GPNMilano wrote:To appease the Guild members that feel that distributing the Cyan files is a no-no. I'm going to start working on a patcher that will install the necessary files, without the need for a zipfile. The problem with this is, as D'Lanor pointed out, some may not want all hacks, and may just want some of them. To get around this, I'm only going to code the patcher so that it will patch the KI and Nexus files, and their associated python files. All other PRPs (basically the user created additions for the city and hoods) will be handled by zip files. The only Cyan source at that point that will have to be distributed will be the .age files. Would that be a suitable solution for everyone?
Hmmmm the distribution of age files - I can see what a hot potato this one is.
We know that the development of fan ages is permitted - copyright has in part been relaxed for this. The development of the fan designed tools facilitating this I assume was based on the reverse engineering of the existing cyan files. I am not aware of Cyan releasing tools for the design of fan ages - but correct me on that one please.
In this "ULM alternative" software, we see that MOUL files have been distributed, I'm not sure why, perhaps they are necessary?
What does Rand Millar say regarding the development of fan ages using existing Cyan code
http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10486:
Rand Miller: Well to begin with, we want to give people the same tools we have. We've got a lot of expertise and experience, so our ages can get pretty sophisticated, but it doesn't mean that we can't make those same tools available to some people.
We're always amazed at what our fans are able to accomplish, frankly, and by making those tools available, I think we'll be even more surprised. We've held back on that because we want to make sure we've got the final version of the engine, so we're not switching those tools up on people so they don't lose their work. But that'll be the first step. Essentially what we're creating in the mythology of all this is a writer's guild.
People can learn to write ages using the tools, and they'll write ages and become better and better at it. And then we even want a guild that facilitates that, that lets them explore their own ages and keep them somewhat separate from ours but with ways to get to them.
But eventually while they're doing that, we want to improve the tools as well, so you don't have to be quite so sophisticated to build the worlds. And later on down the line, it's much easier to say, "I can take this piece of this world, and this one of this one, and this one of this one, and make my own space that feels much more personalized." And that's the stuff that we'll work on as well. I highlighted the phrase in red because I feel it to be especially relevant here. What is suggested (to me) is that you could create a fusion of different worlds to create something new.
So to distribute a fusion of Cyan code with your own to achieve a new result appears acceptable.
The only problem I can see is that what is being done here exists outside of the player financed model. Also the Rand Millar quote above was made in 2006 - times change.
At least where I can.
