> I don't blame Kaemmer and Henry a bit for taking a tough stand. BTW, the
> post does not say no mods allowed. It says no hacking, and he explains
the
> difference. Authorized and licensed mods will be allowed, hence the last
> line of his post regarding GTP.
Any updates are viewed as "acceptable only if it doesnt violate third party
trademarks or other intellectual property rights (such as logos, car designs
or tracks owned by other parties)."
Which pretty much covers anything that is trying to replicate something
real, be it a car, the sponsors logos or a real life track.
I'm more than happy for Kaemmer and co to produce a stream of releases based
on his new engine. Touring cars, rally cars, street cars, open wheel, dirt
cars etc. so we can pick the ones we want. Maybe now released from the
shackles of the publishers it will happen as was the apparent aim when the
GPL engine was produced. However, the lack of a non Nascar title for over 6
years has meant the fans of the Kaemmer based engines have only been
satisfied by the modding teams, so it seems a bit rich to be throwing some
weight around before there is anything tangible for the non nascar sim
community. The same community that kept his products alive and maintained a
core set of fans.
As for the car analogies, innovation doesn't last long before it is copied.
All the manufacturers can do is to aim to be a step ahead. If Kaemmer
belives cars are not reverse engineered to be copied then he is being very
naive. The common rail diesel engine was invented by Fiat a year before GPL.
Now most diesel powered cars use common rail technology and Fiat is on its
second generation common rail design along with pretty much everyone else.
Plus modding cars is a career rather than a hobby for many...
The advantage Kaemmer has over the modders is he has the resources and
dedicated time to be innovative, whilst the modders have to play catch up
with limited resource (most have day jobs and limited access to tolls of the
trade). All he has to do is to innovate and there is no problem. With the
time it takes to tool up a factory copying an existing competitors cars will
simply mean you are behind the next version by the time it comes out.
Similarly producing software including modding takes a long time.
A mod based on NR2003 should only be of interest if there is nothing of that
genre available, otherwise the 2005 version of the game engine should be the
one the choice. The modders end up modifying the physics due to no suitable
retail product being available.
Other games software companies are actively encouraging modding (such as
"make something Unreal") presumably because they believe it will enhance
interest in their products and gain future sales. embracing the community
rather than trying to suppress it.
So fairly unimpressed with First Racing's start so far...
Tony
