Are we ever going to get Mad Dog Mod Pack 3?

[109 Gustav]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fuerte:

I understand what you say about "courtesy" and "hungry egos". I vanish from this thread now. But the list of the best mods... it does not hurt anyone, does it?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, the best in whose opinion? For example, there's three StuG mods that I really like, but I ended up using a foliaged one. Maybe only a third of the CMers out there also like that one, so you list wouldn't apply to 2/3rds of the people out there.

And what about conversion mods? Somebody might like my alunimum fishing assault boat mod, even though IIRC MIG welding hadn't even been invented by 1945. However, people who insist on historical mods would shudder at the thought of their troops crossing rivers in skiffs with salmon in the bottom.

For these reasons, I think that a list of the best mods would have very little value to most people, simply because the whole point of mods is that you can make choices on which texture to use.

-109 Gustav

[Clubfoot]

Fuerte,

No, I don't think the list is bad. But the direct links would be. And I think Manx already has that resource (and a damn fine resource it is).

And I didn't intend to dog Madmatt, just explain my own position.

[ 04-21-2001: Message edited by: Clubfoot ]

[Ron]

Wow, what a failure in communication and understanding... Esperanto anyone?

[Fuerte]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Clubfoot:

And I think Manx already has that resource<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Manx has a list of best mods? Where? (Direct link required... )

[109 Gustav]

Well, he has a list of just about every mod, and it's really useful.

http://www.combat-missions.net/

In the workshop section

[Pvt. Ryan]

One does not need to claim a copyright or post a copyright notice for the copyright to attach to one's work. When I studied copyright law in school I was taught that a work is copyrighted as soon as the artist/creator "publishes" the work. Publication can simply be showing the work to someone else. That may have changed since I was in law school (I don't practice law) but the point is that copyright attaches automatically. Fuerte is asking for a list of mods which has nothing to do with copyright issues, but taking those mods and distributing them on a disk or even making them available for download by directly linking to someone else's site is a copyright violation. Whether the owner of the copyright wants to enforce his/her right is another matter. The CM mods were created to be used and freeley distributed, but the mod creators and the owners of the websites that host them are entitled to some credit and have a right to ask for it.

[Fuerte]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Manx_CM:

There is a list! ....just choose what YOU think is best for YOU!.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

But the point I was trying to make is that it would take DAYS/WEEKS/MONTHS to try every possible mod out there, and since some of you have already done that, maybe you could share your experience, and build a list of the best mods. Or at least the list of the mods that you PERSONALLY use. I'm sure that there are people other than me who would appreciate it a lot.

Me, personally, I have only installed the MDMP-2 and some grass (I forgot which one) and a couple of winter vehicles. I have not downloaded anything for about four months now, so I'm completely lost. There are too m any choices now.

[Tiger]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>but their are rules and etiquete that needs to be followed.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't go there Madmatt! Last time I suggested courtesey I got my head bitten off and labeled an ego-maniac

[Philistine]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fuerte:

I don't think so. I have read no copyright statements anywhere. Anyone can make a collection of those mods, that's how I think anyway.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Since 1988 (in the U.S.--prior to that in many other countries) you don't need a copyright notice to afford a work protection.

Any item is covered at the time of its creation, regardless of whether it bears a mark or not and regardless of registration (both merely make a case easier to win and/or give the ability to receive more damages). (Private Ryan, you are really showing your age , publication hasn't been required since (I believe) the 1970's).

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>

But to make a cd collection of mods WITHOUT profit, there's no law against that. Also I don't know what law prohibits selling those cds. I see no copyright statements anywhere...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, there is a law against making a CD collection of MODS and distributing it, even without profit. (17 U.S.C. Section 106--gives the copyright owners exclusive rights as to distribution).

Similarly, there is a law against selling such a CD. 17 U.S.C. Section 506 and 18 U.S.C. Section 2318 make infringing sales of copyrighted works in consideration of any commercial advantage punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment (and some hefty fines) for a first offense.

Things are not in the "Public Domain" merely because they are provided to the public.

Sorry for the sermonizing, but the whole "public domain"/"no copyright on the internet" thing is kind of a pet-peeve of mine.

--Philistine

[Doug Williams]

Fuerte,

Just look at the screenshots the web sites provide, then download the mods that look good to you and try them out. It's actually kind of fun...a little game in itself. I downloaded the majority of mods that I am using when I still had just a 56K modem. The mod and scenario authors are one big reason CM is staying so fresh.

