It won't. We are not there yet (still almost nothing to show from an end-user perspective) and it looks like I might have some downtime next week too, which will slow things down further. Also, we will need extensive RC testing this time, since there were quite a few substantial changes to the code.I will be going out of town starting somewhere around August 3rd and will be unable to make videos for a week or two... my apologies if 0.17 comes out in that time.
OpenMW Faq Video
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
In EU too :)Is this legal?
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
Will you have this flashy feature? DX 11, bump mapping, god rays etc.
I discovered a bug! What do I do?
Are you going to enhance the experience anything, to resemble features from later games? E.g. on keypress spellcasting, mana regeneration, dual wielding etc.
Are you going to implement features that will make the learning curve on how to play Morrowind less steep?
Will I need Tribunal and Bloodmoon to play it?
Where can I buy Morrowind? And Steam combatibility etc.
I discovered a bug! What do I do?
Are you going to enhance the experience anything, to resemble features from later games? E.g. on keypress spellcasting, mana regeneration, dual wielding etc.
Are you going to implement features that will make the learning curve on how to play Morrowind less steep?
Will I need Tribunal and Bloodmoon to play it?
Where can I buy Morrowind? And Steam combatibility etc.
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
Hey guys, sorry for slow progress on this. My life is more weird than sexy lately.
Anyway. I've come to realize that there are two many questions to answer in one video and, even if I did, more questions will come up in the future as the project reaches different milestones on the way to 1.0 and beyond.
I propose splitting questions up across multiple videos and then and then adding more videos as more questions arise. We could just title the videos "OpenMW FAQ X of Y", accordingly.
I think for the first video we should concentrate on the basics of the project and our design goals, a second video could cover post 1.0 development and the requests for lavish features that we often get.
Here is a draft of Q & A for the first video. I've put things I need help with in brackets. I'm not known for my writing skills and I'm notoriously bad at explaining things, so please suggest edits for my writing as far as additional information, clarification, brevity, or just to make things sound better.
Q: What is Open Morrowind?
A: Open Morrowind, or OpenMW, is an open source game engine that features loading code for Morrowind's art assets and game data. Our engine is written in C++ and is using OGRE 3D for graphics rendering, and the Bullet physics library for physics and collision. OpenMW is cross-platform and we maintain packages for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The goal of OpenMW is not to improve the game assets or add additional features, but to provide and open and modernized platform to play Morrowind on and to provide the community with additional modding capabilities. On that note, OpenMW is not a mod although it is commonly referred to as such. It understandable that some people might refer to it as a mod, rather than an “engine replacer”, for convenience's sake. But there seem to be many who might not understand the distinction. Remember that OpenMW is a standalone piece of software that has no dependency on the original engine or construction set.
Q: Why is OpenMW needed?
A: Morrowind's engine is old and it wasn't great when it was released. Even after Bethesda's patches and community efforts to make the game stable, there are still some significant bugs in the game [Good Examples?]. Morrowind was released before Windows XP had its first service pack and before Vista and 7 had even been thought of, never mind the other systems that OpenMW supports. It was designed to run on single-core processors and graphics hardware that would belong in a museum today. OpenMW is a much more modern engine designed to take advantage of the advancements in computing hardware that we've seen since Morrowind's release and to perform much better on newer systems.
Q: What are the advantages of using OpenMW
A: OpenMW allows you to play Morrowind natively on Windows, Mac, and Linux. OpenMW brings several graphical enhancements such as dynamic shadow casting, support for widescreen resolutions, and better looking water complete with reflections. There are also several improvements to the game's user interface such as a better journal and alchemy window. The real advantage to OpenMW is the near-limitless modding potential our new editor will bring along with the open-source nature of the project.
Q: What will OpenMW allow modders to do?
A: [People say “yeah yeah, gives modders more power and flexiblility, what exactly does that mean?”. So what are some good examples to get people excited? Removing artificial level caps and other limits is one. Let's have some others!]
Q: Will OpenMW support existing mods?
A: OpenMW will support Morrowind, its expansions Tribunal and Bloodmoon, and all existing mods official and unofficial.
[I'd like to make a distinction between supporting standard mods (i.e. .esp/.esm) and the utility type programs that people know as being mods. Morrowind Graphics Extender, Morrowind Code Patch, Morrowind Script Extender, etc. Many of these things OpenMW will hopefully make obsolete or unnecessary. But, if we don't integrate the extra functions of MWSE, will the original still work with OpenMW? I'm unsure of the compatibility of these things, so what should I say about it?]
