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FreeCraft Forks Offer RTS Alternatives

Posted by simoniker on from the good-free-titles-with-no-added-copyright-fun dept.

TekPolitik writes "Blizzard's attempt to shut down the multi-platform freeware RTS, FreeCraft appears to have backfired. There are now two replacement projects - Project Inferno and Stratagus. The new sites are making some effort to catalog all the games that use the new engine. Stratagus lists Wargus, Aleona's Tales and RoboVasion. Project Inferno lists ShadowConflict." The Stratagus FAQ page constructively explains: "Stratagus aims at being a generic realtime strategy engine, with no special focus on Warcraft2."

43 comments

  1. So, Wait... by Snowspinner · · Score: 1

    Because their first illegal activity got sensibly shut down, instead of moving on to interesting and productive goals, they're just trying again?

    Ah well. At least they're not making yet another open source text editor...

    --
    Philip Sandifer's academic website
    1. Re:So, Wait... by Blackknight · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Emulation is not illegal, nor is reverse engineering a game engine. Freecraft required you to use the graphics from the Warcraft 2 cd, or the free graphics set. There was nothing illegal about it.

      Writing an emulator for any system is not illegal, no matter what the game companies want to make you think. Look at sites like Zophar's Domain for a list of emulation projects out there.

    2. Re:So, Wait... by slug359 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It wasn't illegal, the project was a game that played like Warcraft 2, but was rewritten 100% from scratch, with new graphics (you could load the WC2 graphics from your WC2 CD if you bought it). There was no infringment then and there is not now (the C&D letter was about the name?!)

    3. Re:So, Wait... by Snowspinner · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Blizzard almost certainly has a trademark on RTS games with names in the format of "XCraft". So when people are making a game that "plays like WC2", and furthermore has a title in the same format as Blizzard's games, they are entirely within their rights to say "Stop that, or we'll sue your bitch ass."

      Are the new projects illegal? Probably not, though they want to be careful about trumpeting their connection to Freecraft. But the fact of the matter is that making new versions of WC2 is not exactly useful or productive...

      --
      Philip Sandifer's academic website
    4. Re:So, Wait... by mr.capaneus · · Score: 1
      But the fact of the matter is that making new versions of WC2 is not exactly useful or productive...


      It is considerably more productive than sitting on your ass and complaining about it on Slashdot.
    5. Re:So, Wait... by Dr.+Photo · · Score: 1

      Blizzard almost certainly has a trademark on RTS games with names in the format of "XCraft".

      I don't think there would be any marketplace confusion if someone were to write a parody by the name of, e.g.,
      It'llBeABlizzardInHellBeforeIBuyAnotherGame From *THOSE*LitigiousJerks-Craft... ;)

    6. Re:So, Wait... by Snowspinner · · Score: 1

      When you figure the amount of time it takes me to make a post, and the amount of time spent on the project, I suspect that, proportionally, you'd be wrong. =)

      --
      Philip Sandifer's academic website
    7. Re:So, Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But isn't the mentioning of WarCraft 2 fairuse. Just in text is what I mean.

  2. Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by neglige · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As I recall, the original reasons for shutting down FreeCraft were that the name was too similar to WarCraft and that the engine borrowed a few too many ideas from WC. With this in mind, the new games and the engine have a different names, thats good, but what about the engine functionality?

    From the Stratagus FAQ:
    [...] since the Warcraft2 support is already there we don't indent break it [...]

    Does this mean it's still close to the original? If so, is the new name enough to keep Blizzard at bay?

    --
    My cats ate my karma. They also wrote this comment.
    1. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by mugnyte · · Score: 4, Informative


      Why would the engine functionality mean anything? Games seem to repeat models quite often. Perhaps if there was an official list of the unique aspects of WC that people cannot copy without infringing on Blizzard's copyrighted/patented/trademarked IP (notice, IANAL). Without that, its kinda vaporous. Even if they could produce such a list, its questionable if those aspects alone make WC a unique game, and repeating them or any part of them "confuses" a game player into thinking they are playing a Blizzard game.

      MS has lost to "Lindows" and Fox just lost to "Fair and Balanced". I've never heard of any law that says you can't imitate an existing behavior by writing it yourself, unless there's a unique algorithm involved, the GIF compression. Did WC employ a unique algorithm that had a patent?

      mug

    2. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 1, Interesting

      MS has lost to "Lindows" and Fox just lost to "Fair and Balanced".

