Legalities and Moralities of a 'Pseudo-mod'

[AxleMC131]

Greetings fellow KSP players! An important question for you lot...

Although I only created this forum profile about an hour ago, I have been playing Kerbal Space Program for a good year or two now, and still thoroughly enjoy it. Recently however, I have had a go at messing about with part config files just to see what I could create.

Long story short, I ended up duplicating and editing several parts and arranging them into what I like to term a "Pseudo-mod" that goes by the name of Backyard Rocketry. This was inspired by a couple of videos I saw on YouTube involving realistic progression mechanics, including early sounding rockets of the 0.313m part type. The idea of this "pseudo-mod" was to add my own sounding/model 0.313m rocket parts to my own game for a little extra flair in the early stages of KSP.

Now, I'm quite proud of what I have created, and I would love to make something like this publicly available to get feedback, but I have a big problem: all of the parts are just copied and edited from stock parts. A good example part is the 'FireHawk' Model Rocket Motor, which is literally just a super-downscaled BACC Thumper with thrust, fuel and weight stats edited accordingly. Oh, and a fancy red & yellow retexture. Anyway, as nothing is truly original - models, textures or config files - I am worried that this sort of thing would not be allowed to be published, even though I would credit Squad and make zero profit from the venture.

If anyone can point in the right direction, what is Squad's opinion on this sort of thing? Would this "pseudo-mod" be allowed publicly, and if so, what restrictions would be put on its distribution/use?

More importantly, would anyone actually be interested in trying it out if the mod was publicly available???

All answers and feedback greatly appreciated! If anyone wants a full list of the "new" parts in the mod, let me know!

- AxleMC131

[Mecripp]

If there just stock parts or a mod that has a license that lets you used there parts all is good you just can't sell and you have to watch the license some you have to license that same has it was posted.

EDIT- Also here is a thread that has alot of great parts that you more then likely have seen and there free to use http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/43840-Hab-Hub-%28and-other-strange-things%29

EDIT- And there is more of his part all through the thread.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Mecripp2

[AxleMC131]

Really? Well, that makes me feel a lot better!

[hab136]

That's basically what SXT does - re-use a lot of Squad's textures and models. However instead of copying the textures/models, it just references them (for example "texture = model000 , Squad/Parts/Structural/structuralPanel1x1/model000" in the .cfg). Referencing them instead of making new copies of them saves users RAM, so please do that.

You can also copy parts and modify them using Module Manager, if for example if the only thing you're doing is making a smaller copy with modified stats and flavor text.

[Superfluous J]

Note: You cannot redistribute stock parts, but you can refer to the part models already in place in your mod in which case all is good.

[GDJ]

I've "built" plenty of different parts from Squad and other mods, but those are for personal use.

In a nutshell, if you want to make your own mods from somebody else's work (i.e. rescaled parts), ask the original developer first. If you have their blessing, then fine. If not, keep them to yourself.

[Mecripp]

Note: You cannot redistribute stock parts, but you can refer to the part models already in place in your mod in which case all is good.

? There has been a handful of mods that have redistribute stock parts.

[Superfluous J]

? There has been a handful of mods that have redistribute stock parts.

The actual part files, like the texture files and mbms? Then they're breaking Squad's copyright.

New configs that just reference the parts already in the game? That's cool.

[Mecripp]

The actual part files, like the texture files and mbms? Then they're breaking Squad's copyright.

New configs that just reference the parts already in the game? That's cool.

Here is one right offhand http://kerbal.curseforge.com/ksp-mods/233108-rockomax-hubmax-multi-point-connectors-size-2-3

EDIT- And when this one first started http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/118189

And the list can go on and really has little has it might be doesn't squad using curse breaking alot of licenses ?

Edited August 25, 2015 by Mecripp2

[AxleMC131]

I've "built" plenty of different parts from Squad and other mods, but those are for personal use.

In a nutshell, if you want to make your own mods from somebody else's work (i.e. rescaled parts), ask the original developer first. If you have their blessing, then fine. If not, keep them to yourself.

Okay, so it seem that most of the moral concerns are all the common-sense ones: ask before using other people's products, and always reference work that isn't your own. Thanks! Chances are I'll be keeping this pseudo-mod to myself then.

EDIT- Also here is a thread that has alot of great parts that you more then likely have seen and there free to use http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/43840-Hab-Hub-%28and-other-strange-things%29

EDIT- And there is more of his part all through the thread.

Wow, those are some cool-looking models! You say those parts are all available for public use? If so I might download them and fiddle around with them myself, thanks!

Edited August 25, 2015 by diomedea
merged consecutive posts

[magico13]

From what you wrote in the OP, you could very easily use Module Manager to achieve what you're after or just include configs that reference the Stock parts (textures and/or models) without any legal issues. You just can't include the stock models or textures in your download, but you're certainly free to use them by reference (and it's generally a safe bet that those models and textures will be available on a player's system)

[Randazzo]

The actual part files, like the texture files and mbms? Then they're breaking Squad's copyright.

New configs that just reference the parts already in the game? That's cool.

