Town Generator Beta 0.2

[towngen]

I understand and agree with your statement mitaadle ... however ...

It's simply the truth, it's obvious, and it doesn't hurt WotC at all. All the time and effort I am putting into this program is simply going to make D&D, their property, more valuable. Suppose that some other d20 publisher sends me a dietyinfo file to include to support their campaign setting. Meanwhile WotC prevents me from officially supporting theirs. Now who is hurt and why? IMHO, it is impossible for this program to do anything but enhance D&D and therefore, enhance WotC. I'm just saying it honestly that they are going to be helped no matter which way they decide, so why loose some "fan appreciation points" by saying no?

I'm not going to make much of any money on this project anyway, so whether its a commercial succes or not is irrelevant. It was doomed to be a financial loss from minute one, but I'm doing it anyway because I am personnally sick of not having a town generator that is worth a damn. It would be really nice if WotC decided they wanted to write a town generator and asked me to stop. Gladly, do it then! But it seems that no one else has stepped up to the plate or ever will, and I hate it when people whine about something without offering to help with the solution. So I'm writing it.

As for the next beta version, I'm working on it. Please have a little patience with me. I'm a self-employed programmer who has taken on a project that amounts to little more than charity work. So I have to work on my projects that actually pay the bills first. Sorry.

 

[annadobritt]

Now as for mercenary groups, so far the only options you're getting are: the size, level of highest person in the group, and amount of magical support the group has. I considered adding another selector for type (ie: calvalry, foot, archers, mixed non-cavalry, marines, seige guys, etc...), but no one complained when it wasn't there. I was probably going to put it in anyway instead of just randomizing it without giving the option to change what it picked, I just didn't get to it yet. If you want or need something more specific then please let me know. Thats the whole point of me releasing the beta! I'd hate to get all the way finished, release the product and have everyone complain that I forgot something that was necessary.

Walter

About the Mercenaries, I like the idea of being able to select whether they are cavalry, foot, archers, mixed, siege(which could also be engineers like building siege equipment). I was also thinking along the lines of adding the names of mercenary companies like you can with the deities.

The program you are creating is one that I have been looking for for ages. I'd be willing to pay up to 30.00 for something like it.

 

[towngen]

The program you are creating is one that I have been looking for for ages.

Me too!

Dang it! I wish that guy would hurry up! He's taking too long!

Oh yeah, that's me. I guess I better get back to work then....

You want names for the merc groups? As in just a text string? I plan to include a simple name generator in the guts of the program to name everything. I will attempt to make sure every name is unique in a town (which will probably produce some really idiotic names). That way, you can simply to a global find & replace in the text file it will output to change any name to whatever you want and you won't inadvertantly change other names (since they are unique).

Just like when you get an adventure from the hobby shop, you need to go through it once and make sure everything makes sense for your campaign, you understand everything, things are balanced right, etc... When you do that and find a name you don't like, just change it. I'm sure you can find a random name generator that produces output you like, or just make one up. I was considering putting an option on the output options screen (not released yet) to include a name summary specifically to help you with cut&pasting names you don't like. It's a matter of taste and it'll be impossible for me to satisfy everyone, so I just was to make it easy to customize.

Do you think that is enough? Or did you have something else in mind?

Walter

 

[MythosaAkira]

It's simply the truth, it's obvious, and it doesn't hurt WotC at all. All the time and effort I am putting into this program is simply going to make D&D, their property, more valuable.

Doesn't matter. People have said this same sort of thing about citing things like feats from "Sword & Fist" in their d20 products (to name one example). Whether it's a commercial product destined for hobby store shelves or a free utility downloaded from a Web site, the rules are still the same.

I'm just saying it honestly that they are going to be helped no matter which way they decide, so why loose some "fan appreciation points" by saying no?

It would seem that way, but corporate legal departments don't necessarily view things the same way the rest of us do

A template approach is probably best, using generic data or something that's open. Even if someone else can post copywritten data in 10 minutes, if it becomes a problem it's their problem, not your's...

 

[towngen]

I'm not an expert on copyright law, but everything I've read indicates that names and short phrases are NOT copyrightable. They can claim copyright, but it doesn't change the fact that they can't copyright a name. They can only trademark a name as a product identity in a specific market.

