Yesterday I wrote a story concerning Unreal Tournament III modder EpicJon who felt that Epic Games had stolen his map idea for the Xbox 360 version of the game. Because I felt like doing a little bit of that so-called "journalism," I actually decided to put out some Destructoid feelers for a response from Epic itself and got it.
Here's what Epic's Mark Rein had to say on the matter:
I got an email from "EpicJon" and responded to him. I also reinstated him in the forum and posted in that thread that stealing maps isn't our thing and we'll look into it.
It was probably a little over-zealous to ban the guy - especially when he's a mod maker for our game. When I went to reinstate him I checked found out that he posted 13 posts in under an hour accusing us of stealing his map without even waiting for us to respond so I think we're even on the over-zealousness factor :)
The restored thread is here, where Mark states that Epic isn't into theft. I definitely agree it was too much to ban him, and made Epic look guilty right off the bat. Still, with Epic making something of an official response and considering the maps look fairly different in the cold light of day, I expect this one will blow over soon enough.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
6:19 AM on 04.21.2008
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I DIDN'T STINK SO... think so!
I mean seriously, come on. It would be a completely different matter if the complete map layout and item placement was copied, but as far as i can tell he is basing this off of some video footage.
I'm sure it's just a matter of like-minded people building a map in a similar setting. Though I also agree that Epic was way off base in banning him.
At least they were decent enough to make up some bullshit to explain the ban. But yeah, I'd agree that the map is really nothing special.
Wasn't there a boat level in one of the earlier UT games? I could have sworn there was.
All aboard the Failboat.