Allow blueprint editing for personal-use only

[echo junco]

This was kind of a heated topic in the #first_questions ; right now, to prevent blueprint theft, any alteration to an object created via a workshop blueprint disables saving it as a separate blueprint.

This is a great way to protect ownership of the project, and this must be one of the main priorities in the community. There is the downside, though, that if someone wants to alter the blueprint in small ways and keep it in their own local list, it can't be done. Let's suppose I want to add a light to a ship, or change the location of color of something; I will need to edit it in-game every time I spawn it, and then those changes are lost.

I suggest implementing either:

1. a system to keep the original fingerprint of the blueprint when saving it as a local one, so that this fingerprint can be compared in the shop and any public upload will be forbidden;
2. a diff system, with a similar effect, with the added bonus that subsequent modifications to the blueprint can be sold on the shop as well as "enhancements", requiring also the original blueprint to be bought.

An alternative would be a way to ask the original creator to allow the local user on a per-case basis to duplicate the blueprint.

[south falcon]

I would love to be able to specify a bp as a 'resource' for someone elses personal use that they can make a bp from vs a full bp

[hushed mirage]

The issue is not the risk of someone uploading it back to workshop, it is the distribution of the local blueprint by simply copy/pasting it to someone else's folder. It would be easy to just buy one blueprint and then send the resaved copy to all of your friends, for free.

[south falcon]

bummer so bad actors make it not possible

[echo junco]

But if the workshop blueprint was saved as a dependency in the new file? I'll explain my idea a little better.

When you build something new based on an existing blueprint, the NEW blueprint file does NOT contain all pieces, but it contains:

• The UID of the original blueprint
• A list of deleted items (by item ID)
• A list of modified items (by ID/new properties)
• A list of new items

When you pass THAT blueprint, it's basically just a diff between the original blueprint and the new one, with the following advantages:

• Lighter file (FWIW)
• Protects the copyright, needing the original blueprint to properly access the new one
• If a user wants to share it on the workshop, they can, and this would drive users both buying the original blueprint and its modification, increasing interaction within the workshop

[olive lichen]

So if someone shared their edited version to a friend, that friend wouldn't be able to use it at all unless they also purchase the original version hence increasing the sales for the original creator at the same time 🤔

[echo junco]

Exactly! Which is the whole point behind this lock, according to @hushed mirage

[olive lichen]

I could see how this could be problematic though, with scammers. If someone tried editing a popular BP with minimal effort and selling it as their own, the original creator still gets their rightful income which is great but the person who re-uploaded it is also making profit which is not exactly ideal. We don't want to promote low effort edits to other people works

[echo junco]

Then you could just disable it in the workshop. But STILL be able to save it for your own use, or to share it with friends. It's just a matter of permissions at this point, if the technical implementation is feasible.

[olive lichen]

Yeah if the original creator has the option to enable/disable the customising of and reuploading of their work then I suppose that's fine, I think this is what Salix was saying

Maybe have it as default disabled of course

[echo junco]

Exactly! And keep it enabled by default for LOCAL blueprints, maybe, since they do no harm.

[olive lichen]

Yeah disabled on workshop ones

If this is even technically possible it would be interesting to explore anyway. There'd need to be some way for the edited/customised file to be unusable without also having purchased the original it is based off

And that would prevent the free sharing aspect

[echo junco]

Yeah, this would be an interesting middle-ground. Of course it may be not so trivial to implement, depending on the file format the devs are currently using and how Ylands parse BPs.

[olive lichen]

I'm assuming it's not possible to share workshop blueprints for free now right? So there's already a system in place that detects if the account has purchased that file

[echo junco]

Exactly! There's most likely a DRM system in place.

[south falcon]

however alot of this isnt like just flipping a switch some of this is too hard to impliment

[echo junco]

Of course; I know it's not so straightforward, the file structure and parser will need to be changed a little. But it may be interesting for the workshop ecosystem, besides making handling local edits to blueprints possible, which I guess can be pretty handy for many people.

[south falcon]

before anything they still need to revamp the bp search system

[olive lichen]

Omg this 👆 haha 💯💯💯💯💯

[echo junco]

@hushed mirage do you think it's doable like this? Thank you in advance!

[hushed mirage]

I get the idea, but from what little I know about the differences in workshop and local blueprints, it might not be possible. You are not the first person to suggest being able to resave an updated workshop blueprint locally and your idea of dependencies might be worth investigation. Please bear in mind that I need to consult that with the rest of the team and it might not be a priority for a while 🙏 .