GAMES MASTER SYSTEM V1.0 LICENSING INFORMATION The Games Master System is not a free project. It has taken a lot of time and effort to build, and that effort is still continuing. In order to keep this effort of the highest quality, GMS developers are required to pay license fees for the use of this product. This money goes back into the cost of development, so by paying your license you are giving GMS (and your programs) a better future. Before we continue, please consider the following: * All the development materials necessary to write programs in GMS   are freely available without restriction. * System updates are in constant development and become available   every 3-4 months, for -free-. * 50% of the system code is going to be released over the next few   months, and yet I have to recoup 2 years of development costs and buy new hardware for future development. All of these things were a factor while building the licensing scheme.  I am going to trial it for 6 months and see how it works, so please don't disappoint me.  A lot of input was taken from the Questionnaire files, and most people opted for a license based method of payment. If you have any queries then write to paul@ethos.co.nz with your questions. How Much? --------- The following table illustrates how much you will have to pay for a license when you want to release a single game.  "The cost of your game" is defined by the amount of money that a consumer has to pay to buy it.  For example, if it costs me $10US to buy your program, your license will cost $20US.  Once you have your license you can sell your game for as long as you like, and are also allowed to distribute the GMS binaries with it. In the above case, the license cost would be recovered after selling just 2 copies of the program. If you release more than one game in a year, your license fees can be lowered (e-mail for details). Here is the table:       +-------------------+--------------+ +--------+       | Program Cost (US) | License (US) | | (NZ $) | | | | | | | | Approximate* | | |       +-------------------+--------------+ +--------+       |                                | |       |       |     $0 -  2.99    =    FREE    | |  FREE |       |                                | |        |       |     $3 - 13.99    =     $20     | |  $35 |       |                                | |        |       |    $14 - 18.99    =     $30     | |  $55 |       |                                 | |        | | $19 - 23.99 = $40 | | $75 | | | | |       |    $24 - 29.99    =    $60     | |  $110 |       |                                 | |        |       |    $30 - 34.99    =     $80     | |  $150 |       |                                | |        |       |    $35 - 39.99    =     $120    | |  $225 |       |                                | |        |       |    $40+      =     $200+   | |  $375+ |       |                                | |        |       +----------------------------------+ +--------+ Use the NZ currency conversion on the right when filling in the DEV_REGISTER file.       DreamWorld Productions reserves the right to change prices at       any time (see http://gms.ethos.co.nz/gms/ for latest costs). Other Extras ------------ When you apply for your license, you get sent some added extras. This includes:    + Access to any restricted documentation.    + Keyfiles for Inspector and IceBreaker.    + Programs costing $14+ get free user registration for 3-6 months (NB: Not the full 2 year user registration).    + Free publicity and advertising on our web pages. About Freeware Licenses ----------------------- The good news is that freeware licenses are available at no charge. You miss out on advantages such as IceBreaker and the excellent Object Inspector, but at least you don't have to pay me anything if you don't want to.  Note that you still must write in and ask for a license, so that I can put you on the registered page. REMEMBER that "freeware" means that you charge no more than a copy fee and cost of the disk, to a maximum of $2.99 US. Important Notes --------------- If you release a sequel to your game (e.g.  "Super Tetris II") you will need to renew your license.  Major revisions (e.g.  V2.0) also require new licenses.  Minor revisions (e.g. V2.1), bug fixes, and patches do not require you to re-license your game. You're Charging Me Too Much! ---------------------------- You should be able to recover your license cost after selling only 2 to 4 games.  Keep in mind that all license fees go towards the continuation of the project, so by paying the fees you can ensure that GMS has a good future. If you want to get a license at a reduced cost, you can do some work for us and perhaps get one for free.  Some people have one-off licenses and others have long-term licenses.  People like Julian Boibessot (French translator) have access to this.  If you want this, you have to do a lot of good work... Failure to Pay License Fees --------------------------- If you release a game without a license you will face some penalties. It not only damages the project, but moves it closer to the PC (I have one sitting on my desk). The GMS WWW page contains a listing of all current licenses, games released by each person and so on.  We will also run a list of people that are found to have not paid for licenses.  Since the list is publicly available, it may be e-mailed to other web pages and newsgroups for posting.  To be fair to you, we give up to 2 weeks notice if you haven't paid the license fee.  After that, you go on the list. If you break the rules and want to rectify your mistake, you can be pulled from the list by paying for the license plus another 20% for the trouble you caused. Methods of Payment ------------------ Credit card payments are the easiest method - we accept Visa, Mastercard and Bankcard transactions. Just print out the mail order form, fill in the details (make sure that you sign it) and send it in. Alternatively you can send cash in either US, UK or NZ dollars.  If you are not sure about the exchange rate in UK or NZ dollars, visit the GMS home page for correct pricings in these currencies. If you are a bit worried about sending cash, you could mail it by courier.