FleetOps without original Armada II CD

posted on May 14th, 2012, 4:23 pm

OK. If I understand, Fleet Ops is an Open Source game, created by the fans of the strategy game ST Armada 2.  Very nice, all the respect for the developers, I love this game. But until now, the Fleet Ops is lunched having the ST Armada 2 original CD (or copy) in the CD Drive or mounted with a Virtual Drive Manager.

It's possible in the future to can play the Fleet Ops without help from ST Armada 2 ?

I know for a fact that they are already working on this and hopefully it was be in the next release, hell Doca made the original no cd patch

[Atlantisbase]

posted on May 15th, 2012, 4:08 am

Last edited by Atlantisbase on May 15th, 2012, 4:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

OK. If I understand, Fleet Ops is an Open Source game, created by the fans of the strategy game ST Armada 2.  Very nice, all the respect for the developers, I love this game. But until now, the Fleet Ops is lunched having the ST Armada 2 original CD (or copy) in the CD Drive or mounted with a Virtual Drive Manager.

It's possible in the future to can play the Fleet Ops without help from ST Armada 2 ?

First off, it should be clarified that FO is NOT an open source project, although certain aspects are "open" in so far as we can go into the game folder and see them. However, the code for the engine modifications is not public.

Now, regarding the issue of making the game play without a disk (physical or virtual) in a drive. Legally, the devs cannot alter the engine to do this, however there is a "no-cd" version of the main Armada2.exe (I believe made by Doca) which you can download and use as you see fit. This is unless the devs get permission to either release the game as a standalone game or obtain the full source code.

As to the charge of moving to an open source engine. The devs have said that they like working with the A2 engine and have no interest in either making their own or using another engine. Personally I can understand this decision. If you have ever programmed or done software development, then you know it is very hard to make a good end result. And, more importantly, it takes a long time unless you're doing it as a full time job. This is particularly true in 3D/game programming which requires a very particular set of skills.

The Star Trek Excalibur team (if you're not familiar with it, look them up) are writing their own engine and have been at it for a good five years and are probably only about half way there. I applaud them for this and Excalibur will probably be epic. So it is in no way easy, even if you have a base engine to start with; in fact in those situations it can sometimes be even harder because you have to work within the framework of the base engine that may or may not do what you need.

posted on May 16th, 2012, 12:38 pm

No-CD Cracks are illegal due to Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the USA and Copyright Directive in the EU or other national laws that implement the WIPO Copyright Treaty.

I am in fact quite astonished that you can modify a game so far without source code. If the original armada2.exe is modified or to do so parts of it have been reverse engineered and the End-user license agreement (EULA) forbids it, then Fleetops is illegal in countries where EULAs apply. In Germany however EULAs usually violate customers rights and are non-binding because you can't read them before buying the software. In the US some courts have ruled that the "I agree" to the license agreement at installation is valid and enforceable.

Using the title: "Star Trek Armada II": Fleet Operations might violate multiple trademarks.

By the way: there is a Spring RTS mod that is set in space so it should be possible to port Fleet Operations onto safe legal grounds (knowing that would be a lot of work...). The mod is called "Final Frontier" Final Frontier Windows game - Mod DB

posted on May 16th, 2012, 2:02 pm

OK. If I understand, Fleet Ops is an Open Source game, created by the fans of the strategy game ST Armada 2.  Very nice, all the respect for the developers, I love this game. But until now, the Fleet Ops is lunched having the ST Armada 2 original CD (or copy) in the CD Drive or mounted with a Virtual Drive Manager.

It's possible in the future to can play the Fleet Ops without help from ST Armada 2 ?

Its not open source at all, the devs use hooks and injection methods that patch code.

posted on May 16th, 2012, 2:47 pm

No-CD Cracks are illegal due to Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the USA and Copyright Directive in the EU or other national laws that implement the WIPO Copyright Treaty.

I am in fact quite astonished that you can modify a game so far without source code. If the original armada2.exe is modified or to do so parts of it have been reverse engineered and the End-user license agreement (EULA) forbids it, then Fleetops is illegal in countries where EULAs apply. In Germany however EULAs usually violate customers rights and are non-binding because you can't read them before buying the software. In the US some courts have ruled that the "I agree" to the license agreement at installation is valid and enforceable.

Using the title: "Star Trek Armada II": Fleet Operations might violate multiple trademarks.

Ehh... are you some kind of lawyer? In any case, I doubt that it is illegal to use a noCD-crack if you own the game. I have a CD but I'm using a image I made of it and I'm feeling good with that.

posted on May 16th, 2012, 3:24 pm

To clarify some stuff, we are not in violation of any copyright or EULA laws.

posted on May 16th, 2012, 3:49 pm

To clarify some stuff, we are not in violation of any copyright or EULA laws.

Thanks Dominus. I think the OP found a legal solution to choose from. Feel free to open a new discussion thread in the appropriate section. Closed.