meatloaf747
Spotter...
What version???
Deleted... (double post).
Deleted... (double post).
pofig's trees and assets
- Thread starter johnwhelan
- Start date
johnwhelan
Well-known member
There are four thousand assets available for download, 990 are pofig's. Looking fairly quickly the pofig ones would appear to be "trainz-build 3.2" but there maybe other builds in there. They just happen to be the versions I have collected. If anyone has later versions flip them to me and I'll add them in. The other 3,000+ assets are a mixture of TRS2004 upwards including some 3.4 so if you're running TRS2004 through TS2010 there should be some UK content that you can run. All the assets available are with the consent of the content creators.
Zip-7 does a very nice job of compression, especially where two or more assets use the same texture files, ie wagon and scenery version which is why it was used plus it has a check digit so that you know if the file has completely downloaded, something that a .cdp file doesn't have. From time to time I've cleared problems by redownloading a file.
Cheerio John
johnwhelan
Well-known member
I make no comment about how good they are but a fair number of routes use them and since I had the disk space available I thought I'd put them up as an alternative source. Malc's comments are valid.
Cheerio John
Cheerio John
Having downloaded all the links provided I now have 2 dependencies missing for Bob Sanders vehicles they are GWR 5 plank end door wagon pre 1937 KUID 217096:8335:2 is missing KUID 217096:8337 and RN Stores 30 foot van KUID 217096:300083 is missing KUID 217096:300082 any help appreciated. and thanks for setting these up John as saves obtaining the trees etc individually.
Mr Whelan,
Thank you for these assets - they're extensive and complementary to similar stuff from McGuirel and others. It's good to have access to them all as it adds to the variety and the means to create areas with different "feels" within a route.
I'm slightly confused about the use of Pofig's assets.
* If I were ever to post a route I'd built using them, to the DLS, presumably I would need to reference your website so that people could obtain Pofig items....?
* There are several clones of these assets on the DLS, by cap1e. They seem to have the same name as the identical (original) Pofig asset but prefaced with "cp1_". As these assets are still on the DLS and have been for a long time now, are they "legitimate", given what has been said about the Speedtree license restrictions in respect of Pofig-made items? If not why are they still on the DLS? I notice the config file for the cp1_ versions have no author mentioned and sometimes contain the line: "License = free"..........? From a user's point of view, having such assets on the DLS is obviously an advantage ... but what is their true status?
Any clarifications you could offer would be gratefully received.
Lataxe
Thank you for these assets - they're extensive and complementary to similar stuff from McGuirel and others. It's good to have access to them all as it adds to the variety and the means to create areas with different "feels" within a route.
I'm slightly confused about the use of Pofig's assets.
* If I were ever to post a route I'd built using them, to the DLS, presumably I would need to reference your website so that people could obtain Pofig items....?
* There are several clones of these assets on the DLS, by cap1e. They seem to have the same name as the identical (original) Pofig asset but prefaced with "cp1_". As these assets are still on the DLS and have been for a long time now, are they "legitimate", given what has been said about the Speedtree license restrictions in respect of Pofig-made items? If not why are they still on the DLS? I notice the config file for the cp1_ versions have no author mentioned and sometimes contain the line: "License = free"..........? From a user's point of view, having such assets on the DLS is obviously an advantage ... but what is their true status?
Any clarifications you could offer would be gratefully received.
Lataxe
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johnwhelan
Well-known member
You have TS12 and 217096:8337 is available on the DLS. I don't have a copy of 217096:300082 so can't help you. Out of 1,700 assets that's not bad.
Cheerio John
johnwhelan
Well-known member
Any clones or copies of pofig's trees on the DLS are basically illegal. The software he uses to create speedtrees is only licensed to be used to create freeware speedtrees. Anything uploaded to the DLS may now be used in payware and thus this would break pofig's license.
pofig has raised the matter with N3V but their response is that only the content creator may request assets be removed from the DLS and they have to reference each kuid number separately.
Several sites have pofig trees etc available, www.trainzkuidindex.com for example lists a number of sites so there is no need to reference my site specifically. I just had a bit of space and bandwidth so made a basic collection available.
Cheerio John
I will be absolutely fuming if Pofig's superior trees are not usable in T:ANE. All my routes use them extensively and if I cannot import my routes into T:ANE because these trees are not compatible, I would consider it a breech of the undertakings given when T:ANE was launched and I was persuaded to pledge support. It was stated that T:ANE would allow the use of most heritage assets, especially those which work in TS12.
I think that N3V should find a solution to this problem before they issue T:ANE.
Scottish
Mr W,
Hmmm, I'm even more confused now.
If a pofig asset (cloned or otherwise) should not be used for payware, what does that mean in practice?
Trainz is payware, so does that mean that pofig assets should not be used in any Trainz route ... or just those Trainz routes for which someone other than N3V makes a charge?
If the restriction is just on use of a pofig asset within payware other than Trainz itself, why are the cp1_ clones illegal (as opposed to just an unauthorised clone)? Surely they (or any pofig-created asset, whatever it's source) only become illegal if someone makes a route using them and then charges for it, whether via the DLS or (more likely) via some other server...? The illegality is then committed not by pofig or N3V but by the payware seller.
If the restriction includes use within Trainz itself (because Trainz itself is payware) that means that pofig's assets are banned to anyone who might want to use them, since they can only be used in Trainz...... In that case, what's the point of making them available at all?
None of this seems to make any practical sense.
