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Falcon 4.0 Plus - Part 2
by Bob "Groucho" MarksTherefore, fundamental gameplay logic flaws such as runways that repair themselves, remain in the game. Taking the high road, Eric “Snacko” Marlow of iBeta has already stated publicly that they will not work with a source code hacked base. One hopes that common ground can be found.
eRazor’s patch is also notoriously picky about how it is installed. A sloppy install or “quick apply” approach via F4Patch on a pre-installed game (as I did) usually renders Falcon 4.0 too unstable to play campaigns. A CTD follows each mission. A full-on install through performing the uninstall/defrag/reinstall mambo, by all accounts, greatly increases stability.
Now how can this be illegal?
Isn’t all of this a clear violation of copyright and intellectual property laws? Probably. Maybe. Hell, I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer . . . thank God. I’d rather be a leper . . . I think. Many of us are waiting to see if Hasbro comes after this guy with a skip loader full of squid for the full-court legal smack down.
In my opinion, however, Hasbro would be off their nut to sic their attorneys after him. Here is a guy, not employed by the Hasbro Corporation, who is working to extend the viable shelf life (and therefore sales) of their product.
The patch will not operate without a full copy of F4 installed on the hard drive. Hasbro is not obligated to provide technical support for an eRazor-enhanced Falcon, however. In fact, if you think about it, there is absolutely nothing stopping Hasbro from downloading eRazor’s patch and selling it as part of a Falcon 4 Gold edition!
Now, the second that someone other than Hasbro tries to charge money for such enhancements or indeed resell the Falcon code under a different name, they will no doubt be visited by pissed-off corporate cuttlefish, er, attorney types. And more power to Hasbro for it. But they are armed for big game, not for someone who is, in an offhand way, doing them a favor. Logic and common sense has long left the American legal scene, however, so stay tuned; This could get interesting.
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