_______________________________________________________________
Introduction.
There are so many legal
requirements these days and you are expected to be like a
lawyer to understand them. I will try to describe it as
basic as possible how to avoid problems. The best way to avoid
most problems is to "Purchase any editing software your
using.", (You know what I am saying!), and e-mail when in
doubt. This will save a lot of trouble and some companies
may even assist you in some way. Also if you think your
going to stick with UDK, get the licence which is roughly
$100 or something close to that. This will protect you to a
certain degree if something does come up but not entirely
depending on what you may be in trouble for.
_______________________________________________________________
Be careful with your resources and where you get them!
When it comes
to textures, sounds and other resources use all the
UDK resources that you can. (Except for the
Skeletal Meshes.) This covers you from any copyright
issues. Copyright problems can happen if you
download textures, sounds, other peoples texts, sayings etc, from other sites.
Even legal action can be used against you also so be very
careful. The good news is there are many sites out there who
do give stuff away for free but read any terms and
conditions they have first. Some terms are as simple as
saying "Picture/s taken by......." or "Texture/s were
downloaded from www......"
HINT:
When you visit a site, make a copy of any credits,
even legal agreements, website links and paste them
on a text program like notepad so you can refer to
that file instead of having to look everything up
again when you project is completed. |
How can
I get around these issues?
-
Only use
the resources that came with UDK,...minus the Skeletal
Meshes.
-
Buy a
digital camera and make your own textures, even a second
hand camera will do. All you have to do is plug the
camera into your PC and copy the images over then edit
them. Scan some pictures with a scanner, even just
create your own unique textures using "MS
Paint". (I'm not joking.)
-
Buy a
cheap headset or microphone and use this
audio program to make sounds. (It is free to try but
costs $15.00 to buy which is reasonable so help support
them .)
http://www.milosoftware.com/
-
Make
everything yourself with "licensed" 3rd party
software. (Skeletal meshes, tree meshes etc.)
_______________________________________________________________
Your
game and UDK licensing, when do I do it?
"When is the
best time to register or license your product?"
Below is a
checklist. Use this checklist "first" to see if you
are ready to license your product. If you cannot tick any topic off, you are not ready to get a license or don't
even need one.
YOUR
CHECKLIST
-
Are you
going to sell, share your product for a commission or
make some type of income?
-
Are you
nearly finished? (Not just starting or half way
through.)
-
Have you
tested your product? (Not a 5 minute test either,
months, days, hours of testing.)
-
Have you
tested it on various Pc's, Multiple Operating Systems?
etc..
-
Was your
product made just for personal fun?,...really? Or you
feel it's for the general public?
-
Will the
general public like your product or just you? (Think
about it...)
-
Is there
anything offensive?. Based on images, game play, speech,
religion, (Be very careful!)
-
All your
images, sounds, meshes are owned either by you or by the
public? (GPL)
(View
license.)
-
The
software you used for your project was registered and
"legal."?
-
Your
credits, links, sites and thanks go to the correct
people who really do deserve it?
-
Have you
found a possible seller, buyer?
-
Have you
got a plan to advertise your product when completed?
-
Can you
afford all the licenses and legal software purchases?
-
Are you
Mentally and Physically ready? ( Radio, Television,
Media, Promotions etc..)
FINAL STEP ARE YOU READY
FOR THE APPROX $99-$117 fee? ($$$ amount depends on what
country your in $$$.)
(Do
not use these link for general enquires.)
What do I
say to UDK?
Explain to
them as "briefly as possible" what you are doing. If
all goes to plan you will fill out a form with your details
and payment methods. Read any e-mails from them very
carefully and follow their instructions. Be aware they can
even deny your project so if you are going to try and
purchase a license make sure your project is "Socially
acceptable" or even "Earthly acceptable" and "Religiously
acceptable." If your project is crude, rude, or even too bad
to explain....you more than likely won't get your license.
Think about it...
PLEASE NOTE
It is
becoming increasingly hard to contact Epic. This was
the last know e-mail that I had contact with before
I started asking too many questions. So be straight,
don't ask too many questions like I did, and don't
waste their time. Do not
e-mail this address just for general enquires,
please e-mail when you are only ready to distribute
or sell your project.
