Epic Clash Between Spriter and Repro-Cart Seller on FFIV Mod’s Discord Server

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One response to “Epic Clash Between Spriter and Repro-Cart Seller on FFIV Mod’s Discord Server”

1. 

   December 3, 2025

   NachtRave

   I have no problem being identified as the seller in this case, as I don’t really care about my identity being hidden.

   One thing everyone needs to keep in mind about this is that I’m not making repro carts as a means to get rich – there are a lot other better ways of doing such than that. I am doing it because I want to see some of these amazing romhacks see the light of day on physical media. I don’t make many of them, and I take a lot of time with ensuring each one I do is done at a high quality standard. I pour love into every solder joint I make, and every piece of ad text I write.

   I don’t do this as a means to rip off others hard work. In fact, I have zero issue sharing the proceeds with these modders, especially in the form of sending them their own personal free cartridge, modded with their work. It isn’t like I’m out here, like many other cart modders, just taking whatever I want and doing whatever I like with them. 90% of the time it is near impossible to contact mod authors, as all you have is a name – no e-mail, no discord link, nothing. So to even get in touch with a mod author is itself an awesome occurrence.

   I think ultimately what the [Spriter] had a problem with was those who do just come into these circles and take without giving back – and that I can understand wholeheartedly. I’m not going to argue IP and copyright, as if someone really wants to not have their work be distributed, hey that’s fine, we’ll find alternate ways to do it. Ultimately Square Enix has the say so in who gets to do what, and the minute money enters the scene it gets hairy fast.

   Let’s all be honest here – all it takes is a single Cease and Desist from Square and the party is officially over. For me, for you, for anyone. They ultimately have the say so, and ultimately get to decide what is okay with their IP, which they own. Chances are, however, that Square is touched to see us even caring about a game that is over 30 years old at this point, on a defunct system, one of which they’re making no money on.

   I want to see the love and care people put into these mods see the light of day. I think there is a market for people who want to see these things go onto a physical cartridge, a physical manual – things of which do have an audience for. Are we ultimately allowed to do so? Maybe not so with the way the IP laws currently work, but until Square makes a statement (which they haven’t done so and probably are unlikely to do so), I think it’s fairly safe to say that they – and get ready for this – likely do not care.

   If the [Spriter] in the above exchange does not want his work reproduced, that’s fair. Nobody, not even myself, is arguing that. I don’t think many other cart modders are going to care – they’re just going to keep on doing their thing with total disregard. I feel like that’s where the big disconnect is coming from though – and I don’t plan to just do whatever I want and screw everyone else.

   The truth is, the reason we contribute to these projects is because of love. We played them as kids, loved the stories, loved the narration, loved the characters, and to be able to contribute to that end is awesome to say the least. I’m a huge fan of the mod projects that I make carts of, and am always trying to find ways to give back, contribute my share, so that nobody feels left out or cheated. That’s my own personal MO.

   However, sometimes you just encounter people who have very little emotional intelligence and want to cause a giant scene. They could of DM’ed me and asked me to remove their work, and I wouldn’t of had issue with that. Instead, they decided to go the route they did, crash out, and then demand their work be removed, while calling me a parasite amongst other accusations. Whatever dude, that’s not my call to make, I merely wanted the world to have access to the underlying work.

   I make carts because we can take 5$ sportsball games nobody wants – we’re talking real bargain bin losers – and turn them into ones people will cherish. I don’t consider that a negative, I consider it a positive. It decreases the cost of rare ultra expensive carts that scammers, flippers, and “collectors” drive the price up of, and increases the supply of them so that people can enjoy games from their childhood without the ultra rich price tag associated with it.

   Besides, 100% of the profits we make go right back into the retro gaming scene. I have plans on doing some really cool projects, like the Sega Neptune, carts of games never released, all sorts of things that the *community* wants and loves. It’s not so I can get rich quick, it’s because I love retro games. I played these games growing up, and to see them continually worked on is magical. Sharing that continuation of original work is also magical, and is only what I’m trying to do here.

   So call it whatever you want, the truth is I’m at least doing my part to contribute positively. It sucks when you have people who are so quick to anger and disparagement, because they become so territorial about their work. In fact, maybe it’s for the best they don’t contribute at all if they can’t get along nicely with others, most of whom only do this stuff because they love it. It gets ruined when those kinds of angry people get involved and destroy it from within because they want to assume and attach motives to people they know nothing about.

   Anyways, my hats off to the team of modders who stay with these projects, contribute to these projects, and love seeing retro gaming grow. I am happy to continue my contributions, and I plan on doing it as ethically as I can, but ultimately these sorts of issues can creep up, and everyone is always worried about overstepping into bounds where the IP holders can come crashing down on us. It just takes one e-mail and it’s all over.

   That’s just the nature of the work we do, but I think that ultimately, we’re not out here trying to make bank or rob people of anything – we’re trying to find ways to contribute. And as far as I’m concerned, retro gaming has my soldering iron. Upwards and onwards.

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