aka_tom_w

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by MichaelU: Hey, I remember that Star Trek episode. If I recall correctly, Kirk decides that their version of war is too clean and makes it so that instead of reporting to disintegration chambers when the computer decides your part of the city has been bombed, the city will really be bombed. Kirk seems to think that a taste of real war, with painful injuries and body parts and all that, will make these people seek peace. He obviously wasn't a very keen student of history.<hr></blockquote> That was the one. VERY good Recall, nice synopsis. The Enterprise, while in orbit around Eminiar VII is "theoretically" hit and destroyed by a tricobalt-satellite explosion. So theoretically ALL the crew are (by the terms of the treaty of the two warring planets) required to beam down and report to the disintegration chambers, to be humanly distingrated. So of course Kirk sticks his nose in and says "No Fricking WAY, you bunch of loosers!" -tom w

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Affentitten: Just to show my nerd status, there is a Dr Who episode that deals with this! It concerns two space armadas, one in control of the cybermen (computer-based cyborgs) and some other similar race. Both battle fleets are controlled by identical computers who make their decisions based solely on logic. The two fleets have ended up at a stand-off for centuries without a shot being fired, since when one side makes a logical offensive move, the other side immediately takes the logical counter-move, negating the original advantage that the attacking AI saw and thus aborting the offensive manouver. I think the cybermen kidnap Dr Who because they want a non-logical humanoid to make a silly move and break the deadlock, thus kicking off the biggest space war in history.<hr></blockquote> Which Dr Who? Tom Baker was the best one anyone else here even heard of Dr. Who??? NO NOT Dr.No of Bond fame! -tom w P.S. Let me be the first nerd to mention the Original Star Trek episode where computers fought each other in simulated "cyber War" and casaulities where calcualated by the computers and REAL people (friendly civilians) had to report to "disintegration chambers" and be killed humanely. The episode was called "A Taste of Armageddon"

its sort of doable I have done this with two laptops: Recipe for Computer vs Computer Pick a good Meeting encounter Scenario set the timer to one minute Set up the game Set up both forces Play both sides gives ALL the orders for all units for the entire game in the first move for both sides (turn the timer off for this) Hit GO Then Fire and Forget let the game run its self every minute a new turn of combat will take place. IT is VERY interesting give it a try if you and a buddy have two computers you can network. -tom w [ 11-25-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]</p>

bump for newbies

Raised the issue of "superior German gunnery optics" Defender of the faith that "Live and Dead vehicles that are not smoking DO NOT BLOCK LOS" or do not provide any cover. always interested in exploring any gamey tactic -tom w [ 11-25-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]</p>

silouete rating in CM I guess

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Chad Harrison: all i know is that in squad leader the germans and british 1st line troops had a morale of 7 (broken morale of 7 also); and the americans 1st liners had a morale of 6 (better unbroken of 8). so when avalon hill made that game, for whatever reasons they said in a way "they will break down faster, but once they break they are better at staying alive than the others"<hr></blockquote> That sounds like a nationality modifier to me! -tom w

I prefer the Hellcat as well! A few of those and a few M8 Greyhounds with the FAST 37 mm Main weapon and EVERY exposed Kraut Flank becomes a VERY juicey target! My two favourites: M18 Hellcat M8 Greyhound -tom w

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by jgdpzr: It is my understanding that there are no nationality modifiers in the game. Hence, it should not be possible for US troops to suffer morale penalties in comparison to British troops or those from other nationalities, provided they have the same experience levels and commander bonuses.<hr></blockquote> Good point BUT I do think that while BTS has told us Many times that there are no nationality modifiers in the game, the Brit infantry none the less displays much better morale and discipline than their US counterparts. interesting to mention though that BTS has told us there are no no nationality modifiers in the game, I would say in this case there is a morale modifier. -tom w [ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]</p>

