Where I left off

I’d decided to try reviving Fury, a PvP MMO that Auran shut down in 2008. I had the client, a plan, and a nagging question I couldn’t shake: am I actually allowed to do this?

Not in a “will I get in trouble” panic way. More that this game was somebody’s work. A studio full of people built it, poured years into it, and then had to watch it fail. It felt wrong to start pulling it apart and rebuilding it in public without at least asking the people who made it how they felt about that.

So before I wrote a line of anything, I tried to ask.

What I tried

I went looking for whoever was in charge back then. Auran became N3V Games, which still exists (they do the Trainz series now), and the co-founder, Tony Hilliam, was still around and reachable. I found a work email and wrote to him directly.

I kept it honest and short. Who I am (a hobbyist in NZ, trying to move into software as a career). What I’ve got (a full client install from just before the shutdown). What I’m doing (reverse-engineering the game’s packages to understand how it worked). And what I actually wanted from him: his blessing for a personal, non-commercial revival, and any thoughts he felt like sharing.

The email I sent. Signed with my actual name because if you’re asking someone\nfor their blessing you don’t do it from behind a handle
The email I sent. Signed with my actual name because if you’re asking someone for their blessing you don’t do it from behind a handle

Then I waited, and figured the realistic outcomes were “no reply” or a polite “please don’t.”

What he said back

Four days later:

Tony’s reply. I have read it more than four days later
Tony’s reply. I have read it more than four days later

Hi James - ah, Fury; the game that was both the “best ever” and “worst ever” MMO :D

We have no issues with you doing anything you can with the game. We can’t help out at this stage with anything, and Unreal license and Trademark issues shouldn’t be an issue for a hobby project - that’s your call to make. I have a funny feeling that we sold the TM a few years later but can’t spot anything in the emails about that.

I assume you’re using AI to help you? (If not, you should).

Feel free to share your progress and if it looks interesting I may be able to convince some old staff members to dig through the archives for any dusty old DVDs sitting in a cupboard.

I read that a few times. “We have no issues with you doing anything you can with the game” is about as clear as it gets.

What this means

A few things, and I want to be straight about all of them.

I have the founder’s blessing. The person who ran the studio that made Fury knows what I’m doing and is fine with it. That was the thing I was actually nervous about, and it’s now a yes in writing. For a hobby project done in the open, that matters to me more than anything on a lawyer’s letterhead.

It’s a blessing, not a legal license, and Tony was upfront about that. He pointed out that the Unreal Engine licensing and the trademark are separate issues and “my call to make.” He’s right. He can wave me on for the game itself; he can’t hand me Epic’s engine license or a trademark he isn’t sure the company still owns. Which is exactly why this stays what I told him it was: personal, non-commercial, for people who remember the game. No shop, no donations, no “support the project.” That’s not a compromise, that’s the whole idea.

The name might not be theirs anymore. “I have a funny feeling that we sold the TM a few years later.” So “Fury” as a trademark may belong to someone else entirely now. Doesn’t change a single line of the technical work, but it’s a good reason not to go building a brand around the name.

There might be more out there. He offered, if the project gets interesting, to see whether any old staff would “dig through the archives for any dusty old DVDs sitting in a cupboard.” I’m not going to oversell that. Old DVDs could be nothing, could be a marketing folder, could be a build server’s backup. But it’s the first hint that “client-only forever” might not be the final state of this project, and that’s a genuinely exciting thought to sit with.

And the founder told me to use AI. “I assume you’re using AI to help you? (If not, you should).” Reader, I am. This entire blog is partly a log of doing exactly that. Nice to have the guy who built the thing on the same page about how it gets rebuilt.

One last thing, for anyone thinking about a project like this. Ask first. It cost me one carefully-written email and four days of waiting. Worst case is a “no” and you’ve saved yourself weeks. Best case is a founder telling you the game was “best ever and worst ever” and to go for it.

Next up

Now I actually start. The client’s been sitting on my drive this whole time, untouched past a first look. Time to see what a sixteen-year-old MMO client does when you run it in 2026.