Distribution Regulations Discussion

Hello Everyone,

There are new (or rather now more transparent) regulations that need to be taken into account when distributions ReShade Framework files::

Link To - DISTRIBUTION REGULATIONS

Some unpleasant incidents have been the incentive to actually make those basic regulations more transparent to the users of the ReShade Framework. Please understand that with having more people involved in this project who all work on this for free, there had to be added mentioned rules at some point which however will have no impact on the end-user by any means.

Thank you!

Please feel free to discuss or ask questions regarding this topic in your comments below.

Seems reasonable. You guys worked hard on the shaders and it would annoy me too if someone was changing one thing with my shader and acting like it was theirs.

Just to be clear it says:

**A - your modified configuration files (.cfg in the \ReShade folder)
**B - your personally implemented shader files

Is uploading a .DLL that works best with the game okay?
Is packaging particular lens dirt textures okay?

For instance I've been doing .ZIPs that have:

.Dll
Reshade shaders folder with custom lens dirt texture, sometimes custom lut, palette etc.
Readme - Installation and Credits. (tell people to go to forums to report problems etc.)
Reshade.FX


Only reason I even do this is because people tend to install it wrong and having a package that they can drag and drop to the game .exe location helps them out a lot.

I'm assuming someone out there has uploaded slightly modified framework shaders and acted like it was their own creation. Very sad.
I have never and will never act like I actually made any of the shaders. I simply don't know how lol

Thanks for understanding Constantine

The main reason is confusion and the transparency issue for the end-users. Further this website has no adds or similar and a very basic structure where its easy to find information at first hand.

About your questions::
- You can of course include your own resources/textures.

- I did not include the ReShade.fx file cause with ReShade 1.0 and the Mediator/Configurator being released, the effect ordering will be part of the .cfg file in the \ReShade folder.

- Distributing the .DLL is up to Crosire but your preset users need to download the base framework anyway so maybe a short description what file to change might be easier? (e.g. "Change ReShade64.dll -> dxgi.dll")

@ LuciferHawk

Hi,

I wanted to make sure that this account who posted here: www.gta5-mods.com/misc/sh8
is really you LuciferHawk?



Regards

Hi Solano,

Yes that is my account. I was already talking to Alec for a couple of weeks about the gta5-mods situation. Originally (while this matter was still a grey zone), it was about many mods there having wrong or no credits and permission but distributing the entire ReShade Framework.

Over a month after the first ReShade Framework mod for GTAV I expected authors to have included those information.

About your mod which I commented on::
Let me first say, I do like that you use our work and also the looks of it on the screenshots.
What I did not like was that there had been no credits at all in your description or even a link to the ReShade website.
Resulting from that, I even less liked that you added an entire website that distributes the ReShade Framework without proper perms or credits.
Resulting from that , I even less liked the fact that you had thought (and taken the time) of a donations option instead.

Cause I do this work for free and I do not even take donations for it. I am however absolutely fine if people take donations as longs as its less misleading.

(though as for most cases this is probably not intentional but the users wont know)

Hi LuciferHawk,

To make this post easier to read I will quote you and answer inside that at first.

Let me first say, I do like that you use our work and also the looks of it on the screenshots.

Thank you very much, you made that possible.

What I did not like was that there had been no credits at all in your description or even a link to the ReShade website.

I apologize for that. That was not correct. I will correct that as soon as possible.

Resulting from that, I even less liked that you added an entire website that distributes the ReShade Framework without proper perms or credits.

It is true that I didn´t wrote proper permissions. I find it hard to find them on your page to be honest. In the "News" Section you state at the very bottom "please do not distribute the ReShade DLLs yourself during the public beta" for your beta of reshade.

That is all I could find about that topic on reshade.me which I consider the main page for the project.
About not crediting you guys on my website that is not true.

On the first line after the title of my two presets I link to your tool by naming the tool I used.
It is credited and linked in the first question of my FAQ. sh8.videopilot.link/faq/
In the second question I make my role even clearer.

