What is the defining line between inspiration and copying?
Can I make a platformer game BECAUSE I liked one similar, without getting “Copycat backlash”?
(I know there are critics everywhere, but in your guys’ opinions; what is acceptable?)
Where’s a situation where you have seen copycat backlash?
Plenty of the industry at this point is capitalising on a new or trending idea. I don’t think I’ve seen any outright backlash for that. Usually it leads to some interesting permutations and some finding success.
Outright copying a game is another thing entirely.
Though I doubt you would make a game based off of one you liked to simply copy it exactly. Would be boring to do so without building on top of that idea in some way.
The more you vary from the original, the less likely someone is to call it a copy.. Think of the terms Roguelike, soulslike… we know what that entails, but, not for sure what it looks like..
So, as long as the graphics are original, not as close as you could manage reproductions, that some of the skills, story, ui, varies, the more it varies, the safer you are..
I went to a concert (classical) once, and my dad and I sat there at one point, stoney faced cos the music was in our opinions, dire, i mean utterly poop, ears were wanting to bleed dire.. and at the end of the piece the conductor turned round and asked some dude (who happened to be right in the seat in front of us) because he had “written” this stuff.. if you ever heard the tune “lavenders blue” .. this is what this piece was, just over and over and over and over.. it wasnt even nicely harmonised, nothing, it was pants. It wasnt badly played, it was just yawn worthy dull and beneath the people who were playing it.. it was like grade 1 instrument level dire..
So, your game, if it is instantly recognisable as gameX the one that inspired you, and people wonder if its a next release of that game its so close.. that’d be bad, if it has your story, your graphics, your ideas, and plays very much like gameX.. that would be likely good.
As for backlash, only backlashes ive seen are like the game who took millions and did an asset drop and the game was crap, stolen assets from the games in question… its 2026, its getting harder and harder to have a totally original game that doesnt have some level of “like” gameX to it in someway..
…But where IS the line of “Acceptable Copying” and “Outright Copying”?
(Where does the puck stop from “honorable replica” to “trashy bootleg”?)
What if I’m SO inspired by a game that I fully RECREATE it?
Would nobody like it if I made a revived gameX?
Would people hate it if I made it BETTER?
(And I don’t mean a mod.)
I liked Starbound, even though it was a Terraria copy, it was space-themed, and had less gore.
Starbound is in many ways very different to Terraria. Though being inspired by Terraria isn’t what made it a bad game in the end (more so over promising and under delivering).
Recreating a game like-for-like is another thing entirely. Then you probably run into actual legal issues there with IP and copyright. Though that’s when you need to start talking to an actual layer.
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How long is a piece of string?
If you don’t infringe any copyrights, it’s an excellent practice.
As always, some people would like it, and some wouldn’t.
If we knew what most people liked, we’d all make successful games. After all, creating a game doesn’t happen at the press of a button. Start with whatever inspires you, put it out there for people to see as soon as possible, and then depending on their reactions and your own abilities, decide whether to keep going or move on.
well recreating a game you love so you understand how its made, is one thing, publishing it for money would be another.. where do you think a lot of private server stuff started?
if you do something for yourself, thats one thing, you just need to be more cautious and decide the risks when publishing - think of the original nintendo vs palworld potential fiasco
I think the difference is that it’s copying when it makes people mad and it’s inspiration when it doesn’t.
If you are just talking ‘legally’, you can’t copyright an idea, only the instantion of the idea, i.e. the actual graphics and possibly very specific mechanics.
What I think you mean is ‘will people get mad’ at a Mario-like clone. Sure, if it’s basically Mario with a new name and slightly different clothes, people will be mad. Actually more disappointed than mad, like “why would I want to play this clone instead of the real thing?” If it ‘feels’ very different, or maybe has a unique twist, they likely won’t be mad and might even like it, as a ‘new’ version of their favorite game.
I’m not talking about AMBIQUITY meredoth,
Just personal opinion.
A piece of string is defaulted 1 foot in my mind,
Makes it seem like a standard of measurement.
THAT’S what I’m trying to AVOID!
But I guess a reason that I’m asking this question is to find out how far I CAN go without getting sued.
Now we just need to find out WHAT we can do to NOT make people mad…
I think my thought track goes…
“OH MAN!!!”
“This is SUUUCH a COOL game!!!”
“But it has a weird story…”
“…AND weird art…”
“…It could definitely be made to be longer and have a few more game mechanics…”
“Wait… THAT’S IT!!!”
“I’LL make a cool game like it!!!”
(Provided what I’m doing Is more of a inspiration rather than full on copying,
I notice a problem, I try to fix it.)
This is how most games came about, they thought… “You know what could be COOL?!”.
(Unless they’re a business-only person, not loving the craft, then it’s “You know what could make MONEY?!”.)
People who love games make games about the games they like.
It’s how ART is, it’s how ARTISTS are;
We make what we like,
We like what we make. (Sometimes, I’m personally very hard on myself, it’s my domination against pride.)
We are not here discussing what would happen if someone DID copy,
We are here trying to discuss the individual opinions we have about WHAT MAKES A COPY TOO MUCH.
(Not enough individuality? TOO much individuality that it doesn’t respect the game in it’s genre?)
Oh God, just another one of those…
OP you’re asking unanswerable questions, while simultaneously worrying too much.
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When you receive your first takedown notice, decide if it is economically worthwhile for you to retain the services of a professional intellectual property attorney to fight it.
It’s all economics. You can spend your time agonizing about how a future hypothetical might go, or you can make your game, listen to feedback, see if any of that gives you a spidey sense about “gee, I might be too close to existing stuff here…”
Either way, none of that matters when the DMCA or other legal takedown notice gets served to you. “But the guys over on the Unity forum said XYZ so there!”
Yeah, these threads really are a bit silly.
WHOA… I just realized… did we just stumble onto the perfect use for a chatbot?! OP’s “question” is something that a chatbot would LOVE to talk to anyone about… for DAYS!
And the best part is, if you don’t like the answer, just ask it again… and again… and again… and then wait for your usage credits to reset after five hours, and ask it again and again until you get what you want.
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You are because what makes one person unhappy won’t necessarily make another person unhappy. It’s a SUBJECTIVE topic.
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