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    Maelstrom New Horizons


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Major breakthrough with Akella

Well, from my limited understanding I thought teh tools were released to mod the up coming COAS and not for POTC, it's that they CAN be used for POTC also.

Although Ill leave this in Pieters hands, he's the man in these parts <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
 
Then your understanding is not far from ours, Keith <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />


Edward says, the tools are for all games, that be PotC, AoP and CoAS. In reply to the many rumours of a Starforce protected CoAS, he says it will hardly be the case. But if it does, Seaward.ru will help to solve this problem.

On request from Pieter Boelen, I asked him if we could do something in return for the tools, in example be a western support centre for CoAS (and in return get a lot of new members <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> ) We allways did this with PotC for Akella anyway, and we do/did a damn good job, IMHO!
Edward´s respond to this: "Excellent idea! We shall be happy to give all rights for this purpose."

He continues:
"I have one more request. I wish to pick up the good name for game Corsairs in English. "Sea dogs" and "Age of Pirates" we cannot use. It is necessary to pick up the similar name which well would sound in English. Could you declare competition and send me all the most successful variants? We have a brand in Russia, we wish to create same in the West."

Admins, could we please set up a pinned topic for this purpose? Although we already have a lot of good names from a similar thread, in which we found the name "PotC: New Horizons", I think this would be a huge opportunity for advertising, branding and printing our name for real on other gaming sites! (I imagine, the reward for a good name would be a copy of CoAS <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" /> )

Thats all for now. I will hand all future correspondance with Seaward.ru over to Pieter, as he is the man who can talk the tech-talk and walk the walk, when it comes to what we need from now on.
 
Hehe you need to empty your inbox Pieter, I cant PM you <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
 
Personally I would prefer having this and the modding tools thread back in the PotC forums, since we won't actually be modding CoAS for at least a couple of months. We want to finish PotC: Build 14 first anyway.

I split the suggested names for City of Abandoned Ships discussion to its own thread <a href="http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?showtopic=11572" target="_blank">here</a>.

<!--quoteo(post=236295:date=Feb 5 2008, 04:54 PM:name=PeterWillemoes)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PeterWillemoes @ Feb 5 2008, 04:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=236295"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hehe you need to empty your inbox Pieter, I cant PM you <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Sorry about that; I hadn't visited the forum in a couple of days and it is always a war to keep my inbox from filling up completely. Obviously I lost this particular time. I removed some PMs now though and you should be able to get through again.
 
A good few years ago JoWood/Wings distributed a game called Panzer Elite. It was really well done but its scope was limited by its budget. An American vs German WW2 tank simulator.

The modders poured in tons of their time and turned it into a fantastic tank game. Wings had supplied the modders with tools and it was re-released as a deluxe 2-disk set with all the major mods. Many mods were incompatible with each other and a switcher was included so that you could toggle them on or off. That was when I bought it and still consider it the best Tank game to date.

Sure, JoWood/Wings made more money from it but no modders complained when their mod was included in the re-release. In fact, everyone was appreciative that it was released again because it gained more players.

My point is, a company like JoWood/Wings and Akella have put up the money first and done the hard yards initially to get the game and engine going. They have certain rights to it. Given our current capitalist environment, he who nurtures an idea to fruition has rights to it, and must hold these or they become the next guy's profit. Modders stand to lose nothing and can take their time, usually adding as they please, because another has done the hard work to make it come together. Modder's can produce better work but without the base game they couldn't mod it in the first place. The hardest yard by far is making the game.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I have read this post and repeatedly hear modders frightened about "their intellectual property" being stolen by the greedy game company and it dumbfounds me how they can think that way.

1. What we we need is those tools.
2. What we would like is their help to upgrade these mods to a better Storm engine.

Just ask them that and then offer our help in their projects. Let them discuss the fine print.

To ask them for their stuff and then say "but dont take advantage of us!" is like eating their cake and saying we can make better cakes.
 
I see your point and personally I don't have much of a problem with it, but I know some other people do.
We actually did get the modding tools from them, but we don't know how to use them yet.
 
<!--quoteo(post=238843:date=Feb 17 2008, 02:40 AM:name=Maxdeth)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Maxdeth @ Feb 17 2008, 02:40 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=238843"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->..
To ask them for their stuff and then say "but dont take advantage of us!" is like eating their cake and saying we can make better cakes.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Absolutely. Could´nt agree more. But as Pieter Boelen states, we made a promise to previous and current modders, some of them giving us the full freedom to the use of their legal, intellectual rights regarding their own work - others specified their disagreement on this. And that will certainly make a limitation to what we have to offer, but it is also a natural consequence of the path we chose from the start. Sometimes I wish other modding communities would take this loyalty to other peoples work in, as it adds to the sum of reasons, why a community like this has kept going for all these years. I am talking about thrust and confidence to another.

However, in the end I dont think any game company would make use of our stuff anyway.
 
And that is because we aren't organised so we can't get a WHOLE thing done, the build is more like a modpack with several mods in it. But it seems that nearer to build 14, we seem to get a more completed thing.
 
We need to continue our communication with Akella. So far I haven't found the time to actually write another reply to them but we really do need to. Any thoughts on what we need to tell them/ask them?
 
I suggest asking them how to export/import .gm files with that maya plugin EXACTLY (and PLEASE mention that this plugin tends to throw empty error.txt at you ..if not used correctly I assume <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_confused.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="icon_confused.gif" /> ) and how to use the other tools in AkellaTools.zip <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />
 
So... how about we post some more ideas for questions? Specific ones, if possible...? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/user_comment.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wp" border="0" alt="user_comment.gif" />
 
Other than going crazy here? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blink:" border="0" alt="blink.gif" /> ..nope. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/no.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":no" border="0" alt="no.gif" />
 
Questions, questions, we need <i>queeeeestions</i>. Seriously we need to send something to the Russians again. It's about time. Why has discussion here suddenly died out??? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/piratesing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":shock" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" />
 
Would be nice to know if there´s a possibility to apply materials to a PotC model (the glossy look of the weapon models would be perfect for ship cannons, for example). But maybe this is more relevant for CoAS...<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dunno.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":shrug" border="0" alt="dunno.gif" />

I hope more experienced people like Inzane or Kazeite will drop in and post more important questions ^^
 
You sure? Sometimes alpha maps don't work. For example on characters. Not sure what'd happen when applying alpha channels to ship textures.
 
Huzza! Thanks for the tip, Thomas, I think I have to retexture my cannon models <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
 
I forgot. Indeed alpha textures on ships work; only it makes everything transparent. Not good for cannons. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/no.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":no" border="0" alt="no.gif" />
 
Transcannons? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blink:" border="0" alt="blink.gif" />
 
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