Talk:Weapons Factory

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VG To-do:
To-do list for Weapons Factory: edit · history · watch · refresh
  • complete the Half-life & Tribes parts
  • clean-up the paragraphs (in progress: Thiste)
  • add images / logos / awards (in progress: Thiste)
  • add references, cite sources (in progress: Thiste)
  • create sub-pages as this one is getting too big:
    • more detailed infos on specific versions
    • talk about maps
    • add "movies" section (to WFA)
  • make this page evolve into a "series" page (a la Quake or Unreal)
Maintained The following user(s) are actively involved with this article and may be able to help with questions about verification and sources:
Thiste (talk · contribs)
This in no way implies article ownership; all editors are encouraged to contribute.
Votes for deletion This article was nominated for deletion on 12 August 2005. The result of the discussion was Keep, move from Weapons factory to Weapons Factory.

Contents

[edit] Did the Reno bros need permission from TF team to make a TF-style mod?

Since IANAL I'm not quite sure how trademark/copyright works in terms of deriving gameplay of one game off another unrelated game's look-and-feel and general playstyle. Did the Reno brothers need to get some kind of permission from the TeamFortress people to make a modification that was "TeamFortressey", or did the nonprofit nature (and third-party nature, since these weren't actual self-sufficient games but rather free modifications built on top of existing games being Quake, Quake 2, Quake 3, HL, etc) make things different? I'm wondering, for the sake of a hypothetical situation, if someone were to make an open-source, turn-based strategy game with a TF/WF-style class system with a roguelike interface that IS a self-engined game, if said person would need to get some kind of agreement from either inspirations' producers -- or if gameplay isn't copyrightable? --I am not good at running 00:15, 11 September 2005 (UTC)

Well IANAL myself but I think this question can be answered by sheer logic. First, "deriving gameplay" is a pretty vague statement and I don't think it is defined by copyright laws. I think it must be cleared that Weapons Factory is certainly not a copy of Team Fortress, far from it actually. The gameplay is different, the classes, weapons, speed, maps... are all different from TF, apart from a few things (like the classic 2fort map for example). That's about it. The link between the two is merely the "class-based CTF" concept, and even then, TF was far from being only CTF.
Secondly, and you said it yourself, it's not even a retail game (the first Team Fortress), it's a mod that already used technology & content from other copyright holders. So I'd say that's a bit far fetched to ask for copyright over it. One great idea (Team Fortress) led to another idea (Weapons Factory)... I'd say that's pretty much how everything is created these days :) Thiste 17:39, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Netcode in WF

"The internet connections at the time and network code flexibilities of Quake II allowed for North American and European players and clans to play in the same competition against each other (which hasn't been possible since)." This needs clarification. --70.142.40.34 12:42, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Some added info and minor corrections for WFUT

Hi, I'm Shane "Col Kassad" Brennan. I didn't actually lead the project although I did some PR stuff which led to people thinking I was the project lead. The true leader (man behind the curtain, if you will) was Jon "Ob1 Kenobi" Rihan, who handled 95% of all the programming.

The team had many members but 99% of development was handled by Ob1 (game programming), Maury "Moose" Mountain III (skins, most other 2D art), Spoon (HUD, initial organization of the mod), and myself (models, animation and maps). Many others helped with stuff we couldn't have done without, such as logos and handbook writing.

Incidentily, Moose went on to work for Epic. I saw him credited somewhere on Gears of War.

I didn't want to edit the article because I'm feel funny about that, being so close to the subject. I appreciate the effort put into this article...

[edit] Fixed info for WFUT

Hi Shane, I corrected the info after reading your entry. Sorry about that...only had old web sites to go on which wasn't much. Feel free make any edits that are necessary, I'm actually working on a WF for UT2004 but will try to keep it neutral on Wiki.

Oh yeah, thanks to everyone who worked on WFUT! :) Also saw you doing work for the Quake 4 version. Hope it turns out great.

MrMaddog 14:00, 13 July 2007 (UTC)