Public Commander Keen Forum

Hi, I try to ask id software if the Keen mods and fangames are legal to make because I not want to break the law and make company angry by accident. But they haven't responded for several weeks now! Has anyone heard something on this subject beforehand?

DO NOT bother id software with such silly questions! You should have read more carefully before asking. Technically it's not completely legal, but it's also not illegal since they don't contain the .exe file and are free. Such community exist for many years and it's proven that id don't care. You're braking the wall only in your head. The company don't care about you, unless you'll be making money out of their property. So feel free to download all the mods and stop worrying about this.

DO NOT bother id software with such silly questions! You should have read more carefully before asking. Technically it's not completely legal, but it's also not illegal since they don't contain the .exe file and are free. Such community exist for many years and it's proven that id don't care. You're braking the wall only in your head. The company don't care about you, unless you'll be making money out of their property. So feel free to download all the mods and stop worrying about this.

^ what they said.

Anyway, welcome to the forums! There's a whole lot of information around here to research about Keen mods and official stuff too.

Why is Nisaba's post an exact copy of Roobar's?

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe that post is a bug made of misconfigured digital electric signals interpreted by complicated a.i. algorithms designed to confuse forum members that It's a real human being.

I thought about copying Roobar's in the exact same way for extra reinforcement as soon as I saw the thread.

My guess is Nisaba was making a joke about copyright or something. That or the quote tags failed to apply.

Welcome to the forum, FanofSMBX. Sorry those first two replies you got were so strongly worded, the forum's usually a kinder place. I hope you didn't get a bad first impressions of the place.

Large companies like the one you're trying to contact don't always read all their mail. They probably get lots of proposals like yours, and unless they're from a big name then it's unlikely a message gets past reception or a PA.

In fact, being a big name and the creator of the original game doesn't help - Tom Hall has been lobbying for everything from source code release to IP handover for years!

Mods of ancient games with no ongoing franchise are often ignored by the IP holders, for whom the cost of challenging a developer giving away their interpretation is unjustifiable and a potential PR problem.

Anyway, Keen modders usually don't include essential base game files unless they're building off one of the shareware titles. This means a player has to have previously purchased the original game to play. Essentially, you're adding files to change the experience of a game you've bought. It's still using the original IP, but it's pretty harmless.

Having said all that, I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. But you just have to look at the history of DOS abandonware modding to see people giving away mods usually aren't slaughtered. Just don't try selling anything. If you want to sell, come up with your own idea.

keenmaster486 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:13 Why is Nisaba's post an exact copy of Roobar's?

DO NOT bother the moderators with such silly questions! You should have read more carefully before asking. Technically this is a copyright-centric joke; the original post contains a number of 'paper towns' ('braking'<->breaking, 'you'll be', etc.) and is free. Such satire exist for many years and it's proven that posters don't care. You're raising an issue only in your head. The forum don't care about you, unless you'll be posting arguments about their politics. So feel free to explore all the threads and stop worrying about this.

Well, I just not wanted to say "Screw you" to what the company thinks of fan games like a lot of people do to Nintendo.

No one's going to care unless you sell it for money or if it gets really popular like the Doom Roguelike.