A friend is doing research for his school project on the topic of piracy and so I am trying to help him out. !
I don’t want to know well it could happen, I want to know REALISTICALLY!!! !!!
how many games do you estimate on steam and google were created using pirated 3D modeling software?
Do you think Autodesk or other companies would waste time going to South America to sue a person making games from a house? I doubt it.
so now we have to discuss what is realistic, would the game be pulled from steam if they found out? but how would they find out?
I am aware that the crack software phones home and they know your ip and mac address etc. But this does not tell them the name of your game neither does a FBX export contain information for them to know? !!!
If they hunted down a game on steam and pulled it apart and looked at the 3D models could they know what software etc was used to create it?
So according to the school assignment the country in question is Venezuela a failed state that has collapsed just like any South American 3rd world. So obviously no one is being sued here. So how realistic is it that said game created by 2 guys from a house will be pulled from steam and google because it was somehow found out it was created with pirated software? and also can we assume countless games on steam were indeed created with pirated sofware? the other question in the assignment for my friend is why didn’t he use Blender? however it became apparent at the start that Blender was simply a nightmare to use doing simple things was far too difficult and nor reasonable for a 3D software.;
So Singapore, Thailand, Germany, Philippines, and Malaysia all have raided studios for pirated software. There’s definitely a non zero chance of a studio facing legal ramifications for piracy. Even in South America.
Software is so cheap for indies these days, and there’s so many free and cheap alternatives, there’s no reason a studio should be risking piracy.
Blender is Free.
xNormal is Free.
Photoshop is $120 a year, $10 a month.
Maya LT is $240 a year.
Modo Indie is $120 a year or $300 to buy.
Substance Designer / Painter is $20 with rent to own. Or $300 total.
ZBrushCore is $150.
UE4 is free until you start making more than $3000 a quarter.
Look, here’s what it comes down to. If you value not having your professional career ruined, don’t risk it if you’re going to sell anything. It not only reflects poorly on your product, but on your ethics as a person if you’re willing to bring that kind of thing into a work environment, and may make people think twice before hiring you since it can then get -them- into trouble if you continue to use it for their project.
They all do the same things at the end of the day. Either get Blender for free or a budget tool like Maya LT or Modo Indie. The training costs that will go into making you competent in any of these programs will far outweigh the cost of the tools themselves regardless. With the tools being as cheap as they are now, and with the free options honestly being pretty compelling for hobbyists, there’s no reason to resort to piracy.
If you get into a legal battle with Autodesk or Adobe, they will take every penny you have and will ever make. Piracy lawsuits are often very inflated as an attempt to deter others, it can really ruin your life if you get caught. It’s not worth it.
I guess, a person can always use trial or pirate version to create everything for a year or more, and then subscribe for a month before launch just to make everything legal.
At least 3ds max allows just 1 month subscription and it doesn’t required an obligatory 12 months subscription (perhaps that’s why a single month is so expensive).
Yes, that is explicit in section 6, but how do you prove that a character was developed in January and not in February? How do you differentiate a model done during a trial period and another done during the licensed period?
Don’t forget, it’s their side that must provide the evidence of license violation.
We are talking hypothetically. We can all agree that these maneuvers are unethical and illegal, and professionals should always stay away from these type of problems.
And no one knows which program was used to created them. Unless a studio/person is stupid enough to put publish pics, videos or a comment where the tools it uses are easily identifiable.