Kickstart and Copyright

When I was little I was always playing with Legos. I collected dozens of Star Wars and Technic Lego sets by the time I was 7. What I liked the most was taking all of these sets apart and building something of my own design. Just like reconstructing a Lego set, when you mod a game you take what already exists and you alter or add on to it.

            The easiest way to start modding a game is to alter one of the game's weapons or create your own. It is important that you have some knowledge of a 3D modeling software. A good place to find 3D software is Autodesk. This company allows you to download free student versions of their various software for 1 year. For help obtaining the knowledge to use these tools, try getting a membership at Digital Tutors. Digital Tutors is a website that offers many instructional videos on most Autodesk software. A good game for modding beginners is Unreal Tournament 3. Other good modding games are Garry's Mod, Counter Strike, and Half-Life 2 (Steam). All of these games listed are available for download on Steam.

            One major thing that I know scares future modders is copyright. Is it legal to alter a game that is already created, and will I be able to take credit for what I create? Questions like these are common. It is possible for you to take credit for what you create, but only what you create. People often say “I created a mod for Unreal Tournament”. It is ok to claim you created a mod for a game. The copyright for games isn’t even to the games themselves, but it applies more to the aesthetic of games (U.S. Copyright Office). For example, if you took the exact model, name, and look of the strike suit from Strike Suit Zero and placed it in your game claiming that it is yours, then that would be violating the copyright. You cannot copyright an idea, gameplay style, or even the method used to create the game (U.S. Copyright Office). It is the uniqueness of the game that you can copyright. This is how gaming has grown into an industry with many different genres of games, or merging of genres. 

Sources for this post

Steam, Retrieved from:  http://steam.xtremedownload.com/?lp=bing&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=search-us

U.S. Copyright Office - Games, Retrieved from: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

Intellectual Property Office, Retrieved from: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy.htm

Autodesk Education Community, Retrieved from: http://students.autodesk.com/

Digital Tutors, Retrieved from: http://www.digitaltutors.com/11/index.php

Preview

            The next blog post will go over which software is the most user friendly for creating game mods. There will also be a discussion on what makes a good mod.