      The Microsoft vs. Lindows.com jury trial doesn't even start until December 1st of this year. I fail to see how MS has lost if the trial hasn't even started yet.

      Then again, calling Fox' decision to stop the suit (including their wonderful quote: 'It's time to return Al Franken to the obscurity that he's normally accustomed to') a loss is rather interesting, as well.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
    3. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by mugnyte · · Score: 1


      The Lindows loss is that MS could not get the injuction stopped. They ship now under that name. The full trial will be another story.

      Having a book at the top of bestseller's list is hardly obscurity. Someone dropping their suit against you typically means they realize they have no case. Perhaps you should read the judge's remarks as well - and the book.

    4. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by NetDanzr · · Score: 3, Informative
      Does this mean it's still close to the original? If so, is the new name enough to keep Blizzard at bay?

      I'm no legal expert, but I think Blizzard doesn't have a case here. Defining what's "too close to original" is very hard, and can easily backfire. For example, if I compare Diablo to Gauntlet (or Rogue for that matter), I see the same game only with different graphics. So as long as the new projects keep to their own graphics, they should be as safe as Blizzard was when it decided to release Diablo.

      However, that doesn't mean that Blizzard doesn't try to sue them, and you know how such lawsuits go: the big guy sues the small guy who doesn't have the money for a defense, and even though the small guy is wully within his rights, he rather settles.

    5. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by Gorm+the+DBA · · Score: 1
      Yeah, Fox's decision to stop the suit, after a judge dismissed it as being legally ridiculous.

      Or were you just watching Fox News's "Fair and Balanced" coverage of the trial (sandwiched inbetween "Weapons of Mass Destruction discovery Any Day Now" and "All those who disagree with Us are Traitors")?

    6. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 1

      Or were you just watching Fox News's "Fair and Balanced" coverage of the trial

      No, I read the report on the Chicago Sun Times website (the first link that popped up when I searched for it), because I generally ignore all of this type of BS. Of course, somewhere along the lines I read enough to realize that the judge didn't dismiss the suit, just didn't allow them to stop the book from shipping with the saying on the cover. Similar to the way another judge didn't stop Lindows.com from shipping LindowsOS.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
    7. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is markedly apologetic towards the losers-by-any-other-name in these cases. When the judge says your suit is silly, it's worse than losing the case through trial. Injuction denied. Fox realizes that its acting like a sore loser, and the angry talking heads call names. unFair and unBalanced.

    8. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by Ieshan · · Score: 1

      Why is it so hard to understand?

      FreeCraft was a Warcraft2 clone. Blizzard owns Wacraft2, and makes money off of it.

      You own your computer because you make money from some company. If some other company offered your company's product for free and you lost your job, it would be *no different*.

      Blizzard keeps it's competitive edge by offering a gaming service that is unique to it's own compnay. People copying their work without their consent doesn't help Open Source, it makes us look like nothing more than thieves.

    9. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by shamino0 · · Score: 1
      Someone dropping their suit against you typically means they realize they have no case.

      Or they decide that the benefits of winning aren't enough to offset the losses (legal fees and bad PR) that will result from continuing to fight. Actually having a case doesn't necessarily factor into the equation.

      Look the recent cases involving DirecTV lawsuits. Lots of people are settling out of court. Does this mean they all bthey are guilty? Or does it mean that they can't afford to fight the case, even if they will ultimately end up winning it?

    10. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If some other company offered your company's product for free and you lost your job, it would be *no different*.

      If some other company offered the same product as my company for free, I would be wondering what the hell we are doing wrong, why we're so inefficient, and what we could be doing to offer a much better product.

      This is assuming, of course, that the other company is not an illegal monopoly ala MS that is simply underpricing a product to inappropriately drive out competition.

      This is what competition is about: people compete to offer consumers the same service or product for less, a better service for the same price, or even better yet, a better product for less. If someone can't compete, they lose. Customers win.

      Somewhere along the line, corporations have brainwashed people into thinking that they should be rewarded for success by eliminating their competition. That's not the way it works. You always compete, and you only succeed if you successfully compete. Successful competition does not entitle you to an "out", just the opportunity to continue competing.