Q: What are the system requirements?
A: Your graphics hardware must at least be Shader Model 3 compliant. It is recommended that you have up-to-date drivers installed for your hardware. Most reasonably modern systems will run OpenMW without a hitch. As of the making of this video, OpenMW is still very much a work in progress and will be more optimized in the future. OpenMW will be more demanding than the original engine, but because of its modern design, it quite possibly might run faster and certainly more stable than a heavily modded Morrowind does today.
Q: Do I need to own Morrowind to use OpenMW?
A: You do need to own Morrowind to play using OpenMW. OpenMW looks for a directory on your system containing the 'Data Files' section of an existing installation of Morrowind. That 'Data Files' folder contains all of the art assets and game data from Morrowind and is the only thing OpenMW needs to be playable. It has become difficult to find a retail copy of Morrowind, but it is currently available on Steam and that version works just as well.
Q: Is OpenMW legal?
A: OpenMW is legal in the U.S. Patent laws vary by country, but to our knowledge, OpenMW is legal everywhere. Any code in our engine that replicates the functionality of the original has been written as a product of clean reverse engineering. OpenMW does not distribute any content whatsoever belonging to Morrowind. Zenimax would have a very weak case if the wanted to sue us for some reason, but it would be hard to think of a reason why they'd want to. If anything, OpenMW will encourage a few more people to buy Morrowind. It certainly doesn't give you any way to play it for free. We've asked Bethesda to release the formulae for various game mechanics in the past. Representatives of the company politely denied our request but nodded their heads and wished us luck. Legal action isn't something we are particularly worried about.
Q: Epic project! How may I contribute?
A: There is plenty to do. We have sections on our forums for people interested in joining the effort. If you are a programmer with C++ experience, post on the “New Developers Applications” section of our forums and we can get you started on a job that fits your skills and the amount of time you are able to commit. If you aren't a programmer, but still want to help, there are plenty of things you can do still. Have a look at the “Join the Team” section of our forums for information on non-coding jobs. These tasks include raising awareness of the project and reverse engineering game mechanics among other things. After all, the person you hear speaking doesn't do anything but make videos!
[I'll say something else about reporting bugs. Can someone detail the bug reporting process? I've never done this myself, regrettably.]
Anyway. I've come to realize that there are two many questions to answer in one video and, even if I did, more questions will come up in the future as the project reaches different milestones on the way to 1.0 and beyond.
I propose splitting questions up across multiple videos and then and then adding more videos as more questions arise. We could just title the videos "OpenMW FAQ X of Y", accordingly.
I think for the first video we should concentrate on the basics of the project and our design goals, a second video could cover post 1.0 development and the requests for lavish features that we often get.
Here is a draft of Q & A for the first video. I've put things I need help with in brackets. I'm not known for my writing skills and I'm notoriously bad at explaining things, so please suggest edits for my writing as far as additional information, clarification, brevity, or just to make things sound better.
Q: What is Open Morrowind?
A: Open Morrowind, or OpenMW, is an open source game engine that features loading code for Morrowind's art assets and game data. Our engine is written in C++ and is using OGRE 3D for graphics rendering, and the Bullet physics library for physics and collision. OpenMW is cross-platform and we maintain packages for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The goal of OpenMW is not to improve the game assets or add additional features, but to provide and open and modernized platform to play Morrowind on and to provide the community with additional modding capabilities. On that note, OpenMW is not a mod although it is commonly referred to as such. It understandable that some people might refer to it as a mod, rather than an “engine replacer”, for convenience's sake. But there seem to be many who might not understand the distinction. Remember that OpenMW is a standalone piece of software that has no dependency on the original engine or construction set.
Q: Why is OpenMW needed?
A: Morrowind's engine is old and it wasn't great when it was released. Even after Bethesda's patches and community efforts to make the game stable, there are still some significant bugs in the game [Good Examples?]. Morrowind was released before Windows XP had its first service pack and before Vista and 7 had even been thought of, never mind the other systems that OpenMW supports. It was designed to run on single-core processors and graphics hardware that would belong in a museum today. OpenMW is a much more modern engine designed to take advantage of the advancements in computing hardware that we've seen since Morrowind's release and to perform much better on newer systems.
