XCOM HD Propose to redraw all the sprites and increasing they in 4 times

[moriarty]

Redrawing a complete game and giving it away for free with working game mechanics and all?  That's way beyond "fan art".

[LCSand]

True it is not fan art, but it does not realy matter.
You can use a similar art style as long as you do not use the actual game art to make it. IANAL but as long as the art can not be considered derivative work it is original art, no matter the style.
So taking art from the original game then upscaling that and drawing over it to smooth the edges and maybe add detail could be considered derivative work. This was done in some other projects to increase sprite resolution, there are even some videos on youtube showing how it is done.
Of course it depends on how the current right holders see such work, but it is better to be safe and not do it that way.

[Volutar]

That's way beyond "fan art".

Why allowing modders to add hires alternative sprites and graphics is a "NOT good"? And why drawing fan art and fan sprites is not good?

BTW, AFAIK this game doesn't work as standalone and it requires for original game, so it's not quite "for free".

[LCSand]

I think, long term, when hi-res alternatives for all the game art exists then the original game files would not actually be needed anymore.
At that point would it still make sense to enforce having the original game files?

[Volutar]

Well, I don't think this project will stick to original dat/pck/tab/mcd files format forever, huh? So any alternatives possible.
This discussion is meaningless until "open" graphics format plans be revealed.

[mydmitry]

Well, I don't think this project will stick to original dat/pck/tab/mcd files format forever, huh? So any alternatives possible.
This discussion is meaningless until "open" graphics format plans be revealed.

YEEEH SupSuper WE WANT ".PNG"!!!

PCK viewer/converter - Convert PCK->BMP and vice versa.
https://freelancer.ag.ru/cgi-bin/freelancer/download/load.cgi?/gamearchive/download/pck_view.zip

All over stuff
https://freelancer.ag.ru/gamearchive/download/index.shtml

[moriarty]

I think, long term, when hi-res alternatives for all the game art exists then the original game files would not actually be needed anymore.
At that point would it still make sense to enforce having the original game files?

that is my point. if you aim to re-draw all the game graphics, you are deliberately working towards a point where owning the original game will no longer be necessary. and that is the point where you will need permission of the copyright holder. because you will essentially have created a game similar to the original, a.k.a. plagiarism.

as I said, I'd like higher resolution graphics that still stay true to the original, but the need for the original game will have to stay in at all times.

[mydmitry]

I got cool idea!!! We will leave music and sounds from original. No sounds from original then you can't play - anyway you must buy original first. 

[Volutar]

because you will essentially have created a game similar to the original, a.k.a. plagiarism

What are the criteria of being plagiary?
Are ufonauts plagiarism of xcom? Did they ask for permissions?

[moriarty]

I, too, am not a lawyer. the specifics of plagiarism are settled in court.
Xenonauts (that's what you mean, isn't it?) is quite close, but probably different enough to be considered a "spiritual successor" or whatever you want to call it. they are not using graphics that look like x-com, they are not using x-com names, some game mechanics are different...

but that's not what openxcom is aiming for, is it? it is trying to mimic the original. the defined goal for v1.0 is to have a game that looks and plays like x-com. this will always be considered plagiarism unless it requires the original, don't you think?

[LCSand]

Not realy. It would be considered copyright infringement and for that similar is not good enough. It has to be exactly like it, wich is indeed stated development goal. And if you want to make it look and feel the same you would need to use original game files.
But if very similar is good enough, Free replacement art could be used. But when creating such work it is important that it can not be considered derivative.

that is my point. if you aim to re-draw all the game graphics, you are deliberately working towards a point where owning the original game will no longer be necessary. and that is the point where you will need permission of the copyright holder. because you will essentially have created a game similar to the original, a.k.a. plagiarism.

Not realy the case. Plagiarism is something else. Calling it OpenXCom and saying it is an updated clone of the old game is enough to not be plagiarism. There are clones/remakes of many games wich are legal.
And if all the artwork is replaced with original work and none of the original source code is used there is no problem with copyright either.
Meh, complicated topic. Some differences depending where you life and stuff.
Read this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement
And understand the difference to this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent
and maybe even this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark

as I said, I'd like higher resolution graphics that still stay true to the original, but the need for the original game will have to stay in at all times.

If that is all you want then using an upscale filter is the simplest way. If you want better looking high-res sprites that look "exactly" like from the old game, hand tuned so to speak. That would propably be a derivative work and could indeed not be used or maybe even created without permission.
But personally I would prefer to zoom out. I mean see more of the battlescape and keeping the sprite resolution the same.

[michal]

I think that we could follow OpenTTD - it started like OpenXcom - replacement exe for original game - it required data from original game. But for some time they are providing replacements for graphic, sound and music:

For OpenTTD you can use the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe data files (you need to own a Transport Tycoon Deluxe CD). There are also the free alternatives: OpenGFX (graphics), OpenSFX (sound) and OpenMSX (music). These can be installed automatically by the Windows and OS/2 installers. Please refer to the readme for more information.

https://wiki.openttd.org/OpenGFX_Readme

From https://wiki.openttd.org/Graphics_Replacement:

New art is being drawn in the style of the original game, using the original 8bpp palette. The graphics should be a similar but distinct version of the object in question - no graphics may be copied at all from the original. The new sprites do not have to be the same size as the original, but need to be similar so as to fit into the game as expected

So i think that it should be possible to make new art, from scratch - for original aliens, weapons, tiles, etc. IANAL but i guess having same alien/item names / stats probably isn't copyright infringement.

I guess that only problem may be related with using "xcom" which is probably some trademark. But it's easy to change project name to OpenUFO and organization name to something else.

[moriarty]

hmmm... michal, I think you are right, but I think that leaves us with two options:

1) use graphics that are similar to the original (2x, 4x, whatever), AND somehow hard-code the requirement for the original game into the openxcom. even when all graphics have been replaced by better ones, the game will only run when the original files are there.

2) get rid of the original altogether, create new graphics "from scratch", rename everything. No reference to x-com. might also need to change the interface layout.


I don't know about you, but if the game doesn't look like x-com anymore, I probably wouldn't want to play it anymore

[Zharik1999]

2) get rid of the original altogether, create new graphics "from scratch", rename everything. No reference to x-com. might also need to change the interface layout. - OH nooooooooo, really don't want this to happen. This is the best remake for me because it's really a remake of an old x-com without some bad things like bugs and limitations. And usage of original graphics is a big advantage!

[mydmitry]

3) Do not change anything, draw new 4x graphics and play with it!!!