    11. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is it so hard to understand?


      I don't know why you're having such a hard time with it, so I'll give it a shot:

      • Freecraft is an RTS engine written from scratch by some people who liked Warcraft. As far as been determined, no one at Blizzard has worked on the code for Freecraft.
      • Freecraft can read in Warcraft map data. One can create a map set that does not corresponde to anything Blizzard has put out. In fact, Freecraft came with a demo level that did not look like any of the original warcraft levels.
      • Freecraft can read in Warcraft sprite data. One can create a sprite set that does not look anything like what Blizzard has put out. In fact, Freecraft came with a set of sprites that are obviously not the Blizzard sprites.

      In short, the people of Freecraft made a game. From scratch. With their own knowledge of programming. And did not violate any laws. So the game mechanics are simliar. Big deal, one cannot copyright game mechanics. So they are not thieves.

      If copying ideas is thievery, the PC industry as a whole are more scandales then the Enron execs could ever imagine. The whole industry was built on the cloning of others work, and yet it is thriving quite well. The system works.
    12. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Blizzard wants to offer gaming service uniq to there company they should probally stop cloning other games (Warcraft -> C&C, Dune2, Blawhawk -> Flashback/Prince of Persa, Diablo -> nethack, gauntlet, Rock&Roll Racing -> RC Pro AM).

    13. Re:Reasons for shutting down FreeCraft by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 1

      Warcraft -> C&C, Dune2

      GG, Warcraft came out the year before C&C. Dune 2 came out 3 years after Herzog Zwei, and 2 years before WarCraft. WarCraft 2 came out the same year as C&C.

      WarCraft was also the first RTS game to have hand-to-hand combat, multiplayer, and a random map generator. WarCraft 2 was the first to have naval units and persistent fog of war.

      Dune 2 brought RTS to the PC and pretty much set the groundwork for everything to come, but the C&C series really didn't push the limits of the framework until much later, whereas the WC games pushed the genre forward with features that, although they may seem like obvious improvements, are standards in the genre today.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
  3. Coming to America... by theNote · · Score: 1

    This reminds me of McDowell's in "Coming To America"

    It was OK that he had the 2 all beef patties and special sauce, it was the name that raised eyebrows.

    1. Re:Coming to America... by freebfrost · · Score: 1

      Hey, you forgot that McDowell's had two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions, but they *didn't* have sesame seeds on their buns...

    2. Re:Coming to America... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Christ, the new McDOnalds commercial is the most annoying thing on the fucking planet. Come to think of it, they all are. What the hell's wrong with their ad execs? I mean, Jack in the Box has great commercials. Every time a McDonalds rap/shit-hop commercial comes on it takes a major act of will power not to jam a pencil in my ear and destroy my eardrums. I can't reach the radio knob fast enough. Kill 'em all.

    3. Re:Coming to America... by labradort · · Score: 1

      Wow, I missed that one at first.

      I thought you meant something about "special sauce" and "coming". A burger with the name of
      "coming to America" would raise eyebrows.

      Oh, well, reading slashdot too early in the morn

  4. Why has it backfired? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Freecraft" got in trouble because of the similarity to the names "Warcraft" and "Starcraft" - and because they were offering compatibility with Warcraft 2.

    (Rant: What the hell were they thinking? That's like making a shooter called "Dooom" and not expecting to get sued - and were they that short on talent that they didn't have an original game idea?)

    It's not like Blizzard has a monopoly on strategy games and anyone can make them. Just not blatant clones of other people's ideas and content.

    So the headline that screams "BlIzZArD'z PL4Nz B4CKF1R3 - LOL1!!!!" is stupid, and I'm pleased to see that people's efforts are going in a unique direction.

    1. Re:Why has it backfired? by Xtifr · · Score: 1

      were they that short on talent that they didn't have an original game idea?

      No shorter than the rest of the gaming industry. When's the last time you saw an original game out there? (See this article for example.)

      Just not blatant clones of other people's ideas and content.

      Blatant clones of other people's ideas and content are the meat and potatoes of the gaming industry. Furthermore, the right to create such clones was firmly established in the early eighties, when the owners of Pacman lost their suit against a clone maker (I was working for a game developer at the time, and we were following that case closely, and cheered at the resolution). Blizzard was obviously picking a fight with free software developers because they knew they'd lose if they took any anyone with any money at all.

