Of course, I've got to stack my point in my favour as much as possible.:poly124:
I guess if its just changing names, and stuff, but then that was my original point. I think someone attempted to sue JK Rowling, because her stories were similar to someone elses in certain ways of course it was thrown out because it was stupid. But if I made a game involving a Moustachioed plumber called Dave, could I be sued?
Forget about names, it's the gameplay elements you are after, stuff that isn't trademarkable.
I know if I was going to create my own IP I'd put alot of work into it(not because it would neccesarily require alot of work, but because it would be fun).
Or you could just make up some story about a fetus in a mechsuit kidnapping someones bandaid girlfriend and focus the rest on gameplay.
But then again, if you're into writing stories then you are going to spend a shit-ton of time writing that lord of the rings story for your particular game, and you'll end up spending that time you could've spent making your own world with working hard to make sure the implementation of someone elses world fits into your game.
You're not winning any time on it :P, if you love writing stories, there's much more worth in making your own world and a great game along with it.
Also, making your own IP doesn't mean you have to write out every detail and nook of your world before you put down a line of code. All you have to do is make the IP seem full. Human brains will fill details in where there are none, if the surrounding context is there. How many times have audiences rationalized a flaw in a movie script which not even the director had an explanation for?
If you haven't yet, I'd recommend checking out Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design. There's a ton of good info in there, and in this case, a relevant chapter entitled "The Experience is in the Player's Mind." It tries to reinforce the idea that you don't have to show the player everything for them to see it. Simply suggesting an idea puts a player's mind to work filling in the details where there are none.
You can also get away with a lot of information gaps if you more tightly control the player's attention. As long as you keep the player focused on something interesting, like good gameplay, the set dressing won't be under as heavy scrutiny.
Making a good IP can be hard, and require a lot of forethought, yes. But if you consider that people are going to fill in information gaps with what they want anyway, making a bad IP can be more work than a good one
But IP isnt just the story, its the visuals, the tone, the name. Its not just the names.
I know I've seen quite a few Mario homages. But if someone tried to sell something like Enough Plumbers on Nintendos console they wouldnt get away with it, and would probably get sued.
Everybodys been ripping off Tokien for years, so why not Mario or AssCreed.
I was going to make a game which uses the Perdido Station Book. I had an concept which needed a place. So I chose that Book as it would be quicker, it would give interesting visuals and other interesting things and ideas came from that.
I also have an idea for a detective game where you investigate things which is basically Poirot/Sherlock Holmes/Proffesor Layton.
I was going to make a game which uses the Perdido Station Book. I had an concept which needed a place. So I chose that Book as it would be quicker, it would give interesting visuals and other interesting things and ideas came from that.
I also have an idea for a detective game where you investigate things which is basically Poirot/Sherlock Holmes/Proffesor Layton.
But that's the thing, inspiration is free, and you would be able to just come up with your own world that is slightly inspired by all these things instead of spending the budget of 20 indie games to get the rights to the IP.
Not to mention, you would still have to make all those visuals from scratch anyway.
There are a ton of public domain stuff though, you could try out in your mind for yourself to see how much time you save from using one of those worlds versus creating your own.
So there are basically two uses from an IP:
1. That of a sort of 'nostalgia', the ability to recreate a specific IP for the sake of the IP.
2. Recognition value, lots of people will know of the specific IP and thus you'll have more potential customers.
For those interested, I've compiled a follow-up report on the survey. It talks about some of the more significant findings, as well as recommendations for improving working conditions for studio employees:
Replies
Forget about names, it's the gameplay elements you are after, stuff that isn't trademarkable.
Or you could just make up some story about a fetus in a mechsuit kidnapping someones bandaid girlfriend and focus the rest on gameplay.
But then again, if you're into writing stories then you are going to spend a shit-ton of time writing that lord of the rings story for your particular game, and you'll end up spending that time you could've spent making your own world with working hard to make sure the implementation of someone elses world fits into your game.
You're not winning any time on it :P, if you love writing stories, there's much more worth in making your own world and a great game along with it.
If you haven't yet, I'd recommend checking out Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design. There's a ton of good info in there, and in this case, a relevant chapter entitled "The Experience is in the Player's Mind." It tries to reinforce the idea that you don't have to show the player everything for them to see it. Simply suggesting an idea puts a player's mind to work filling in the details where there are none.
You can also get away with a lot of information gaps if you more tightly control the player's attention. As long as you keep the player focused on something interesting, like good gameplay, the set dressing won't be under as heavy scrutiny.
Making a good IP can be hard, and require a lot of forethought, yes. But if you consider that people are going to fill in information gaps with what they want anyway, making a bad IP can be more work than a good one
I know I've seen quite a few Mario homages. But if someone tried to sell something like Enough Plumbers on Nintendos console they wouldnt get away with it, and would probably get sued.
Everybodys been ripping off Tokien for years, so why not Mario or AssCreed.
I think I've forgotten what my point was now.
I was going to make a game which uses the Perdido Station Book. I had an concept which needed a place. So I chose that Book as it would be quicker, it would give interesting visuals and other interesting things and ideas came from that.
I also have an idea for a detective game where you investigate things which is basically Poirot/Sherlock Holmes/Proffesor Layton.
But that's the thing, inspiration is free, and you would be able to just come up with your own world that is slightly inspired by all these things instead of spending the budget of 20 indie games to get the rights to the IP.
Not to mention, you would still have to make all those visuals from scratch anyway.
There are a ton of public domain stuff though, you could try out in your mind for yourself to see how much time you save from using one of those worlds versus creating your own.
So there are basically two uses from an IP:
1. That of a sort of 'nostalgia', the ability to recreate a specific IP for the sake of the IP.
2. Recognition value, lots of people will know of the specific IP and thus you'll have more potential customers.
http://gamedevgonerogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/indie-developer-survey-results.html
Of course, the findings are only my own interpretations, and readers are welcome to make their own hypotheses based on the freely available raw data.
Thanks again for the input!