IF I wanted to go about making a Star Wars mod(licensing)...

babywax

babywax

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I've had a few ideas for doing this, but they are mostly combat system ideas and can be translated (fairly) easily into another setting, but it would work really well with star wars. I've wanted to create a mod but haven't set myself on anything yet, all I've known is I want to do a melee combat mod. My idea tends to lend it self to star wars pretty well, so that's why I am asking:
How would I go about getting a license to make a multiplayer only(so no story line) star wars game, mainly based around lightsabers. Would I email lucas arts etc... or what would I need to do? I don't want to get half way in (if I can even get that far) and find out they don't want me making it!
Thanks for any help!

P.S.
Does anyone know if they have any sort of animation blending?
 
You would probably run into problems due to the fact that a lighsaber mod for hl2 would compete with the jk series of games. Best bet is to just send an email to? lucasarts? and see what they have to say.
 
Yeah, just mail and ask... And if you want another way to do Star Wars, check out my mod :)
How about... Machines like those buzzybots wielding 'laserswords'? :p
 
cant you have lightsabers but with a diffrent name or something (and a diffrent design) I think thats okay :)
 
Bleh, having a knock-off name just stinks, anyone know who I would e-mail? I looked on their website but all I saw was stuff related to technical support etc...
 
Always be VERY carefull when doing anything that might even remotly be considered related to Star Wars. Mr Lucas is VERY VERY sensitive about copyright infringments. He even goes after people who have whole new ideas, and even some whose written ideas pre-date the Star Wars release in 1977. As if He personaly invented Science Fiction, and anytihng involving sci-fi and spaceships are ripping him off.
I ve said it before and I'll say it again,
" I like George Lucas movies, but the guy seroiusly has a wookie up his butt!"
 
Its the same way with Fox, anything trying to immitate anything they own, and its right down the drain. A team got caught making an Alien mod for Quake (II) (i think), a few years back, thats where the term "Foxed" came from.
 
FOX will sue you if you try to use the phrase "Fair and Balanced" in your mod...
 
Well, if you do it without their permission first then they pretty much have to make you stop or sue you (otherwise they would be setting a precedent). So if I made my mod I would have to get permission first, I still can't find a darned e-mail address.
 
The guys who are making a star wars mod for bf1942 had to change the name from star wars battlefield to something else, but theyve got easily recognizalbe vehicles and music in there, and they are still around after a couple months...
 
Just call it "5t4r W4r5" and use "L1ght54b3r5" and "t3h F0rc3". Then it won't technically be a copyright infringement.
 
Originally posted by ElFuhrer
Just call it "5t4r W4r5" and use "L1ght54b3r5" and "t3h F0rc3". Then it won't technically be a copyright infringement.
Click to expand...

Until he puts anything in it from the Star Wars universe, then it will heh
 
Lucas arts _may_ allow you use common items from the movies as they've allowed fan fiction in the past. Just steer clear of unique entities like actual characters, 'props' (like Boba Fett's Slave 1 ship). also try to place the time line outside of thier liscnesed content (IE dont do a redo the Hoth attack). Once you get to apha state you may want to contact them so the could review your work once you get to a beta state.

A way to avoid some of the 'prop' issue is to find the concept drawings and use those as a base.

also remember if you use an actual actors face, they also have the chance to fox you.
 
Fact is you most likely wouldn't get permission, so the best option is just to do it and if they ever call you on it pleade ignorance.

If you ask and they say no, you can't do it, if you already get it done they are more lenient on allowing it.
 
You could just make it yourself, all the way to completion. keep it secret, and then it somehow gets "leaked".
Those darn leaks!
 
Thanks for that, I emailed the makers of that mod asking them how they got permission :)
 
First, make sure you aren't directly competing with any games they have made recently or are making.

Next, it would probably help to make some good content first, then show Mr. Lucas that you have the talent to pull it off... and not give Star Wars games a bad name.

Finally, if all else fails, tell him that he slept with your mother years ago and you were their bastard child... then blackmail him into letting you make the mod (or even paying you to make the mod).
 
If you want to lisence the Star Wars franchise you'd have to pay literally millions of US$
 
I think you can put anything into your mod, as long as you don't give it to people for a price.

All this copyright thing is only good for forbidding people getting money for someone else's work.
 
Dile thats not true due to copyrights which can come down to as simple as "something looks like same thing".

Did you know MS got sued by Apple for the look of the Recycle bin on Win 95?
 
Originally posted by johnshafft
Dile thats not true due to copyrights which can come down to as simple as "something looks like same thing".

Did you know MS got sued by Apple for the look of the Recycle bin on Win 95?
Click to expand...

