Soundbank encryption is actually already a thing.
I forgot exactly which car or sound mod it was, but I remember trying to inspect one recently and it threw immediate extraction errors. It wouldn't even let me preview the engine audio in the CM Showroom. The 'joke' is basically reality at this point.
I heard about it, and did think it was kinda in experimental stage. but yeah I guess its a reality.
Honestly people get too much hurt about nonsense. This is called Assetto Corsa modding, not Assetto Corsa marketplace.
The very same modding based on reverse engineering and editing the game code is fine, using tools that repurpose Kunos tools is perfectly okay, but when it comes to their work they are acting like they are shareholders of this team.
There's people who develop tools to enable freedom, and there's people who want to restrict freedom based on what? "But someone will take my soundbank and bundle it with another mod I don't want that".
Ok but as an end user You prevent me from being able profit from your work with another car I would find it suited. And honestly taking copyright on sounds ripped from youtube onboard? cmon. The guy who would profit from stealing the soundbank and his 500 downloads vs the rest of the 5000 users? doesn't sounds proportional.
The very same modding they benefit from they don't want to return the favor.
And while I understand RSS/VRC/URD encrypting their cars as it is something that can be used elsewhere (converting, selling on turboquid, doing F1 render on blender with that car), the soundbank is just like physics, an essential part of freedom that shouldn't be restricted in Assetto Corsa and something that can only be used in Assetto Corsa. Because if I want to drive a Ferrari LMP with a Ferrari F1 engine, I can. If I want to make the Redbull a downforce monster for fun, I can. That's what Assetto Corsa was all about at the start.
And my work got stolen it's not like I speak out of idealism while ignoring the feelings of people who put lot of efforts creating their mods, I spent countless hours recovering the BMW Sauber 2008 from very old 3DSmax project file, fixing the uvs, assigning the textures and making the model look as good as it is now. All for it to be found here
The F1.08 was launched on January 14, 2008 in Munich.The car was taken out for the first time at the Valencia circuit a day after the launch, where Nick Heidfeld took the car for a brief spin at BMW Welt, the BMW delivery center in Munich. The first track outing of the F1.08 was given to Robert...
sketchfab.com
I didn't fill a DMCA request, just asking to provide the source
There's people who have done an F1 2008 mod for F1 2014, they didn't contact me at first or ask permission or whatever. Same I just asked them to mention the origin of the cars. I didn't DMCA their youtube channel like some team would do when they see their soundbank used in a car that isn't theirs. Because ultimately, there's people who are going to enjoy that work and seeing my work being enjoyed elsewhere is still something to be proud off. But people enjoyment have far been the least worry of some modders in the scene.
And it's not because this happened that I decided to encrypt the 2006 mod I'm gonna release.
Since the day encryption became a thing, it didn't solve anything. People were pushing mods before it existed, and were going to continue to do it because Assetto Corsa is too big of a piece of a cake to ignore, since it existed, its just constant frustration from either side. End user who get punished, and modders who find their mod being ripped nonetheless because people made as a challenge "who can rip this car"
