With the invention of Aali's new graphic driver that adds stability and extendability to the PC versions of Final Fantasy, I've begun to see some projects that are not sitting well with me. This post is to explain a new rule and the reason behind it. Hopefully, you guys can understand where I'm coming from. If you don't understand, well, I'm sorry, but this is how it's going to be.
1) The discussion of ripping models from other games and putting them in to Final Fantasy is no longer allowed.There are several reasons why this is. I've decided to take a few hours out of my life to explain it to you all. If this disappoints you, I hope that I can explain it for you so that you will get where I'm coming from. If this angers you, were I suggest you wipe the nerd-rage tears from you eyes and complain to someone else. I will not be tolerant to whining. There are many other forums you can go to.
Here is the reason.
There have been several projects that have been shut gown by Square in recent years. The most famous is the
Chrono Resurrection, however, what you may not know is a large portion of
Chrono Compendium was also shut down. Not only did the shut down a patch project, but also killed the tech related forums and discussion on how to reverse engineer and Chrono game. I was a member of the reversing team for Chrono Cross, and now the talk of simple data formats are forbidden.
2) I am forbidding the discussion of ripping models from PSP games. his includes all GMO related discussions. The reason why is this; To get the data in the first place requires a good deal of piracy. This includes modding Sony's firmware on a PSP to have access to the UMD drive, (a "reasonable form of copy protection" per the DMCA.) or downloading an ISO from a torrent. Both are illegal to do in the U.S. (Where I live).
Keep in mind I am also guilty of this and will not be doing this anymore.
3) Also, the discussion of reinsertion of custom game models/backgrounds are going to be strongly curtailed.It will not be banned, but if your mod requires taking from other things not yours, you may be asked to cut it out. For now, I'm allowing the cosmetic upgrade of existing assets, for example, resolution, and texture updates. Also the recreation of higher resolution art/models are getting a pass.
Changes of "kernel.bin" are also exempt for now because, as a tool, it offers wonderful insight into the internal workings of the game.
Basically it's this; If you made it yourself to help improve the image of an already existing Final Fantasy asset, you get a pass, if you are rehashing work that is not yours, you will be asked to very politely adjust what you are doing.
I am not ruling on music mods for now.
Square seems to give it a pass, so I will too.
These rules are subject to change.
Enforcement will be "soft" at first so that everyone has a chance to get used to the new rules. However, over time, expect me to become more active in the enforcement.
This thread will remained open for the discussion of the policy. This is just a rough work, but I decided to get it out as soon as possible so we could define good community standards. If you become disruptive, you will be "disemvoweled". I leave that as an exercise to the reader to understand what that means.