Q: What are the advantages of using OpenMW
A: OpenMW allows you to play Morrowind natively on Windows, Mac, and Linux. OpenMW brings several graphical enhancements such as dynamic shadow casting, support for widescreen resolutions, and better looking water complete with reflections. There are also several improvements to the game's user interface such as a better journal and alchemy window. The real advantage to OpenMW is the near-limitless modding potential our new editor will bring along with the open-source nature of the project.
Q: What will OpenMW allow modders to do?
A: [People say “yeah yeah, gives modders more power and flexiblility, what exactly does that mean?”. So what are some good examples to get people excited? Removing artificial level caps and other limits is one. Let's have some others!]
Q: Will OpenMW support existing mods?
A: OpenMW will support Morrowind, its expansions Tribunal and Bloodmoon, and all existing mods official and unofficial.
[I'd like to make a distinction between supporting standard mods (i.e. .esp/.esm) and the utility type programs that people know as being mods. Morrowind Graphics Extender, Morrowind Code Patch, Morrowind Script Extender, etc. Many of these things OpenMW will hopefully make obsolete or unnecessary. But, if we don't integrate the extra functions of MWSE, will the original still work with OpenMW? I'm unsure of the compatibility of these things, so what should I say about it?]
Q: What are the system requirements?
A: Your graphics hardware must at least be Shader Model 3 compliant. It is recommended that you have up-to-date drivers installed for your hardware. Most reasonably modern systems will run OpenMW without a hitch. As of the making of this video, OpenMW is still very much a work in progress and will be more optimized in the future. OpenMW will be more demanding than the original engine, but because of its modern design, it quite possibly might run faster and certainly more stable than a heavily modded Morrowind does today.
Q: Do I need to own Morrowind to use OpenMW?
A: You do need to own Morrowind to play using OpenMW. OpenMW looks for a directory on your system containing the 'Data Files' section of an existing installation of Morrowind. That 'Data Files' folder contains all of the art assets and game data from Morrowind and is the only thing OpenMW needs to be playable. It has become difficult to find a retail copy of Morrowind, but it is currently available on Steam and that version works just as well.
Q: Is OpenMW legal?
A: OpenMW is legal in the U.S. Patent laws vary by country, but to our knowledge, OpenMW is legal everywhere. Any code in our engine that replicates the functionality of the original has been written as a product of clean reverse engineering. OpenMW does not distribute any content whatsoever belonging to Morrowind. Zenimax would have a very weak case if the wanted to sue us for some reason, but it would be hard to think of a reason why they'd want to. If anything, OpenMW will encourage a few more people to buy Morrowind. It certainly doesn't give you any way to play it for free. We've asked Bethesda to release the formulae for various game mechanics in the past. Representatives of the company politely denied our request but nodded their heads and wished us luck. Legal action isn't something we are particularly worried about.
Q: Epic project! How may I contribute?
A: There is plenty to do. We have sections on our forums for people interested in joining the effort. If you are a programmer with C++ experience, post on the “New Developers Applications” section of our forums and we can get you started on a job that fits your skills and the amount of time you are able to commit. If you aren't a programmer, but still want to help, there are plenty of things you can do still. Have a look at the “Join the Team” section of our forums for information on non-coding jobs. These tasks include raising awareness of the project and reverse engineering game mechanics among other things. After all, the person you hear speaking doesn't do anything but make videos!
[I'll say something else about reporting bugs. Can someone detail the bug reporting process? I've never done this myself, regrettably.]
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
Okay, here is what I can come up with quickly. I hope others can fill in the rest.
I am not sure what you mean with "artificial level caps" though.
We are talking about post 1.0 OpenMW? A few examples: Additional attributes, additional skills, changing the formulae and the game mechanics. A non hack-ish way to implement scripted spells.Q: What will OpenMW allow modders to do?
A: [People say “yeah yeah, gives modders more power and flexiblility, what exactly does that mean?”. So what are some good examples to get people excited? Removing artificial level caps and other limits is one. Let's have some others!]
I am not sure what you mean with "artificial level caps" though.
What you call an utility type program will not work with OpenMW. No chance.Q: Will OpenMW support existing mods?
A: OpenMW will support Morrowind, its expansions Tribunal and Bloodmoon, and all existing mods official and unofficial.
[I'd like to make a distinction between supporting standard mods (i.e. .esp/.esm) and the utility type programs that people know as being mods. Morrowind Graphics Extender, Morrowind Code Patch, Morrowind Script Extender, etc. Many of these things OpenMW will hopefully make obsolete or unnecessary. But, if we don't integrate the extra functions of MWSE, will the original still work with OpenMW? I'm unsure of the compatibility of these things, so what should I say about it?]