I handle a lot of troubleshooting myself there to save you guys work. Only in the last instance i send Users who have trouble I can not solve to this forum here. But that just as a sidenote.

Further I credit you again here: sh8.videopilot.link/gta-v/ at the end where the download is.

On my Frontpage I have a single post at the moment which goes in the first line:" The guys at reshade.me made an update on their project.[...]" also the domain is linked. sh8.videopilot.link/real-light-now-uses-reshade-0-18-4/


Resulting from that , I even less liked the fact that you had thought (and taken the time) of a donations option instead.

I can´t help you here. It took a very lot of effort to do my presets and the presentation of them. And If I decide that I want to give users the option to donate to these presets that´s my business.
I can understand that you fear that People get confused but I will take care of even better pointing out that these are seperate projects.

Cause I do this work for free and I do not even take donations for it. I am however absolutely fine if people take donations as longs as its less misleading.

Yeah of course - I totally understand that. And I will take care of deleting the misleading elements

(though as for most cases this is probably not intentional but the users wont know).

That was it for your post here and in conclusion to that I want to emphasize that I didn´t meant to steal credit at any time nor make you somehow disapear in my preset-project. I love your project and I love making games visually better with it.

_

Regarding your post on the wall of www.gta5-mods.com/misc/sh8 I didn´t liked the way you handled your sulk. I can surely understand that you don´t like modders who claim to have invented Reshade or try to hide the fact that they just use it. I can tell you I am not one of them and never will be.

But blaming me for creating an own website around my preset (with donation option)is not ok.
Further more you wrote "Beside the .cfg files, the ReShade Framework is not even allowed to be re-distribute so please" - That post came 2h earlier than this thread which tries to clear the situation about that topic which was obviously very blurry handled because its not very clear stated on reshade.me and in the EULA you provide only in the downloads it goes:


1. GRANT OF LICENSE. This EULA grants you the following rights:

Installation and Use. You may install and use an unlimited number of copies
of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT.

Reproduction and Distribution. You may reproduce and distribute an
unlimited number of copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT; provided that each copy
shall be a true and complete copy, including all copyright and trademark
notices, and shall be accompanied by a copy of this EULA.

Copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT may be distributed as a standalone product
or included with your own product as long as The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is not
sold.

I don´t want to talk me out of that I forgot to pack a EULA.txt and a Readme.txt into the packages I provided for my preset-project. That is without a doubt a rule broken by me.
But that besides I can distribute it the EULA tells me - so I thought it is fine.

Why did I even chose this way?

I thought after a lot of troubleshooting with people not able to install it correctly it would be easier to prepack it so they just need to unzip it where it needs to - tailored to the game. It was a decision by me with the user in mind.

So likely the same reason as Constantine PC did it.

Regarding that I think there is a problem in the distribution possibilities for the modders who just make presets for ReShade.
For me the #1 Source of presets is sfx.thelazy.net/games/ .
That page may worked well for single config file mods.
But with the split you made at some point with the reshade config to divide things clearer it was simply not possible anymore to provide a simple download there on the page itself - instead modders needed to pack zips and link them on the page.
So the logical next step was to pack entire reshade in it so nothing could go wrong anymore.

That in my opinion is the situation as it developed.

One thing I don´t understand yet is why you guys don´t treat your tool ReShade more like a brand.
It is a bit faceless without logo for example. The tool is great - gets greater every month and the gaming world will get used to this as it is to SweetFX.

I think we need to tie things a bit together - need a proper place for presets - a cleareance of the rules for providing the tool and using it as a modder (more than a forum post which is a start but not the right platform to expect good and correct behaviour of the modders).

If you guys are with me on this topics I would like to offer my help regarding a logo and graphic related topics. For example I read a lot af articles in the past on gaming pages testing mods MADE with ReShade.
But the press has no tools except the name to embed in their articles or videos and and and. There is no presskit containing a general description of what reshade is or logos or demo videos and what not.

