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[Shagma]

Hi everybody! I'm new here. I'm an Animation and visual effects student and right now I'm starting an independent game which I want to do in wintermute    . Amazing tool, I'm loving it.

Anyway, I wanted to ask something about licenses. The thing is I am a maya, max, combustion, and many more softwares user (They teach all of them in my career) . They have the original licenses in my university but at home I don't, and if I want to use one program, I have to use a cracked version. The thing is that I want to make my own-pretty-and-short adventure game using these softwares, and I don't think I can do all the work at the university. I don't want to make anything comercial, my intention is to learn by making it and then use it as part of my personal work for when I finish my studies. Still, as you may have guessed, I'm very ignorant in terms of licenses and law problems and such. The main question is: Can I use these programs freely if my game is going to be 100% freeware? Or do I still have to get the original licenses? As far as I know, law applies only if you make money with a software and you are not paying for the license, which is not my case. I'd use student versions but frankly I don't know anything about them (anybody?). If they work and don't have watermarks and such then I'd obviously use them (although I don't know if all program have them).
In short...:
Do I have to use student versions of programs?
work at university?
can I use a cracked program at home for non comercial purposes?
Am I f***ed if a program does not have a student version or if I don't have money?


Well... thanks in advance.

[odnorf]

You can't use a cracked program at home because it's illegal, even for non-commercial usage. Making or not money is irrelevant.
Student versions of programs is the best option. As far as I know they don't have any watermarks (I can't be sure about 3D apps because I don't use any) but you can't use them for anything commercial.

[Shagma]

That's what I supposed...
I'm downloading Vue's student version as we speak. It says "renders MAY be watermarked or carry a logo".  :S 
We'll see about it.
Thank you.

[sychron]

Autodesk offers student versions, but you have to dig around at their website to find them.

[Catacomber]

They used to have it as a direct download but now I think you have to join their student community:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=10914297

my old link to the direct download is dead

but check your system requirements, it takes up a huge chunk 

You could use blender or milkshape 3d which are free.

[Catacomber]

P.S. As someone whose commercial games have been cracked simply by the crackers buying them and putting them up on a shareware site whose name I won't mention, I can't get too enthusiastic when I hear about people using cracked versions of anything, but I don't wear my heart out on this anymore.  After battling with them, I now get some protection in their world.   

Cracking or using cracked stuff doesn't hurt the big guys that much, imho, but it really hurts the independent game makers and it's, of course, wrong.  :  )  But I understand why it happens and I don't pass judgment any more. Fortunately, there are people who will pay for what they value.  :  )

But if someone doesn't have the money, well, I am not going to comment.  I can understand that.  But there are a lot of free programs out there that work just as well as the commercial ones.

[Jyujinkai]

you can by a legit student version of autodesk products .. Max is like 100 bucks or somthing... just buy it and be legit. Adobe also do these if you need a post vfx packadge as i do nto think there is a student version of combustion (witch is crap anywasy

There is a opensource app, i can not remeber, somone here will no that is very much like photoshop for 2D editing.

Still if you are on good terms with yoru boss and stuff, just do it all at work.. come in on the weekends, get the key off him and work after hours and lock up and stuff... .. .

[Catacomber]

Gimp for 2d? Is that what you meant?  It's wonderful.  :  )  And there is a free user's manual.  :  ) ) )

Good advice. :  ) )

If you are an independent game maker and want to support and keep alive the community of independent game makers you have to be against cracking and using cracked products.  Otherwise someday you may be the one being cracked and it will not make you happy to know that.  :  ))))

I remember the email from my partner.  "We've been pirated!"   

I had a long hard battle with the crackers which resulted in a detente.  I made a free game since they claimed people in their country could not buy our games:  Mithril Horde expansion for The Quest.  And there you can meet the crackers:  Lord Yuz, Cmonez, Lifehacker.  :  )  They're real people despite being crackers with their own philosophy but it is not mine.  : )

Lord Yuz wrote all the quests and did the storyline in that game so he doesn't have to be a cracker -- he is creative in ways that don't involve cracking and same for Lifehacker--he did an intricate puzzle.  But they follow their own path.

Make a beautiful game.  : )  Follow your own path but make it a path that you can be proud of.

[Jyujinkai]

Gimp for 2d? Is that what you meant?  It's wonderful.  :  )  And there is a free user's manual.  :  ) )

Yea that is it.

[sychron]

Well, Gimp may in fact be usable for 2d game or web graphics, but for everything more enthusiastic or even color correct it is no match to photoshop -- and adobe offers student editions for photoshop as well.

Catacomber, I think I know how you feel ... I get cubase questions via ICQ all day from people who have a ripped version and do not even notice that steinbegr put the PDF manuals are on the original CDs ... I don't answer them, and in return, for beeing so rude, they tell me not to copy their finished audio cd.

[Spellbreaker]

Anyone worked with google sketchup yet?

[Jyujinkai]

Well, Gimp may in fact be usable for 2d game or web graphics, but for everything more enthusiastic or even color correct it is no match to photoshop -- and adobe offers student editions for photoshop as well

photoshop is king no argument there....

Also got 2D mabey look at Paint Shop Pro and I think they have made Truespace 3D free now... and that is a pretty good app for beign free.

[sychron]

I work with sketchup, and I love it ;-)
It's very easy to use for 3d noobs like me. But I'm just working with the basic version, so I cannot say anything about 3D export. I use it to sketch (hehe) background images.

[Shagma]

I really appreciate your answers.
It turns out that vue's student version has a very ugly watermark. 3d max has some ugly limitations too. I haven't checked maya yet. and there is no student version for combustion. The big problem with student versions is that in most of them you can't save a file and then use it in a full version. In other words I'd had to do everything in the student version or vice versa.
Still, yesterday I was talking with my 3d profesor about this, and he said that there should be no problem as long as I do some of my work at college and if I put the name of my university in the credits.  I would stay in the legal area this way because I'd be part of the university which owns the programs. In the end I'd be using original licenced versions, but I would give myself the posibility to do some work at home. I don't think Autodesk or E-on software looses anything from this, because it would be no gain for them that I sleep in college (cause that would be the only way for me at this point).  I'm not gonna do that sacrifice just so someone's rules are played correctly even if nobody benefits from them. I think rules are only good if they are reasonable and do good. In this case, they would only stop a man from doing an free artistic proyect.
Anyway, I suppose that saying all this is ilegal. So don't buy it, I was just joking. Honestly.
About using milkshape 3d or Blender... I tried them, and honestly, after you know maya or max it's a little depressing to use them. Not that they are not great, but maya and max are perfect, and something that takes 30 minutes to do in blender, I do it in 10 minutes in Maya, and probably prettier. But even if I got the hang of blender, still maya can do more stuff, and I've been using it for 3 years, so I just can't throw away all my expertise in maya away and feel that I learned all that for nothing. I really prefer to work at college overnight instead of not using maya.
So that's what I'm gonna do; I'll do all the work I can at collage, and if I have to bring something home, I'll do it.
But I am joking, obviously.         Officialy, I'll do everything at college. I swear.

[Spellbreaker]

I'm sorry, but that is wrong, because the installation of the Universitys software at your home is simply illegal. But I'd guess for gaming purposes there are many good free renderers and Programs available.