5 ms·

Some of those listed are remakes of games which are still being developed and sold by their original independent developers (e.g. Baba Is You, Stardew Valley…).

Some of those listed are remakes of games which are still being developed and sold by their original independent developers (e.g. Baba Is You, Stardew Valley…). Is this acceptable?

culi 4y ago
The "clone" label isn't always used by the developers and often times these projects are just heavily inspired The link between Veloreon and Cube World, for example, seems really shaky to me. I definitely wouldn't call it a "clone" but it definitely fills a niche Cube World left
PostOnce 4y ago
Stardew Valley is itself either homage to or a ripoff of Harvest Moon, depending on your opinion. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, almost nothing is really new, we've all seen it somewhere before. Everything is inspired by, iterated on, or grown from something else. If clones weren't OK, we'd only have one company owning each genre of game. That'd be no fun at all.
- falseprofit 4y ago
  I see where you’re coming from, and I guess I’m still undecided on the issue. I’d have to re-examine in a specific case if such a rip-off were to be more popular.
  - ClashTheBunny 4y ago
    Aren't rules to a game considered facts, and therefore not copyrightable? The art, story, and names are trademark or copyright friendly.
ajuc 4y ago
> Is this acceptable? Why wouldn't it be acceptable? As long as you don't steal assets you should be free to write any computer program you want.
- falseprofit 4y ago
  I don’t think that’s right. Assets aren’t the only aspect of a program which can be protected under IP law. (Not that I take the law to be the paragon of ethical guidelines)
  - ajuc 4y ago
    Game = assets + code. Of course you cannot copy-paste copyrighted code, but if you write it from scratch you should be fine.
  - lolinder 4y ago
    Ethics aside, the law is apparently pretty clear. The American Bar Association has an article discussing board game copyright[0], and here's what they say: > Therefore, the systems or processes that make up the core of a game—generally referred to as the “game mechanics”—are not subject to copyright, even though the written rules, game board, card artwork, and other elements—often referred to as the “theme” of the game—may be. Game mechanics can be as simple as “roll dice and move a token along a track,” or far more complex. Regardless of the complexity or originality of a given game’s systems and processes, its game mechanics will likely not be protected by copyright. [0] https://www.americanbar.org/groups/intellectual_property_law/publications/landslide/2014-15/march-april/not-playing-around-board-games-intellectual-property-law/ https://www.americanbar.org/groups/intellectual_property_law...
    - account42 4y ago
      What about patents? Surely if Amazon can patent a one-click shopping experience than game companies could manage to patent much more complex systems? Then again if they could then some of them probably would have by now.
      - ajuc 4y ago
        Software patents aren't a thing where I live, but besides even in USA they don't apply to gameplay AFAIU.

Some of those listed are remakes of games which are still being developed and sold by their original independent developers (e.g. Baba Is You, Stardew Valley…). Is this acceptable?

culi 4y ago

The "clone" label isn't always used by the developers and often times these projects are just heavily inspired The link between Veloreon and Cube World, for example, seems really shaky to me. I definitely wouldn't call it a "clone" but it definitely fills a niche Cube World left

PostOnce 4y ago

Stardew Valley is itself either homage to or a ripoff of Harvest Moon, depending on your opinion. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, almost nothing is really new, we've all seen it somewhere before. Everything is inspired by, iterated on, or grown from something else. If clones weren't OK, we'd only have one company owning each genre of game. That'd be no fun at all.

falseprofit 4y ago
I see where you’re coming from, and I guess I’m still undecided on the issue. I’d have to re-examine in a specific case if such a rip-off were to be more popular.
- ClashTheBunny 4y ago
  Aren't rules to a game considered facts, and therefore not copyrightable? The art, story, and names are trademark or copyright friendly.

ajuc 4y ago

> Is this acceptable? Why wouldn't it be acceptable? As long as you don't steal assets you should be free to write any computer program you want.

falseprofit 4y ago
I don’t think that’s right. Assets aren’t the only aspect of a program which can be protected under IP law. (Not that I take the law to be the paragon of ethical guidelines)
- ajuc 4y ago
  Game = assets + code. Of course you cannot copy-paste copyrighted code, but if you write it from scratch you should be fine.
- lolinder 4y ago
  Ethics aside, the law is apparently pretty clear. The American Bar Association has an article discussing board game copyright[0], and here's what they say: > Therefore, the systems or processes that make up the core of a game—generally referred to as the “game mechanics”—are not subject to copyright, even though the written rules, game board, card artwork, and other elements—often referred to as the “theme” of the game—may be. Game mechanics can be as simple as “roll dice and move a token along a track,” or far more complex. Regardless of the complexity or originality of a given game’s systems and processes, its game mechanics will likely not be protected by copyright. [0] https://www.americanbar.org/groups/intellectual_property_law/publications/landslide/2014-15/march-april/not-playing-around-board-games-intellectual-property-law/ https://www.americanbar.org/groups/intellectual_property_law...
  - account42 4y ago
    What about patents? Surely if Amazon can patent a one-click shopping experience than game companies could manage to patent much more complex systems? Then again if they could then some of them probably would have by now.
    - ajuc 4y ago
      Software patents aren't a thing where I live, but besides even in USA they don't apply to gameplay AFAIU.