Shouldn't that be copyright law instead?Q: Is OpenMW legal?
A: OpenMW is legal in the U.S. Patent laws vary by country,
We don't have a formal procedure for reporting a bug. Starting by making a posting on the forum is okay. We also accept bug reports on or issue tracker. There really isn't much to it.[I'll say something else about reporting bugs. Can someone detail the bug reporting process? I've never done this myself, regrettably.]
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
IANAL, but copyright law should not be a problem. OpenMW does not distribute Morrowind code or data files, so as long as that is the case, things should be fine. If people start disassembling the binaries and base code on that, you start to enter a grey area, but I guess (hope) nobody is doing that. ReactOS had some problems with that in the past.Zini wrote:Shouldn't that be copyright law instead?Q: Is OpenMW legal?
A: OpenMW is legal in the U.S. Patent laws vary by country,
Patent laws however, I would be surprised if OpenMW didn't violate any US patent (although if they would be held up in court is an other thing, they are mostly used in a cold war between US companies and many FOSS projects would have problems). I know that people from Europe should be fine, because their law doesn't allow software patents. For the rest of the world, I don't know, but if you don't get claims from the US, OpenMW should be fine from the rest.
These rules also apply for good bug reports:Zini wrote:We don't have a formal procedure for reporting a bug. Starting by making a posting on the forum is okay. We also accept bug reports on or issue tracker. There really isn't much to it.[I'll say something else about reporting bugs. Can someone detail the bug reporting process? I've never done this myself, regrettably.]
http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Many other projects also have good bug reporting guidelines.
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
Copyright law doesn't only apply to direct copying, it can also apply if something is "close enough" to another. You can make something yourself by hand, and still violate copyright in some circumstances. IANAL as well, and there's a lot of special cases when dealing with all this though, so I couldn't say what the actual criteria is, let alone whether OpenMW would fall under them.Myckel wrote:IANAL, but copyright law should not be a problem. OpenMW does not distribute Morrowind code or data files, so as long as that is the case, things should be fine.
I'd be surprised if any software doesn't violate any patent. Thanks to submarine patents, and how patent applications don't get the scrutiny they should before being granted, it's literally impossible to know whether a piece of software violates some patent somewhere. With the amount of patents there are, the rate at which they're made, and the ambiguity of a number of them, the only thing a software developer can do is work under the assumption that there is no patent until someone shows something (and even then the patent may or may not be valid, only a court could determine that).Patent laws however, I would be surprised if OpenMW didn't violate any US patent
Even if we could check all of Bethesda's software-related patents, both granted and pending, there's no guarantee someone else doesn't have something and that Bethesda themselves weren't in violation, and thanks to patent laws, patent holders can pick and choose who to go after... they're not required to act against violations like with copyright.
-
sirherrbatka
- Posts: 2159
- Joined: 07 Aug 2011, 17:21
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
Other thing that can be done for modders is the ability to play animations on the player.
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
Most of the time, copyright is only 'applied' if the holder decides to do something. Seeing as how Bethesda knows of this project and have practically given a blessing, I doubt anything will happen.
Oh, and also I think if people want to ask if its illegal, they should just not bother. It is only the authors that need to worry in this case, its not like the copyright police are going to come and bust down the door of anyone who dwnloads it.
Oh, and also I think if people want to ask if its illegal, they should just not bother. It is only the authors that need to worry in this case, its not like the copyright police are going to come and bust down the door of anyone who dwnloads it.
Re: OpenMW Faq Video
Ok then, this looks good for the first video?
Q: What is Open Morrowind?
A: Open Morrowind, or OpenMW, is an open source game engine that features loading code for Morrowind's art assets and game data. Our engine is written in C++ and is using OGRE 3D for graphics rendering, and the Bullet physics library for physics and collision. OpenMW is cross-platform and we maintain packages for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The goal of OpenMW is not to improve the game assets or add additional features, but to provide an open and modernized platform to play Morrowind on and to provide the community with additional modding capabilities. On that note, OpenMW is not a mod although it is commonly referred to as such. It's understandable that some people might refer to it as a mod, rather than an “engine replacer”, for convenience's sake. But there seem to be many who might not understand the distinction. Remember that OpenMW is a standalone piece of software that has no dependency on the original engine or construction set.
Q: Why is OpenMW needed?