Epic
no longer supports Unreal Engine 3 questions or
enquires either.
Please e-mail me if this link does not work and I
will try to sort it out....thanks!
Do
not e-mail me for UDK licensing enquiries because
all I know is on this webpage! |
|
______________________________________________________________
Use my meshes but...
-
Some
meshes "do", "may", or "will" contain glitches. Use them
at your own risk, but they are free.
-
Any meshes
on
this site, are free to download, and was created by using
the UDK-2013-07
editor.
-
This means
that the textures used, really belong to Epic Games and the
UDK editor software.
-
This means
that they are entitled to a
Royalty Fee
if you make money from these meshes or UDK software created
games. Otherwise, there is no costs or charges at all for
using anything here. (Ok?, all free!)
-
At least add
my website link to your project or a thanks...
-
The free
meshes within the tutorial site made
available to you, free to download, are not in any World of DASM series©
and are completely for public use for personal or commercial
projects.
-
While using
my meshes if you find something really wrong, please e-mail
me.
-
If you made a
school project, I hope you didn't use my meshes to cheat! (I
know who you are!)
-
UDK nor
Epic, does not support or endorse any product that is
here free to download.
_______________________________________________________________
SpeedTrees and their terms within your products, games...
-
You can use
SpeedTree trees with
the UDK editor. (In accordance with the rest of the EULA.)
-
This means
you can use it freely but cannot legally make an income
from it "yet", so enjoy it.
-
This means
"if you do make an income" it is actually covered by the
Royalty Fee
that is paid to Epic.
-
This also
means that most textures that came with
the speedtrees are owned by Speedtree / Epic.
-
So this means
you need to license your product with Epic games before any
sales.
-
which
also means you cannot use any of these SpeedTrees outside of
UDK.
_______________________________________________________________
Skeletal
Meshes within UDK (UT characters..etc...)
As for
"Skeletal
meshes"
UDK,
"Do not use any UDK skeletal meshes in any project or
sales!$$" The skeletal
meshes within UDK are only a display to guide or show you
this topic or section within the UDK editor.
So in plain
English, "It is only a display for you to see and part
of the DEMO game that comes with UDK." (Unreal Tournament.)These
skeletal meshes remain the sole property of Epic Games and
cannot be used in any commercial game you wish to sell. Also
there is another game DEMO with some animals and a carrot
etc.
To avoid
this issue, start the UDK editor, click the "Skeletal Meshes"
option, and click "ALL ASSETS". Any item that shows in the
list cannot be used. For example (UDK 07-13 version):
-
SkeletalMesh'CTF_Flag_IronGuard.Mesh.S_CTF_Flag_IronGuard'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Pickups.SK_Carrot'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Pickups.SK_CarrotJuice'
-
SkeletalMesh'CH_Corrupt_Arms.Mesh.SK_CH_Corrupt_Arms_MaleA_1P'
-
SkeletalMesh'CH_Gibs.Mesh.SK_CH_Gibs_Corrupt_Part01'
-
SkeletalMesh'CH_Gibs.Mesh.SK_CH_Gibs_Corrupt_Part03'
-
SkeletalMesh'CH_Gibs.Mesh.SK_CH_Gibs_Corrupt_Part04'
-
SkeletalMesh'CH_IronGuard_Male.Mesh.SK_CH_IronGuard_MaleA'
-
SkeletalMesh'CH_LIAM_Cathode.Mesh.SK_CH_LIAM_Cathode'
-
SkeletalMesh'UTExampleCrowd.Mesh.SK_Crowd_Robot'
-
SkeletalMesh'GDC_Materials.Meshes.SK_ExportSword2'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Anims.SK_Jazz'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Anims.SK_JazzGun'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Anims.SK_JazzGun_Pickup'
-
SkeletalMesh'E3_Demo.Animated.SK_LongFlag'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Anims.SK_Snake'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Anims.SK_SnakeGib'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Anims.SK_Turtle'
-
SkeletalMesh'KismetGame_Assets.Anims.SK_TurtleBomb_01'
-
SkeletalMesh'VH_Cicada.Mesh.SK_VH_Cicada'
-
SkeletalMesh'VH_Hoverboard.Mesh.SK_VH_Hoverboard'
-
SkeletalMesh'VH_Manta.Mesh.SK_VH_Manta'
-
SkeletalMesh'VH_Scorpion.Mesh.SK_VH_Scorpion_001'
-
SkeletalMesh'WP_LinkGun.Mesh.SK_WP_Linkgun_1P'
-
SkeletalMesh'WP_LinkGun.Mesh.SK_WP_LinkGun_3P'
-
SkeletalMesh'WP_RocketLauncher.Mesh.SK_WP_RocketLauncher_1P'
-
SkeletalMesh'WP_RocketLauncher.Mesh.SK_WP_RocketLauncher_3P'
-
SkeletalMesh'WP_ShockRifle.Mesh.SK_WP_ShockRifle_1P'
-
SkeletalMesh'WP_ShockRifle.Mesh.SK_WP_ShockRifle_3P'
-
SkeletalMesh'FoliageDemo.Animated.SP_Bird1_SKMesh'
(You cannot
use these at all but you can practice with them and see how
they work.)
