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Much thanks for you recommend, I make this game just because I love this old StarCraft game so much and want to realize it in web browser, no plan for make mone

Much thanks for you recommend, I make this game just because I love this old StarCraft game so much and want to realize it in web browser, no plan for make money, and it's much weaker than the original Blizzard game

Tomte 11y ago
Great. Blizzard won't care. But if you like living a risky life, go on. (And yes, I'm blown away by what you have achieved there)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
  - jvzr 11y ago
    I'm pretty sure she/he meant: "Blizzard won't care that you did this because you liked the game, and are not making any money out of it," not "Blizzard won't care about this project and thus won't take you down."
- Kiro 11y ago
  He's not from the US so what exactly is he risking here apart from the repo being taken down?
  - kzrdude 11y ago
    You haven't noticed the global reach of US copyright law yet? If it doesn't reach there yet, they keep trying to extend it (see free trade treaties).
  - Tomte 11y ago
    Famous last words. As if Blizzard had no way to hire lawyers elsewhere. And maybe he wants to travel to the United States someday?
  - Vespasian 11y ago
    To be honest, StarCraft is probably protected in most countries and don't believe that it is hard for Blizzard to find a local lawyer willing to take the case if the want to.
  - erkkie 11y ago
    Please never take "not from the US so what" as a credible form of protection against any US actor, be it corporate or govermental. There's many ways someone can still screw you, starting from making your travel to the US tricky to much worse, depending on the circumstances and what international agreements allow.
  - nadams 11y ago
    Blizzard can send a DMCA takedown to github and github must ASAP take down the repo regardless of if there was actual copyright infringement. I've seen github developers send DMCA requests to take down other developers repos before...
  - tripzilch 11y ago
    Ultimately? Drone strikes.
- TomGullen 11y ago
  They have to care in some circumstances unfortunately, if they are aware of an IP infringement and don't action it, it can be used as evidence further down the line for bigger infringement cases.
  - Tomte 11y ago
    Please read my comment correctly. Hint: Another commenter has long clarified.
  - extra88 11y ago
    Trademark is the only form of intellectual property (IP) for which selective enforcement is a problem. Presumably the name of the game is trademarked but the images & audio are covered by copyright law, not trademark.
    - TomGullen 11y ago
      IANAL but if Blizzard is aware of this copyright infringement and do not act on it, the developer can go for an acquiescence defence. If successful, Blizzard surrender their rights in that particular project. This could potentially have an effect on the value of their IP which can give leverage to potential acquirers/investors.
      - extra88 11y ago
        No. There is no such defense in U.S. copyright cases. Again, only trademark requires them to pursue infringement to maintain their protection, and by extension, value.
SXX 11y ago
Fact that you don't make money off it would work for almost any game developer, but not Blizzard. In past they take down several open source projects just because of their name or clean room reverse engineering. And you're basically pirating their game assets.
- gloomyson 11y ago
  Actually only the images and audios the same as Blizzard game, the js source code of game engine are totally different with that original one, maybe I can replace those sprite images with other ones, and it will run perfectly like another RTS
  - giancarlostoro 11y ago
    Depending on what you're trying to accomplish if you make an entire game engine from scratch that can open up the files from StarCraft (and you DON'T distribute them), I think you should be fine. Although this would raise the complexity of your project. One such project exists: http://www.stratagus.org/ http://www.stratagus.org/ - A cross-platform RTS open source game engine. http://stargus.stratagus.com/index.html http://stargus.stratagus.com/index.html - A project built on top of the same engine that opens up all StarCraft original files. Not sure how active this project is or how far it's gone, but it seems to me from what I've seen: If your project recreates the engine and you require the original files and don't redistribute them yourself, you shouldn't get in much trouble? IANAL
    - ctoshok 11y ago
      that's exactly how I did it when working on scsharp (https://github.com/toshok/scsharp https://github.com/toshok/scsharp). you gave it the paths to directories holding assets for starcraft + broodwars. 10 years on github without a dmca knocks on wood
- gloomyson 11y ago
  What will Blizzard normally do if they accuse me pirating their assets? Will I pay cash to them? Your words make me nervous
moonshinefe 11y ago
Great work, but as someone who lived through FSGS and BNETD and various WoW projects that were unsanctioned, be sure to protect yourself against Blizzard's lawyers as others say. They'll be knocking if your project takes off.
stockkid 11y ago
I love the old StarCraft. Thanks for making this!
bobajeff 11y ago
Yeah, it kind of sucks but there is some ambiguity in the law when to comes to making fan art/games. But basically as I understand it you can't publicly distribute a game with the same exact title, characters, story and look. You are given some leeway to parody but should tread carefully there too. So for example: StellarCraft featuring Zerps, Terrags and Protians and use similar but reasonably distinct looks for everyone from the other game would be safer.
- giancarlostoro 11y ago
  I was hoping you'd have written Proteins. But I agree, sadly sometimes projects like these provide a significant learning outcome see: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/124171/Opinion_Reverse_Engineering__Evil_or_Enlightening.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/124171/Opinion_Reverse_En...

