As a map maker, is it ethically proper for you to copy others peoples maps, change stuff and publish it as long as you give proper attribution and the map was unlocked?
This is fine with permission, otherwise I'd tend to frown on anything more than learning from others maps.
What if the map was locked?
Same as I just said before.
And what if it was locked and the maker declared they had abandoned it?
Again, if they declared they had abandoned it and it was okay to take over/mess with, no problem. However, if not, I would not feel right about just grabbing it. If you see a car abandoned by the side of the road, is it fine just to take it if it has been a year? Sure it will have deteriorated, but would you still do it? I'd be reluctant to without a really good reason.
And if it was abandoned for 3 years, and was broken from all the blizzard patches?
Same as my car example, just more deterioration.
What if you've tried all possible ways to get in contact with the maker, and have gotten no replies? How long should you wait for a reply?
Absence of a reply does not equal consent. I would not take this as an invitation to take over something, even if it is easier to get forgiveness than permission sometimes.
As a map maker is it ethical of you to abandon a map and let future patches break said map, without ever updating it?
I feel it is my right to let a project of mine die without being taken over by someone else, yes. Me losing interest in something for a couple years doesn't mean I want someone else to take it over so I can't again in the future.
Is it ethical to post maps that you didn't copy a map file from another maker, but the game is almost the same as another game aside from terrain and certain aspects of data and trigger coding?
All of us should quit now if this isn't okay. Almost every game type, game mechanic, etc has already been done already, just not the way I might put it together. Attribution should be given, within reason. IE, if your game is totally built around a really cool ability, hero, whatever that you got from elsewhere, should definitely mention that. But not every game with jumping should give credit to Mario Brothers (I know it wasn't the first), not every game with guns should give credit to Contra (Again, I realize not the first). All of us see things, experience things that inspire us to make what we make. It doesn't mean we should attribute every tree we saw while thinking something up, the toilet model number of where we were sitting when we had an epiphany.
Up next is Trieva's Blitz Fire map, Re-Revisited. As fair warning, I'm a bit negative about it this go around...
So, rather than go into a big ramble of seething hatred about it, I'll attempt just a pros/cons list instead of what I noticed with the new patch:
Pros:
At least 1 new mission type that I could notice.
Is now a retreat option for further strategies.
No more accidental pickups for minerals.
Psi abilities add another layer of play into the game.
Cons:
Mineral pickups have been made extra ass, no cheesing, just ass. So very much hatred for this design...
Now very possible to miss mineral pickups because of bad luck.
Minerals worth less as upgrades cost more now.
Not even sure the HP boost upgrade works.
Move circles not correct, got short-changed on the graphical representation more than once.
Was never sure if I was within range or not to attack, was a real problem deciding whether to double attack or not.
Psi attack shared between allies, seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Whether it is having them wasted, or having a team mate intentionally screw the game over just to mess with you.
Shared control of units makes me never want to play the game with anyone else EVER, in the game I left someone set all my units to wait 2 seconds after it was players' turn...
I thought of the way those damned mineral pickups work again, so I point them out AGAIN.
No longer able to view enemy damage, yet I can see exact % my damage might be increased or decreased by, uh, what?
Other:
Trying to get to sleep the night I played it, I wanted to press D to end my turn....
Have you tried just straight texture selecting by ID for them? Is what I ended up doing for all my bugged models in Horologium RPG, worked fine for me, although I don't think any of mine were from Blender. It wasn't bad enough to really detract from gameplay anyways, just wanted to point it out :)
Not a problem at all about not being able to make it, we had 4 anywho.
Next up is a revisit of Xeyed Custom Race by Solstice:
Noticed some weird dark textures and flickering of some models and textures, but otherwise nothing seemed too off. Since it was 2 v 2 against real players, I just mostly aimed to build crap fast, and took a risk on some air units early. Is the plan that counts, right?
Sure Trieva, will take another look at it in the very near future.