      I'm pretty dubious about their (Blizzard's) claims to the entire *Craft namespace too. That's a pretty broad claim to make, and I'm not sure it would have ever stood up in court. Good thing they had some penniless developers - who were doing it just for the fun of it - to kick around, huh?

    2. Re:Why has it backfired? by torpor · · Score: 1

      I've stopped playing Starcraft and Warcraft since I found out about these other games ... through their litigation.

      --
      ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  5. Shadow Conflict by MichaelKVance · · Score: 2, Informative

    Ah, poor Linux gaming. Since Loki shut down (I used to work there), things have really been grim. As it is, Shadow Conflict is a "game" written by a 19 year old kid in Maine who spends his day in #sdl--and isn't anything more than a collection of bad fiction. And this is what gets written about on /. now. Too sad.

    You guys should be sending money to Ryan Gordon of icculus.org instead of complaining about Blizzard shutting down reverse-engineering sites.

    m.

    --
    "Sebastian you're in a mess. They called you King of all the Hipsters, is it true or are you still the Queen?" -- B
    1. Re:Shadow Conflict by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, poor Linux gaming. Since Loki shut down (I used to work there), things have really been grim. As it is, Shadow Conflict is a "game" written by a 19 year old kid in Maine who spends his day in #sdl--and isn't anything more than a collection of bad fiction. And this is what gets written about on /. now. Too sad.

      I know most people automatically think this is trolling, its the complete truth though! This guy has problems. Go into #sdl and look for yourself.

    2. Re:Shadow Conflict by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I know most people automatically think this is trolling, its the complete truth though! This guy has problems. Go into #sdl and look for yourself.

      Why bother? IRC is for Idling. I don't want to burden people with unnecessary join/part messages. Let people sleep!

    3. Re:Shadow Conflict by Mongoose · · Score: 1

      Yeah, this isn't a troll -- this guy is from Loki. I should know. =)

    4. Re:Shadow Conflict by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are linux games comming out, and good ones at that. They are not merely ports like you guys were doing. There are a number of companies writing for linux themselves now.

  6. Project proliferation... by rtaylor187 · · Score: 0

    Without understanding the details much, this sounds like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in Fantasia where Mickey's attempt to kill the helper just splinters him into more helpers. ;-)

  7. please get a clue by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think it was less the "craft" name and more to the fact that the "craft" name was being used to draw parallels to the obvious similarity of the two products.

    This is one thing i can never understand about some people, how can you champion the cause of these little peons that crop up and flat out rip off the game of another company and then when they shout the cry of "we are open-source, we are open source!" it somehow makes it all ok. Big company is getting screwed and losing money, but thats ok because they are losing to an open source project.

    I love the underdog too, but sometimes the underdog is in the wrong, and blindly defending a cause just because of "the cause" is the very behavior people like you despise in others.

  8. freecraft IRC channel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    when you join the #freecraft IRC channel on freenode, i get this channel message:

    -ChanServ- [#freecraft] "Please don't ask for the C&D letter. This project has continued as #stratagus with a new development team. The original fc developers have started a new project: #transitexecutive"

  9. Fork off 'er RTS Alternatives?!? by ArmorFiend · · Score: 1

    I hardly even know 'er!
    ba-dump

  10. But these projects needs workers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is nice that these projects are mentioned on /. , but both projects have no release yet.
    If you like games and RTS, please join these projects.
    They have or had a complete RTS game codebase. Everything was already written.
    They need developers, game designers, artists...
    But please only people, who want to work, should join.
    The people should produce results = code lines, sprites, music, ... and no discussion.

  11. commandment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Dude you broke the first commandment of /. "thou shalt not speak ill of linux or open source ever"

    You are going down as a troll, but you are dead right, too many people champion things just because they are Linux or open source without ever considering why.

  12. Knives and spoons? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But what about the other cutlery? Surely they offer something too?

  13. Aleona's Tales by hyfe · · Score: 1
    I browsed around a little, and it seems Aleona's Tales is going to be including the funniest unit yet:

    Archer
    Description:
    Human distance unit. Attacks the enemy by throwing arrows.

    I can't imagine them inflicting much damage though, nor have great that great of a reach.

    --
    "" How about taking the safety labels off everything, and let the stupidity-problem solve itself? """