[Goober5000]

Returning to the ever-controversial subject of MVEs, I managed to stumble upon this thread dating from about a year ago.  Apparently, someone found a MVE player, with source code, and posted a link on this thread on Warpcore.

Short question: is it permissible for the SCP to include this code?

[WMCoolmon]

Inqui's response will probably be "Not a good idea".

Someone brought up the idea of making it a DLL, though. That might work; just develop some code to check for movie DLLs, load them into memory and use their movie playing function to play the file.

I'd await the real Inquisitor's response, though.

[Hippo]

it would be a huge download, and probably illegal, but you could send the files as .EXE as an optional download

(you didn't hear this from me)

[Bobboau]

seeing as we have a movie player that suports whatever codec you have, could we posably make an MVE codec?

[redmenace]

or we could download the avi conversion tool and just do that instead of implementing code that might make [V] mad at us. Just convert to avi and play that instead. This way it is down to the individual and not us as a group. People if they would like could even then convert and compress to DIVX also.

[redmenace]

umm ok i think that was code made for the Fallout. I tried to convert the mves of FS2 and it doesn't work. Besides by admission of the authors it is illegal to use the converter and probably the code as well.

[Inquisitor]

Again, I'll ask why look backwards instead of forwards?

The only thing the MVE player will get us is backwards compatibility with the main campaign, which runs fine with the production exe?

It's illegal (though nobody seems to be left to enforce it) and seems like we're getting less, since modders don;t really have tha bility to make mves?

What's the compelling argument?

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by Inquisitor
What's the compelling argument?

backwards compatibility with the main campaign

It's illegal

What, exactly, is?

and seems like we're getting less

But this would be in addition to the existing movie player code.


EDIT: Perhaps we could, at the very least, build in EXE support - so that people who converted the MVEs could play them that way...

[CP5670]

It's illegal (though nobody seems to be left to enforce it)

Actually, in that case it would be legal, right? (since laws only exist as far as they can be enforced) I don't think this legal thing is so much of a problem; if Interplay somehow finds out and tells us to remove it (unlikely at this stage), that should be done easily enough and there will be no trouble.

More of an issue is how to actually get it working. There is an mve player going around on the internet, but it is for the Fallout games which seem to have a different mve format from the FS games.

[Bobboau]

our mve format is the same as Baulder's gate, go into there comunity and see if anyone has made anything

[Terorist]

Originally posted by Goober5000
EDIT: Perhaps we could, at the very least, build in EXE support - so that people who converted the MVEs could play them that way...

Sounds good actually... shouldn't be hard to implement.

[Scuddie]

OK, hold it...  What we can do is ask [V] for an official DLL for MVE support.  If they agree, then all is well .

[Galemp]

And if they don't?

[Killfrenzy]

If they don't (which is very likely) then we'll stick with the currently implemented AVI support which most animation packages produce!

[Grey Wolf]

Not quite sure how legal this is, but it converts MVEs to AVIs:
removed
And the readme seems to me to suggest that it supports Baldur's Gate MVE files:
removed
Would this not fix our problems?

EDIT: Shoot, missed the warning at the top of the readme. This program is illegal, so we can't advocate its use.

[Grey Wolf]

http://www.necrotech.de/software/fmv/index.html
This one seems a bit less illegal, since no reverse engineering was used.

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
http://www.necrotech.de/software/fmv/index.html
This one seems a bit less illegal, since no reverse engineering was used.

Umm reverse engineering is 100% legal. Its basing your work on the copywrite owners work that's illegal.

[redmenace]

Originally posted by redmenace
umm ok i think that was code made for the Fallout. I tried to convert the mves of FS2 and it doesn't work. Besides by admission of the authors it is illegal to use the converter and probably the code as well.

ok the version of FMV movie conversion doesn't work with fs2 files currently. but aparently there is a beta in the works that does. Also it illegal based upon the fact that it is based upon the MVE movie veiwer code from what I understand. Or somethin like that.

[Inquisitor]

Backwards compatibility with the main campaign is a non-issue. You can still use the production EXE

It's illegal because they told us it was, and they removed it from the code to be in compliance with Interplay. Someone cared at some point.

Nobody can make MVE's can they? You had to send them to Voliton to be converted before. Seems like of work for next to no gain, when every mod author can make AVI's, MPG's or whatever the codec of the moment is.  IT would seem that the energy spent coding in an MVE player might be better spent coding in XVid or something like that? Something everyone could use, that had no legacy of questionable legality

[redmenace]

Inquisitor, We relalize that MVE is Interplays format only. They haveexclusive rights to it. And In no way was I implying that the SCP condon or approve of putting in MVE code into the EXEs. Even MVE to AVI conversion really should not be approved of that sort of behavior. And we as a community take the source code for granted too often. Volition didn't have to release but they did. They might have done so to drum up support for a Freespace 3 release, but if that were the case we should be thankful and respect Volition and interplay. This includes not infringing on the MVE code even if it is just for fun.