What Is and What isn't Making a Game "Too Similar to Another."

[Jiffy]

deleted.

 

[Kes]

Welcome to the Forum.


Just a quick point as you're so new - General Discussion is not about feedback for individual games, but points/issues/principles that could apply to games in general.  So although it's fine to give the specific examples from your own game to get the ball rolling, don't expect all the discussion to be directly relevant to you.  It tends to get wide-ranging in its scope.

 

[mogwai]

I think all the trails have been blazed. The only way to make something totally unique is go completely bizarre like Oddworld or Headlander. That being said, just being bizarre has also kind of become a genre and therefore that's not really new either.


I would prefer that if a game was influenced by another game, that they pay homage to said game somehow. Final Fantasy 1 made a town with the grave of Erdrick from Dragon Warrior.

 

[LightningLord2]

Originality is overrated. Game X does an original thing badly, while Game Y takes this thing and makes it fun. Now it doesn't matter if Game Y is a ripoff of Game X, because Game Y did it better.

 

[Andar]

You might want to check the requirements for getting a copyright on anything - they're the official definition for exactly this kind of question.


And by that I don't write about the requirements to register a copyright claim, but to hold a copyright that is contested.


Basically it requires you to put in a significant part of your own work and your own ideas to get away from plagiarism to attaining real copyright.


But those restrictions have vague sentences on purpose, especially because it is difficult to determine what is an individual's added work and what is just copy-pasting from somewhere else.


You'll always have that definition problem, but the official laws on copyright at least tried to give guidelines for such cases, and they're what you have to keep in mind at minimum.


Customer opinion and reviews on "bad copy" and "not original" can only hurt your sales - getting the copyright wrong can get you fined and (in extreme cases) in prison.

 

[Jiffy]

You might want to check the requirements for getting a copyright on anything - they're the official definition for exactly this kind of question.


And by that I don't write about the requirements to register a copyright claim, but to hold a copyright that is contested.


Basically it requires you to put in a significant part of your own work and your own ideas to get away from plagiarism to attaining real copyright.


But those restrictions have vague sentences on purpose, especially because it is difficult to determine what is an individual's added work and what is just copy-pasting from somewhere else.


You'll always have that definition problem, but the official laws on copyright at least tried to give guidelines for such cases, and they're what you have to keep in mind at minimum.


Customer opinion and reviews on "bad copy" and "not original" can only hurt your sales - getting the copyright wrong can get you fined and (in extreme cases) in prison.

This is a very good point.


Unfortunatly, at the moment the copyright and law side of video games most definitely is not without its flaws. Take a look at the famous Asteroids vs. Meteors Lawsuit. The games are practically the exact same thing but since one had color and the other didn't, the lawsuit wasn't accepted because a spaceship shooting space rocks couldn't be monopolized. 


However, things such as characters, places, names, and various other things CAN be copyrighted. 


So, unfortunately right now the copyright and lawsuit side is quite the gray area. 

 

[Andar]

It doesn't matter if a law has flaws - it is almost impossible to get anything foolproof.


But the laws are the laws because they have to be obeyed, no matter what you personally think on them.

 

[Jiffy]

It doesn't matter if a law has flaws - it is almost impossible to get anything foolproof.


But the laws are the laws because they have to be obeyed, no matter what you personally think on them.

I think you have my intentions wrong (my own fault) I'm simply trying to relay how hard it can be to tell if a game is clashing with copyright. Sorry about the confusion

 

[Larry Jones]

Stop worrying about originality. When you create something, it will be unique. At the same time, you haven't made it in a vacuum, and somebody who is analyzing it could probably find a billion ways in which it is like X, Y and Z. So both of those things are kind of true.


I'm not sure why you're so concerned about this. If you are trying to copy something else unfairly or use resources you're not allowed to use, then that's just lame, but if you're creating your own game and that's your intention, it is not going to be the same as any other game.

 

[MRHAPPYFACEMAN]

There can be references to other games in your game, it can be an effective way at getting your audience's attention, but there is nothing more annoying than playing a game that is an obvious replica of another game. May as well play the original game. If you are trying to recycle some ideas from other games, its best to tweak them or change them slightly so its not so obvious that it was an idea from somewhere else.

 

[Llareian]

This is rather like trying to define what "art" is. Everyone is going to have a different idea that's hard to put into words.

The thing is, you usually know it when you see it, and most of the time everyone can agree.

I'm with @Larry Jones , if you're trying to make your own game, then it will most likely stand on its own without worrying about this. If you're trying to copy another game, then that will show, too, and you SHOULD worry if that's the case. (And ask yourself why you're spending your time remaking a game that's already been done!)

If you're really concerned about a specific instance, it's best to get as many brutally honest outside opinions as you reasonably can. First let them see the game on its own and ask what they think of it. If they don't mention the game you think it's similar to, ask them about it after you get their first impression. If the majority of people know both games and still think they're different, you're probably good.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

I have to agree with a lot of the same sentiments here. If you're making a game based on your designs, locations, and characters it will be yours. I'd say that most ideas are not 100% original and that an obsession with being completely unique often results in something very complicated or confusing. There are reasons why certain motifs trend a lot.

There is a huge difference between taking your individual spin on something and setting out to be a duplicate from the start or directly lifting materials and content.

 

[LxCharon]

I think the bests advice is to just make what you want to make. Outside of what @Andar said about copyright law, we all pull inspiration from somewhere. All western tales are retellings of Cinderella and all eastern tales are retellings of Journey to The West. Or something like that. Instead make something fun. My game revolves almost entirely around 4 friends and their relations with each other, including camp scenes and cooking, then FFXV came out. Am I going to change my game because of the similarities? Nah man. Make what you love.