21

cheers henry

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fallen one
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 20:22 Edited at: 15th Dec 2011 20:27
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Thanks for the links guys, Oh I forgot to mention, the game works on linux mac and windows, so it will have to work on these systems. Actually it works on even more systems than that, it also works on AmigaOS 4 and OpenBSD, but they are such a small platform that I am not concerned if it doesn't work for those.

That molebox is 400 usd, thats expensive, I am not sure if it only works on windows machines, so people that buy the art assets and run them on other machines to play the game may not be able to use it if thats true. Is Vishnu only for PC users as well?


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BlackFox
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Posted: 15th Dec 2011 20:31 Edited at: 15th Dec 2011 20:32
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Quote: "Is Vishnu only for PC users as well"


Vishnu is Windows only- works on XP, Vista, and Win 7.


Twitter: @NFoxMedia
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old_School
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Posted: 16th Dec 2011 06:14 Edited at: 16th Dec 2011 06:15
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If you research open source copyright laws, their are a few versions of the law you could use to protect your self. Recently I my self sued/won a case dealing with copyrighted art stolen by a former volunteer from a old project. The guilty party stold the work from are office and later used it in their advertisement. Of course we sued/won the case. The process was fairly simple as well. I payed 75 bucks at my local court house and went to court. Presented the orginal art work etc. Ultimately though, their is no fail safe way to protect your art or software 100%. This is why you pay for copyrights. To legaly protect you and your investments. The best way to protect your software is to write a really good anti-pirecy software program your self to ensure it will work to fit your needs 100%. You could purchase third party software but if you know how to program; why pay for a peice of software you could likely make better for your self to fit your personal needs.
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