[Fuerte]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Philistine:

you don't need a copyright notice to afford a work protection.

Any item is covered at the time of its creation, regardless of whether it bears a mark or not<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If I understand this correctly, then the mod CREATOR has the copyright to the mod, not the web site owner. So we have a problem here, Madmatt thinks that he owns all mods in his web site:

Technically anything that is posted on CMHQ becomes my property as the owner of the site and server (and the submitters are aware of this)

But again this is not the point of this thread.

Downloading and trying the mods was fun in the beginning, but after that I installed some user interface mod, which was much worse than the original (fonts were unreadable, etc), I got a bit scared, because it was not trivial to uninstall it.

Also because there are so many different vehicles, it is just impossible to try them, because you don't have each of them in the same game. You could install some awful mod that you notice only after a couple of months, and then it would be very difficult to uninstall it. And there are grass and tree mods that are really not compatible with each other, making it again very difficult.

To me (and I'm sure that to many other average users as well) MDMP-3 would be a very good thing. The fact that there is no MDMP-3 just proves that deciding the best mods is difficult, and even impossible for the average user.

[Madmatt]

Once the material is stored on my server and is accessable from my site the ownership of said fiels becomes mine, as content of my server. That doesn't by any means say that the same mod can't be cross posted to more than site (and many are) but it does mean that I could pretty much do as I want with the mod ON MY SITE. Now obviously, what is legal and what is practicable are very different and I think that is what is getting lost here.

As to the Copyright annoucement one only has to look at the bottom of any of my pages on CMHQ to see said Copyright message. It's always been there...

Also, have a nice long readthrough on some of the mods's readme's and you will see very plainly that many mod authors stipulate that there material may NOT be ever re-distributed without there say so or for the aim of making money.

Here it is, nice and easy.

A.) Don't post direct links into another servers file area. It has always been considered rude and inconsiderate.

B.) Don't make some sort of Mod Collection without the permission of the mod author and the webmaster of the site that you mean to get it from.

C.) Just relax and enjoy the work that many mod authors and webmasters have done to better enhance the enjoyment of the game.

Now, as Fuerte had originally said, I agree that a comprehensive Mod List would be great but I can tell you that a "Best Of" list would be nearly impossible to compile without some sort of way to judge them...

Now THAT would be an interesting idea. Perhaps some good can come of this thread afterall. Maybe one of the many website can hold some sort of "Best of the Mods" voting contest or some such. Maybe devide it up to "Best Vehicle Mod", "Best Terrain", "Best Miscelaneuous" etc...

perhaps I could even finagle some sort of award or recognition from Battlefront.... Anyone want to champion this idea???

Madmatt

p.s. As to a MDMP-3 (which was the whole point of this mess) well, Dan and I never said we WOULDN'T do one....

[ 04-22-2001: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

[Gordon]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fuerte:

This can't be true... Aren't all those mods in the public domain? You can do anything you like with them, collect them in cd and even sell them if you like. It's sad if you think this way. At least there should be a list of the best mods available. It would be a benefit for everyone.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry, I'm coming into this late, but you'll find that if you read the documentation of many mods that you are expressly forbidden to charge for them.

Gordon

[Pvt. Ryan]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Philistine:

[(Private Ryan, you are really showing your age , publication hasn't been required since (I believe) the 1970's).

--Philistine<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, it wasn't that long ago. We must have had crappy casebooks. I want a refund! Well, I may have been tought that copyright attaches upon creation, but they tried to cram so much stuff into our brains that my head still hurts.

IIRC there was a thread a few weeks or months ago that held a vote for best mod authors and best mods. However, there are constantly new mods released that any such list would be quickly outdated. It may be useful if someone wanted to keep a running tabulation of the most popular mods.

[Doug Williams]

Fuerte,

Any mod can be uninstalled with minimal difficutly. All the original BMPs are on the CM CD. Simply copy the relevant ones from the CD back into the CM BMP directory and you are back to the original. For the sake of convenience, I keep a separate backup directory of my BMPs. That way, if after installing a mod I find I don't like it, I simply copy the backup directory back into the CM BMP directory. That way I don't have to remember the file names. It's all so simple, I fail to understand why anyone would find it difficult....