Again I think you make more impact on modded-gaming than you might think and that needs a face.

Best Regards,

Solano

The short answer to the long answer,

You cannot take this personally Solano. You are further always encouraged to voice your opinion on my post. I jump from mod page to mod page and mods to mods in the limited time I have (when I am not programming) and I still try to point authors into the right direction before taking any action. This is nothing personal and the intention would have been obvious to me if I knew it was your mod.

We are quiet an amount of people combining their work in the Framework and it will be more in the future (that is the plan). Reshade is not ReShade Framework (yet) and the EULA of ReShade has nothing to do with each individual shader (the shader include that information about their distribution).

In all shader I created I stated that distribution is only allowed if you got the permission by me. I did not complain about people distribution files yet cause it was not transparent enough, but that does not mean they did the right thing.

Again, this is not personal and posting distribution regulations now is not related to that, it is just not possible for me anymore to advice any author individually.

About my conclusion to your mod and webpage I went through it like the usual user and it was not clear to me who made the files (other than you and Crosire).

I also have nothing against donations as I said, the comment about donations was aimed at making more transparent what people are donating for and this should be a valid argument in any case.

This comment was aimed at the mod and I tried to point out all the things I found confusing in a very brief time (that I had to do it). I am sorry if it came off the wrong way.

--

I was a bit busy but here the longer answer to also your other questions::

ReShade itself is still in Beta and the later released ReShade Framework is also still at works. I personally have a huge to do list of things that I would like to finish before I could even think about branding. The more it maybe makes sense to have someone to help with it.

I think not even the name ReShade was decided by crosire yet but of course because many people use it now it is less likely to change.

We use separated configuration files mainly because they prevent conflicts and allow for a more modular approach which is important to attract more developers.

Currently I am working on the configurator and am close to be done with it. It addresses the problem you saw with TheLazy.net. It will automatically combine all separated configuration files which can then be shared at TheLazy.net. Using the configurator you can then select that preset online and disassemble it on one click into its separate files again.

I revisited your personal website again. I liked the design before and I still like it. Before, I was not aware of all the different credit locations and I judged it in conjunction with your GTA5-mods presentation while saying "not proper" which did not mean "entirely wrong".

As I said before, it is getting to much for me to do all this beside all the other things I want/have to do. That is one reason for this topic, to make it more transparent to users, authors and moderators of mod hosting websites.

I'm just gonna weigh in here because this is a public forum and I don't like what I am seeing:

1: You cannot ask for donations for making presets, it's just un-ethical. You know, I don't see a donation button for either K-putt OR Omnipotus and they together have made HUNDREDS of presets for games using SweetFX and SweetFX 2.0. Given that these are both Ceejay.dk's packs it's even worse that you are asking donations using the shaders of EVERYONE. hmm. You know, I also don't see a donate button anywhere for Quentin-Tarantino... He's only made 50+ quality Sweetfx 1.5.1, 2.0, MER, Framework presets. Oh wait. I also don't see a donate button for Terrasque and HE HOSTS THE DATABASE... Maybe once one of these guys ask for donations for the; oh I don't know thousands of hours of working on presets for the community maybe then it will be appropriate for you to do so. But, I don't see that happening any-time soon because they didn't make the shaders...

2. Infact, I just find it wrong to ask for Donations at all. You need them to host your web-site? How does Terrasque get by with way more traffic?
The actual users asked him for donations and he said " but summary is that the server mostly pays for itself via ads, and I have a job (that limits the time and energy I got for my projects) so I don't think donations would make that big a difference. I also don't like asking for money for various reasons. Especially since the content here isn't mine, but the community's. It's worth a discussion, tho."...
Currently still donations are not implemented. And let me remind you this guy is literally the back-bone of preset-hosting at the moment.
Also I just checked out Icelaglace's website for Icenhancer. Which your website is clearly based off in a way. And I don't see a donation button...

