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Edge

BI Developer
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Posts posted by Edge

  1. Posted

    We have several reports of TerrainProcesssor not properly terrain-processing shapefiles on drives different from EXE location or P:\ drive. For now, we recommend to have the project file (TPP) and shapefiles stored near the TP executable.

     

    Apologies, we are working on the fix. :)

  4. Posted

    Hi Olli, we consider depicting a vehicle or weapon and naming it by its military designation allright for the purpose of the contest, and we will NOT disqualify anyone for e.g. naming M-16 as "M-16" in game. However, it will probably do no harm if you avoid company names or obvious brands (e.g. "Aimpoint"). Please note that MANW contestats warrant they hold the rights, and if we (BI) would receive compaints of copyright or trademark holders, we will investigate and make sure to remove any infringements in cooperation with respective entry's authors.

    Please, may you tell me about the references for trademark ownership you used? PM will certainly do if you'd feel an extensive info would clutter the thread. Thanks in advance!

  6. Posted

    Hello, the rules state that your contest entry must not require any other addon (except of Community Base Addons) to work correctly in Arma 3.

    Let's use your example to illustrate what's possible:

    • If your addon would require the 3rd-party flying tanker addon to work and it would be impossible to run game with your addon alone, it would be unfortunately unacceptable.
    • If your addon would just allow or support the use of 3rd-party addons, but they would not be required to run it, it would be just fine. :)

  7. Posted

    Hello kju, thanks for your questions. :)

    Regarding the Selection of Finalists:

    • ad 1) Yes, the criteria apply only to the contribution itself. Other promotional activities of the contestants do not influence the selection of Finalists.
    • ad 2) MANW content page, wiki info or website are not considered to be part of a contest entry. The promotion opportunities are meant to give the contestants chance to promote their work in the community, get visibility on the contest website etc.
    • ad 3) The information required to install and use a contest entry are mandatory part of the submission, and may come in any suitable form (TXT readme, ingame instructions etc.). The point is to give us enough information to be able to judge the entries properly, the readme's form and content will not be judged. E.g. if you deliver a plain TXT explaining the setup of your MP mission and what are the special rules and controls of it, it is just what we need.

    Regarding the Selection of Winners:

    • ad 1) The criteria of the Jury are purely subjective, in order to allow every member of Jury to express his professional and personal preferences. Jury will be judging the cream of the crop of the contest entries, hence more freedom for Jury to promote the entries which would seem special to them.
    • ad 2) Jury members will focus on the entries themselves, they will not give points for nice websites etc. As for the internal infrastructure, the Jury members will have all BI's support to be able to judge all the Finalist entries in the required extent.
    • ad 3) Yes, of course, servers will be arranged to ensure the Jury has chance to have the full experience. We are considering whether to make the servers public or whether to use a more private environment.

  9. Posted

    Hello, I understand your concerns and reasons, but we need to keep the conditions same for all participants, submission methods included. If you want to take part in the contest, please publish the mission on Steam Workshop no later than on 28th October 2014 at 12am (GMT+1), as stated in the contest rules.

    Thanks in advance and looking forward to see King of The Hill among the entries! :)

  10. Posted

    Hello, Mecharius, I have the info regarding the use of PDF map of Altis and Stratis. As it's a product BI sells as part of Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition, publishing the map content on the internet is regarded illegal and we cannot allow you to use it. If you need a decent map of Altis and Stratis for your mission generator, the legally safe option is to use the map imagery obtained from the game (e.g. by print-screening), which would be considered fair use of game content according to the Game Content Usage Rules.

    Please feel free to PM me if you'd have further questions, and keep up the great work! :)

  11. Posted

    The explanation why we "cooked" our own licenses is pretty easy, as 10T put it: CC don't address some specific things we wanted to promote or legalize, e.g. limited usage of content only withing range of our products. Also, BI's licenses are based on the latest version of CC licenses. :) Of course you are free to use a suitable CC license provided your work is 100% yours and does not contain any remixes.

