🔒 Locked 🤖 Godot

Licensing Technology

Started by programmermattc Jul 17, 2008 at 3:13 PM 3 replies 700+ views

Original Post

Jul 17, 2008 at 3:13 PM

Recently I've taken up modding in the Unreal Tournament 3 engine and it got me thinking about developers who license the technology. Now when I go and buy a copy of the game for $30 I get the game as well as some tools such as UnrealEd, their scripting stuff, etc... What do companies get when they license the technology? Obviously they get the rights to create their game in it and distribution rights, etc... But I'm more curious about what they get technology/tools wise. Do they get a complete copy of the source code or something? How does their tech differ from what I get when purchasing the game?

zer0wolf

298

zer0wolf

Jul 17, 2008 at 4:22 PM

Quote:
Original post by programmermattc
Recently I've taken up modding in the Unreal Tournament 3 engine and it got me thinking about developers who license the technology. Now when I go and buy a copy of the game for $30 I get the game as well as some tools such as UnrealEd, their scripting stuff, etc...

What do companies get when they license the technology?

Obviously they get the rights to create their game in it and distribution rights, etc... But I'm more curious about what they get technology/tools wise. Do they get a complete copy of the source code or something? How does their tech differ from what I get when purchasing the game?

The tech is the same, expect they get the full source code, including access to their SVN (so all the latest developments as they're made). You also get some tech support as well.

dpadam450

523

dpadam450

Jul 18, 2008 at 3:25 AM

Also dont forget that mods require the game to use them. So even if you wanted to sell your mod, you would have to make people buy the game that you modded.

Unreal is a complex tool/engine and while I have never used it, I'm sure your using the most basic dumb-downed version as a gamer. Your probably not going to get access to all the scene editors for cinematics and such. Probably wont get profiling tools.

Obscure

Mod

173

Obscure

Jul 18, 2008 at 4:58 AM

Quote:
Original post by programmermattc
What do companies get when they license the technology?

Access to source code
Support (very important when using middleware to make a commercial title)
The right to sell what you make (fan mods can only be distributed free of charge)
The PR value of being able to say "Uses Unreal engine".

programmermattc

Author

programmermattc

Jul 18, 2008 at 7:33 AM

Quote:
Original post by Obscure
Quote:
Original post by programmermattc
What do companies get when they license the technology?

Access to source code
Support (very important when using middleware to make a commercial title)
The right to sell what you make (fan mods can only be distributed free of charge)
The PR value of being able to say "Uses Unreal engine".

Thats what I had thought. Glancing over Epic's UDN there are TONS of documents you need to login to access and of course the only people with login's are licensee's. Good stuff to know. Is this usually the same with all companies that license?

Topic Locked

This topic has been locked by a moderator. New replies are not allowed.