[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Fascism patch for freeciv (fwd)

[Reed Meyer <rdm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Gerhard,

> I do not know, if you read freeciv-dev, therefore another answer. Your 
> use of the swastika-flag in your patch would make it illegal to
> distribute freeciv in Germany if it were included.

I have heard about the swastika flag being illegal in Germany, but in a
GAME????  I can understand if some neo-Nazi is trying to wave the flag in
the streets to stir up trouble, but this is just a *game*, and a
world-conquest type game at that -- one where the Nazi flag would be
particularly apropos if one wanted to make a World War II simulation, for
example.
     Are documentaries or television shows which show a swastika flag in
the background similarly banned?

> Therefore I sincerely hope that this patch will not be included in any 
> version of freeciv. Why don't you make it a modpack? If somebody would 
> like to play fascism he could download it seperately. I personally do
> not think that it is a neat idea to have such a patch or modpack at
> all.

     Here's the main reason that Juan and I decided not to make it a
modpack:  we decided to introduce a new Wonder of the World (sic),
"Blitzkrieg", which required changes to the SOURCE CODE.  I don't know
that a modpack can (easily) include patches to the freeciv source code.
Personally, I think "Blitzkrieg" is, IMHO, a *GREAT* Wonder, one of the
best ideas for a Wonder of the World, and one of the most powerful
(ranking with the Pyramids and Hoover Dam as "*must have* Wonders").  It
can be something which helps set Freeciv APART from Microprose's Civ games
-- it is an idea from the Freeciv community, not a rip-off from Civ II.
     I would heartily recommend the inclusion of Blitzkrieg into the
"mainstream" Freeciv source code -- regardless of whatever might be said
about the remainder of the patch which Juan and I have submitted.
Blitzkrieg is a simple concept, and for the argument that "it's not
Civ II", you're already deviating from strict Civ II duplicity by not
having the Eiffel Tower Wonder.

     With this in mind, perhaps we can break up our submission into three
parts?  (1) the Blitzkrieg wonder (which would hopefully be integrated
into the mainstream source code), (2) three new nations + flags (Chile,
Pennsylvania, Texas), (again, hopefully these would be included into the
main distribution), and (3) a Fascism "modpack", which may or may not
include a "Nazi" nation/flag depending on what you guys think. 
     I have not heard about any major complaints about part (2) above.  I
apologize about incorporating it (the new nations) into a broader package
called "Fascism patch", but when Juan and I were designing our changes, we
did everything at once and didn't want to go to the trouble of breaking
the changes into two independent tar files.
     If we were to make the Fascism part (part (3) above) into a modpack,
would the swastika flag still be a legal problem?

Cheers,
---Reed Meyer
   (please respond directly to rdm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)