First off hello to everyone. I’ve been playing NWN since it came out (a lifetime ago) off and on. I just recently got back into it after about a five year hiatus and was amazed that there is still a strong community for it. All of the custom content available is what has always made the game so appealing. My hat is off to all the contributors of said content. My question is about what protocols are there for altering or adding modifications to someone else’s work. I am asking this because I have enjoyed many of the custom modules but found them visually less than appealing. My favorites being Valen’s A Dance With Rogues Parts 1 & 2. I love the story but felt they could have looked better. So I did some editing (just on the visuals, all scripts, story, etc are still original). I am just wondering what the protocol is for sharing the material I’ve altered. I’m not looking for any credit for Valen’s awesome work, I was just thinking that others might enjoy the modules as much as I have if they were more visually appealing.
At first, I am sure it’s better to do your own module content.
At second, each module has your own rights, you can just check it in the page of the module.
At third, hello, I used to like nwn but now I used to play another game. I think I am getting old and I don’t have more time to explore the toolset, explore maps, kill goblins and rats. I think nwn also is getting old, but it is still a good game, you can have fun. good luck
A Dance With Rogues requires permission for any usage so you should contact the author, which you should do regardless of any permissions.
Once you have permission, you should make your changes as a separate patch, hak or override that has its own Project page so that users must download the original to use your Mod to play.
More generally, the guidelines are here.
ADWR is exceptional. The vault is mostly open content, which can be freely used without permission on other open projects, except where explicitly stated otherwise, subject to the caveat about the Migration Wizard.
If you do manage to contact Valine, let me know. She has been very helpful in the past, but we haven’t heard from her in a while, and no one has been able to get hold of her.
Thanks for the link and advice. From what I have been able to find out, Valine has all but vanished. There seems to be a lot of folks in the communities that have been trying to contact her with no luck. Do you know of any protocols or rules set in place for projects or content that have been abandoned by their creator?
Personal opinion - where the author has explicitly withheld permission, using their work is arguably against the Vault guidelines, even if they can’t be contacted.
Past discussion of abandonware reuse suggests that the community generally approves if reasonable efforts have been made to touch base with the author, but draws the line at ignoring prohibitions or reposting to other sites.
That said, whatever you do is at your own risk. At the end of the day, only the original author can make a takedown request.
I don’t want to violate any of the rules or more importantly insult any of the contributors to the vault or other sites. I know how much time and energy goes into creating custom content. Thank you once again for your advice.