It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussion (archive)Copyrights of these games(27 posts)(27 posts)
(27 posts)
Pages:
1
2
This is my favourite topic
Posted December 28, 2008
avatar
Aliasalpha: I have to admit that I was a wee bit suspicious to begin with. No DRM, low prices, high compatibility... it's like a textbook example of "too good to be true" but I've had fallout 1 for a week now and I've not been raided by the cops yet...
Well, I played the original Fallout from start to end with a not so legal copy and the cops have not...
Oh. Wait a minute, someone's calling at the door.
Posted December 29, 2008
Recently Attack of the Show featured gog.com on its website and they are pretty much HAVE to tell you about the legit stuff since its right there on the tube. who here was at gog BEOFE attack of the show told people about it. i was!
Posted December 29, 2008
avatar
hansschmucker: Actually, you'd be surprised how often stuff gets lost. Especially the source code used to remain with the developers and since many old companies don't exist anymore, the only place where you can find it is often the original programmer's machine. And if that one goes belly up, the code is often lost forever.

True. The Ur-Quan Masters, which is an Open Source recreation of Star Control 2, ran into this problem. The original developers released the source code for the UQM team to use, but the PC source code had been lost along the way, so they are working from the 3DO source.
Posted December 29, 2008
Too bad there is no easy way, that I know of, to just decompile the games into their original source for preservation and whatnot. I still worry about the fate of some older games like Darklands, for example, whose code is god only knows where because the company that made that game is no longer in business and hasn't been for quite some time now.
Posted December 29, 2008
avatar
JudasIscariot: Too bad there is no easy way, that I know of, to just decompile the games into their original source for preservation and whatnot. I still worry about the fate of some older games like Darklands, for example, whose code is god only knows where because the company that made that game is no longer in business and hasn't been for quite some time now.

Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Compilation is a one way process in most languages (particularly in C and C++, which are still the most popular ones for games). Aside from the obvious stuff like variable and function names, also a whole lot of structure like types gets tossed away and functions and loops are more often than not unfolded. You can get some kind of source, but nothing even remotely close to what the developer wrote.
Posted December 29, 2008
avatar
JudasIscariot: Too bad there is no easy way, that I know of, to just decompile the games into their original source for preservation and whatnot. I still worry about the fate of some older games like Darklands, for example, whose code is god only knows where because the company that made that game is no longer in business and hasn't been for quite some time now.
avatar
hansschmucker: Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Compilation is a one way process in most languages (particularly in C and C++, which are still the most popular ones for games). Aside from the obvious stuff like variable and function names, also a whole lot of structure like types gets tossed away and functions and loops are more often than not unfolded. You can get some kind of source, but nothing even remotely close to what the developer wrote.

Yes, I know what you mean Hans. I was being wistful in a way. I just hate the thought of losing some old gems due to the effects of time and businesses going bankrupt and all that code ending up in a landfill or worse.
Posted December 29, 2008
It would need some substantial changes to copyright law to make this work, and as there's a notion right now that IP is king I just don't see it happening. If there were a few historians among all those lawyers that currently make the laws we might have a shot, but right now: Not a chance.
What I'm talking about is that copyright was pretty much invented as an incentive to produce immaterial goods. It's an artificial constructs that we, the society have created, not a natural law. And as such, it should no longer apply when the harm from it is greater than the benefit to the creator. That's how it was intended. So in an ideal world, when sourcecode is no longer in use, it should fall into the public domain.... combine that with a WORKING international archive and the situation would improve.
Sadly when a politician even starts talking that way (and very few do as most have the perception that copyright is "natural law"), you can see the lobbyists already digging his grave.
Posted December 29, 2008
avatar
hansschmucker: It would need some substantial changes to copyright law to make this work, and as there's a notion right now that IP is king I just don't see it happening. If there were a few historians among all those lawyers that currently make the laws we might have a shot, but right now: Not a chance.
What I'm talking about is that copyright was pretty much invented as an incentive to produce immaterial goods. It's an artificial constructs that we, the society have created, not a natural law. And as such, it should no longer apply when the harm from it is greater than the benefit to the creator. That's how it was intended. So in an ideal world, when sourcecode is no longer in use, it should fall into the public domain.... combine that with a WORKING international archive and the situation would improve.
Sadly when a politician even starts talking that way (and very few do as most have the perception that copyright is "natural law"), you can see the lobbyists already digging his grave.

I am of the firm belief that all of these old games should be archived in some way for later generations to see and appreciate or deride. In a way, games are kind of like our version of cave paintings, don't you think?
Posted December 29, 2008
There are some attempts like archive.org , but right now it's all pretty chaotic. Users are pretty much collecting the data as there is no international authority that works have to be submitted to. There are some national ones, but good luck finding anything, let alone gaining access.
We need a transparent system, were works are submitted to a single international authority during publishing and stored there, with all relevant information, like copyright holders, expiry and so on available right there. Plus we need a requirement to keep these information up-to-date. If the copyright moves to another entity, that document has to be updated, otherwise (after a certain time), the copyright would have to fall back to the public domain. Access would have to be free for both, copyright holders and the public, because otherwise we'd get the same chaos as with patents.
Posted December 29, 2008
As for it being "our version of cave paintings"... I'm not sure what the guys that painted these had in mind, but modern games are definitely a mirror image of modern society. And a pretty scary one at that, because they show not how our society works, but what primal urges are not satisfied by our modern lifestyle. There's a reason why violent games are the most popular ones.
Posted December 29, 2008
avatar
JudasIscariot: In a way, games are kind of like our version of cave paintings, don't you think?

Of paleontology, certainly. Check this out :-D
Posted December 29, 2008
I can't even begin to express how hard I laughed when I saw that. Thank you!
Pages:
1
2
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Copyrights of these games(27 posts)(27 posts)
(27 posts)