Literal copy+paste of Terrasque responding to the Donations question:


3. (less important to my over-all point, but I feel still helpful)

To conclude, I have nothing wrong with having your own web-site for your presets. It looks nice and is functional. But good god man, asking for donations
when using the creations of another is wrong. These guys spent tons and tons of time working on shaders for you to enjoy. I think your donation button should just re-direct right to a pay-pal set up by them.

@ LuciferHawk

I am a bit in a hurry and will get back to you soon - just wanted to say thank you for your second post on the modpage, your quick reply and I didn´t take any of this personal. Its all good!

Later

Just a quick heads up: please note that ReShade (+ this website) and the ReShade framework are two separate projects. ReShade is developed by me (Crosire), the ReShade framework is the collaboration of multiple people's work, managed by Lucifer.

Since ReShade itself has a few mechanics to make sure users see where it originated (the ingame overlay text at startup), you are free to distribute the DLLs with your presets. It's preferable to not do so to ensure the user always downloads the latest version, but it's allowed. The EULA (which is the EULA for ReShade alone) explicitly states that (the only restriction is that you are not allowed to sell ReShade alone, you may ship it with a commercial game though). Also, credits should of course be given.

Now, that being said, the ReShade framework is the collection of shaders that came with one of the download options. Those should be handled separatly and accordingly to what Lucifer states and/or stated. It would be a good idea to make that a bit more clear in the download package though.

Hello

EDFX 2.0 is using reshade framework
on this forum:
reshade.me/forum/general-discussion/739-...-profiles-management
or last version here:
www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/149/ ?
or
twitter.com/Skypat

this utility
1- is managing Reshade profiles by switching between profile with only one click or ingame hotkey
2 - it's also installing automatically the Reshade Framework but only .cfg files are modified, others file are originals (yours)
3- i update it always with last framework (next build will be delivered with 0.18.7)
(it's very important to install automatically framework for users because lots of final user don't know at all to make it work or how to rename DLL)
believe me... it's just incredible how some users don't know at all to install framework....
4- i'am not selling my utility and NO donation button

credits are in readme.txt file:
***********************************
Credits
***********************************
RESHADE Unified shader&injector engine
reshade.me

sorry for my poor english so if you want others credits, may you write the text here for me?
i will copy/paste in my readme.txt file

example, do you prefer
Credits
This mod was created using:
Reshade 0.18.6 by Crosire
GEMFX and ReShade Frameworks by LuciferHawk
MasterEffects by Marty Mcfly
SweetFX by Ceejay.dk

tell me what i should do, thx in advance
thx for your work

Hi Skypat,

Thanks for the long post
The easiest would be to replace the install button with a download & install button but there are of course plenty variations thereof. Your tool can simply download the latest version for the user (its only a couple of lines of code depending on what you use).

LuciferHawk wrote: Hi Skypat,

Thanks for the long post
The easiest would be to replace the install button with a download & install button but there are of course plenty variations thereof. Your tool can simply download the latest version for the user (its only a couple of lines of code depending on what you use).

ok will add a download button and full credits notice in EDFX main screen so users will be aware about Reshade Framework authors
This download button will open user's browser to reshade.me/#download
so users can check for new reshade version without waiting for my EDFX utility release.

btw need some times to code it but will be available in next EDFX version which will uploaded on nexusmod

best regards

Hi LuciferHawk,

First of all thank you for your detailed response. I did not take any of this personal. I totally understand your frustration related to the topic of wild distributions and all the uncontrollable mods out there.

I will handle my answer like my last one because I believe it´s easier to assimilate.

The short answer to the long answer,

You cannot take this personally Solano. You are further always encouraged to voice your opinion on my post. I jump from mod page to mod page and mods to mods in the limited time I have (when I am not programming) and I still try to point authors into the right direction before taking any action. This is nothing personal and the intention would have been obvious to me if I knew it was your mod.

