Can I suggest something here?
It's has occurred to me that pretty much posting any derivative work related to the leaked content (i.e. direct completion of the forbidden 4 w/h the files from said dev build) is pretty much looked down upon and is best to avoid posting so that no legal threat(s) can target Smashboards and the PMDT, yes?
Is it safe to at most salvage the concepts presented by the unfinished works (mainly the forbidden 4)?
IIRC there have been mods relating to of 3 of the forbidden 4 on the vault for quite some time before all of this and the disbandment occurring (look up mods on the vault with the names of the forbidden 4, minus the orange haired one, to see for yourself).
So why not make a sticky post on hear regarding the terms of use for "Creating any mods/content relating to the leaks"?
I've already thought of some guide lines to start:
1- Please, DO NOT use or publicly distribute any of the unreleased content in the leaked builds. The costumes may be released by their creators in the near future at their own pace, so do not pester them to do so or at least ask them politely if they even intend to release their scrapped works. Some time later we may put a check list for the scrapped costumes here as a reference to what has been officially released by their creators and as such: allow for derivative works to be created from.
2- As for the scrapped characters, we cannot allow users to post PSA's that "complete" the leaked characters incomplete movesets at all, even cosmetics based on the leaked CSP's from the dev build may bring trouble to the sub-forum (trouble as in putting the entire website in jeopardy). However, if the psa of a leaked character uses all original assets NOT from the dev build, it may be posted here as it is technically not the same scrapped character from the dev build: however the PSA package (model, recolors, cosmetics, moveset) must be made from the ground up, though the concepts presented from what was in the dev builds may be used for inspiration (like [redacted]'s bow) or even recreated from scratch.
3- Since the codeset has been let loose to the public, that also means the Clone Engine, the very same thing that allowed Mewtwo and Roy to comeback, is out there as well. We are still debating on it's use and the ability to add psa's to Project M in terms of the modding community at large, but as long as it's not apart of an effort to "complete" the leaked builds i.e. complete the leaked movesets, you may post content that takes advantage of the Clone Engine. Be warned of it's complexity though, it may cause game breaking errors to the game, so wait for some one to learn it and post a tutorial as it is very much an arduous process and easy to mess up. As for the PSA's, as long as they're not from the leaked dev build you can use them for the clone engine; even the scratched built recreations of the scrapped PM characters as long as they follow the second condition.
4- DO NOT attempt to create and publicly distribute a custom build aiming to be "Project M 4.0", 3.6 is the official final version and such a build can attract unwanted legal hostilities toward the PMDT and possibly Smashboards. You can however still add content to any of the previous released versions of Project M unhindered, as long as it's not aiming to use leaked assets from the dev builds. And please for the love of God, do not title your team with "PMDT" slapped onto it... just don't, not only will you sound dumb, but you also attract ninja lawyers: and those will financially kill you in the court.
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As a closing message before I turn in for now, I just want to say thank you to the PMDT for all the TLC put into Project M. It may not have been the epic vision you wanted, but what you gave us already is perhaps the most stable and "complete" out of all that you've put out there. You gave me something that will last a very long time for me and my friends, and I fully intend to extend it using content created by this fantastic modding community around your mod (without luring copyright ninjas). For a long time I wanted to add some of the best PSA's I've found with out replacing anyone on the roster, and until recently I met someone that could help me. With him, we can add the likes of Geno or Ridley into PM without compromising the core cast, even without the clone engine as soon as Brawl EX is compatible with Project M (and has no bugs). I never intend to treat this build as "the next version of PM" but rather an expansion of what the PMDT gave us officially.
Without out you guys making Project M what it is today, I would never have my crazy dream to expand our current roster of 41, and even though I can't use the leaked assets, that doesn't matter. Even though I may lack the knowledge to modify movesets, I intend to make this build as a love letter to the modding community I'm apart of, even if all I do right now is cosmetics, using what we create. Eventually that may include scratch built representations of what the forbidden 4 could have been, but for now, I am content with what you, the PMDT, and the modding community around, has been able to turn out. Without Project M, we could never have Ridley as a character psa, a crazy youtuber reacting to that psa, an entire communtiy around one fan mod for Smash Bros as diverse as the one we have now, or the chance to experience Brawl in one of the best possible ways right now.
Your work has not only made an entire community from the ground up, but it gives me something to strive for outside of school. Not a day goes by without me thinking about that build I want to compile. Those css rosters I post from time to time with more than 41 faces and a question mark, that's me thinking about the roster of that build: who should I include and how will it be organized when it all comes together, along with thinking of concepts for the newcomers who don't already have a psa in the works. To make a long story short, without Project M: alot of what we have now would not be here and it's all thanks to a rag tag group of brawl modders coming together to make Falco more like his melee self.
From the bottom of my heart and many others, thank you PMDT: all of you.