better training and higher discipline amongst Brits in Real Life ™ ?? -tom w

posted in good Cheer.. Oh come on! some of us are battle hardened "rules lawyers" from Way back, I thought it was fun to haggle and debate over copyright law.... Since I'm at work that was almost as much fun as actually playing the game. I have no clue who did what to who or who was the wronged party. And Sure, I agree completely with Manx. -tom w <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Darknight_Canuck: My God!!! :eek: Following these arguments (it no longer seems like simple discussion) is like listening to people argue about religion. When I made additions to the existing work by Andrew Fox, I created an example and sent it to him BEFORE ever considering that it would be released for public consumption. I made the mods for myself first b/c I wanted to and then was supported by Andrew and Michael Dorosh (another person whom I credited b/c I drew much from his original source material as well) in making them available. It is very easy to contact the original mod artist and I don't think there's many who would prevent another from adding to their work....the contact is a necessary courtesy and should be made (we're all friends here, are we not??? ). I think that this entire issue has created too much bad feeling all over again. And someone explain to me why anyone is picking on the web-masters? These guys are putting in hours of their own time (and sometimes money) to allow all of us to be a Community. As Manx said, if he is made aware of a problem, it would be corrected....I think that's all anyone could ask. Sorry if I'm rambling on too much but I was a lurker for far too long b/f deciding to become an active part of this community. It seems sad that we're now discussing legalities and lawyers and such....it seems to be flaying the fun away from the game (which is why we all got involved here in the first place, right??? )<hr></blockquote> [ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]</p>

Again.... The public Domain issue: "Under copyright laws, copyright protection is automatic as soon as the work is "fixed" or "published" in some format outside the creators mind, whether or not the work is actually registered with the copyright office. However, to truly protect the work, a copyright notice should be affixed somewhere visible on or within the work. © When a work is put forth (considered to be "published)" publicly without such a notice, or after the legal time period specified for end of copyright by the laws, a piece is considered to have entered the public domain, and is freely usable by anybody at any time, in any way. This is why people add copyright notices to works of art and articles that are published in magazines and books, and to song lyrics included with music on disk, so their copyright is protected and they can retain control of how the material is used." From this web page All Mods artists should read this page: http://www.mindymac.com/copyright.html also found at the bottom of that page: "The boring legal stuff: All original work anywhere on this site © 1999 Mindy Machanic, unless otherwise noted. Permission to use quotes granted under "fair use" laws, with credit to this site and/or Mindy Machanic, as appropriate. No reprinting larger sections in any format (print, electronic, video, etc.) allowed without prior written permission and full credit. " -tom w [ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ] [ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]</p>

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by AndrewTF: I'm not a lawyer either (thank god ) but as I work with art, artists, and intellectual property issues on a daily basis, I'm pretty sure that US copyright law applies to any work of art created regardless of the © symbol. As soon as a work is created by an artist, the copyright belongs to him for his lifetime plus, I think 50 years (I could be wrong here). The © symbol helps, as does registration, but neither are legally necessary to prove copyright. If you made it it's yours. End of story.<hr></blockquote> But what about the notion of the public domain? if you issue a mod and post it on the internet for free distribution, and you do not write somthing like "©2001 Mod Artist Supreme" on it , is that art work not instantly devoid of any copywrite protection and in fact in the public domain so anyone can do ANYTHING they want with it, including passing off an edited version of the artwork as their own? I ask this in all seriousness?? -tom w

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Olle Petersson: Even this might be a little complicated, given that several of the current mods are based on mods based on mods based on ..., mixed with details from mods based on mods based on... A complete list of everybody that put any work in from original to present version might easily reach ten or more names, with very little of the original art shining through. If adding changes to an existing mod, it should be sufficient to accnowledge the final author of that mod, and if possible point to where that can be downloaded. It's also fine to discribe the changes done. Those interested can then trace everything back to some original work, and those not interested probably don't read the info file anyway. Cheers Olle<hr></blockquote> In academia this is the concept of citing your sources through a bibliography or list of refernences, this concept of giving credit to the authors and artists upon which your "New" art work is based is the HEART of this "stolen mods" issue. In academia the theft of an idea without a credit is called plagerism, some would extend that concept to the theft of artwork without crediting the source. BUT as we all know plagerism is not exactly a crime an not punisable by law (as long as it is not copywrite infringement. which must be pursued and ligated solely by the owner of the copywrite if that individual can prove he has established copywrite protection in the first place)©2001 aka_tom_w -tom w

