[Homebrews and licensing]

Yes, this is (mostly) correct. To be precise, you need to release all code that allows one to completely rebuild the binary as it exists on your device. For example, one can't just release the source and keep some 'secret sauce', nor can it be obfuscated or use a proprietary build system that nobody else can get access to. Put most simply, if I (as the Stella maintainer) wanted to build the app to place on my own device in exactly the fashion that you have on yours, the released code should include all the required files to do so. I just want to go on record saying that I fully support all legal Stella-derived ports out there. And if you choose to use Stella as the base for your project, I will be checking to make sure everything is GPL compliant....

 

Wow, thanks for the reply! I'm still on the fence whether I'm going to include an iAd or not. I will make all of the source code available upon release. I will have to serious hack some stuff out to get it to build and work on the iPhone /iPad. So, parts of it will be radically different than stella (like obviously, the keyboard handler will be almost non-existent on the phone). Any tips on making it publicly available will be helpful.

 

Also, of course, I was definitely going to thank the Stella team for it's contributions.

 

Sam

[Homebrews and licensing]

Stella is GPL'd. I wonder what the rules are porting it to iPhone, putting around it a wrapper which serves ads and allows bin downloads, and getting income from the ads served and claiming the rest was free. Seems to be unreasonably profiting from the (free) work of others, to me.

 

GPLed Stella license says it fine for me to profit on my own code changes as along as I make the Stella changes available (which I will).

Yes, this is (mostly) correct. To be precise, you need to release all code that allows one to completely rebuild the binary as it exists on your device. For example, one can't just release the source and keep some 'secret sauce', nor can it be obfuscated or use a proprietary build system that nobody else can get access to. Put most simply, if I (as the Stella maintainer) wanted to build the app to place on my own device in exactly the fashion that you have on yours, the released code should include all the required files to do so. I just want to go on record saying that I fully support all legal Stella-derived ports out there. And if you choose to use Stella as the base for your project, I will be checking to make sure everything is GPL compliant.

 

No bin downloads (you have to add your own bins).

As long as you don't include the actual ROM data directly into the executable. Doing that would force the ROM source to be released under the GPL as well. This actually happened with an old Windows port of Stella; CyberStella. The author includes ROM data as header files in Stella, but wanted to keep copyright of the ROMs. That couldn't be done, and the release had to be pulled. If you include any data into a GPL app at compile-time, it automatically becomes GPL as well.

 

Finally, if you do use Stella, I would request that a mention be made somewhere that the project is actually based on Stella, and perhaps add a thanks to the Stella Team. This isn't required by the GPL, but would be a nice thank you, especially considering that the emulator authors (myself and Brad Mott) won't be getting any portion of the pay

[Homebrews and licensing]

Anyone downloading an Atari 2600 emulator will expect to play all kinds of games with it, or at least the games popular in the system's lifetime, rather just a handful of homebrew titles that most have never heard of. That would mean licensing Atari games. Even if Atari is amenable to licensing, I'm sure the terms won't be very appealing. If you don't pursue licensing, your emulator needs an easy way to use ROM images that are downloaded later, and AFAIK, iPhone's OS does not allow downloading of arbitrary files unless jailbroken (which isn't a problem for me, but most people are afraid of jailbreaking their phones.)

 

iPhone Explorer - http://www.macroplant.com/iphoneexplorer/ will let you add files to an app's internal Documents directory (side loading with no jailbreaking). So, the sample games are for demo purposes. My emulator would check the Documents directory to see if any ROMS were added and load them. This end arounds Apple's restriction since the app never downloads external code. You add the ROMs by hand.

 

Like I said, I'm a really good iPhone programmer but a poor 2600 programmer.

[Homebrews and licensing]

Unless a homebrew author has explicitly granted you the right to redistribute his work, you can't do so. That's the "all rights reserved" part of copyright law.

 

If an author has posted on AA, usenet, or whatever, it's only reasonable to assume you have the right to download a copy. It does NOT put the work into the public domain.

 

Maybe you can develop a few 2600 games yourself, and put them in your package.

 

OK, what is the status of Combat, which has been disassembled and analyzed?

 

I'm asking these questions because I'm a great iPhone programmer and a newbie Atari 2600 programmer. Everybody is kind of making me feel like I'm trying to rip people off. I'm not. That's why I'm asking about "public domain" status because I'm being careful not to steal from anybody. I'm not like the fly-by-night programmers on the store who steal copyrighted info to make a quick buck.

[Homebrews and licensing]

Stella is GPL'd. I wonder what the rules are porting it to iPhone, putting around it a wrapper which serves ads and allows bin downloads, and getting income from the ads served and claiming the rest was free. Seems to be unreasonably profiting from the (free) work of others, to me.

 

GPLed Stella license says it fine for me to profit on my own code changes as along as I make the Stella changes available (which I will). No bin downloads (you have to add your own bins).

[Homebrews and licensing]

sounds like an IPhone app

 

Now, there's someone who's on the ball. I have found a way to get accepted into the Apple App store (but then you could sideload your ROMs), But, in order to do this, I need to have a couple of games pre-installed.

 

I just want the iAd for revenue for the time I spent working on the emulator. And, the ad would only be show during cartridge selection.

 

Sam

[Homebrews and licensing]

The best thing to do would be to contact the authors of the homebrew games that you are interested in and see what they say.

 

If you are charging people for the emulator and games then a royalty is normally paid to the programmers.

 

OK, but could I include games for which the source code was released? By releasing the source code hasn't the author declared them to be public domain.

 

Let's just say that the emulator will be free with ad shown on the cartridge swap.

 

Sam

[Homebrews and licensing]

I'm working on an atari 2600 emulator. I want to include a few games with the emulator (for reasons I will explain when I'm closer to releasing). Basically, I'm looking for a couple of open (free) licensed games to include with the emulator. Any help you can give me with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Sam

[Mental Kombat Winner and Update!]

Did anybody else notice that the man's image on the "Mental Kombat" label is Dennis Quaid from "Enemy Mine?"

 

Do you think he'll be mad? Do you think the studio will sue?