    Anyway, back to the hard work: regarding the questions about whether unbinarized models need to be provided as part of modifications released under APL-SA, it is NOT required. I would say the FAQ is pretty clear about this:

    Does "Share Alike" mean that I need have to release the source models of my modification?

    The license does not specify in which format the data ought to be shared, and we do not require the addon makers to publish unbinarized sources along with the binarized addons under the APL-SA license. Obviously, it's better to release data in unbinarized format for their further use, which is what we would consider as beneficial for the Arma creative community. Also, we recommend respecting the original data under APL-SA you modify: if somebody released his addon in MLOD format as well, it would be a matter of courtesy to release it likewise.

    We have released plenty of past Armas' data ourselves, with APL-SA parts of the Arma Licensed Data Packs containing binarized models. The intention behind the cited FAQ answer is not to impose rules on community we did not abide ourselves. :) If you, the community, would feel there is need to enforce the release of unbinarized models in order to allow easier remixes, we are open to discussion (but please start it in a separate thread).

  13. Posted

    Is it allowed to use sounds which were recorded from Arma 3? I mean: Record sounds with Audacity, export them as .ogg, implement them into description.ext and playSound or say them.

    As you would still be using something based on our game's data, I think the same rules as for using the files directly would apply. Please check the Game Content Usage Rules and if you would not spot a reasonable answer, please send me a PM and I will ask around.

  14. Posted

    Are we allowed to edit the BI ARMA 3 music? For example cut/shorten/repeat for a trailer? Is this allowed? Also which would it fall under? APL or APL-SA? Also voiceovers, if they our own voiceovers, are they then APL or APL-SA? Do we make use of both APL and APL-SA licenses when listing copyrights or must we only choose one license?

    According to the Game Content Usage Rules, it seems that you can use the music tracks from A3 for the purpose of promoting your contest entry. I will need to verify this but if you keep the Arma stuff in Arma and Arma-related promo, it's generally fine with us. However, A3 music is not part of any licensed data pack, therefore I would be careful with editing it. If we would spot an issue we would not like, we would let you know and see how we could handle that to both your and our satisfaction. :)

    The voiceovers you recorded for the mission are all yours. It would be awesome if you would release them under APL or APL-SA, but we cannot force you to use any of them - please check the chart. Of course, you can use only one license for a single piece of work.

    Also if we develop our own textures for characters clothing, is this allowed in Singleplayer mode or is that considered a mod?

    As Undeceived said, we only want to avoid having to download more PBOs, but if you make them part of the mission package, it's perfectly fine and much welcome!

    Just to verify again, we wanting to keep any issues of copyright to a minimum, okay let me reword that, we not wanting any copyright issues so everything is pretty much "in-house" or straight ARMA 3 data. However as we will have custom voiceovers for the storyline (owned and developed by us) this would have us release under APL or APL_SA?

    You do not need to release your work under an Arma Public License, but it would be noble thing surely appreciated by other community mission makers. :) It is important for you to make sure you (as individual or as a team) have rights to use the custom voiceovers, but it's between you and voiceactors and sound engineers, but I suppose you have this covered.

    Thanks for your questions! I will definitely need to take a look at how we limit the usage of music. :)

  15. Posted

    Does this mean that since the Queen's Gambit files are included in the ALDP package that we can use, for example, the DC-3 as long as we use it in ArmA?

    Hello, if it's in ALDP package, then you are free to use it in Arma and abide to the license's requirements.

