Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

I'll support mmurfin87's opinion here. If you provide a downloader you won't have any liabilities (most probably). But providing a link to an illegal copy *could* have you sued. And in order to make the download easy you'll have to provide a direct link to a copy.

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

Perhaps we should work on getting the game 'liberated'.

Check this site out;

http://www.liberatedgames.com/about.php

Most importantly at the bottom;

"We support the liberation of new games and encourage players to file information in our database about an older game which they recommend for liberation. If interest is high enough, we will attempt to work with developers and publishers to investigate the possibility of liberating the game for the benefit of the community. "

slaapliedje

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

Ubisoft still has the blue byte website up and active so I wouldn't call it abandonware even (although it may actually be, technically it isn't).

Actually it looks like the older games aren't accessible through the front page of the website (got in via google). I'm not a fan of Ubisoft and can't see them releasing anything from copyright regardless of how old/useless to them it is, especially if someone is interested in it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubisoft#Controversies

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

Look in to what OpenTTD does. They skirt this issue nicely.

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

Actually, what would happen if you asked the copyright holder (Ubisoft) about the issue?

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

I actually already sent an email to a PR executive from Ubisoft, asking him if it would be possible to release the copyright. I probably sent the email to a wrong person, but it was about the only contact I could get on the web. Surprisingly, I got no reply (I think I sent it on monday)

Got the contact from here: http://www.ubisoftgroup.com/index.php?p=69
And I sent the email to Bryony Benoy

I'm up for trying it through Liberated Games, how do you go about doing that? Send them an email?

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

Lukash, maemo-confirm-text works fine, look up the source of my package, I use it there.

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

I also advice you to don't download the original game content.

What i suggest is the following:

After installation or on startup you ask the user if he wants to play the demo or the original.

If he choose the "demo" you download "http://www.bluebyte.net/eng/products/albion/p_demo.htm" and extract it to a path in the home directory.
If he choose the original you check if you find the files on a spezific path in the homedir. If the files are present you start, else you display a message that the user should put the n900 to massstorage mode and should copy the files from the cd to the special directory.

you said there a special config files the user must change. if the config files could be provided within the installation files i would do so if not i think the best way is that your programm should make the nessesary changes to the files copied by the user.

(the whole demo part is an idea from me if the ported code works with the demo content ok if not simple do only the informing the user part about plugging the n900 to his computer and put the files of the cd to location xy)

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

Yeah, I've been thinking about doing it how smurfy says, it seems the next best thing... Let the user point to a directory and then try to check the files and make some necessary changes if possible...

Thanks Tomaszd, maybe it only works in a packaging script? I just tried from teminal. Its not gonna be useful now though if I will want to prompt for a directory as well... Anything for that or will I need to make myself a binary?

But about the Liberation Games.. they say:
We support the liberation of new games and encourage players to file information in our database about an older game which they recommend for liberation. If interest is high enough, we will attempt to work with developers and publishers to investigate the possibility of liberating the game for the benefit of the community.

So how do we file information? By email? They have a contact email there... Should we all send one so that they know the interest is high enough? I don't think so...

Re: Albion - legality advice needed
 

Just follow the example of ScummVM.

Make the package, but don't include any of the game logic/art/script files. Provide instructions on how to copy them onto the device so that the game becomes playable.

Done!