New License Agreement Rocks!
by Sabrecyd · in Torque Game Engine · 09/24/2002 (5:37 am) · 4 replies
To the GG staff,
I for one just want to say thanks for this change. I thought the old agreement was a good deal, but this new one is even better.
Just so I'm not misreading things here. Basically, the cost is the initial engine purchase. That's it? Unless you make more then $500,000 or want to publish with a larger company, then one fee of $10,000 per title? So 100% of shareware title royalties etc now all go to the individual developers? Wow, that seems generous. Please let me know if I'm wrong about this. The wording of the License seems simple, but I just want to make sure I'm not jumping to conclusions. I'm no lawyer ya know ;)
Thanks very much guys,
-Sabrecyd (Brian T. Nelson)
I for one just want to say thanks for this change. I thought the old agreement was a good deal, but this new one is even better.
Just so I'm not misreading things here. Basically, the cost is the initial engine purchase. That's it? Unless you make more then $500,000 or want to publish with a larger company, then one fee of $10,000 per title? So 100% of shareware title royalties etc now all go to the individual developers? Wow, that seems generous. Please let me know if I'm wrong about this. The wording of the License seems simple, but I just want to make sure I'm not jumping to conclusions. I'm no lawyer ya know ;)
Thanks very much guys,
-Sabrecyd (Brian T. Nelson)
About the author
#2
I rediscovered it yesterday under the Torque name, and because of the license change I've bought it. If I ever do come up with anything saleable I'll certainly consider garage games as a distribution option, but I very much like the idea of being able to sell through my own website as an independent, and of retaining control of my games.
I think that license change has made Torque a great proposition for independent developers, and as this news soaks through the net I expect that a lot more people will start using it.
Thanks to Garage Games for turning the license into a great one for the small developer!
An observation:
At the moment the site is giving mixed messages about the licence, e.g.
1. Your business model still mentions requiring sales through GG.
2. Many of the earlier posts mention this requirement (Not a lot you can do about this - maybe you could add a link from those posts to the new license to let people know that the rules are far more relaxed now).
3. The wording of the new EULA says that you can distribute demos and free games through your own website. This is fine but it implies that non-free stuff cannot be. I assume this is something left over from the old EULA.
A question:
I assume that if I sell through my website, but use another company to actually handle the transactions and host the downloads and keys (e.g. www.swreg.org), this doesn't count as having a publisher?
I.e. In this situation, (unless I'm _very_ lucky with sales), I won't need to worry about the $500,000 limit?
I think that this is the case, but I would like confirmation.
Once again, thanks, and I'm looking forward to diving into the engine!
Cheers - Steve Baines
12/17/2002 (7:10 am)
Well, I've just bought a license because of this change. I read about V12 a year or two ago and my conclusion was that it was a great price on a good looking engine, but the loss of developer control over the end product meant that it was not worth considering, so I forgot about it.I rediscovered it yesterday under the Torque name, and because of the license change I've bought it. If I ever do come up with anything saleable I'll certainly consider garage games as a distribution option, but I very much like the idea of being able to sell through my own website as an independent, and of retaining control of my games.
I think that license change has made Torque a great proposition for independent developers, and as this news soaks through the net I expect that a lot more people will start using it.
Thanks to Garage Games for turning the license into a great one for the small developer!
An observation:
At the moment the site is giving mixed messages about the licence, e.g.
1. Your business model still mentions requiring sales through GG.
2. Many of the earlier posts mention this requirement (Not a lot you can do about this - maybe you could add a link from those posts to the new license to let people know that the rules are far more relaxed now).
3. The wording of the new EULA says that you can distribute demos and free games through your own website. This is fine but it implies that non-free stuff cannot be. I assume this is something left over from the old EULA.
A question:
I assume that if I sell through my website, but use another company to actually handle the transactions and host the downloads and keys (e.g. www.swreg.org), this doesn't count as having a publisher?
I.e. In this situation, (unless I'm _very_ lucky with sales), I won't need to worry about the $500,000 limit?
I think that this is the case, but I would like confirmation.
Once again, thanks, and I'm looking forward to diving into the engine!
Cheers - Steve Baines
#3
We explicitly stated it is OK to release free games because many people thought they HAD to charge for their game.
I checked out swreg and it looks like a cool site. Using them as a shopping cart would not violate the indie agreement. Making a game with Torque then using Real or Dexterity would not be in the spririt of the indie license and would invoke the commercial license.
Jeff Tunnell GG
12/17/2002 (4:42 pm)
Where does it still say we require publishing through GG? I thought we got all of those. If not, I want to change it asap.We explicitly stated it is OK to release free games because many people thought they HAD to charge for their game.
I checked out swreg and it looks like a cool site. Using them as a shopping cart would not violate the indie agreement. Making a game with Torque then using Real or Dexterity would not be in the spririt of the indie license and would invoke the commercial license.
Jeff Tunnell GG
#4
Thanks for your clarifications (and your prompt response).
The statement about requiring publishing through GG is still in the 'General FAQ':
"What is your business model?
We provide game developers with resources and tools either free or at a nominal cost, on condition that developers publish their games at GarageGames. "
Cheers - Steve
12/18/2002 (1:55 am)
Hi Jeff,Thanks for your clarifications (and your prompt response).
The statement about requiring publishing through GG is still in the 'General FAQ':
"What is your business model?
We provide game developers with resources and tools either free or at a nominal cost, on condition that developers publish their games at GarageGames. "
Cheers - Steve
Torque Owner Jeff Tunnell
Jeff Tunnell GG