So I honestly don’t know how this is being allowed by Valve/Steam. This “Mod” that someone “created” is a complete blatant theft straight from the FPS Starter Template. There is practically nothing changed with this “Mod” and the author is trying to have it selected for the ARK: World Wide Mode Contest.
I am honestly bewildered on how this was not caught by Valve during the upload process. Or even the ARK: Survival Evolved team either.
I know I am not a lawyer and have no law background, but it doesn’t take someone with common sense to see this and think “Wow, that’s down right theft.”
I haven’t come across anything else like this (yet), but if one person has already done it, you can probably bet that there are already plenty of other people doing this.
I am not sure about the “stolen” Ark is Epic, shooter too.
You can use any of the provided content for your own game, created with UE4(so far i understand things right), but i am not sure about ARK/Mod.
Sure it’s a lazy idea, but why not?
Just because he’s/she’s lazy and simply took something (made by someone else), doesn’t make it right. What is the worst part about this fake Mod is that the poster seems to want it to be chosen for the big ARK Modding contest. Now, i doubt they will be picked at all, but if they did pick it. It would be a big legal battle I am pretty sure.
Being lazy doesn’t make it right. And passing it off like no big deal isn’t right either.
I can imagine that the people at Epic Games put some good work and a good chunk of hours into the FPS Starter Template map that this thief just up and took with no care in the world.
I don’t know what the legal documentation states on using Base UE4 Content in mods, but I know that when I used to work in CE3 (CryEngine 3), that anyone making a mod in CE3 could NOT use Crysis 2 content because of the legal issues that would erupt from doing so. And because of that fact that Crysis 2 used a early version of the CE3, that this was a rule that was put into place to keep people from making a game in the CE3 Dev kit and then trying to claim ownership.
@Freakazoid I think you did a good job, to ask that question.
But these days ppl are very quick with bad vibes, shooting in the blue about something unclear.
“Stolen” is very hard and it breaks reputation quick, someway unfair feels it for me.
“This guy is lazy like angela merkel, is that ok?” i would like more.
A bit more objective style of questioning and you get a +1 from me but that’s only my personal 50 rupies.
The smoke I used above the volcanoes is from the elemental demo that Epic Games released. The modder might have done something lazy but it is perfectly legal. You are allowed to use any content from any of the free demos/asset packs that Epic Games has released even in retail games. The only limitation is it has to be a UE4 product. At the very least though when your entire mod is made by somebody else you should give credit
The Issue here isn’t the legality of what he did, but he failed to mention that all the assets and level design was done by Epic Games.(Its just poor modding not to state the source that others worked on and will be frowned upon by the larger community)
That I definitely agree with. It wouldn’t be that bad if the stuff he took was only 10% of his mod but it looks more like it is 95-100% created by Epic Games which is pretty lame to not give credit at that point!
I think for the fact that the OP has 8 posts, really goes to show this was more to create a bunch of drama. Mods should delete this thread, as it has no real value.
everything he used was completely free use and provided by epic games for use so he has all rights to use these assets in a mod, However I highly doubt he will win as its extremely un-original and the devs will see that so fear not.
I seriously hate how many love to abuse the word “steal”. Someone re-posts your art on DeviantArt = “SOMEONE’S STEALING MY ART!”; Someone re-posts your video on YouTube = “SOMEONE"S STEALING MY YOUTUBE VIDEOS!”; Someone re-uses the sample features from the Unreal marketplace = “SOMEONE’S STEALING EPIC GAMES’ CONTENT!”
You do realize that Ark: Survival Evolve also uses the FPS Shooter template in their game too right? So you’re going to accuse them of ‘stealing’ too?!?
Not trying to say what the modder on Steam is doing is right as it is indeed counterproductive lazy work, but it’s 100% legal.
There is a difference between stealing and COPYING. That difference is NOT to be underestimated and many make that mistake very easily.
Stealing is usually more physical - someone taking your artwork copy from your own home or such where it resides, or if virtual, uploading it without your position whereas you have not yet uploaded it on the net, essentially in that case you can argue he/she is stealing your rights.
Copying - taking something that’s already out there and re-uploading or re-using it without consent.
Although on a side note, the modder re-usage actually comes in handly. FPS Shooter arena at night with some slight alterations. I just wished he/she added more alterations to make it become their own instead of a blatant copy.
Is only assets are the same, or map also ctrl-c ctrl-v’ed? (I never played FPS Starter Map)
If its only assets but map is original, in my opinion it’s fine (but he still should give credit to Epic for meshes and materials!) but if map is copy-paste then its lame mod. But what matters the most if people are enjoying map, it just shouldnt win the contest in that case.
