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Post by stratego on Sept 7, 2016 6:20:49 GMT -5
I wanto know, if I make a modded game for example ST4x map for Android, where am I allowed to share apk, because I know it is paid game, but there is mine work and time put in it
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Post by fallen on Sept 7, 2016 10:05:59 GMT -5
stratego - the goal for mods is to never need to share the full game. You would share the mod files that need to be loaded into the game.
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Post by stratego on Sept 7, 2016 12:56:08 GMT -5
stratego - the goal for mods is to never need to share the full game. You would share the mod files that need to be loaded into the game. But the thing is apk will need either repack or resign to use the mod, so it can be used only by advanced IT member |
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Post by fallen on Sept 7, 2016 13:01:05 GMT -5
Right, which is the reason to need the dev team to provide a way for installation of mod files, which we don't have today. Otherwise, you're basically in the business of providing pirated versions of our games  |
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Post by stratego on Sept 7, 2016 13:57:33 GMT -5
Right, which is the reason to need the dev team to provide a way for installation of mod files, which we don't have today. Otherwise, you're basically in the business of providing pirated versions of our games Well it wouldn't be exactly pirated apk, it is a mod, so most likely huge part of your work won't be there anymore, for example if I make maps, they changes alot |
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Post by contributor on Sept 7, 2016 14:17:29 GMT -5
Uhhmmm, I have to respectfully disagree. Just because the pirate repaints the ship and puts new sails on it, doesn't make it any less pirated.
I do like the idea of modding though and hope that the TBs will be able to implement something in the future that will allow legitimate ways for their players to mod their games.
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Post by stratego on Sept 7, 2016 14:47:27 GMT -5
Uhhmmm, I have to respectfully disagree. Just because the pirate repaints the ship and puts new sails on it, doesn't make it any less pirated. I do like the idea of modding though and hope that the TBs will be able to implement something in the future that will allow legitimate ways for their players to mod their games. Graphics editing is not an actual modding, it is a part, but not huge, I'm talking more of map and research modding, ship capabilities etc etc By doing so I would spend way more time there than some actually play the game, of course it is a gameplay leak, but demo already does that |
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Post by Brutus Aurelius on Sept 7, 2016 14:54:08 GMT -5
Uhhmmm, I have to respectfully disagree. Just because the pirate repaints the ship and puts new sails on it, doesn't make it any less pirated. I do like the idea of modding though and hope that the TBs will be able to implement something in the future that will allow legitimate ways for their players to mod their games. I have to agree with you lurker. Modding the game is fine, but distributing the mods as an entire apk is not. It's only right to only share the modded files, as otherwise you are just sharing a hacked apk. |
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Post by stratego on Sept 7, 2016 15:03:42 GMT -5
Not hacked, you are mistaken my friend, if I'll mod one of TB games I would never put something unlimited hacks etc, my mods mostly contains only original engine, which is sometimes modded because of pressing needs, other developers that their games I have modded hasn't had any problems with total conversation mods
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Post by Brutus Aurelius on Sept 7, 2016 15:18:38 GMT -5
Not hacked, you are mistaken my friend, if I'll mod one of TB games I would never put something unlimited hacks etc, my mods mostly contains only original engine, which is sometimes modded because of pressing needs, other developers that their games I have modded hasn't had any problems with total conversation mods Total conversion mods are quite different from making a custom map and sharing the entire apk with the changed map files. Even though it is altered, sharing the entire apk for free or for profit would be: a) the same as sharing the unmodded apk for free and b) illegal under anti-piracy law |
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Post by stratego on Sept 7, 2016 15:27:40 GMT -5
Actually there is a way to get rid of this situation, but it is a drawback in security
TB could distribute an app which signs apk with their sign, so I would be able to make update packages, althru such tool can be used to make hacks
Basically all modding tool are hack tools, not all hack tools are modding tools
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Post by stratego on Sept 7, 2016 15:34:33 GMT -5
Not hacked, you are mistaken my friend, if I'll mod one of TB games I would never put something unlimited hacks etc, my mods mostly contains only original engine, which is sometimes modded because of pressing needs, other developers that their games I have modded hasn't had any problems with total conversation mods Total conversion mods are quite different from making a custom map and sharing the entire apk with the changed map files. Even though it is altered, sharing the entire apk for free or for profit would be: a) the same as sharing the unmodded apk for free and b) illegal under anti-piracy law A) is totally wrong as it would not contain most original files, and editing it for gaining nonmodded apk would be the same as rebuilding race car to family car B) on which piracy law you refer, you know we are in different countries And modifying an software not to gain income (no matter if it is open/closed source) is legal |
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Post by contributor on Sept 7, 2016 15:46:21 GMT -5
I don't know about laws and such and maybe distributing a modded .apk would help bring in new customers for the TBs, but it seems just as likely that it would hurt them as well, because who's going to pay for something when they can basically get it for free.
And it does seem to me that there's a big difference between rebuilding your own race car into a family car and rebuilding your neighbor's race car into a family car and then giving it away. Maybe the law the supports that sort of thing, but it still doesn't seem all that legit to me.
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Post by fallen on Sept 7, 2016 15:52:27 GMT -5
There are a lot of complexities in the conversation, and the most important ones are the ones about how Google signs APKs and how it installs / updates APKs. stratego, you're is asking questions which make it pretty clear you get the technical ramifications here. I appreciate Brutus Aurelius and contributor hopping in on the conversation. As you know, we can't distrubute a program that signs games with our private key. Doing that would be suicide for the company. If you change a single file (or more) in an Elite APK, and repackage it with another private key, then that APK can be redistributed. However, as it is not signed by our private key, the game will stop players at the main menu, asking them to contact Google Play. So, for this to work, you have to hack out the piracy protection, and start distributing our premium APKs for free without protection. That results in and you've joined the army of people trying to pirate our games, injecting malwalre into their customers phones, and making it harder for us to survive as a small business. I understand the desire to mod. We have added the first official mod support to Templar Battleforce. We wish we could offer modding support at large to all of our games. If we had official mod support, you'd load mod through a Dropbox integration, no APK hacking required. However, we are are small, and we can't. Without official mod support, we can't give any direct support to adding mods. In fact, until official mod support is added, we'd rather people don't mod the game if it means they are distributing hacked copies of the APK that are asking for piracy and malware. |
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Post by fallen on Sept 7, 2016 16:03:32 GMT -5
As a reference, here is the modding guide for Templar Battleforce Steam. As you can see, we don't even have Steam Workshop integration yet, so we are an infancy period with modding. We are a two man company, it's what we can do at the moment. steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=713586080 |
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