CS:S Content In a HL2 Mod Created 11 years ago2013-04-07 07:54:19 UTC by Frohman64

Hello. How would I go about using CS:S models in my HL2 mod? I can't just copy-paste the model and material folders because that is illegal. Is there some other way to do this? Legally, of course?

You could try mounting the CS:S content in your gameinfo.txt file. All the files should be available for use then.
Just make sure to let people know they need both HL2 and CS:S to play the mod, or there will be errors everywhere.

I thought this was actually illegal..
Well, so long as you're not distributing the individual models i think you're fine. The legality issues come along when you're handing out copyrighted property.
As JeffMOD said, the people are going to need both games in order for everything to run smoothly.

Forcing people to own CS:S is a bit of a problem. I'm going to just have to make all new custom models. Thanks for your help, anyways.

Dude, no one cares anymore, just move them over already, haha.

Copyright is a serious issue and is not to be taken lightly. We don't support piracy at TWHL.

Valve has said repeatedly they don't care about using assets from one of their games game in another one of their games.

Hmm, I haven't seen anything along those lines. Can you give me a link to that?

Using content from other games

Through Steam

You can access any number of games through Steam, even if they don't use Source, by tweaking your gameinfo.txt. This doesn't require extracting anything from a GCF, but you can't guarantee that the user owns the games you've mounted.

Note:If you are thinking of extracting content from a GCF and distributing it yourself, see the next section.

Legally-speaking however, making (for example) a Source mod that features music from Defcon may not be permissible, even though only those who own Defcon could play it. This is because there are two competing rights:
The right for the creator to dictate how their works are distributed
The right of those granted access to works (e.g. by buying them) to mix them together for personal use

There is no legal precedent for the quasi-authorized content mixing that Steam allows.

Source

Anyone who has uploaded a map .bsp with content embedded in it has done the same thing. Distributing materials that you arnt sure if the person using is authorized to use.

That section you copied is specifically talking about using the gameinfo.txt system to play content from other games that the player owns on steam. That should be okay, but it is pretty clearly stated that you need to be using Steam's content loading system to ensure that you're using content that the user has the appropriate access to. That is: if you don't own CSS, none of the CSS content will appear.

Ignoring the fact that the VDC is user-generated content and is by no means approval from Valve, the section directly after yours forbids extracting content from a game and redistributing it.

"Note:If you are thinking of extracting content from a GCF and distributing it yourself, see the next section."

...

"Simply don't do it without a proper permission.

The copyright discussion above is just as much in effect with commercial games, and you are also under an End User License Agreement(EULA). EULAs usually forbid decompiling/modifying/re-distributing the game's content."

Valve's EULA is no different. Redistributing copyrighted content without proper permission is piracy.

So by definition that is every map ever made without 100% custom content.

No. A BSP contains references to the content, not the content itself.
If you were to change a VMF or delete a model from the game files, they'll be different/missing in the map. You still need the content in order for it to show up, the same way you need the base game to run a mod.

Exactly. Most maps just use the content from the game and include a couple of custom-made textures and models. Packed BSPs only include custom content that doesn't already exist in the game.