Resources for Age Creation

[Paradox]

Okay, this is something that was first proposed back in 2005 when the Age Creation first became possible; but it's something that could definitely benefit people now.

Cyan re-uses textures and models everywhere. The walls of the Relto hut use the same texture as the Bahro door in Eder Kemo. The Nexus book in K'veer looks identical to the ones in the city. This clearly saves Cyan a lot of time and effort because they have resources that they don't need to create multiple times.

I'm sure that many of us here in the GoW wish that we had something of the same. Clearly we can't use Cyan assets due to copyright and IP issues, but if we worked together and shared some of the resources that we create ourselves, it would add a nice touch to building Ages.

The important thing when creating and sharing resources is that everything must be created by you before it is uploaded. All textures and models should be licensed under a Creative Commons license.
We are working to create a place for such sharing of resources to occur, however feel free to post textures and models on the forum in the meantime.

[andylegate]

Sounds great to me! I've got stuff I'm ready to share that I've created (both models and textures) and will do so after the holidays.

[bluewyvern]

I've been thinking the same thing...I'm absolutely with you there.

Maybe some modelers that don't feel up to making a whole Age could work on creating some stock objects...books and journals, tables, chairs, lamps, and especially trees and plants, that everyone could use.

[teedyo]

The important thing when creating and sharing resources is that everything must be created by you before it is uploaded. All textures and models should be licensed under a Creative Commons license.
We are working to create a place for such sharing of resources to occur, however feel free to post textures and models on the forum in the meantime.

I've been meaning to start a topic on copyright issues for some time now...I've been slacking. My thoughts have been aroused mostly due to people pointing links to so-called 'free' textures. DON"T use third-party textures unless the creator has explicitly placed them in the public domain or cast off copyright. The creative commons is probably OK: its only problem is the confusion that the various levels of rights cause some people. Granting explicit license for Cyan's use would be fine as well. The last link I saw went to a site that had a limit of 30 textures for any compilation; therefore 31 people using one texture each would put Cyan in violation(if inducted into MOUL). Do we really want Cyan's head on a chopping block??? We need to assure that our creations have zero legal impact on Cyan.

I really think that we should put copyright notices throughout this site; noticeable on the front page and in any subforum that contains creative content. Remember that Cyan is based in a country where people retire on idiotic litigation. Only country in the world where you can sue and win for getting exactly what you ask for.

[Chacal]

As I mentioned in the security thread, we should make available a library of common objects that are known to work well. For instance, a linking book and pedestal kit, complete with models, textures and code.

[Paradox]

For expansion purposes (and bandwidth/ease of access) all models should be exported as Wavefront .obj files with UV Coordinates intact. These are plaintext files that can easily be imported into pretty much any 3D Modeling program including Maya, 3DS Max, and Blender. They compress well (being plain-text) and you never have to worry about the file getting corrupt.

Textures should preferably be in .png format to allow for alpha transparency. Many people use .jpg for textures, but it isn't an optimal format, especially for future releases of tools where the jpeg compression type is implemented correctly. When actually creating the Age and texturing, filetype isn't horribly important (although it is still advised to avoid .jpeg), and .tga, .gif and .png file will all work correctly in most 3D programs. For sharing via the web, .png if preferred though.

[bluewyvern]

In order to get this started, how about a new "Resource Library" forum, with a "Wish List" sticky at the top, where people can request objects they need for Ages they're working on? It'll need a more permanent home eventually, but it would provide a place for people to start sharing what they're making now, and might encourage some more development in this area.