Edit map for Age of Empires II

[cebdos]

hello everybody,

I am a player of age of empires 2 and my team and I are organizing a tourney
we wanted to do something exotic so I came up with the idea of some sort of wargame

the main issue is that it obviously implies mapmaking and I don't have such skills
I found a superb map on the internet which is perfect for what we want to do :
http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...ap_001_wip.jpg

I tried to caption it but it is quite uggly in the end
that is why I am looking for your help

it would be very cool if someone could
- caption it
- draw the borders
- draw the see paths

here is the original caption :
*
it doesn't need to be that big, just readable if we zoom on it

see paths are not borders, they just mean that territories are linked
Black Forest and Ghost Lake are linked too but I didn't manage to make it understandable

I would be really grateful if someone could do this


PS. optional modifications could be (in order of importance) :
- add a small lake in Hamburger (there is a lake in this age of empires' map)
- make the lake of Ghost Lake more pale/white
- add a castle in Fortress
- delete the land in the lake of Baltic

I am also open to suggestions
thanks for your time!

[- Max -]

Since you want to use a map of a Guilder, the best way is probably to reach 5 posts forums (I'm pretty sure you want to comment many things around ) and private message the guy who made this map to know first if he allows you to use it.

[cebdos]

salut

sorry I didn't realize this was copyrighted since I found it on google
it seems that the guy is pretty much inactive though

[Gamerprinter]

I've got a ton of maps (some published and all copyrighted) posted on various forums and portfolios across the internet that will show up in a Google search. So just because you find a map on a Google search doesn't mean it has no copyright. Just type "Michael Tumey maps" in Google and see what you find. All my maps are copyrighted, but they still show up in a Google search.

[- Max -]

So just because you find a map on a Google search doesn't mean it has no copyright.

What GP said. It's not because you find stuff on the internet that means it's free stuff Even if it's not copyrighted, that doesn't mean you can use the map as you want. The guy is still the owner of its work. ( And since you're french, you probably know that pretty well since us frenchies have a pretty strong law about intellectual property )

[Jalyha]

Hi there I understand your confusion.. just wanted to say something to explain better, maybe?


Generally (not always, but usually,) the following are true:

Search engines, like GOOGLE search for key words on the webpages (the ones from your search, and related words), all over the internet, to try and find what you're looking for. The things with the most hits, and the most traffic, tend to show up first, because the *numbers* say "this is what you're looking for".


So a search for "Mickey Mouse cartoon" will tend to show actual Mickey mouse (and other Disney) cartoons. The ones that are *definitely* copyrighted.

Same thing for any other search.. it tries to find the most relevant items first (whether they have a copyright or not).

Google can use these images (placing them on the results page) because all Google is doing is showing you where to find the original version (with its' copyright info usually there on the page it links to, somewhere). That doesn't mean they are free to use for anyone else.

Mostly, you can assume that anything that is someone else's work is copyrighted, unless it says it is not.

Even things other people are using, might be copyrighted - maybe they got permission to use it

AND if someone gives you permission to use their copyrighted work, unless they say you can, you can't give other people permission to use it, either.

So, if someone here said you could use their map for your tourney... you can't let other people at the tourney take it and use it for other tournies, unless the mapmaker has said you can.

It's all REALLY complicated and confusing, so it's always best to ask first to avoid trouble later


Of course that's all just to the best of my rather simple understanding

[cebdos]

hi

I actually thought it was the other way around, that stuff are not copyrighted unless it's mentioned
thanks for the information, I will be more carefull from now on

I will try to contact him as soon as I reach 5 posts

[Jalyha]

Yep. Just think of it like this.... if you build a 4ft tall castle with popsicle sticks, whose castle is it?

It's yours. You made it. You don't have to put a sign on the castle in your yard saying "Don't use without permission". It's *yours*. Taken as granted.

Now, if someone steals it, you might have to prove you own it to get it back, which is why people get insurance, or in the case of intellectual property, they take out patents and copyrights and things. But even if they don't, it's still theirs until they say anyone can have it

[Gamerprinter]

While actually applying for a copyright at your government copyright office and paying a fee has stronger legal grounds. All you have to do to maintain legal copyrights is to do what I do with all my maps. Somewhere on the map (usually on the border or near a corner) I place "my name, Copyright, date, and the C with a circle around it." I never actually apply for an official copyright, but having labeled it so, it is legally copyrighted.

[Falconius]

As far as I'm aware as long as it's been created and is able to be copyrighted it gets copyright protection. You don't have to do anything. The problem though is proving that yours was first or that it is yours. Which is why people register things or publish them, even posting them here on a third party site that has a time stamp will help your v=claim should it be required.