A: Morrowind's engine is very old and it wasn't great when it was released. Even after Bethesda's patches and community efforts to make the game stable, there are still some significant bugs in the game. Morrowind was released before Windows XP had its first service pack and before Vista and 7 had even been thought of, never mind the other systems that OpenMW supports. It was designed to run on single-core processors and graphics hardware that would belong in a museum today. OpenMW is a much more modern engine designed to take advantage of the advancements in computing hardware that we've seen since Morrowind's release and to perform much better on newer systems.
Q: What are the advantages of using OpenMW
A: OpenMW allows you to play Morrowind natively on Windows, Mac, and Linux. OpenMW brings several graphical enhancements such as dynamic shadow casting, support for widescreen resolutions, and nicer looking water complete with reflections. There are also several improvements to the game's user interface such as a better journal and alchemy window. The real advantage to OpenMW is the near-limitless modding potential our new editor will bring and the open-source nature of the project.
Q: What will OpenMW allow modders to do?
A: Pretty much anything thing in the game that you could think of to mod, you'll be able to mod. A few examples would be adding new attributes and skills, altering the formulae that define game mechanics, and a way to define scripted spells; All of which are not currently possible in Morrowind. Or, at least not without ugly hacks in the case of scripted spells.
Q: Will OpenMW support existing mods?
A: OpenMW will support Morrowind, its expansions Tribunal and Bloodmoon, and all existing mods official and unofficial. Please be aware that this compatibility only extends to standard mods, meaning those that come as a .esp or .esm with whatever additional textures, meshes, and sounds they require. Attempting to use something that is actually a separate program, like Morrowind Code Patch or Morrowind Graphics Extender will not work. Of course, part of the point of OpenMW is that you won't need them.
Q: What are the system requirements?
A: Your graphics hardware must at least be Shader Model 3 compliant. It is recommended that you have up-to-date drivers installed for your hardware. Most reasonably modern systems will run OpenMW without a hiccup. As of the making of this video, OpenMW is still very much a work in progress and will become more optimized in the future. OpenMW will be more demanding than the original engine, but because of its modern design, it quite possibly might run faster and certainly more stable than a heavily modded Morrowind does today.
Q: Do I need to own Morrowind to use OpenMW?
A: You do need to own Morrowind to play using OpenMW. OpenMW looks for a directory on your system containing the 'Data Files' section of an existing installation of Morrowind. That 'Data Files' folder contains all of the art assets and game data from Morrowind and is the only thing OpenMW needs to be playable. It has become difficult to find a retail copy of Morrowind, but it is currently available on Steam and that version works equally as well.
Q: Is OpenMW legal?
A: OpenMW is definitely legal in the U.S. Copyright laws vary by country, but to our knowledge, OpenMW is legal everywhere. Any code in our engine that replicates the functionality of the original has been written as a product of clean reverse engineering. OpenMW does not distribute any content whatsoever belonging to Bethesda Softworks, or Zenimax Media. Zenimax would have a very weak case if the wanted to sue us for some reason, but it would be hard to think of a reason why they'd want to. If anything, OpenMW will encourage a few more people to buy and play Morrowind. It certainly doesn't give you any way to play it for free. We've asked Bethesda to release the formulae for various game mechanics in the past. Representatives of the company politely denied our request but nodded their heads and wished us luck. Legal action isn't something we are particularly worried about.
Q: Epic project! How may I contribute?
A: There is plenty to do. We have sections on our forums for people interested in joining the effort. If you are a programmer with C++ experience, post on the “New Developers Applications” section of our forums and we can get you started on a job that fits your skills and the amount of time you are able to commit to the project. If you aren't a programmer, but still want to help, there are plenty of things you can do still. Have a look at the “Join the Team” section of our forums for information on non-coding jobs. These tasks include raising awareness of the project, reverse engineering game mechanics, testing and reporting bugs. Anyone is welcome to report a bug. To do so, either make a post on our forums describing it or register on our issue tracker at bugs.openmw.org. Please remember to provide a detailed description about the bug including how to reproduce it and information about your computer's hardware.
Q: What is Open Morrowind?
A: Open Morrowind, or OpenMW, is an open source game engine that features loading code for Morrowind's art assets and game data. Our engine is written in C++ and is using OGRE 3D for graphics rendering, and the Bullet physics library for physics and collision. OpenMW is cross-platform and we maintain packages for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The goal of OpenMW is not to improve the game assets or add additional features, but to provide an open and modernized platform to play Morrowind on and to provide the community with additional modding capabilities. On that note, OpenMW is not a mod although it is commonly referred to as such. It's understandable that some people might refer to it as a mod, rather than an “engine replacer”, for convenience's sake. But there seem to be many who might not understand the distinction. Remember that OpenMW is a standalone piece of software that has no dependency on the original engine or construction set.
