He can indeed distribute the parts together, so long as those parts under GPL are also available for free, without the rest of WithinAmnesia's components. It's effectively identical to what you propose in your last paragraph, but without as much inconvenience.
End users can download the Engine + Assets + config/narrative (aggregate package) from place A (with payment), and/or download the assets from place B (for free), and/or the engine from place C (for free).
Place A, B, and C can also basically be the same place\website, just with the A link requiring payment, while B and C are free downloads. In fact, the way WithinAmnesia's package is set up, users can access all the content of B and C within the game folder structure and are free to use it for free after only downloading A. The point is, the GPL components are all available even without paying anything (via download of B and C), yet they aren't required to download 1 game from 3 places if they don't want to.
GPL section 5c prevents non-GPL components from being combined with GPL components, but like I said above they must all be separate legal collections. I also said some code couldn't be in a separate collection based on how it's linked. That still doesn't necessitate ALL components from being under GPL even if some parts are.
"...if the compilation and its resulting copyright are not used to limit the access or legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. Inclusion of a covered work in an aggregate does not cause this License to apply to the other parts of the aggregate."
Yes, it seems like vasder has not fully understood the question being asked.
bzt's answer, although not wrong, is still incomplete. You CAN do what op is asking with GPL and CC-BY-SA. But only by keeping the components separate. OP may not be able to copyright the "full" game; the engine AND the assets AND the narrative components AND the gameplay mechanics, but the components that WithinAmnesia is the sole legal owner and creator of can be copyrighted and he can prevent others from selling the game so long as "the game" contains those components.
This is the same way many AAA games operate as well. Any major game that uses the Unity or Unreal engine as their backbone can still copyright their game (sans the engine) and prevent others from selling it or redistributing it without permission. The game studio doesn't have license over the game's framework, but they still have license to distribute the other components they made that run on the engine.
The assets can be under CC-BY-SA, the engine can be under GPL, and the narrative can be under a proprietary copyright. The licensing has to be kept clean with each of these parts under their own "collection", but it is well within the legal framework of each of the licenses. GPL is the most troublesome for this because, depending on how code is linked to other GPL code, it may not be able to be kept in a separate "legal collection". Never the less, the other components are still owned by WithinAmnesia.
Ultimately, OP has already received a response from the author of both the game engine and the majority of assets, who has confirmed to OP this is allowed by the license and has even given his blessing to do it the way OP outlined above.
Are all the openly licensed art assets of the project already on OGA? If not, we'd love to have those. As for code, are you able to post it on GitHub and share a link with us? Even if someone doesn't come along and decide to keep going with it, they may find something useful to use in their own projects. :)
As for design documents; what does that involve? There is no issue with sharing documents on this thread unless they're so numerous and huge that it keeps the page from loading. I would like to see what you've got. Also, depending on their content, they could be considered art assets in their own regard. :D
I like the idea of having in-game flora be recognizable as IRL plants. I would be especially interested in IRL plants that have medicinal or mystical properties, not just as food. If such plants also have culinary uses, all the better! Garlic, for example, has all three:
medicinal - immune boosting.
mythological - repels evil such as vampires.
culinary - aromatic savory seasoning.
Elder Scrolls games seem to do this sometimes. I always loved being able to recognize the in-game alchemical reagents based on my out-of-game knowledge of plants like aloe vera, ginko, flax, or bergamot.
Ooops! I intended to have the animals in my list as well. Most interested in game animals; deer, bears, boars are in the difficult category. but foxes(?), rabbits, ducks, birds in general, fish, and squirrels. Rats too, because everyone gets their first level-up from fighting rats! :D
your patronage definitely buys greater influence! XD
Oh, dear! I mean, that's good, though it was not my intent. :) If the consensus from everyone else is firmly divergent from my own preferences, mine should not overrule everyone else's... yet! ;)
Understandable about kiboshing the diagonal ship, but hopeful about north & south versions.
How about jeweler's magnifying glasses, or a face shield for welding/smithing, or goggles?
Ooh, good idea! I suppose a jewelers loupe would propably look like a monocle. Still, I like the idea of a loupe or magnifying glasses. Goggles, for sure! Even having nothing to do with jewelry, they apply to so many circumstances.
