- Apr 15, 2021
- 11
- 1
For a bit of context, the sourcemod Team Fortress 2 Classic has been running a custom maps server for a long while. Unfortunately, the game lacks a number of common textures and models that are in TF2, causing many custom maps to have conspicuous missing models and textures. Traditionally, we've solved this by packing missing materials into maps (with a filename change to avoid conflicts).
Recently, the issue was raised as to whether or not this would violate the TF2Maps rules. Rule 9 reads:
Do not: decompile/change/release another mappers work without explicit permission. This hurts the community as a whole as well as the mappers who spent months into their creations.
But there's ambiguity as to what it means to change someone's work. If all of the binary map data is unaltered, but WOOD_WALL006Z has to be packed into the map file for it to render properly since TF2C lacks that texture, is that still a rule violation? To what extent are changes to the map file for the express purpose of interoperability allowed?
Recently, the issue was raised as to whether or not this would violate the TF2Maps rules. Rule 9 reads:
Do not: decompile/change/release another mappers work without explicit permission. This hurts the community as a whole as well as the mappers who spent months into their creations.
But there's ambiguity as to what it means to change someone's work. If all of the binary map data is unaltered, but WOOD_WALL006Z has to be packed into the map file for it to render properly since TF2C lacks that texture, is that still a rule violation? To what extent are changes to the map file for the express purpose of interoperability allowed?