Hi all,
First let me offer my profuse apologies for neglecting to include proper attribution for the freeOrion artwork used in Supremacy. Below is an e-mail conversation I just had with Mathias (pd):
On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 10:09 AM, Mathias Koehler <
[email protected]> wrote:
Hi,
it came to my intention, that Star Trek Supremacy is using artwork originally created for the freeOrion project. All freeOrion artwork is using the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, which asks for proper attribution. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any freeOrion artists and coders, nor the project as a whole being credited in your project. Being the graphics lead and creator of some of the graphics in question, that upsets me.
I hope we can find a solution to this.
best regards
--
Mathias Koehler
freelance 3D Artist
http://www.optisch-edel.de
Hi Mathias,
This is really quite embarrassing. The addition of a "credits" screen to Supremacy has long been on my "to do" list, but I've kept putting it off in favor of working on gameplay elements. This is inexcusable, and I apologize. Considering that Supremacy is a community-driven project, I should have ensured that all contributors were properly credited in every release. As I have long since been the primary, often the sole developer of the project, I understand how much time and effort goes into projects like Supremacy and freeOrion. That kind of hard work and dedication should certainly be acknowledged, regardless of whether such attribution is required by license. Failing to include those acknowledgements in the game has been my fault, and I accept full responsibility for that oversight.
I will make the addition of a "credits" screen my top priority this week, and ensure that the freeOrion content creators are properly credited. Could you tell me where I can find the names of the artists who produced the planet and asteroid graphics used in Supremacy? Also, do I have your permission to credit you by name, or do you have a pseudonym that you would rather use?
My apologies once again for this oversight. I hope we can resolve this matter to your satisfaction.
Best regards,
Mike Strobel
I want to ensure that all creative content is properly attributed. According to this thread, we are currently using the following images:
Planet Textures - pd and obiwan
Asteroid Belt Animations - pd
Atmosphere Overlays - pd
Galaxy Selection Images - Satyagraha
If these artists have any specific names by which they would like to be credited, please post them here or PM them to me. Otherwise, I will include the names as they appear in the freeOrion credits. Note that I will also include credits thanking the FreeOrion project, complete with a link to the FO site.
For anyone who's wondering, Supremacy does not include any code from the FreeOrion project, as the programming language and platform are incompatible. However, parts of its architecture and class structure are based on FreeOrion. I had originally contacted Tyreth back in February 2006 and obtained permission to use FreeOrion graphics and architectural ideas in what was currently an academic project entitled
Galactic Supremacy:
Tyreth,
I'm not sure if you're the correct person to contact for this matter, and if you're not, then I apologize. I'm currently developing a 4X strategy game for a video game design project as part of my undergraduate coursework, and I was wondeirng if I could use some of the artwork from FreeOrion. I'm particularly interested in the planet images. I would gladly give credit to the appropriate artists.
Also, I have "adopted" the Effects system that you and your team have developed. Although I cannot use your source code (as I am developing my project in C# with a rather different game API), I would still like to give your team credit for the idea. Is there any particular way I should note this in my credits? I could credit the individual programmers, or simply "The FreeOrion Project".
Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Best regards,
Mike Strobel
Hi,
You are certainly welcome to use our artwork. We currently have it under the license detailed in this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=351
So as long as you follow that, you should be fine.
If, in your game, you are including a menu with an 'about' or 'credits' then simply put a reference to the FreeOrion team in there, including a link to our website. You can include further copywrite details/credits in a text file if you wish.
Also do the same for effects. I think you may need to include a copy of the above license for the artwork, so that others who use your project know what the conditions of the artwork are.
Hope that helps,
Mark
At the time, proper credits were included in the game. While
Star Trek: Supremacy evolved out of
Galactic Supremacy, the code base had been completely restructured and much of the game rewritten (including all of the graphical client). As a result, the original credits screen was lost, and as I explained to Mathias, creating a new one has unfortunately been something that has repeatedly fallen through the cracks. I just want everyone here to know that I have the utmost respect for the freeOrion developers and community, and I hope I have not planted any seeds of discord here. I will make every effort to complete a new in-game credits screen this week, and update the Supremacy pre-release download page accordingly.
Best regards,
Mike Strobel
Lead Developer,
Star Trek: Supremacy
P.S. In case anyone noticed, Supremacy also uses music written by Kenneth Welch, aka LunarMongoose of the freeOrion project. Kenneth is a friend of mine, and has granted me permission to use his music under the same CC license used by freeOrion. I will naturally be crediting Kenneth for his valued contributions as well
.
P.P.S. Someone had suggested a mutual linking agreement by which Supremacy and freeOrion included links to each other's websites. I would be more than happy to accomodate such an arrangement. Supremacy has actually generated quite a bit of excitement in the sci-fi gaming community lately, and I've had several developers come forward and offer to work on the game--more than I can currently accomodate. It's certainly possible that some of those developers would be interested in working on freeOrion as well, particularly since most of them have stronger backgrounds in C++ than C#/.NET.