The advent of first-person shooters introduced a wild frontier of unregulated video game level packs, and it ended in a…
In the 1990s, first-person shooters saw the rise of 'level packs,' boxed products containing collections of custom levels that existed between official expansions and mods. Companies like Sunstorm Interactive created well-regarded packs for games like Duke Nukem 3D, fostering new design talent. However, the era also saw the proliferation of unauthorized and low-quality packs, leading to landmark copyright cases like Micro Star v. FormGen, which established that game mods are derivative works, ultimately leading to the decline of unregulated level packs.
- Entities
- Company: FormGen
- Person: Charlie Wiederhold
- Company: 3D Realms
- Topic: First-Person Shooter
- Person: Robert Travis
- Game: Rise of the Triad
- Game: Redneck Rampage
- Topic: Copyright Law
- Game: Quake
- Company: Wizardworks
- Company: Micro Star Software
- Topic: Game Development
- Game: Shadow Warrior
- Person: Richard Gray
- Game: Blood
- Topic: Level Design
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