I understand that you get frustrated by this - No problem! For me it was just a bit hasty about the credits. But thats history already

We are quiet an amount of people combining their work in the Framework and it will be more in the future (that is the plan). Reshade is not ReShade Framework (yet) and the EULA of ReShade has nothing to do with each individual shader (the shader include that information about their distribution).

Ah ok...


In all shader I created I stated that distribution is only allowed if you got the permission by me. I did not complain about people distribution files yet cause it was not transparent enough, but that does not mean they did the right thing.

Of course - And telling people that is natural.

Again, this is not personal and posting distribution regulations now is not related to that, it is just not possible for me anymore to advice any author individually.

Sure

About my conclusion to your mod and webpage I went through it like the usual user and it was not clear to me who made the files (other than you and Crosire).
I also have nothing against donations as I said, the comment about donations was aimed at making more transparent what people are donating for and this should be a valid argument in any case.

I got a bit lost in the topic of ReShade and making my preset that I forgot that there are people out there who just don´t know what it basically is and can´t divide it from each other.
So your point here is absolute valid and I will make that clearer.

This comment was aimed at the mod and I tried to point out all the things I found confusing in a very brief time (that I had to do it). I am sorry if it came off the wrong way.

We are fine. I totally understand that you can´t contact every modder personally.


--

I was a bit busy but here the longer answer to also your other questions::

Thanks for taking your worthy time for it.
I was as well busy so I couldn´t get back to you earlier.

ReShade itself is still in Beta and the later released ReShade Framework is also still at works. I personally have a huge to do list of things that I would like to finish before I could even think about branding. The more it maybe makes sense to have someone to help with it.

From my perspective ReShade has enough "weight" and functionality to start with it. And I would like to help

I think not even the name ReShade was decided by crosire yet but of course because many people use it now it is less likely to change.

Jeah - that is what I mean
I know you guys are very ambitious and have a bigger picture in mind than we can download at the moment. But what you have here already reached a state that it´s even hard to change your name which is a prove of my point in my opinion.

We use separated configuration files mainly because they prevent conflicts and allow for a more modular approach which is important to attract more developers.

That step made totally sense for me. And the concept is really cool and good to work with. Just the distribution for the modder and installation process for the user got more compartmentalized.

Currently I am working on the configurator and am close to be done with it. It addresses the problem you saw with TheLazy.net. It will automatically combine all separated configuration files which can then be shared at TheLazy.net. Using the configurator you can then select that preset online and disassemble it on one click into its separate files again.

Wow!
That sounds like a perfect solution!
I am looking forward to it!

I revisited your personal website again. I liked the design before and I still like it. Before, I was not aware of all the different credit locations and I judged it in conjunction with your GTA5-mods presentation while saying "not proper" which did not mean "entirely wrong".

Thank you very much. Today I will rework all elements that lack of clearance about the origin and how to understand SH8 related to ReShade.

As I said before, it is getting to much for me to do all this beside all the other things I want/have to do. That is one reason for this topic, to make it more transparent to users, authors and moderators of mod hosting websites.

It seems like you need a person just for this so you can concentrate on your work again.
In my opinion a "best practice page" could help. A page which states exactly for every role (modder or developer) how to handle this and how it should look like.
After we´ve nicely talked and the post of crosire - for me its much clearer now how ReShades behind the scenes structure really looks like.

Which leads me to the next.
I want to rework today all the sections of mine which are related to the topic of crediting (and the distribution of course).

My solution would look like this:

CREDITS
ReShade by Crosire

Shaders

GemFX
AmbientLight by Lucifer Hawk

CustomFX
Tuningpalette by Lucifer Hawk

SweetFX
LUMASHARPEN by Christian Cann Schuldt Jensen ~ CeeJay.dk

Would that be an appropriate solution I could implement where I provide my preset?