Making or importing
your own Skeletal meshes is fine and safe to do and there
are plenty of tutorials out there on this topic too. I may
even start some yet so stay tuned.
_______________________________________________________________
I
don't want to use the UDK installer Package!
First, if you do not have
the UDK commercial $99 license, forget it.
Just put up with their
default generic package system. You are using their program
for free so realistically...be fair, let them have their
logos, agreements etc.. Don't modify anything except your
project and your map loading screens. (You don't want Unreal
Tournament stuff in your project do you?)
But
I do have the UDK commercial license?
Well that's a different
story but be aware there should be certain steps to take
first just to make sure your project works when being packed
by a 3rd party* software program. *(Not UDK software.) There
are a few companies out there but most want HUGE amounts of
money.$$$$
So your best choice is to
google for "Software packaging programs."
Here is
one
for example only:
Inno
(Please donate to Inno if you can but it is free. Also
click
HERE to view an Inno script to help you.)
-
First, pack your
project, like normal using
Frontend.
-
Second, locate and
install the package you created with Frontend. (It's in your UDK directory.)
-
Third, Play and test
the project to make sure it does work.
-
Fourth, use your 3rd
party software to package your project and follow the
packaging instructions for that software system.
The reason why we still
pack the game with Frontend first is because it is best to
have the scripts checked and search for any possible errors.
The 3rd party packaging system will not do this so be aware.
WARNING:
Do not modify the starting screen with the
Unreal Engine logo, powered by Unreal Engine at the start of
your project. This is part of your legal agreement with
Epic. If you do not want this you will have to negotiate
with EPIC and come up with some sort of payment or personal
agreement with them.
______________________________________________________________
Meshes
you cannot use.(World
of DASM game meshes; Dasm Spell Quest, Mathematics,
StreetSmart, etc.)
-
Any Static Meshes used in
World of DASM software packages, are ©Copyrighted,
and are not allowed to be used in any project nor displayed
in any project nor modified in any way.
-
To use a
World of DASM mesh
in the first place it has to be manually extracted from the
game.
-
Whilst Some meshes from
the tutorial site, may resemble or even look similar to
certain meshes within the
World of DASM software
packages, actually do have significant differences and
modified textures and were created using a much older version of
UDK and do not display correctly with updates of UDK.
-
The reason why you cannot
use the
textures and some meshes in
World of DASM is because they were created by using 3rd party
software. (A different program to UDK..) Plus I need to
protect myself, I cannot give everything away for free and I
hope you can understand this.
Unless
you want to donate?..................$$$$.............No?..........(I
though so!)
_______________________________________________________________
I cannot
package external .DLL files with UDK Frontend, why?
I came across this problem
myself. After some research I found a few different reasons.
The main reason is that the .dll file needs to be certified
before it is accepted. If a a .dll file has been
certified it is sort of a guarantee that the .dll file won't
contain malicious software and stuff like that. Also it adds
information from where the .dll came from and who it is
signed/certified to. Plus it costs $$$.
Here were some topics I
found but no "free" fixes:
link:
EPIC GAME FORUMS Packaging custom external .dll
link:
EPIC GAME FORUMS Frontend and custom .dll
And I found this:
link:
The Geek Stuff
How to Digitally Sign Microsoft Files (.exe, .cab, .dll,
.ocx, .msi, .xpi)
I did e-mail the address
in the first forum above and got no reply so don't try it.
