DescentBB

It's getting closer!

[youtube]avPeGfIQnw0[/youtube]

That's impressive. Makes my trigger finger twitch!

I can't help but notice a relatively narrow representation of game resources in the video and on your website. Does someone need to light a fire under your webmaster, or do you need to do an early level-designer/modder release? How is it you can legally use the Descent and PTMC names?

Also something very violent needs to happen when you take the ship into the lava in that level!

Sergeant Thorne wrote:...How is it you can legally use the Descent and PTMC names?

Because it's a non-commercial project, as for now is a community based project intended to be released for free.
It's much like any fan-made mission for D1/D2/D3.

That doesn't keep you from violating copyright law.

Pumo wrote:...
It's much like any fan-made mission for D1/D2/D3.

Not quite, because it isn't made for D1/D2/D3. The rules are (if I have this right), the same rules that would apply to a Descent fanfic. If such a thing existed (I think a few do actually).

If no money is being made and all work is done as voluntary, then it falls the fair use act. No laws are being violated. Interplay is aware of the project btw, and has NOT issued a cease and desist order.

Actually the lack of intent to profit wouldn't necessarily invoke fair use doctrine. Noncommercial status is one factor that would go into a fair use decision, but not the only one: see almost every YouTube video ever removed due to copyright infringement.

(That being said I'm fairly certain that Interplay, or whatever's left of them now, doesn't really care about the usage in this particular project.)

Not only that, if the team doing this makes more than ..oh $750? (I forget what the exact contract terms are) Epic will charge them for a commercial license which is quite expensive.\

Interplay is "large enough" for lawsuits. Don't forget Bethesda. Yes, it was a bigger payoff but there are enough people in Interplay to care.

From what I can find, there are roughly three factors at play here.
1) Trademarks - Interplay ordinarily would be within their rights to protest the use of names such as "Descent", but if I'm reading 15 USC section 1125 c.3.C correctly, non-commercial use of trademarks is excluded from protection anyway.
2) Copyright - does the content in this project qualify as a derivative work? It's not squarely in line with the traditional sense of the term, since the models used are basically redesigns of the original designs, but I'm not aware of specific law or precedent that would rule one way or the other on that one.
3) Fair use - even if it does contain derivative works, does it qualify as fair use? This is covered in 17 USC section 107, but it just describes the factors that go into a determination, so my suspicion is it would be up to a judge to make a case-by-case ruling. I do have a strong sense that the developers would get away with it though.

(if you are actually working on projects like this though, please do consult a real lawyer, not me)

Nice work Sirius! Thanks!

Have you tried contacting Interplay to get something like a email response that they don't care? That way you have something more than "They haven't complained". Or find out if they would approve this as a form of advertisement for the game.

woodchip wrote:Or find out if they would approve this as a form of advertisement for the game.

The smartest thing for Interplay to do is not alienate the few remaining fans of the game but rather fund the project and monetize it properly. Everyone wins.

woodchip wrote:Have you tried contacting Interplay to get something like a email response that they don't care? That way you have something more than "They haven't complained". Or find out if they would approve this as a form of advertisement for the game.

They are in contact with Interplay and have been for some time.

Looks awesome.

http://www.preparefordescent.com/docs/6 ... al_ini.pdf

Nice Portable Document Format (PDF)... Don't quite follow everything but it is easy to read and one can tell that Max (Maximilian Schulz) spent a lot of time experimenting with the values to tweak them to what works best for Keyboard, Mouse, and Joystick as input devices.

This is one of those documents that you will have to read over and over and over to completely let it all sink in.

The video is fantastic! I'd love to use the green quad laser in that game!

From the comments it seems that they're releasing a free to play version, and from there possibly some form of funding for the rest, or (perhaps I'm reading into their comments), they have potential funding sources already.. .
Wouldnt surprise me a bit.
A modern version of Descent, retelling the original story, as well as multiplayer....that's a success waiting to happen.

Everything looks amazing.

http://preparefordescent.com/