Next up for my videos is a revisit of Hellion's Inferno by zRedFoxz:
Over all seems faster paced than it was before, at least when the game isn't doing it's slowdown thing. I assume there is some rhyme or reason to it, but I sure couldn't pinpoint it during my game. The creeps liked to alternate spawning too much and not enough for me, especially when I got kicked out of my vehicle. While I don't mind the ultralisk/queens being as tough as they are, it might be worth the effort to make their XP shared for teammates. A faster way of healing, maybe a risky way, would have been appreciated. The regen is cool, but seemed like far too long of time to run around like a chicken coward to have enough HP to return to the fight.
Had a rather good night for recording, so was able to check out 4 different maps :) First up was Ghost Finder 2, by DeathBringer:
Seems rather well made over all. Experienced some weird overlap, I was running in 1360x768 I think (widescreen mode) if you were curious. Unfortunately the game was over almost as soon as it began, but had some fun with it anyways.
Hi, just curious if a more basic conveyor belt exists than what is currently there for basic doodads. Talking basically just a texture that slides, simple. Even a flat doodad that slides that I could texture swap would probably do the trick. Seeing if anyone knows of anything like this before I go reinventing the wheel and messing with modeling enough to get something rigged together.
Sounds like duckies will be available roughly 12 AM PST this Friday Night/Saturday morning, First Eve of the New Year, if that wasn't confusing enough :) So late Friday night be good to aim for I think, be at least the 3 of us then. We will likely try to hit up some random maps that don't get any attention too, if you want to stick around for that.
My timing might not be so good for that, I'm typically available around 11 PM PST or later on weekdays, and my weekends are hit or miss. Still, if you know what times you are typically available let me know, can try to work something out. That was the melee-esque new race map correct? There is likely no helping the likes of me at being good at melee, at all...
Good to hear, hopeful it was enough to convince you to change the way mineral pickups work!
Anyways, that leaves my request bin fairly empty if any others have requests. Although I'll understand if the interest is a little low right now with a great many modders exhausted from getting their entry ready for RTC 2015.
Well, allowing for more players isn't necessarily a terrible thing, but 12 is quite a lot, and 6 is a lot to require minimum. One thought is to zoom players out more and boost their speed/attack/ability range for less players, so 2 v 2 isn't just non-stop walking, and 6v6 isn't too cramped. Just be quite a thing to get lots of groups of 6 players into the game, be excessively difficult to get it even a little bit popular that way.
Otherwise a lot of it felt pretty solid, could really take off soon imo.
So finally found a day and a more popular play time to get a 3v3 going of your project. The game went smoothly enough, although it ended up being an insanely short game. May want to reconsider the 6 person minimum thing for awhile, at least until it is more popular.
I don't mind the gameplay or the idea any, was just such a colossal PITA to get a game that large that I'd honestly hesitate before picking this one again. Getting AI smart enough to play to kick things off might be worth the effort. Maybe even a simplified hero of sorts that the AI always gets. Just that is the real nail in the coffin for this one, so much freaking work to get a single game going right now. The look and play seemed reasonable enough, I'd play it again if I knew the game would go in 5 mins or less.
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@willuwontu: Go
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Decided on a random map to play, Mad Space by A1win, a bit of an older map, but a good one that honestly deserves more attention than it gets:
While it supports more players, no one was patient enough to wait for anything more than 2 v 2, so that is what we did.
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Up next is Trieva's Blitz Fire map, Re-Revisited. As fair warning, I'm a bit negative about it this go around...
So, rather than go into a big ramble of seething hatred about it, I'll attempt just a pros/cons list instead of what I noticed with the new patch:
Pros:
Cons:
Other:
0
@Supernova134: Go
Have you tried just straight texture selecting by ID for them? Is what I ended up doing for all my bugged models in Horologium RPG, worked fine for me, although I don't think any of mine were from Blender. It wasn't bad enough to really detract from gameplay anyways, just wanted to point it out :)
Not a problem at all about not being able to make it, we had 4 anywho.