"So any work in a "fixed form" is *not* in the public domain unless the author omits a notice of copyright. It doesn't matter how much the work costs, even if it costs nothing. I don't know if mod authors currently put copyright notices on their work, but if they do not, and they care, they should start. --Chris " PERFECT Unless the © copyright sign appears on the art work WHEN it Is posted it is considered in the public domain. I have not seen very many mods with that magical little © copywrite symbol on them. and this means you need to use your real name or the name of company you have incorporated like this ©2001 Big Time Software once this is written on the art work then the owner or author (the author could have sold the artwork and the copywrite of the artwork to the owner) of the work has copywrite protection, and will have the option to protect his copywrite at his own expense through litigation if necesary. In Canada copywrite infringement is not a crimminal act , meaning it is up to the owner of the copywrite to protect and enforce non-licenced use of the work or copywrite infringement of the work. without the name of the copywrite holder and the year of the copywrite NO copywrite protection can be "assumed" or legally granted. .... and NO, I am not a lawyer but I work very closely with graphic designers and I know how this stuff works, at least in Canada anyway. -tom w [ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ] [ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ] [ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ] [ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]</p>

this thread: http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=022155 Steve Said: Big Time Software Administrator Member # 42 posted 11-03-2001 05:31 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hi all, Just wanted to let you know that a German based Mod CD is now kaput. We contacted them and expressed some objections about how they were presenting the materials and that we were concerned that they were in violation of various individual's copyrights. Note that we did not threaten or otherwise bully them, as it is not our intention to squash legitimate free enterprise. All we wanted to do was make sure that the artwork was in fact their own, which the two screenshots clearly made us question. However, the publisher sent us a message and said the (unfinished) product was now officially cancelled. Read into that what you will Which we are thankfull for because we would have done whatever it took to get the CD off the market if indeed there were violations of copyrights contained on it. And that could have proved to be a major distraction. Thanks for pointing us to this problem, all is fine now. And Modders... know that we will stand up for your rights. It is the least we can do for you Steve

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Scipio: Do someone remember the issue with a company that will publish a CD with mods and is suspected to use mods from the web? If so, where is the problem? The authors has no rights on their work anyway...<hr></blockquote> I would suspect that in the case mentioned above BTS claimed a copywrite infringement of some of their art work which they had protected under their own copywrite. The other free mods maybe not have been such an issue, but I thought BTS said that they may have had a case if there was copywrite infringement of their game or their own art work in their game, which the company above was proposing to SELL , (ie. a disk full of the work of others that they had downloaded for free from the internet) had not officially licensed or paid for. comments? -tom w

Public Domain OK once you give something away or freely distribute it, it becomes in the public domain. Of course CMBO is not in the public domain, its licensed and BTS holds the copyright, they SELL the damn game don't they? But FREE mods, that are given away for free public distribution, ARE in the public domain and if you don't like that someone Stole/edited/manipulted your FREE mods which were given FREE to the public domain then you have a problem bigger then anyone of us here can deal with. end rant -tom w

" ...if a modder makes a mod and uses it on their own PC for their own enjoyment, that is entirely their affair. But, once the mod is released to the community it becomes public domain. " This is an interesting issue "becomes public domain" Perhaps we should discuss the concept of "public domain" and the other concept of copyright protection of art work in the "public domain"?? -tom w

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Andrew Hedges: The StuGs were actually disassembled and the parts distributed across a parachute battalion; I think in the ratio of 4 StuGs to a battalion. The men would then drop with the appropriate StuG parts and reassemble the StuG once they were on the ground. In ideal situations, a StuG could be assembled in as little as 15 minutes. Obviously, this only worked because the StuG was a relatively straightforward vehicle; it would not have worked with a turreted vehicle. Despite the fact that the StuG could be assembled rapidly in ideal situations, situations were rarely ideal. On Crete, for example, the paratroopers landed so far apart that they had great difficulty assembling their StuGs. It often happened that the troopers with critical components were pinned down or killed. In a battle near Malmeme, for example, the British pinned down the unit carrying the track pins for over 24 hours, with predictable results. The coastal areas were also treacherous; in one famous incident, the squad carrying a StuG transmission landed in the sea and every man drowned. It wasn't until the airports were seized that the situation became better.<hr></blockquote> Somebody please tell me this is not true??? -tom w

still curious about this one -tom w

bump

Somewhere in the world is still VERY early this morning I have always figured my units in the upper stories of buildings "Should" have some form of fire power advantage while shooting from an elevated position, but, I have never really tested it out. anyone else? -tom w

yes they have hinted "something" about an extreme fog of war option, I would imagine it will become the prefered way to play -tom w

interesting thread has anyone posted a list of scenario's they know if that use the diagonal map with set up zones in the corners? I would be interested. -tom w