Now if you retype a feat description somewhere then of course you are infringing because the text of that feat is copyrighted. Even if you change the wording some, it's still a derivative work and thus subject. But a simple list of names is not copyrightable, from my limited understanding.

All that being said, if they don't want me to use the list of names, then fine I won't. I don't intend to fight them over it. I'm just pointing out the obviousness of how it doesn't really matter to me one way or the other.

As for the technical legality of a person typing in the list themselves for their own use, I cannot imagine how that could be infringement. That is simply using the game material for it's intented purpose, to play the game. Posting it on the internet however might be of questionable legality, assuming that a collection of names is protected by copyright (which I don't think it is, claim or no claim).

It's funny to me that processes and formulae are specifically not protected by copyright also. Processes and formulae are only protectable with a patent. Thus the whole mechanics of d20 games is, by definition, not protectable by copyright. Only the specific presentation and flavor text is protected. Of course, the name of their collection of processes (D&D) is a Trademark owned by WotC.

But you can always claim compatability with that process without their permission the same way generic ibuprofen says on the bottle "compare the active ingredient to Tylenol(TM)." Then they have a little blumb on the bottom listing the appropriate owner of th Tylenol brand name. So I can write, "compare the stat blocks generated with those from Dungeons & Dragons(TM)" and add the appropriate indication of ownership in the about box of the program.

I intend to include a general disclaimer in my program that all trademarks are owned by their respective companies and that I don't challenge them and that I have no affiliation with any of them. Also, if they throw a fit and tell me to remove the list of god names, that's cool. I'll remove it and include a file with other names that is easily edited.

Walter

 

[annadobritt]

Me too!

Dang it! I wish that guy would hurry up! He's taking too long!

Oh yeah, that's me. I guess I better get back to work then....

It's a matter of taste and it'll be impossible for me to satisfy everyone, so I just was to make it easy to customize.

Do you think that is enough? Or did you have something else in mind?

Walter

Working in a name generator would be the best solution. If you like, I could come up with good size list of words for name combinations.

In fact, if you need any other types of text lists made up, I could easily do that since I have some time to spare. Contact me off list if you need my help. I'm just beginning to learn programming in C++, so I can't help on that score.

 

[Oracular Vision]

Only coined words, like Motorola, Pepsi, etc., can be registered as trademarks. You can claim a treademark, using (TM) after your title, if you want, but its not official until it is registered.

This has nothing to do with copyright, because you can't claim copyright on titles of any kind. So, use them for free. The text is copyrighted though. You will have to abide by the OGL to use any of it.

That's right, I can write a novel and call it "Gone with the Wind," and no one can do anything about it. I can even make up a list of feats with identical names as WotC's, but I can't use their descriptions.

This could be different under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, as I haven't read up on it. It does modify rights and priveleges. I will look it up and see what has changed.

 

[MJEggertson]

The copyright laws appear to be a pretty beautiful thing. From my understanding after browsing them for an hour or so, the copyright goes to the original author. The actual act of registering a copyright is practically worthless, essentially just registers a date when *you* made your product.

John Doe registers a copyright for his material on 2000. Knowing that competitor, Jane Doe had a similar thing since 1998, he sue her for infringement. Stupid John though, since Jane can prove that her product has been around since 1998, John's copyright is invalid. Infact, since Jane has proved that her work was around in one form or another since 1998, and John has stated in his registration that his product came in at 2000, Jane pretty much has a closed case against John for copyright infringment.

The key to a copyright, I believe, is having your work available in a 'constant' form (I forget the wording). So for software, the initial slew of releases, where each release is totally different isn't probably going to make much of an argument. But when you get to the beta stage, and you're program has some consistent code, you're good. My suggestion is make a dowloadable version, put it on a server, and leave it there forever. Even if you update it, leave it there. The date stamp on the original document establishes when you first uploaded your product. Make a paper hard copy too, sign and date it, witness it. You should be fine. If you want, pay the $35 for the (C), but I don't think its worth your time, unless you plan on making a significant amount of mony from your product.

Trademarks though (registered or no), are entirely different, and I have no idea about them.

As for defending yourself against copyright infringement, in the case of using names from 3E material, like you said, I don't think you have a problem. Copyright laws are based on content, not titles or names (trademarks aside). A general disclaimer though, is always polite, and its (legally) a good idea to make absolutely clear that you are not affiliated with any of the TM or (C) holders.