He can indeed distribute the parts together, so long as those parts under GPL are also available for free, without the rest of WithinAmnesia's components. It's effectively identical to what you propose in your last paragraph, but without as much inconvenience.
End users can download the Engine + Assets + config/narrative (aggregate package) from place A (with payment), and/or download the assets from place B (for free), and/or the engine from place C (for free).
Place A, B, and C can also basically be the same place\website, just with the A link requiring payment, while B and C are free downloads. In fact, the way WithinAmnesia's package is set up, users can access all the content of B and C within the game folder structure and are free to use it for free after only downloading A. The point is, the GPL components are all available even without paying anything (via download of B and C), yet they aren't required to download 1 game from 3 places if they don't want to.
GPL section 5c prevents non-GPL components from being combined with GPL components, but like I said above they must all be separate legal collections. I also said some code couldn't be in a separate collection based on how it's linked. That still doesn't necessitate ALL components from being under GPL even if some parts are.
Yes, it seems like vasder has not fully understood the question being asked.
bzt's answer, although not wrong, is still incomplete. You CAN do what op is asking with GPL and CC-BY-SA. But only by keeping the components separate. OP may not be able to copyright the "full" game; the engine AND the assets AND the narrative components AND the gameplay mechanics, but the components that WithinAmnesia is the sole legal owner and creator of can be copyrighted and he can prevent others from selling the game so long as "the game" contains those components.
This is the same way many AAA games operate as well. Any major game that uses the Unity or Unreal engine as their backbone can still copyright their game (sans the engine) and prevent others from selling it or redistributing it without permission. The game studio doesn't have license over the game's framework, but they still have license to distribute the other components they made that run on the engine.
The assets can be under CC-BY-SA, the engine can be under GPL, and the narrative can be under a proprietary copyright. The licensing has to be kept clean with each of these parts under their own "collection", but it is well within the legal framework of each of the licenses. GPL is the most troublesome for this because, depending on how code is linked to other GPL code, it may not be able to be kept in a separate "legal collection". Never the less, the other components are still owned by WithinAmnesia.
Ultimately, OP has already received a response from the author of both the game engine and the majority of assets, who has confirmed to OP this is allowed by the license and has even given his blessing to do it the way OP outlined above.
Haha! Ok, yes I did laugh. I had removed the user before seeing the context of the comment. Thank you, Emcee for filling me in.
Oh, I'm sorry; you had shared the mod links before. I missed the dropbox link in your heresy thread. Yay! thanks.
Danimal, Y U no have link to mod folder!? This sounds like great content. Is it private?
Are all the openly licensed art assets of the project already on OGA? If not, we'd love to have those. As for code, are you able to post it on GitHub and share a link with us? Even if someone doesn't come along and decide to keep going with it, they may find something useful to use in their own projects. :)
As for design documents; what does that involve? There is no issue with sharing documents on this thread unless they're so numerous and huge that it keeps the page from loading. I would like to see what you've got. Also, depending on their content, they could be considered art assets in their own regard. :D
Nope. It isn't stuck, really. Just bumped for a day because it wasn't available for a month after its original posting.
I like the idea of having in-game flora be recognizable as IRL plants. I would be especially interested in IRL plants that have medicinal or mystical properties, not just as food. If such plants also have culinary uses, all the better! Garlic, for example, has all three:
Elder Scrolls games seem to do this sometimes. I always loved being able to recognize the in-game alchemical reagents based on my out-of-game knowledge of plants like aloe vera, ginko, flax, or bergamot.
Ooops! I intended to have the animals in my list as well. Most interested in game animals; deer, bears, boars are in the difficult category. but foxes(?), rabbits, ducks, birds in general, fish, and squirrels. Rats too, because everyone gets their first level-up from fighting rats! :D
Oh, dear! I mean, that's good, though it was not my intent. :) If the consensus from everyone else is firmly divergent from my own preferences, mine should not overrule everyone else's... yet! ;)
Understandable about kiboshing the diagonal ship, but hopeful about north & south versions.
Ooh, good idea! I suppose a jewelers loupe would propably look like a monocle. Still, I like the idea of a loupe or magnifying glasses. Goggles, for sure! Even having nothing to do with jewelry, they apply to so many circumstances.
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