...and that means if I build a Luke Skywalker from Lego, and it's showed on TV (by accident or something...), I get sued by Lucasarts?

A simple MOD isn't anything official, you can even say its not yours!
And if you don't sell it for a price, it's nothing bad for Lucasarts (or any company).
 
Whats next? saying its legal to DL MP3s, Movies, and the HL code?

Why did Fox kill the first ever Aliens mod? was it because somebody was giving away thier content for free or using unlicensed content from the movies.

why has every Starcraft mod been given a cease and desist order? Was it was because they were using the likness of something that was copyrighted? or was it because they were going to charge for it?

Why do dragonball z mods getting killed?

Its obvious that you dont know what copyright and intellectual property means. So you might want to look that up before you tell somebody to do something that could get them into legal trouble.
 
Originally posted by johnshafft
Whats next? saying its legal to DL MP3s, Movies, and the HL code?

Why did Fox kill the first ever Aliens mod? was it because somebody was giving away thier content for free or using unlicensed content from the movies.

why has every Starcraft mod been given a cease and desist order? Was it was because they were using the likness of something that was copyrighted? or was it because they were going to charge for it?

Why do dragonball z mods getting killed?

Its obvious that you dont know what copyright and intellectual property means. So you might want to look that up before you tell somebody to do something that could get them into legal trouble.
Click to expand...

OK, you probably know better than me!
Originally posted by Dile
I think...
Click to expand...

See that?
 
Originally posted by Dile
"I think"
"See that?"
Click to expand...

Ahhh I see even though you didn't know you still replied with "A simple MOD isn't anything official, you can even say its not yours!
And if you don't sell it for a price, it's nothing bad for Lucasarts (or any company)."

its still a violation

I know your bad, and all is forgiven ;) :)



:cheers:
 
Originally posted by johnshafft
Ahhh I see even though you didn't know you still replied with "A simple MOD isn't anything official, you can even say its not yours!
And if you don't sell it for a price, it's nothing bad for Lucasarts (or any company)."

its still a violation

I know your bad, and all is forgiven ;) :)



:cheers:
Click to expand...

Heh, knew somebody's gonna notice that;)
But you can't say its not true, can you?:cheers:
 
The Troopers mod looks cool, I looked at it earlier this year but had forgotten about it. I'm still very suprised they have been allowed to do it. Those guys must relay know the right things to say to lucasfilm.

About George Lucas though, dont forget He's the one that tried to sue Glen Larson over Battlestar Galactica. Lucas lost in court however. The Judge reviewed both pieces and determined that SW was about a rebelion fighting an opressive empire, while Galactica was about refugees fleeing from genocide.

Aparently Lucas thought he invented Science Fiction.
 
Troopers got a cease and desist order from lucas arts lawyers awhile back. they did some good talking because they've actually got some support from LA for the project.

part of the reason is because LA allows fan fiction.
 
Hehehe,

I am working on a Grim Fandango (also by Lucas Arts) HL2 mod with some otehr people from some GF forums. Hope they don't make me stop ;(
 
The general rule for making mods based off of existing IP, assume you will get a cease and decist order, and hide yourself as well as you can until you're ready for a final release. Then spread your stuff as fast as you can (especially over peer to peer networks). By the time you get the cease and decisit order your mod will have spread too far for them to control distribution by just shutting the team down.
 
But if you do that mightn't they get really angry and sue you or something?

Because they would be able to sue you, wouldn't they?
 
Originally posted by James Isaac
But if you do that mightn't they get really angry and sue you or something?

Because they would be able to sue you, wouldn't they?
Click to expand...

They wouldn't know who made the mod...
 
Originally posted by Dile
They wouldn't know who made the mod...
Click to expand...

Credit everything on it to someone you don't like and pray it doesn't backfire if Lucasarts offers them a job lol
 
Originally posted by Fenric1138
Credit everything on it to someone you don't like and pray it doesn't backfire if Lucasarts offers them a job lol
Click to expand...

haha lol :cheers:
 
Originally posted by James Isaac
But if you do that mightn't they get really angry and sue you or something?

Because they would be able to sue you, wouldn't they?
Click to expand...

Well no, you see, the burden is on them to tell you to cease and desist. See, if you've widely distributed a finished product before the C&D order comes, then when it does you're pretty much in the clear. As you can shut down your "official" methods of distribution and let p2p and the like take care of the rest. They can't sue you as you complied with their C&D order, but you've won since your mod is now widely distributed anyway.
 
Bleh, I'll just port my ideas over to another genre, that's too much trouble for not even being able to update it officially.
 
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