Q: Why is OpenMW needed?
A: Morrowind's engine is very old and it wasn't great when it was released. Even after Bethesda's patches and community efforts to make the game stable, there are still some significant bugs in the game. Morrowind was released before Windows XP had its first service pack and before Vista and 7 had even been thought of, never mind the other systems that OpenMW supports. It was designed to run on single-core processors and graphics hardware that would belong in a museum today. OpenMW is a much more modern engine designed to take advantage of the advancements in computing hardware that we've seen since Morrowind's release and to perform much better on newer systems.
Q: What are the advantages of using OpenMW
A: OpenMW allows you to play Morrowind natively on Windows, Mac, and Linux. OpenMW brings several graphical enhancements such as dynamic shadow casting, support for widescreen resolutions, and nicer looking water complete with reflections. There are also several improvements to the game's user interface such as a better journal and alchemy window. The real advantage to OpenMW is the near-limitless modding potential our new editor will bring and the open-source nature of the project.
Q: What will OpenMW allow modders to do?
A: Pretty much anything thing in the game that you could think of to mod, you'll be able to mod. A few examples would be adding new attributes and skills, altering the formulae that define game mechanics, and a way to define scripted spells; All of which are not currently possible in Morrowind. Or, at least not without ugly hacks in the case of scripted spells.
Q: Will OpenMW support existing mods?
A: OpenMW will support Morrowind, its expansions Tribunal and Bloodmoon, and all existing mods official and unofficial. Please be aware that this compatibility only extends to standard mods, meaning those that come as a .esp or .esm with whatever additional textures, meshes, and sounds they require. Attempting to use something that is actually a separate program, like Morrowind Code Patch or Morrowind Graphics Extender will not work. Of course, part of the point of OpenMW is that you won't need them.
Q: What are the system requirements?
A: Your graphics hardware must at least be Shader Model 3 compliant. It is recommended that you have up-to-date drivers installed for your hardware. Most reasonably modern systems will run OpenMW without a hiccup. As of the making of this video, OpenMW is still very much a work in progress and will become more optimized in the future. OpenMW will be more demanding than the original engine, but because of its modern design, it quite possibly might run faster and certainly more stable than a heavily modded Morrowind does today.
Q: Do I need to own Morrowind to use OpenMW?
A: You do need to own Morrowind to play using OpenMW. OpenMW looks for a directory on your system containing the 'Data Files' section of an existing installation of Morrowind. That 'Data Files' folder contains all of the art assets and game data from Morrowind and is the only thing OpenMW needs to be playable. It has become difficult to find a retail copy of Morrowind, but it is currently available on Steam and that version works equally as well.
Q: Is OpenMW legal?
A: OpenMW is definitely legal in the U.S. Copyright laws vary by country, but to our knowledge, OpenMW is legal everywhere. Any code in our engine that replicates the functionality of the original has been written as a product of clean reverse engineering. OpenMW does not distribute any content whatsoever belonging to Bethesda Softworks, or Zenimax Media. Zenimax would have a very weak case if the wanted to sue us for some reason, but it would be hard to think of a reason why they'd want to. If anything, OpenMW will encourage a few more people to buy and play Morrowind. It certainly doesn't give you any way to play it for free. We've asked Bethesda to release the formulae for various game mechanics in the past. Representatives of the company politely denied our request but nodded their heads and wished us luck. Legal action isn't something we are particularly worried about.
Q: Epic project! How may I contribute?
A: There is plenty to do. We have sections on our forums for people interested in joining the effort. If you are a programmer with C++ experience, post on the “New Developers Applications” section of our forums and we can get you started on a job that fits your skills and the amount of time you are able to commit to the project. If you aren't a programmer, but still want to help, there are plenty of things you can do still. Have a look at the “Join the Team” section of our forums for information on non-coding jobs. These tasks include raising awareness of the project, reverse engineering game mechanics, testing and reporting bugs. Anyone is welcome to report a bug. To do so, either make a post on our forums describing it or register on our issue tracker at bugs.openmw.org. Please remember to provide a detailed description about the bug including how to reproduce it and information about your computer's hardware.