This is something I’ve been wondering about for a while, but now seeing as I might actually use some third party assets like models and textures, I wanted to ask something regarding licencing.
Basically all the assets I got (from sites like Blend Swap) state that you have to put a link to the creative commons web page, and some even require you to link directly to the asset’s page on the site you got it from.
And this is what has me confused. Because If I’m gonna make a game, I don’t want my credits to be filled up with URLs, and I also don’t want to have a page on the main menu, listing all the individual assets I got, and linking to them.
I don’t want to do this mainly because I want to keep my game feeling game-like, and not like some collaborative Newgrounds game, where there are millions of links to everything. I want the game to look cleaner, and only have the credits be made up of names. I don’t have a problem with admitting everything is not mine, but the problem I’m having, is that I want to keep everything professional looking, without stuff like “I got this fridge model from this guy at www.linktoasset.com/thisasset.” flying through the credits or being somewhere within the actual game.
So is there any way I can effectively link to, and give credit for these assets, while keeping it out of my game? Maybe something like making a html document listing all of them, and including that in the game files? I know I “can” do it, but would it be appropriate, and would it count as giving credit? Or do I have to have links within the game?
Basically, can I give the credit in any form, as long as it’s easily accessible, or does it have to be inside the game itself?
Having a page in main menu is actually the best way to go about it.
Big studios actually do the same thing, and list licenses being used (for example, seeing mention of zlib, libpng, libfreetype, ogg vorbis, etc is incredibly common).
Well… if your game is comprised of a ton free things sourced from places like blend swap, what your credits look like is probably the least of your worries. Just list them in credits, you’re using stuff the created for free, and you knew that from the moment you downloaded the files. If you want something to look professional, don’t cobble it together using the same freebies from the Internet that every else does.
This is what I would most likely do. Most of the credit requirements I’ve seen for free stuff requires you to directly credit things(links or whatever), and that said credit has to easily be viewable in your game by the player. I would interpret that to mean that the game player should be able to find said credits easily, meaning they shouldn’t have to beat the whole game to see them. But, I also interpret it to mean you don’t typically have to show them without user interaction, meaning it doesn’t have to be on a splash screen. So though it should be easy for the game player to find if they were to want to see them, it doesn’t mean you have to force it on them either.
So, to comply with this requirement, you can easily provide a credits button on your main menu. It has to be accessible, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the biggest button on the menu. It could easily be a smaller button in a corner somewhere as long as it is visible and clickable. If a player clicks on said button, they are likely just fine with watching a scrolling list of texts, which would contain names, links, etc… for all your required credits. Also, you could make that screen easily skippable in case they clicked into it by accident.
Then, at the end of your game, you could show whatever credits you want. I’d understand if you wanted to just do a ‘nice’ version. Though I’d recommend you maybe put a text saying to click the button on the main menu for more complete details.
Note that this advice is based on what I personally know, and on the license I’ve seen on many free assets. You need to be sure that this advice applies to each and every asset you have obtained. Also note that this post does not constitute any form of legal advice(I’m not a lawyer) so I won’t take responsibility for any of it
