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Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

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Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#61

Post by irb »

shak77 wrote: post #58
wccrawford wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but it won't be attracting people to use CryEngine over others anytime soon. Seriously. I can't imagine anyone seeing this lawsuit and reading about the terms of these contracts and thinking, "Yeah, CryEngine sounds like a good idea." Lumberyard is far more likely to have good licensing terms, plus Amazon integration, and Unreal Engine is a serious competitor with very clear licensing terms and pretty extreme access…

What's "Amazon integration"? And why is Amazon developing a game engine?

Integration with AWS products. And I assume Amazon is developing a game engine that integrates well with AWS products in order to sell more AWS products.

Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#62

Post by jochung »

vita17 wrote: post #51
jagermo wrote: post #32

I never understood why CR choose CryEngine. Yes, it can Single Player games make look beautiful, but when it comes to Multiplayer, it never really could compete with Unreal Engine. Just look how much work RSI has to do, to get the netcode working - and so far, they still are limited to 24 players. In addition, the requirements of the CryEngine have always been high, the FPS drops and a lot of other performance proble…

This website is awfully damning considering the game was supposed to be released over a year ago: https://starcitizentracker.github.io/ As you can see, development has stalled and very little progress is being made. To answer your question: they chose a game engine to create shiny demos and carefully crafted videos. They have no intention of releasing a fully playable game. They just need to keep the hype going to ke…

People seem eager to forget Chris Roberts pitched this exact game before, as Freelancer, and that was released years too late, with none of the promised "living universe" features, after being bought out and handed off to someone else.

Fool me once...

I've heard people say "the technology didn't exist back then!", which is true. But the technology doesn't exist today either. Games have gotten a lot better at drawing convincing pictures, but in terms of simulating worlds and generating content, we've mostly stood still.

No Man's Sky already showed that, with its demo scene derived trickery. You can't entertain people with random seeds for very long. You need intent, storytelling and reactive, interacting systems.

Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#63

Post by sgift »

shak77 wrote: post #58
wccrawford wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but it won't be attracting people to use CryEngine over others anytime soon. Seriously. I can't imagine anyone seeing this lawsuit and reading about the terms of these contracts and thinking, "Yeah, CryEngine sounds like a good idea." Lumberyard is far more likely to have good licensing terms, plus Amazon integration, and Unreal Engine is a serious competitor with very clear licensing terms and pretty extreme access…

What's "Amazon integration"? And why is Amazon developing a game engine?

To boost AWS and Twitch: https://aws.amazon.com/lumberyard/

Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#64

Post by ekianjo »

make3 wrote: post #31
drawkbox wrote: post #16

Lumberyard is a fork by Amazon of CryEngine that they licensed in 2015 that Star Citizen switched to. If developers start with that engine they are ok but looks like there were deals with Crytek on games/content before that date. Legal challenges from a game engine is something that can scare away new projects in that engine. This wouldn't affect most developers as Star Citizen signed with CryEngine but it won't be a…

(Just kidding here) Unity and Unreal could merge into a company called U2. I wonder though if the FTC would let this unreal unity of game engines happen though

> merge into a company called U2

You are waiting for another Copyright suit, aren't you? :)

Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#65

Post by qplex »

jochung wrote: post #62
vita17 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This website is awfully damning considering the game was supposed to be released over a year ago: https://starcitizentracker.github.io/ As you can see, development has stalled and very little progress is being made. To answer your question: they chose a game engine to create shiny demos and carefully crafted videos. They have no intention of releasing a fully playable game. They just need to keep the hype going to ke…

People seem eager to forget Chris Roberts pitched this exact game before, as Freelancer, and that was released years too late, with none of the promised "living universe" features, after being bought out and handed off to someone else. Fool me once... I've heard people say "the technology didn't exist back then!", which is true. But the technology doesn't exist today either. Games have gotten a lot better at drawing…

Freelancer was a great game, I really enjoyed playing it.

I'm not sure how much Chris Roberts had to do with the final product but I don't think Freelancer was a failure when it was released.

Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#66

Post by tnolet »

shak77 wrote: post #58
wccrawford wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but it won't be attracting people to use CryEngine over others anytime soon. Seriously. I can't imagine anyone seeing this lawsuit and reading about the terms of these contracts and thinking, "Yeah, CryEngine sounds like a good idea." Lumberyard is far more likely to have good licensing terms, plus Amazon integration, and Unreal Engine is a serious competitor with very clear licensing terms and pretty extreme access…

What's "Amazon integration"? And why is Amazon developing a game engine?

Because AWS is already deeply embedded in the games industry. Where do you think all of those multiplayer servers run for big AAA titles? This is probably just a move up the vertical for them.

Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#67

Post by bhouston »

sgift wrote: post #63
shak77 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's "Amazon integration"? And why is Amazon developing a game engine?

To boost AWS and Twitch: https://aws.amazon.com/lumberyard/

Does anyone but Star Citizen use it Amazon Lumberyard?

Unity and UE4 really are the current leaders in game engine technology, CryEngine, while great, has suffered in the last four years or so and isn't a significant competitor.

Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#69

Post by Gupie »

devwastaken wrote: post #4

>22. On December 16, 2015, Defendants announced that "Squadron 42," a single-player video game involving space combat, would be sold separately from Star Citizen. >25. On February 14, 2016, Defendants moved forward with their plan for Squadron 42 notwithstanding their failure to obtain a license and began offering the video game for separate purchase. As a result, Defendants are intentionally and willfully using CryE…

> Defendants are intentionally and willfully using CryEngine without a license and in violation of copyright laws.

This is from the banner at the top of CryEngine's home page:

"Full engine source code. All features. No royalties. No obligations. No license fee.

Re: Crytek sues Star Citizen devs for copyright infringement, breach of contract

#70

Post by PhasmaFelis »

rootlocus wrote: post #50
huhtenberg wrote: post #29

This will now make a lot of gamedevs stop and pause when considering Crytek goods, so Crytek must be really desperate to resort to this sort of PR-hostile measures.

How is that? Crytek aren't suing without reason. According to the complaint they lost money and tech from a breach of contract. It's a perfectly reasonable reason to sue.

A lot of gamers (and by extension devs) assume the worst of any legal action, so it's bad PR even if they're completely justified.
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