0
Next up is a revisit of Xeyed Custom Race by Solstice:
Noticed some weird dark textures and flickering of some models and textures, but otherwise nothing seemed too off. Since it was 2 v 2 against real players, I just mostly aimed to build crap fast, and took a risk on some air units early. Is the plan that counts, right?
0
@Trieva: Go
Sure Trieva, will take another look at it in the very near future.
Next up for my videos is a revisit of Hellion's Inferno by zRedFoxz:
Over all seems faster paced than it was before, at least when the game isn't doing it's slowdown thing. I assume there is some rhyme or reason to it, but I sure couldn't pinpoint it during my game. The creeps liked to alternate spawning too much and not enough for me, especially when I got kicked out of my vehicle. While I don't mind the ultralisk/queens being as tough as they are, it might be worth the effort to make their XP shared for teammates. A faster way of healing, maybe a risky way, would have been appreciated. The regen is cool, but seemed like far too long of time to run around like a chicken coward to have enough HP to return to the fight.
More to come tomorrow :)
0
Had a rather good night for recording, so was able to check out 4 different maps :) First up was Ghost Finder 2, by DeathBringer:
Seems rather well made over all. Experienced some weird overlap, I was running in 1360x768 I think (widescreen mode) if you were curious. Unfortunately the game was over almost as soon as it began, but had some fun with it anyways.
0
@TheUltragon: Go
Cool, will give it a shot and let you know how it works out. Thanks :)
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Hi, just curious if a more basic conveyor belt exists than what is currently there for basic doodads. Talking basically just a texture that slides, simple. Even a flat doodad that slides that I could texture swap would probably do the trick. Seeing if anyone knows of anything like this before I go reinventing the wheel and messing with modeling enough to get something rigged together.
0
@Supernova134: Go
Sounds like duckies will be available roughly 12 AM PST this Friday Night/Saturday morning, First Eve of the New Year, if that wasn't confusing enough :) So late Friday night be good to aim for I think, be at least the 3 of us then. We will likely try to hit up some random maps that don't get any attention too, if you want to stick around for that.
0
@HM1199: Go
Sounds to me like the terran commander was afk at the time.
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@zRedFoxz: Go
Just let me know when then, 2 to 4 shouldn't be too hard to round up, no promises I don't bomb your map again though :)
@Supernova134: Go
My timing might not be so good for that, I'm typically available around 11 PM PST or later on weekdays, and my weekends are hit or miss. Still, if you know what times you are typically available let me know, can try to work something out. That was the melee-esque new race map correct? There is likely no helping the likes of me at being good at melee, at all...
0
@Trieva: Go
Good to hear, hopeful it was enough to convince you to change the way mineral pickups work!
Anyways, that leaves my request bin fairly empty if any others have requests. Although I'll understand if the interest is a little low right now with a great many modders exhausted from getting their entry ready for RTC 2015.
0
@uroboros1987: Go
Well, allowing for more players isn't necessarily a terrible thing, but 12 is quite a lot, and 6 is a lot to require minimum. One thought is to zoom players out more and boost their speed/attack/ability range for less players, so 2 v 2 isn't just non-stop walking, and 6v6 isn't too cramped. Just be quite a thing to get lots of groups of 6 players into the game, be excessively difficult to get it even a little bit popular that way.
Otherwise a lot of it felt pretty solid, could really take off soon imo.
0
@uroboros1987: Go
So finally found a day and a more popular play time to get a 3v3 going of your project. The game went smoothly enough, although it ended up being an insanely short game. May want to reconsider the 6 person minimum thing for awhile, at least until it is more popular.
I don't mind the gameplay or the idea any, was just such a colossal PITA to get a game that large that I'd honestly hesitate before picking this one again. Getting AI smart enough to play to kick things off might be worth the effort. Maybe even a simplified hero of sorts that the AI always gets. Just that is the real nail in the coffin for this one, so much freaking work to get a single game going right now. The look and play seemed reasonable enough, I'd play it again if I knew the game would go in 5 mins or less.