What are the terms for using RPG Maker assets from products with officially ended support and/or no longer for sale in commercial games made with GGG products, works created using self-made programs, and/or game creation tools from other companies?
Also, in this topic (【BGM・ME素材】ツクールシリーズのMIDIをOggに変換したもの | ツクールフォーラム) I saw that older RPG Maker music (and graphic assets?) were allowed to be used in commercial GGG products without needing to purchase. Is this still the case today, and can they also be used in commercial works created using self-made programs and/or game creation tools from other companies?
Also, I have legitimate copies of officially retired software (アドベンチャーツクール98, RPGツクール２ for SFC, and 2D格闘ツクール95). Can games made in these still be released commercially? Also, can image/sound assets from these software be used in commercial works created using self-made programs and/or game creation tools from other companies?
At this time, none of the licenses have been changed just because the products are past their support window. So the license you have for those products is the license that applies.
However, some of those old assets have been re-released under modern licenses as DLC. If your old license is too restrictive, you may wish to consider grabbing the re-release DLC, if there is one available for your old assets.
Unfortunately, some of those very old products I don’t have a method for confirming the license easily. If you cannot find the licensing terms for the products you have copies of, please let me know and I’ll get someone to dig through the Gotcha Gotcha archives and confirm them!
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Thank you for the information.
I have lots of “ended support” products in the Maker series, and plan to purchase more of them from second hand stores and online auctions. Many of the products that I have are disc only or cartridge only, so I don’t have the paperwork/boxes for them.
In this case, it would be helpful to have the original license terms for all of the end of support products (as listed here: Makerシリーズの歩み（旧製品紹介） - RPG Maker Official | Gotcha Gotcha GamesRPG Maker Official | Gotcha Gotcha Games) for both PC and console so that they are available for me and to other users who may purchase out of support products in the future and need a quick reference of the terms of use. Access to a .pdf or similar file of the box art and manuals would help as well, similar to Nintendo having copies of manuals to reference online, like these examples: ニンテンドークラシックミニ スーパーファミコン 説明書 | 任天堂 and Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance Manuals | Nintendo Support
Also, I have noticed that copies of end of support product’s RTP, graphic/music assets, or the software iteself are unofficially distributed online on various websites. Can these versions be used for free and/or commercial purposes, and do they follow the same licensing terms as the Maker software it came from? In the forum post I referenced at the start of the topic, the user said that music RTP from retired Maker software can be used without having a physical copy of the software, so I wanted to be clear on what the terms actually are.
Thank you again.
I’ll pass this along to Kuroda, and see if we can do that.
I think it’s a more than reasonable suggestion.
And for old RTPs/assets, the original license terms apply even if you obtain them for free - by legal or illegal means. Obviously it is better if you obtain the data via legal means.
However, for those technically no longer under official distribution assets, I do think making a clear policy statement has usefulness, and I will suggest that to Kuroda as well.
It’s gonna be a bit hard to sell a game made with RPG ツクール２for Super Famicom, haha, mostly due to distribution and because you need to own the software. 2D Fighter Maker 95 I can see it though it also has trouble running in newer software (would be slightly better with 2nd). Dong Dong Never Die is a kind of famous meme game made with one of them (idk if 95 or 2nd), dunno if it still runs in newer Windows versions.
Since I own it, I could also make a game with シューティングツクール９５! 
(coloquially known in the English side as Shooting Maker 95, I never figured it out completely, but I could put more time into it). IIRC the editor/player themselves run in Windows 11, just the installer doesn’t, so I usually had to install it on a virtual machine then pass the files to my main computer.