Game_Engine/Licensing (content todo) #42992

New Issue

qubodup · 2014-12-23T04:40:20+01:00

qubodup commented

2014-12-23 04:40:20 +01:00

There are multiple issues on the game engine / licensing .

It sounds like all "open source software" is "problematic". But only copyleft is.
Link to http:*www.blender.org/education-help/faq/gpl-for-artists/ is broken, should be replaced with http:*www.blender.org/support/faq/
The "Distributing Games" section first promises "how to distribute your game with suitable license protection" and then immediately suggest using no license (Which is impossible. It has to be GPL, if you compile the game, thus that section should be removed)
Game Actuator could use more help for people unfamiliar with it.

It appears that the topic is partially covered in section "So I can make games without having to worry about the GPL, right?" of http://www.blender.org/support/faq/

I suggest that the following text is used instead (check for factual correctness required by somebody who knows Blender better than I do):

Restrictions apply to games made with the Standalone Player , as Blender is licensed under the copyleft license GNU GPL.

You own your work made with Blender but when you create an executable for your game, part of the Blender Game Engine gets copied into it, making it a derivative of Blender. GPL requires that derivative to be GPL-licensed.

Instead, you can bundle the Standalone Player and your .blend game without combining the files. Using Game Actuator , enables a basic .blend game file to start. By making a basic file which contains an "Always" sensor to run, and allowing this to activate a "Game" actuator to load and run the full content of your game, this gets round the problem.

The .blend file is not encrypted and readable by anybody who owns the game. You still control what people are allowed to do with your .blend by choosing the terms under which you distribute your game but people will easily be able to study and modify their copy of it.

There are multiple issues on the [game engine / licensing ](http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Game_Engine/Licensing). 1. It sounds like all "open source software" is "problematic". But only copyleft is. 2. Link to http:*www.blender.org/education-help/faq/gpl-for-artists/ is broken, should be replaced with http:*www.blender.org/support/faq/ 3. The "Distributing Games" section first promises "how to distribute your game with suitable license protection" and then immediately suggest using no license (Which is impossible. It *has* to be GPL, if you compile the game, thus that section should be removed) 4. Game Actuator could use more help for people unfamiliar with it. It appears that the topic is partially covered in section "So I can make games without having to worry about the GPL, right?" of http://www.blender.org/support/faq/ I suggest that the following text is used instead (check for factual correctness required by somebody who knows Blender better than I do): Restrictions apply to games made with the [Standalone Player ](http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/FAQ/Game_Engine/Standalone_game), as Blender is licensed under the copyleft license GNU GPL. You [own your work](http://www.blender.org/support/faq/) made with Blender but when you create an executable for your game, part of the Blender Game Engine gets copied into it, making it a derivative of Blender. GPL requires that derivative to be GPL-licensed. Instead, you can bundle the Standalone Player and your .blend game without combining the files. Using [Game Actuator ](http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Game_Engine/Logic/Actuators/Game), enables a basic .blend game file to start. By making a basic file which contains an "Always" sensor to run, and allowing this to activate a "Game" actuator to load and run the full content of your game, this gets round the problem. The .blend file is not encrypted and readable by anybody who owns the game. You still control what people are allowed to do with your .blend by choosing the terms under which you distribute your game but people will easily be able to study and modify their copy of it.

qubodup commented

2014-12-23 04:40:20 +01:00

Changed status to: 'Open'

qubodup commented

2014-12-23 04:40:20 +01:00

Added subscriber: @qubodup

Julian Eisel commented

2014-12-23 04:58:21 +01:00

Added subscriber: @JulianEisel

Julian Eisel commented

2014-12-23 04:58:22 +01:00

Hey @qubodup,
this is our Blender bug tracker, not our Blender documentation suggestions tracker ;). So for tasks like this please do a couple of things different in future:

Don't assign it to #bf_blender, assign to #Documentation
Don't set type to bug, set it to Design or ToDo (depends)
You're refering to the old documentation, check with the new one (which has only changed slightly in this case)

Hey @qubodup, this is our Blender bug tracker, not our Blender documentation suggestions tracker ;). So for tasks like this please do a couple of things different in future: * Don't assign it to #bf_blender, assign to #Documentation * Don't set type to bug, set it to Design or ToDo (depends) * You're refering to the old documentation, check with the new one (which has only changed slightly in this case)

Julian Eisel commented

2014-12-23 04:58:47 +01:00

Removed subscriber: @JulianEisel

Francesco Siddi was assigned by Sergey Sharybin

2014-12-23 06:17:15 +01:00

Sergey Sharybin commented

2014-12-23 06:17:15 +01:00

Added subscribers: @JulianEisel, @fsiddi, @pablovazquez, @Ton, @Sergey

Sergey Sharybin commented

2014-12-23 06:17:15 +01:00

@JulianEisel, broken links are really bad, it's not a todo but thing to be fixed.

@fsiddi or @venomgfx, can you please fix the links?

@Ton, can you please look into the feedback about licensing?

@JulianEisel, broken links are really bad, it's not a todo but thing to be fixed. @fsiddi or @venomgfx, can you please fix the links? @Ton, can you please look into the feedback about licensing?

Ton Roosendaal commented

2014-12-23 12:14:47 +01:00

Oh dear, that wiki page is a mess, incorrect and not nice even. The page was written by unknown editors ( it's a wiki you know :)
A while ago tried to fix quickly some stuff on it, but after closer inspection I decided to rewrite it entirely.

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Game_Engine/Licensing

BTW: My general advise to anyone who uses the BGE is to not attempt to lock things up - it's a battle you never win anyway. Spreading Blender games just means you have to play by the GPL. If you don't like GPL, choose another game engine.

Oh dear, that wiki page is a mess, incorrect and not nice even. The page was written by unknown editors ( it's a wiki you know :) A while ago tried to fix quickly some stuff on it, but after closer inspection I decided to rewrite it entirely. http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Game_Engine/Licensing BTW: My general advise to anyone who uses the BGE is to not attempt to lock things up - it's a battle you never win anyway. Spreading Blender games just means you have to play by the GPL. If you don't like GPL, choose another game engine.

Campbell Barton changed title from ~~[documentation]~~ to Game_Engine/Licensing (content todo)

2015-01-06 01:17:18 +01:00

Campbell Barton commented

2015-03-13 02:18:19 +01:00

Changed status from 'Open' to: 'Archived'

Campbell Barton closed this issue

2015-03-13 02:18:19 +01:00

Campbell Barton commented

2015-03-13 02:18:19 +01:00

Added subscriber: @ideasman42

Campbell Barton commented

2015-03-13 02:18:19 +01:00

@qubodup, this was indeed quite bad - I made some updates to the manual (so its at least not spreading mis-information).
https://www.blender.org/manual/game_engine/licensing.html

If you have corrections to make, please send us modified source file (View Page Source - top right)

Archiving this report.

Note, still not especially happy with this page, but think at least the main issues are cleared up. Further improvements can be made, but would prefer not to get into providing elaborate legal info in our manual.

@qubodup, this was indeed quite bad - I made some updates to the manual (so its at least not spreading mis-information). https://www.blender.org/manual/game_engine/licensing.html If you have corrections to make, please send us modified source file (**View Page Source** - top right) Archiving this report. ---- Note, still not especially happy with this page, but think at least the main issues are cleared up. Further improvements can be made, but would prefer not to get into providing elaborate legal info in our manual.

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Game_Engine/Licensing (content todo) #42992