Tomte 11y ago

Great. Blizzard won't care. But if you like living a risky life, go on. (And yes, I'm blown away by what you have achieved there)

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
- jvzr 11y ago
  I'm pretty sure she/he meant: "Blizzard won't care that you did this because you liked the game, and are not making any money out of it," not "Blizzard won't care about this project and thus won't take you down."
Kiro 11y ago
He's not from the US so what exactly is he risking here apart from the repo being taken down?
- kzrdude 11y ago
  You haven't noticed the global reach of US copyright law yet? If it doesn't reach there yet, they keep trying to extend it (see free trade treaties).
- Tomte 11y ago
  Famous last words. As if Blizzard had no way to hire lawyers elsewhere. And maybe he wants to travel to the United States someday?
- Vespasian 11y ago
  To be honest, StarCraft is probably protected in most countries and don't believe that it is hard for Blizzard to find a local lawyer willing to take the case if the want to.
- erkkie 11y ago
  Please never take "not from the US so what" as a credible form of protection against any US actor, be it corporate or govermental. There's many ways someone can still screw you, starting from making your travel to the US tricky to much worse, depending on the circumstances and what international agreements allow.
- nadams 11y ago
  Blizzard can send a DMCA takedown to github and github must ASAP take down the repo regardless of if there was actual copyright infringement. I've seen github developers send DMCA requests to take down other developers repos before...
- tripzilch 11y ago
  Ultimately? Drone strikes.
TomGullen 11y ago
They have to care in some circumstances unfortunately, if they are aware of an IP infringement and don't action it, it can be used as evidence further down the line for bigger infringement cases.
- Tomte 11y ago
  Please read my comment correctly. Hint: Another commenter has long clarified.
- extra88 11y ago
  Trademark is the only form of intellectual property (IP) for which selective enforcement is a problem. Presumably the name of the game is trademarked but the images & audio are covered by copyright law, not trademark.
  - TomGullen 11y ago
    IANAL but if Blizzard is aware of this copyright infringement and do not act on it, the developer can go for an acquiescence defence. If successful, Blizzard surrender their rights in that particular project. This could potentially have an effect on the value of their IP which can give leverage to potential acquirers/investors.
    - extra88 11y ago
      No. There is no such defense in U.S. copyright cases. Again, only trademark requires them to pursue infringement to maintain their protection, and by extension, value.

SXX 11y ago

Fact that you don't make money off it would work for almost any game developer, but not Blizzard. In past they take down several open source projects just because of their name or clean room reverse engineering. And you're basically pirating their game assets.

gloomyson 11y ago
Actually only the images and audios the same as Blizzard game, the js source code of game engine are totally different with that original one, maybe I can replace those sprite images with other ones, and it will run perfectly like another RTS
- giancarlostoro 11y ago
  Depending on what you're trying to accomplish if you make an entire game engine from scratch that can open up the files from StarCraft (and you DON'T distribute them), I think you should be fine. Although this would raise the complexity of your project. One such project exists: http://www.stratagus.org/ http://www.stratagus.org/ - A cross-platform RTS open source game engine. http://stargus.stratagus.com/index.html http://stargus.stratagus.com/index.html - A project built on top of the same engine that opens up all StarCraft original files. Not sure how active this project is or how far it's gone, but it seems to me from what I've seen: If your project recreates the engine and you require the original files and don't redistribute them yourself, you shouldn't get in much trouble? IANAL
  - ctoshok 11y ago
    that's exactly how I did it when working on scsharp (https://github.com/toshok/scsharp https://github.com/toshok/scsharp). you gave it the paths to directories holding assets for starcraft + broodwars. 10 years on github without a dmca knocks on wood
gloomyson 11y ago
What will Blizzard normally do if they accuse me pirating their assets? Will I pay cash to them? Your words make me nervous

moonshinefe 11y ago

Great work, but as someone who lived through FSGS and BNETD and various WoW projects that were unsanctioned, be sure to protect yourself against Blizzard's lawyers as others say. They'll be knocking if your project takes off.

stockkid 11y ago

I love the old StarCraft. Thanks for making this!

bobajeff 11y ago

Yeah, it kind of sucks but there is some ambiguity in the law when to comes to making fan art/games. But basically as I understand it you can't publicly distribute a game with the same exact title, characters, story and look. You are given some leeway to parody but should tread carefully there too. So for example: StellarCraft featuring Zerps, Terrags and Protians and use similar but reasonably distinct looks for everyone from the other game would be safer.

giancarlostoro 11y ago
I was hoping you'd have written Proteins. But I agree, sadly sometimes projects like these provide a significant learning outcome see: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/124171/Opinion_Reverse_Engineering__Evil_or_Enlightening.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/124171/Opinion_Reverse_En...