Convention on modifying plugins?

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Started by rsjg 4 posts View original ↗
  1. rsjg
    #1 Source
    Hi, I've got a few questions on code conventions I was hoping to get some insight with.

    By spec plugins start with a comment block with a bunch of data like this:

    Code:
    //=============================================================================
// SkeletonPlugin.js
//=============================================================================

/*:
 * @plugindesc     The plugin's description.
 * @author     The plugin's author.
 * @param     Name of the parameters.
 * @desc     Description of the parameters.
 * @default     Default values of the parameters.
 * @help     A detailed description of the plugin.
 */

    Suppose I modify an existing plugin, on the assumption that's permitted, is there any convention on what I should write under author?

    If there is any agreed convention on code (official or other wise) out side of the docs could some one point me to it.

    This is a bit of tangent but I've been working on the assumption that modifying the plugins provided with MV (and in principle the rest of the .js code) is allowed. Is that correct?

    Thanks!
  2. MushroomCake28
    #2 Source
    You can modify all you want the default plugins. As for third party, unless they clearly state in their terms that you can't edit their plugin, you can.

    I don't quite understand what you mean by "author convention". This isn't the United Nations lol.
  3. Shaz
    #3 Source
    Usually people leave the original author's info in there, and add a new line saying "Modified by ...". Then in the description or release notes, say what it is you've modified.

    Note, you would have to distribute the plugin under the same terms as it was originally released. In that case you might want to check that the original author is okay for you to share mods - they might be happy for you to make them for your own game, but not give them to others (if you do a crappy job and it breaks things, it's going to look bad for them, not just you, and if they have a lot of plugins, it'll hurt their reputation more than yours).
  4. rsjg
    #4 Source
    Shaz said:
    Usually people leave the original author's info in there, and add a new line saying "Modified by ...". Then in the description or release notes, say what it is you've modified.

    Thanks for the reply. That's pretty much what I decided to go with. For example:

    Code:
    /*:
 * NOTE: Images are stored in the img/system folder.
 *
 * @plugindesc Show a Splash Screen "Made with MV" and/or a Custom Splash Screen before going to main screen.
 * @author Dan "Liquidize" Deptula
 *
 * @modified RSJG
 * @modification Only calls gotoTitle once
 *
...
 */