In the download of my configs and textures (like color palettes and custom dirt textures) I would add a txt-file with the same information.
Please tell me if this would be ok - then I can start to edit it on all necessary locations.
If it is not ok is there a best practice somewhere I can take as an example?

I just want to make sure to do this all one time correctly.

Regards,

Solano

Hi Selano,

with the new "Distribution Regulations" it is basically not necessary anymore to give credits (or perms), since people will visit this page anyway. This also means I do not have to advice anyone anymore.

However, it is of course appreciated if you still add credits on your own hosting (mod) page.
Concerning your example, I think it would be best to just mention all current Framework Developers (plus Crosire for ReShade) without specifically pointing out who did what cause its a team work after all.

That would be:
Crosire
Ceejkay.dk
Marty McFly
Ioxa
JPulowski
LuciferHawk

-and please order the names however you want, there is no priority

Hi Constantin PC,

Thank you for your effort in showing me what other modders do. I don´t
take them as an example for me but I like to see that we share the same
passion. I am sorry to read that my donation button seemed to upset you.
I keep it that way and let the user decide in which form he or she wants
to give me a appreciation for my work. I don't expect anything at all
- but if she or he wants to donate a dollar or anything for a cup of
coffee or just leave a nice comment anywhere I am very thankful for
feedback/appreciation of whatever nature.

So am I for your feedback about my Webdesign. Let me assure you
that a stage, much whitespace and a modular building system
isn´t something unusual in Webdesign trends today.

About my Real Light preset I will write you in a spoiler as well since
it has nothing to do with the original topic we are in with hope to
make things more clear.

Hey LuciferHawk,

thanks for replying so fast and precise.
With your statement "[...] without specifically pointing out who did what cause its a team work after all." there swings a very great spirit within which I am glad to hear. Thanks again for helping me out here so nicely and the only thing left to say here for me is: Keep up the great work! My offer remains

Regards,

Solano

Hello,recently the admin of www.gta5-mods.com/ informed of the new rules about Reshade/SweetFX/GemFX/MCFX new distribution rules.
I want to give the users the opction of only copy/paste the mod with all included because its more difficult to me only upload the config files
and explain users how to install it. Recent rules say that i can upload all files if you give me the permission to do this. So i really ask you
permission for uploading all files, i dont know what happened what forced you to do this(the "unpleasant incidents"?) and i really want to do this
more easy for the users. I ALWAYS give you all the credits for the good job: www.gta5-mods.com/misc/real-life-graphics#comment-57324
So i will be very pleased if you give me the permission. I love to work for the community and im sure you too.

Im a bit lost,and my english is not the best, so im sorry for the troubles.

Best regards,

Edahy.

Hey I was wondering where i can get the full list of authors to be credited for reshade mod. As i was updating my mod, tha admin Of gta v mods commented on me to read on this. I was wondering if i violated any rules regarding the distribution of your mod and if so i would like to apologize for it. Also in my latest update which hasn't been approved yet because of your new rules, i was wondering what if i'm only using the sweetfx shaders? I.e. I have reshade64.dll, reshade.fx, sweet.fx then the sweetfx folder (with my own preset), should i still include the names of the authors of other shaders (gemfx, mcfx) which where not included in my mod?
Thanks in advance!
www.gta5-mods.com/misc/yourfather-s-enb-reshade

Installing the ReShade Framework from this website and overwriting the configuration files provided in your mods should be done with very similar steps as before (maybe one or two more steps). It should be simple enough and might become more simple in the near future

With the new Distribution Regulations you will most likely only upload your own configuration files. Therefore, credits are not mandatory but of course appreciated if included: reshade.me/forum/general-discussion/771-...ations?start=12#6316 here I wrote about it.

If you think it is too complicated for users to use the ReShade Setup tool or to rename the .dll file, Crosire already said he would be fine if you add the .dll file to your mod (but then you of course have to credit him ).

Does that answer your questions?