Question about posting maps

[Doom4fun]

Hi!

 

I am new to this site. I came here to post some modified wads and maybe even my own wads one day. But before I post I have a question so that I would not try to post something that is not allowed. In WADs & Mods forum there is topic called newstuff and /idgames FAQ - READ THIS where there is section What will be rejected? That lists Unmodified parts of any IWAD. My question is what exactly qualifies as unmodified and from where does modified start?

 

If I add monsters and weapons but change nothing else would that be allowed to post? in WADs & Mods forum? Of course I would link to original source and credit original authors.

 

To illustrate what I intend to post I have also attached image of original and modified.

 

[Edward850]

Basically the ruling is this: 
1) You can reuse assets from IWADs in your own WAD as long as they are modified in some capacity, thus necessitating the point of them being there in the first place. Including the assets when there's no difference in their content is pointless and a waste of space.
2) Expect for levels. Modified IWAD levels aren't permitted for the /idgames archive and don't have much/any value here either. This is because the concept was overdone back in 1994, it means even less now, we've all seen 1000 copies of E1M1 with cyberdemons blocking the exit already.

Edited March 26, 2021 by Edward850

[Doom4fun]

Hi!

 

Thanks for this information! I totally forgot to pay attention to fact that it mentioned IWAD. Since in my case on screenshot above is PWAD would such modification be allowed to post in WADs & Mods forum?
 

[skillsaw]

As long as you have permission from the original author (or the text file explicitly grants permission to modify the original) you can post modified pwad levels on the wads and mods subforum or submit them to the idgames archives.

Edited March 26, 2021 by skillsaw

[Doom4fun]

Thanks.

In this case I have text file:
 

Quote

* Copyright / Permissions *

Authors MAY use the contents in this file as a base for modification
or reuse.

Authors MAY NOT use the musics in this file as a base for modification
or reuse hence they are not owned by the creator of this file.

You MAY distribute this file, provided you include this text file, with no
modifications.  You may distribute this file in any electronic format as
long as you include this file intact.

That means that if I post mod of it with added monsters then I need to remove music and then I am good to go? Just curious how original author got permission to use those tracks? Are there some sites that sell the right to use music to specific person or how does it work? And would it be allowed to replace those musics from other PWADs?

For future knowledge I would also like to know what happens if I either can't find the contact of original PWAD author or I cant get response? Can I then post? For example if user is no longer active in doom forums and emails dont reach to owner for some reason?

Also what is the legality of using Doom 4 music in Doom moods? I noticed that in this forum is posted Doom 2 - Holy Hell Revealed https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/86929-doom-2-holy-hell-revealed/ which uses music from Doom 4 which is owned by Bethesda. The original video attached to that topic has music muted but when you download this you can clearly hear Doom 4 music. Is there some specific exception to using this specific theme song that I am not aware of or did that post just fly under the radar of moderators?

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Doom4fun

[Doomkid]

If they text file says “you MAY use the contents”, you don’t even need to email them, just give them credit in your text file and thread.

 

A LOT of wads re-use copyrighted music from Duke3D, ROTT and other games, but because they are MIDIs (often treated as a second-class format) no one cares, but suddenly when it’s an MP3 you will get a letter-of-the-law alarmist telling you to remove it. Unless you want to upload it to /idgames, it’s really no big deal.

 

(Also, to clarify, reusing iwad maps isn’t allowed on idgames. No one is going to give a single crap if you post it here, it just won’t be archivable.)

 

Hope this clarifies things!