Warzone 2100 Forums

i know that the FMV-s were not published along with the source,but IF i have the original game(i don't want to use it,because it crashes and it's graphics...arent too good),is there some way for me to make those vids work?
and if there is...how?

I think the dev-team completely removed support (and capability) for FMV playback.

If this is the case, then I think they need to seriously consider reinstating it.  Removing it for the users that have retail copies (like me) who enjoy the movies is unfair

FMV playback was never released as open source I'm afraid.

yeah... afaik, the codec code for rpl's was never included in the first place, and what was left was not useful enough to keep around. since then, it would seem that, at least in svn, ogg video support was included to some degree.

you can safely assume that, for the security of our project, we will never include the ability to play rpl's as was done in the original, even if a free rpl decoder became available. best bet would be to hope for that free decoder being magically developed, as well as its integration with something like mencoder or ffmpeg, at which point we can include retail cd detection and rpl ripping in the warzone installer, without fearing any legal action against us.

best off would be to find an artist that could make some still images to storyboard the cut scenes to give something  better then just the blank screen and text..  see how people wold react to that.. then if the dev team got big enough then yould be able to find someone to make unique FMVs for the project that are being origional not within the constraints of copyright infringement.

DFStormbringer wrote: best off would be to find an artist that could make some still images to storyboard the cut scenes to give something  better then just the blank screen and text..  see how people wold react to that.. then if the dev team got big enough then yould be able to find someone to make unique FMVs for the project that are being origional not within the constraints of copyright infringement.

there's already something like that going on... search around.

This is still an issue that rubs me the wrong way.

What someone needs to do is convert the movies to divX or MPEG format and then create a branch in the source for FMV support.  That would be awesome, but it seems like that would piss some people off around here.  Are the naysayers opposed to the FMVs, or are they just afraid of legal action?

Chojun wrote: What someone needs to do is convert the movies to divX or MPEG format and then create a branch in the source for FMV support.

Do you mean:

• a) implement FMV playback support in the Warzone codebase for some non-RPL codec (obviously we won't go with any MPEG variant, but that should not be any problem at all)
• b) convert the RPLs to the codec implemented in Warzone

Chojun wrote: That would be awesome, but it seems like that would piss some people off around here.  Are the naysayers opposed to the FMVs, or are they just afraid of legal action?

If (a) and (b) is what you mean then I'm pretty sure nobody objects (a). As for (b), I'm pretty it isn't fully legal to convert those RPLs and host them somewhere. Distributing a special crafted decoder program which could decode RPLs to whatever code Warzone will use will most likely be legal though. That would however exclude everyone who doesn't have the original CDs from being able to legally obtain these FMVs. Therefore I'm opposed to providing such an RPL decoder without providing our own FMVs as well. Since otherwise we'd basically be motivating people to use the proprietary FMVs, whether legally or illegally doesn't matter there IMO. (Yes I'm a free as in speech guy.)

I dont know what is the problem to implement video support in wz. Someone already converted original wz movie http://wz2100.net/forum/http://localhos ... 5068#p5068 (at list a think that this is from orininal video). So in that topic seems that ogg format was selected for future support I gess . Or I'm wrong ?

About storing converted video ..its not a problem as for me....Up load it on rapidshara & that it. or use p2p client emula, bittorrent.  Just let Russians to download movies & it will in the whole world for free (there is no law for them Belive me Task for DEVS is only to implement video support everything else Funs can do by themselves.

ok if we cant use the fmv's from the retail warzone, what about the verbal script in the fmv's?
im not really used to having to comply with copyright stuff, so i need a little help with what is allowed were someone take on the project of creating new fmv's.
for example i take it if someone completly created there own work that happened to look exactly like the retail fmv's i assume that is still an infringment.
so then that leads me to wonder if the script for the fmv's needs to be noticably different too?
which in turn makes me think we need to rewrite the whole plot of the game (subtlely) to incorperate bespoke fmv's and verbal scripts.

also, if someone were to take on the task, what would be the best generic output file for later conversion to whatever, e.g can you use .avi files as a starting point and convert them if needed to another format.

the reason i ask in so much detail is i am hardware myself, but i have a few friends in graphics who, although not into the warzone scene, they are into doing favors for me ...i just dont want to approach them for help unless i have all the answers to questions they would ask me.

Well, my idea is -instead of fmvs- to rewrite the story a bit.
That it can be telled by nice voice acting and semi static pictures. Maybe here and there a small fmv.

See http://youtube.com/watch?v=e3w11PkhObM for an example.
(The video is very silence)

Well, i think on this way we can make the campaign much more emotional.

GiGaBaNE wrote: for example i take it if someone completly created there own work that happened to look exactly like the retail fmv's i assume that is still an infringment.

Nope, that only applies in patent law, and videos cannot be patented. You're probably safer though if you wouldn't make them look "exactly" the same, some small (but noticeable!) differences would probably be best.

GiGaBaNE wrote: so then that leads me to wonder if the script for the fmv's needs to be noticably different too?

Nope, not necessary, since you cannot copyright the script (well you *can* copyright the precise text of a script, but that cannot legally prevent anyone from using that script). In other words: since we don't have the literal script (as by the game designers) we cannot violate copyright law by basing new FMVs off, of what we think is the script.

GiGaBaNE wrote: which in turn makes me think we need to rewrite the whole plot of the game (subtlely) to incorperate bespoke fmv's and verbal scripts.

as stated above, this is not necessary.

GiGaBaNE wrote: also, if someone were to take on the task, what would be the best generic output file for later conversion to whatever, e.g can you use .avi files as a starting point and convert them if needed to another format.

Any uncompressed (or losslessly compressed) format would do, so uncompressed avi would probably work.

Thanks for the heads up, ill see what i can do. not promising anything mind, but ill try to get the mission cutscenes fleshed out in avi form..

hehe we gonna need someone to do the voice acting cos you won't catch me putting my voice on a machine

whoever's on the receiving end of those avi's would probably be a lot happier if they were bz2 compessed

i have to reiterate that it would fall into fair use to (eventually) create some kind of conversion tool that'll rip the original rpl's into some other format for use with wzr, for those that wanted to use to originals... think freedoom vs the actual buyable "doom"... all the source ports that i've seen can use either, and those that bought the actual game can use either.

i been looking into this whole motion video thing and i really want to learn a bit for myself too. im thinking of getting some software to practice on such as maya and motionbuilder...
i dont have the greatest memory, but i have a bucketload of determination, so if i pick just one program to work with i can master it.

now. what would you guys reccomend i get into if i want a program that can help me both make fmv's AND work on in game models and stuff.
idealy i want something that is as commercial as possible, because if im gonna sit for hundreds of hours mastering a new skill, i may as well be able to earn some money from it.

i have heard of 3ds max, rhino, maya, Lightwave e.t.c but know very little about the market.
also what about programs like Beyond Virtual .
basicly i wanna learn just one program for now that will allow me to contribute to the war(zone) effort, and also allow me to benefit from it in the real world.