How do I get around it?
There
are only 2 ways around this.
-
Manually copy and paste the .dll file/s to where they
are supposed to be into your UDK project "after it is
installed."
-
Use
Inno
as your installer instead of Frontend. (We have a Inno
script that can be used
HERE.)
EXAMPLE ONLY:
I have a .dll file that needs to be copied from my UDK
directory to the game I just installed with the missing .dll.
This .dll file is located
in my UDK editor. It's called
UltimateSaveSystem.dll and it's location is:
C:\UDK\UDK-2012-05\Binaries\Win32\UserCode
COPY THIS
FILENAME:
UltimateSaveSystem.dll
So after the file is
copied from
the folder: UserCode you
would then paste
the file to:
C:\PROJECTS_NAME\Binaries\Win32\UserCode
PASTE THIS
FILENAME:
UltimateSaveSystem.dll
Then copy any shortcuts to
your project on your desktop or programs list and paste them
inside your project folder so you can run the game from that
icon. (Don't forget to do this because it saves a lot of
problems.)
Now from here, if you want
to transfer your project especially if it is just for
testing, I would just winzip or zip the project folder and
copy the zipped file to a disk or external drive. Then
"unzip" or extract the project on another Pc or whatever and
it will or should work.
From
memory I don't think it needs registry files for it to run
but you will need to locate the icon you pasted in the
project folder to run your project or you will have problems
locating the exe to run it.
_______________________________________________________________
Questions
I am always asked (In most e-mails).
Do you work with Epic
Games or have you ever worked for Epic Games? If not, why?
No, I don't work for
Epic, but I love their editor and many moons ago I purchased
"UNREAL" when it was first released. I don't think I will
ever work for Epic because I don't have a quarter of the
brains as they do.
Have you ever been in
contact with Epic Games?
Yes, and I am
licensed with UDK also. (Thanks Jay Wilbur for letting me
annoy you. I know I did!...sorry hehe..)
Will you
listen to my game idea?
Yes, but you should
really keep it to yourself. Learn the UDK editor. Use some
of my tutorials, meshes and other sites with tutorials and
help. If you try hard enough you will be able to make your
own project. The only restriction in the UDK editor is your
imagination. I am not joking.
Can you
make meshes for me or can I request a tutorial?
Yes! Sometimes I do
requests but it depends on what you ask for and if I have
the time to do it. You can only ask and see.
There is
some textures within some packs, can I use or modify them?
Yes!, anything I
gave to you within the tutorial part of my site, separate to
my "World of DASM series" is yours to modify and use,
absolutely free. Even the 101 tactical ways of eating
hotdogs book texture is yours to modify, or learn about
textures with and how they work.
Are you
still in contact with Epic, can you tell them something for
me?
No I cannot. If
anything they don't really answer many of my e-mails anymore
but I am guessing they have let me go free to cause absolute
chaos but are still watching... I had to read a lot of legal
documents and do heaps of research just to get this far but
Epic is a reasonable company. I am guessing if I step out of
line once they will correct me. But at the same time I am
getting them potential customers and possible income from
helping people develop their projects and or make careers.
I have
finished a project, and it has nearly all your meshes in it
and I may sell it!
Yes, of course! I am
also happy for you and guess what?? I don't want no royalty!
But be aware you will have to have some form of license
agreement with Epic Games and organise a royalty fee with
them. (But I do take donations hehe!...) My biggest reward
is making someone happy and successful in life,
unfortunately most people want to be paid and give nothing
for free.
Where are your forums? Can
I make a post?
There are no forums
and no posts. I do not have the time to filter any comments
or "Internet Trolls", who have nothing better to do than
cause trouble and make inappropriate posts. If you want to
set up a forum for us, be my guest. (But contact me first
please.) If you do well enough and I can see that it is
doing well, I may be able to support the forums in some way,
just let me know. My site is rated G. And I wish to keep it
this way so families can visit and look around.
(This
section of my site is dedicated to the people
at the EPIC license dept to give them a break, sorry
I annoyed you so much and this should stop people
like me, harassing you with trivial questions. Keep
up the good work! )