This comes up fairly often. I asked before releasing the original parts. The assets in the GameData folder can be re-used or modified with no issue.

Want to hear it from more reputable folks? So did I.

[Alshain]

From what you wrote in the OP, you could very easily use Module Manager to achieve what you're after or just include configs that reference the Stock parts (textures and/or models) without any legal issues. You just can't include the stock models or textures in your download, but you're certainly free to use them by reference (and it's generally a safe bet that those models and textures will be available on a player's system)

This, no need to redistribute anything for stock config files, just make a Module Manager script that include the changes.

For example, this is a patch I recently made for myself to modify the stock parachute defaults for the tweakables. You just need to have Module Manager installed.

@PART[parachuteSingle]
{
    @MODULE[ModuleParachute]
    {
        @minAirPressureToOpen = 0.60
    }
}

@PART[parachuteRadial]
{
    @MODULE[ModuleParachute]
    {
        @minAirPressureToOpen = 0.60
    }
}

@PART[parachuteLarge]
{
    @MODULE[ModuleParachute]
    {
        @minAirPressureToOpen = 0.60
    }
}

@PART[parachuteDrogue]
{
    @MODULE[ModuleParachute]
    {
        @minAirPressureToOpen = 0.20
    }
}

@PART[radialDrogue]
{
    @MODULE[ModuleParachute]
    {
        @minAirPressureToOpen = 0.20
    }
}

Edited August 25, 2015 by Alshain

[AxleMC131]

The assets in the GameData folder can be re-used or modified with no issue.

Want to hear it from more reputable folks? So did I.

This is good to know. I think I'll still be keeping this work for my own personal use though, until I can be bothered to learn how to make my own models & configs from scratch.

[sarbian]

You can redistribute them but there is no point to it since you can use the stock one from a cfg.

[KasperVld]

The game's models and such can be redistributed in the context of a KSP mod, but as many people pointed out there's really no need to do so in general, and it comes with its own issues. A further note is that if you plan to use any Kerbal-related intellectual property, copyright or trademark for commercial purposes you'd need explicit, prior and written permission from Squad

Edited August 26, 2015 by KasperVld

[AxleMC131]

That's basically what SXT does - re-use a lot of Squad's textures and models. However instead of copying the textures/models, it just references them (for example "texture = model000 , Squad/Parts/Structural/structuralPanel1x1/model000" in the .cfg). Referencing them instead of making new copies of them saves users RAM, so please do that.

Note: You cannot redistribute stock parts, but you can refer to the part models already in place in your mod in which case all is good.

When you say "reference" to existing Squad files and models, do you mean the MODEL tag under some configs? For example, this one comes from the tiny C7 Aerospace nose cone:

MODEL

{

model = BackyardRocketryRemastered/Parts/ARD_noseCone/TinyCone

}

Obviously re-pathed to work with my pseudo-mod. Is that what you mean by referencing? If so, I should be able to go back through, remove all the duplicated models and add that tag to each part with reference to the original models in the Squad folder...

... Right? XD I'm not a coder...

[NathanKell]

Yes, you can clone an existing part's assets by making a new PART{} config and referencing the model you want to use by using a MODEL node.

[AxleMC131]

Awesome! Thanks everyone for the help, does anyone want to see what the mod would have in store then??? As a YouTuber (not for KSP yet, but soon!) I simply ADORE feedback!

[AxleMC131]

Yes, you can clone an existing part's assets by making a new PART{} config and referencing the model you want to use by using a MODEL node.

Having said that, is there a way to make the part reference an existing model in the Squad folder, but use a new texture in another location? I've tried the following for one of my edited parts:

MODEL

{

model = Squad/Parts/Aero/cones/TinyCone

texture = BackyardRocketryRemastered/Parts/ARD_noseCone/Cones.dds

}

But this doesn't seem to work! Am I missing something that is required in the Model parameters?

[Randazzo]

Having said that, is there a way to make the part reference an existing model in the Squad folder, but use a new texture in another location? I've tried the following for one of my edited parts:

MODEL

{

model = Squad/Parts/Aero/cones/TinyCone

texture = BackyardRocketryRemastered/Parts/ARD_noseCone/Cones.dds

}

But this doesn't seem to work! Am I missing something that is required in the Model parameters?

You must reference the texture that is being replaced, and leave out the .dds extension. And while I'm not 100% certain you absolutely need it, I've never seen a model node without a scale parameter.

MODEL
{
model = Squad/Parts/Aero/cones/TinyCone
texture = Cones, BackyardRocketryRemastered/Parts/ARD_noseCone/Cones
scale = 1, 1, 1  //x, y, z
}

Edited August 31, 2015 by Randazzo

[AxleMC131]

MODEL
{
model = Squad/Parts/Aero/cones/TinyCone
texture = Cones, BackyardRocketryRemastered/Parts/ARD_noseCone/Cones
scale = 1, 1, 1  //x, y, z
}

Hey, it works now! Thanks so much for the help Randazzo! Time to get to work and do this for all the parts...