    ---------- Post added at 08:57 ---------- Previous post was at 08:21 ----------

    I think I understand your question and indeed it would be good to confirm it in bold letters by BIS

    many people confuse content made by addonmaker with content made by BIS when it comes to liceses

    The things are a bit different: Our (BI) content is licensed by our EULA and part of the game data were released inder certain licenses (APL, APL-SA). Content made by an addonmaker from scratch may be licensed in any way provided the license is compliant with our EULA. It is up to particular addonmaker to choose under which conditions he releases their work, with APL and APL-SA being among the options. In case somebody is using BI's data as basis for their work, they are required to follow the licenses' conditions (see the licenses selection chart).

    few days ago someone from Dayz community was.. trying to convince me that models made by me from scratch must be released as opensource and share-alike,

    because he believes that BIS types of licenses that came along with BIS release of MLODs are touching also content NOT made by BIS

    Of course, this is nonsense. Your model is yours, and it is up to you how you limit its further usage. However, it is always good do define these things when you release something. Again, APL or APL-SA can be used.

    it would be good to have here confirmation from BIS (which we could link to dayz mods forums): "licenses prescribed on BIS websites are not touching models made by other entity than BIS"

    cause currently another person from dayz community says that my addons are opensource and because they fall under BIS license they are share-alike and i must release source and i cannot permit/not permit anyone about any use/edition etc.

    cause they say "if addon is downloaded from Armaholic and come to dayz it is open source and share-alike and you cannot argue with anyone cause you do now own it but it is share-alike opensource"

    Obviously, licenses always cover particular and well defined content, and are not universal to everything the community produces - you would have to state that paticular addon of yours is released under particular license. Even if you do not define licensing conditions for your work, you remain its author and your IP rights should be respected. You are definitely not required to release any sources, but it's welcome help expecially in case of APL-SA-licensed content.

    Let me just add that everyone is welcome to use APL or APL-SA, which are based on CC but were tailored to be EULA-compliant and promote the spirit of openness and cooperation us veterans experienced in the early days of OFP community.

    I also recommend to read through the Licenses FAQ and check the licenses selection chart which can help in understanding how we mean it. Hope this helps. :)

  16. Posted

    This is good news. However, are we allowed to use Arma III content in the form of model proxies in MANW entries? For example if somebody was to enter an aircraft into the competition that used the default Arma III missiles?

    I think the use of proxies as you describe it is perfectly fine. :)

    ---------- Post added at 09:08 ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 ----------

    Thanks for clearing this up! Have already sent out messages to the creators asking for permission to use stuff specifically for the contest. But just to get the details right: The final version must not contain unlicensed or "wrong" licensed content, but how is it with early versions (Alpha, Beta, whatever)?

    With entering the contest I've released an Alpha version that contains at least one creative commons 0 item. Can I keep it for now and replace with my own work later or will I have to take it down immediately?

    Just saw that CC 0 is actually public domain and by that not non-commercial. So at least this one shouldn't be a problem, right?

    Hello, I sent you a "harsh" e-mail notifying you about the issues just before reading the message. :) Many thanks for all the efforts to solve the possible IP issues!

    From the entry processing POV, we are not really interested in IP issues until submissions are closed and we would need to determine finalists and make sure they do not violate anyone's IP rights, but from the community standpoint, sooner your entry is fully compliant with the rules the better.

    We have set up a possibility to report 3rd-content abuse, and it is obvious from the first few reports that it would be good if we make the use of 3rd-party work in entries more transparent / visible, otherwise people will tend to report even cases where the author has permission to use 3rd-party works. I would like to offer the authors a formalized way to report 3rd-party content in their works, and make this information part of the entry presentations, but it will take us some time to implement.

    Just to "harsh e-mails" in general, we are only notifying the authors about possible issue and ask them to make sure they got the IP stuff right. It is in our interest to support the contestants. By receiving an e-mail warning, authors are not getting any "black mark", it's just a friendly heads-up to make sure we would not need to disqualify them later because of their omission. :) Of course, we record the reports and in case a reported entry would become finalist, we would double-check the possible issues.

  18. Posted

    So someone can use something 3rd party APL-SA?

    Yes, but only if the 3rd party (author of the content released under APL-SA) agrees.