Nevertheless, I have replaced any cp1_ clone with a pofig original, in my own routes (which live only on my computer). Should I ever decide to upload one to the DLS, is it legal to include pofig assets or not? If it is, why not just put pofig assets on the DLS, for everyone's convenience?
A right Gordian knot!
Lataxe
PS They are splendid assets though, eh? Praise & appreciation to Mr Pofig (and yourself for collating them) no matter what the mad copyright issues are.
johnwhelan
Well-known member
johnwhelan
Well-known member
It used to be that Auran / N3V said than anything on the DLS was freeware but could be used as one of their demonstration routes that came with Trainz. However staff changed and TC3 came along. The TC3 content was so good that it was repackaged as payware S&C together with the clarification that anything uploaded to the DLS must now be licensed for payware. There are a number of content creators whose interpretation of the days gone by is the same as my own. What this does mean is that payware vendors no longer need to check the license on each asset, the N3V clarification protects them.
There is a subtle difference, textures are often licensed for free provided no one makes any money out of them. Speedtree has two versions of their content creation software, the hobbyist one which has a restriction that the creations may not be used for profit and the full commercial package which is rather more expensive.
It is the content creator's responsibility to agree to the terms and conditions when they upload. The pofig cloned assets are being uploaded by someone who hasn't created them and in violation of pofig's license. They don't have the right to upload them. Why doesn't N3V remove them? If you look on the forum pofig has posted his comments about N3V and its difficult to disagree with them.
When you upload a route you don't upload the dependencies so you may upload your route to the DLS and people can pick up the pofig trees etc from elsewhere.
Cheerio John
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ex-railwayman
New member
Mac, all of Pofigs trees are build 3.2, I have over 1100 of them in my Content Manager, I wouldn't have thought that using them in future routes in T:ANE would be an issue, but, of course, until we actually get the new Trainz version we won't know 100%.
This is the irony John, as Pofig is the creator of the content, the person who uploaded them to the DLS was a Russian hacker as far as I know, he certainly wasn't the creator of the content, but, of course, N3V don't care about what Pirates put on the DLS just as long as they can make money out of having them on there. We already know that nobody is employed full time and checks stringently what is uploaded, that's why so much has made it onto the DLS unchallenged.
Cheerz. ex-railwayman.
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Firstly, I'd like to thank John for putting all the pofig trees from my Ashburton-Windrush route into one easily accessible pack on his website. Pofig's license allows for this 3rd party redistribution, just not anything that's commercial.
Second, like Scottish, I want to express my extreme frustration that these trees - the best we have alongside mcquirel's UltraTreez - may not work in TANE. Whatever happened to backward compatibility? It seems rather ironic that a whole load of ancient, and not very good, assets from the earlier versions of Trainz will be available to use in TANE, but not these, only a few years old and still probably the best looking 3-D trees we've ever had in the game.
Paul
Second, like Scottish, I want to express my extreme frustration that these trees - the best we have alongside mcquirel's UltraTreez - may not work in TANE. Whatever happened to backward compatibility? It seems rather ironic that a whole load of ancient, and not very good, assets from the earlier versions of Trainz will be available to use in TANE, but not these, only a few years old and still probably the best looking 3-D trees we've ever had in the game.
Paul
ianwoodmore
Active member
If you examine Pofig's trees up really close you will see that he has watermarked all trunks, branches and twigs with his website name. From most viewing distances doesn't show or detract from visual.
ZecMurphy
Community Assistant
Just to clarify there...
We told pofig that HE (the creator) needed to contact us, with a list of the content that was uploaded without permission, and to make sure that he was giving us a list of only assets he could prove were his.
Why do we require this? Because there are several cases where 3rd parties (other people who aren't the uploader/author) have gone "this is pirated, it needs to be removed" and it turns out to not be pirated.
Or, in the case of SpeedTree assets, there is a set of 'replacement' trees that look almost the same as Pofig's trees, yet were not created by Pofig (they were created to provide DLS replacements for his trees), but we were still being told by various people to remove them...
Hence we do investigate every report when it is reported by the original author. Again, the only people who know with 100% certainty that an asset was uploaded without permission is the original author, and the uploader. Everyone else is just guessing... It may take a little time, but we do investigate each one as best we can.
Regards
We told pofig that HE (the creator) needed to contact us, with a list of the content that was uploaded without permission, and to make sure that he was giving us a list of only assets he could prove were his.
Why do we require this? Because there are several cases where 3rd parties (other people who aren't the uploader/author) have gone "this is pirated, it needs to be removed" and it turns out to not be pirated.
Or, in the case of SpeedTree assets, there is a set of 'replacement' trees that look almost the same as Pofig's trees, yet were not created by Pofig (they were created to provide DLS replacements for his trees), but we were still being told by various people to remove them...
Hence we do investigate every report when it is reported by the original author. Again, the only people who know with 100% certainty that an asset was uploaded without permission is the original author, and the uploader. Everyone else is just guessing... It may take a little time, but we do investigate each one as best we can.
Regards
johnwhelan
Well-known member
So a simple file compare of the .im files would be too complicated for N3V to do or would not be sufficent? I think there are a few UNIX type utilities that could be strung together to do this in an automated fashion. Anyway we digress the intent of the thread was simply to let people know some pofig's trees are available.
Cheerio John
John, it's a bit difficult to compare im files when pofigs are not on the DLS so N3V hasn't got access to them.