[RESOLVED]SK's vs Vehicle Factories in commercial game

[frankit]

[RESOLVED]The legal FAQ appears to state developers can use all UDK assets in a commercial game except Skeletal Meshes. So there's no issue with stealing assets from the UDK demos i.e. Necropolis / Foliage / DayandNight maps etc i.e.

static meshes,
sounds,
landscapes.

As long as Skeletal Meshes are excluded... A quick search for "All-Assets Skeletal Meshes" in the content browser returns 22. A couple of these are SK's of vehicles... However, actual vehicles or vehicle factories are fine to use, correct? So why has EPIC excluded SK's at all, anyone know? Thanks...

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitFAQ.html

[cube2222]

Because they are usually the most characteristic part of the game.

[ambershee]

The skeletal meshes (and indeed the rest of the content) are provided as part of demos and samples.

[frankit]

Because they are usually the most characteristic part of the game.

Fair point. SK's supply the underlying moving parts for Vehicles, Weapons and Players and therefore dictate a lot of the look and feel of a game... From a legal perspective, the vehicle, weapon, player FACTORIES are therefore identical to the SK's, yes / no? If yes, then the player must design all their own, which is a considerable amount of work, or is it possible to create Vehicles using static meshes with no moving parts. i.e. a Glider!

[Hello_World!]

Fair point, SK's supply the underlying moving parts for Vehicles, Weapons and players and therefore dictate a lot of the look and feel of a game...

#1. But developers can still use the vehicle, weapons and player factories in their commercial games correct? So why are Epic so protective of the underlying SK's themselves? That's the bit I don't quite understand...

#2. Why did Epic choose to go the 'Halo' like route on weapons and vehicles and players, versus call of duty or something new. A deliberate design choice? Just curious....

#3. Any idea why they didn't include a sniper rifle as a default weapon? I know there are infinite posts on implementing one, but from prior posts, its clear that its still a lot of work and trial and error?

#1. Doesn't matter, you'll want to do your own SK meshes anyway if you're serious.

#2. No idea what you're talking about.

#3. Well you want a sniper rifle, I want a Tesla Coil Gun, someone else wants an ICBM missile launcher. Your artists and programmers will create assets for your game, or if you're hardcore, you'll do everything yourself .

[frankit]

#1. Doesn't matter, you'll want to do your own SK meshes anyway if you're serious.

#2. No idea what you're talking about.

#3. Well you want a sniper rifle, I want a Tesla Coil Gun, someone else wants an ICBM missile launcher. Your artists and programmers will create assets for your game, or if you're hardcore, you'll do everything yourself .

#1. Sure. But it would be nice to skip reinventing the wheel for Indie game developers with a sci-fi themed game. Plus there's always some gotchas at the 'importing into UDK' stage. Also, it takes serious artistic chops to get good results in Maya / Max. Its a very specific set of skills that are different from programming / game design... Hence why digital animators can often moonlight across many different industries...

#2. I meant the weapons, vehicles and characters look similar to those in the Halo series.

#3. Fair point. Everyone has a favourite weapon of choice. But I wanted to save time reinventing the wheel, and still have a solid basic weapons set.

[ambershee]

I meant the weapons, vehicles and characters look similar to those in the Halo series.

They look like sci-fi weapons. They're also based on older games (older than Halo).

[frankit]

@ambershee
I see you've posted on here once or twice Can I ask, from a legal perspective, are the vehicle, weapon, player FACTORIES identical to the SK's, yes / no?

[ambershee]

Skeletal mesh means anything defined in the editor as being a 'skeletal mesh' asset.

[frankit]

Skeletal mesh means anything defined in the editor as being a 'skeletal mesh' asset.

Can I use Vehicle Factories that are compromised of Cicado, Manta, Scorpion vehicles in commercial games, yes / no?

[cube2222]

They use the skeletal mesh asset. You are looking for things marked as skeletal mesh in the content browser. The factory uses teh skeletal mes via code.

[frankit]

They use the skeletal mesh asset. You are looking for things marked as skeletal mesh in the content browser. The factory uses teh skeletal mes via code.

Therefore I can use Epic's Vehicle, Weapon, and Player Factories in a commercial project, because I'm not using the skeletal meshes directly or modifying them, correct?

[Graylord]

If it says you cannot use a skeletal mesh, it means just that. An actor factory is not a skeletal mesh. A vehicle pawn is not a skeletal mesh. A weapon class is not a skeletal mesh.

Only skeletal mesh is a skeletal mesh. As cube already told you, a skeletal mesh is marked as such in the content browser.

[darthviper107]

Delete the skeletal meshes and use whatever's left. You can use the vehicle code, but if you put it in and it uses a skeletal mesh then you're going to have to change the code so that it doesn't use that mesh.

The reason they don't allow you to use them is because those are very specific designs from Unreal Tourament, the rest of the assets are more generic.