    I can see where some of that can get murky. What if I license something APL-SA because I have to (like if I use BI data) - then I shouldn't be able to waive that clause for the object because it isn't mine to waive (although part of it is?).

    Consent of all 3rd-party authors would be required. If it would be just you and BI, then the person who's using your licensed work would only need to get your permission, as we've given it for all our licensed data.

  19. Posted

    Hello, we at Bohemia have nothing against this as long as you would only reward the supporters. :) Rules don't prevent such activities and it's something everyone can do. My suggestion would be to keep things absolutely transparent and avoid "buying" people's votes, in which case we would probably have to disqualify you.

    Good luck in promoting your contest entry! There's never enough Arma3-themed mats and mugs! :yay:

  20. Posted · Edited by Dwarden
    typo fix

    Hello, you might be interested in how to use APL-SA-licensed 3rd-party content in your contest entries:

    • Winning a prize in the competition could be considered commercial use.
    • You can NOT include any 3rd-party content in your submission that is licenced for non commercial use only (e.g. under Arma Public Licenses or Creative Commons Non Commercial Licenses) without consent and specific license from the 3rd party.
    • Bohemia Interactive grants license all participants in MANW to use its licensed data from http://www.bistudio.com/english/community/licenses/licenced-data-packages in the contest, as well as to use Arma 3 and Arma 3 Tools to create competition entries.

    To sum it up, you are free to use Bohemia's data for the contest, but you ALWAYS need to obtain 3rd-party's permission from anyone else. In case of APL-SA, the license's requirements apply even for the Make Arma Not War contest entries (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Arma Only, Share Alike).

  22. Posted

    Hi Lato, I am not sure if military unit names are copyrighted, but I suppose you can use them as general terms (I cannot imagine all the people writing about worl militaries having to obtain permission to use the names in their books)? Logos might be trickier, as many organizations have regulations for use fo their symbols. If you have more information about this, please do share them here or send me a PM, I would definitely like to learn more!

    You may also consider whether a particular unit patch or name is indispensable for making a good modification. :)

    On a side note, you can use copyrighted material (e.g. music), but only in case you don't violate the material owner's rights (e.g. by obtaining a permission from them).

  24. Posted

    Hello, and thank you for the valuable input! Of course we are aware of the possibility of vote rigging, and we are working on a technical solution which would hopefully prevent it. Please cross your fingers!

    The reason why we want to have finalists in one category selected by the community is that we want everyone (and not just contestants) to have chance to add their bit to this community event, we regard this as part of fun. :)

    Of course, the selection of finalists by us vs. community would differ a lot, but we trust you! :) We hope you guys will give your "likes", "points" or "votes" (or whatever we will settle for) to the quality missions and campaigns - the community has IMHO seen enough to be able to judge this. It is obvious that missions entering the contest earlier will have chance to get more votes, but we honestly could not think of anything feasible which would counter this. I can imagine us keeping few wild-cards for the SPM entries we would like, but that would obviously require change in the rules (which is something I don't wish to do too often).

  25. Posted

    The ONE thing I am hoping comes from this (as I have been talking with the coders in my clan), is that this adds even more, vanilla, code-hooks; for Shay to be able to use to make MCC even better.

    Well said, and exactly the attitude I would expect from the Arma mod-maker. :) Let's hope that the development will take this direction.

    ...it gives BIS endless content and endless free workers with zero expenses (this is the idea behind Make ArmA Not War).

    It gives the endless content to the Arma community, not to BI! ;)

    Regarding your interpretation of the idea behind the "Make Arma Not War" contest, let me explain few things: The contest is here for the community (you included), not for BI. Yes, it may yield some content which would be worth publishing, but it would be mainly to the benefit of such content's authors. Also, I think that if there would appear a modification with potential for the commercial succes, it would be also because we at Bohemia keep putting a huge (and largely unnoticed) effort into keeping Arma modifiable. :)

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