Reusing assets from another mod?

[AliceShiki]

Like... Is it okay to do that?

To be specific, there is a character mod I like (made by another person), that hasn't been updated in forever... I wanted to release a new version of said character mod, but with a handful of balance tweaks and with a skill tree added.

But like... Is it okay to do that? Or is it against the guidelines or something to reuse the assets that someone made for their own mod?

I dunno how to do art, so I figured I'd either need to pay someone to make a new character for me or I would need to use someone else's character assets... Figured I'd ask before I committed to anything.

[NPCMaxwell]

I can't give a direct answer to the question of re-using assets from an outdated mod but I can link to this tutorial here I have seen some time ago that is meant as a method to make own art assests without directly drawing them by hand: ( I may myself use this method myself at the end of my handdrawn sprites-drafts to clean up the lines, maybe. But it seems it can also be used to create sprites in the first place without needed to draw by hand )

 

maybe this is helpful to make a similar character to the mod's one.

[grm9]

pretty sure that it's fine, there are like 3 versions of action queue that got made by different people because author of previous version stopped updating the mod and iirc i've seen a few fix mods for character mods too

[lowercase skye]

Just give credit and a link to the existing mod in the description. Most anybody who's reasonable will be fine with it, seeing as it's already a mod for an existing game, but if they're not then they can just drop a comment and you can take the mod down and only keep it for personal use.

[Chesed]

55 minutes ago, AliceShiki said:

Or is it against the guidelines or something to reuse the assets that someone made for their own mod?

It is technically against the modding guidelines to reupload/rupdate/revamp/etc. another person's mod (or assets) without permission from that person to do so.

Even in the case where you are fixing a mod that no longer works, the original author can still apparently request for your mod to be removed if they are unhappy that you have copied it. Looking at the steam workshop itself though, I don't know how often this actually happens.

If you can't get permission and want to be completely sure your mod is safe to put on the public workshop, I recommend getting your own assets. If you are planning to use the mod privately, I don't think it really matters at all.

Edited May 25, 2024 by Chesed

[AliceShiki]

2 hours ago, Chesed said:

It is technically against the modding guidelines to reupload/rupdate/revamp/etc. another person's mod (or assets) without permission from that person to do so.

Even in the case where you are fixing a mod that no longer works, the original author can still apparently request for your mod to be removed if they are unhappy that you have copied it. Looking at the steam workshop itself though, I don't know how often this actually happens.

If you can't get permission and want to be completely sure your mod is safe to put on the public workshop, I recommend getting your own assets. If you are planning to use the mod privately, I don't think it really matters at all.

Oh, thank you very much for linking the modding guidelines! This was a huge help! I couldn't find this page myself until now!

Also, I think I'll be fine, actually, after reading those guidelines... Specifically...

Quote

In cases where a mod has been abandoned, unfinished or no longer compatible and has updated and reuploaded by another member; unless specifically stated otherwise the original mod will be considered abandoned and permitted to be stay unless otherwise directed in the orignal mods description or the original author requests removal; at which time the original mod will require specific permissions be added to the mod to deny re-use of the mod and the reuploaded mod will be removed.

This part makes it seem like I can try making my own version of a mod that hasn't been updated in forever. That actually is a big relief for me.

So, thank you very much!!!

2 hours ago, finn from human said:

Just give credit and a link to the existing mod in the description. Most anybody who's reasonable will be fine with it, seeing as it's already a mod for an existing game, but if they're not then they can just drop a comment and you can take the mod down and only keep it for personal use.

I'll definitely credit them appropriately though! ^^)7

2 hours ago, grm9 said:

pretty sure that it's fine, there are like 3 versions of action queue that got made by different people because author of previous version stopped updating the mod and iirc i've seen a few fix mods for character mods too

Ah, I saw a mod that was a revised version of a character mod before too, but I wasn't sure if it was allowed or not (as in, if the revised mod I saw was against the rules and just nobody did anything about it, or if it was actually okay). So it was nice to see the proper guidelines linked. Explaining that it's mostly not allowed (without permission), but it's fine for abandoned mods, unless the original creator says otherwise.

3 hours ago, NPCMaxwell said:

I can't give a direct answer to the question of re-using assets from an outdated mod but I can link to this tutorial here I have seen some time ago that is meant as a method to make own art assests without directly drawing them by hand: ( I may myself use this method myself at the end of my handdrawn sprites-drafts to clean up the lines, maybe. But it seems it can also be used to create sprites in the first place without needed to draw by hand )

 

maybe this is helpful to make a similar character to the mod's one.

Oh, thank you very much for that! I'll try taking a look! If I can make something by myself it would be even better than reusing the existing mod assets, so I'll take a look for sure!

And well, even if I don't use it now, I might still want to make more character mods in the future, so I'm still happy to see this resource! Thank you very much!!! ^^)/