So, I'm finding myself working on Newtopia again. For those people who weren't aware, Newtopia is a Hedgerow Hall clone using many of HrH's ideas... albeit with many revisions, many of them "dark", such as carnivorism of Primitives (I'm wavering on carnivorism of Sentients too, with tendency towards "why not?" -- oh, I guess I should mention there are Primitives now =P), and throwing out the "Green Way" in favour of a karma system (so you can chop down a tree, but this will greatly offend the tree spirits).
I can think of exactly two possibilities for this project: one, it turns out to be a great homage to Hedgerow Hall with a universe that makes it distinctly different than Hedgerow Hall -- sort of like living on a less-populous Truhom, for those familiar with the original game. Two, it turns out to have all of the bad parts of Hedgerow Hall and none of the good parts, being like a bastard stepchild. In both cases, however, there is an unshakeable truth: that the game, as it stands, is pretty much Hedgerow Hall; even though it doesn't use much of the original content directly, and none of the original code or graphics (though I am presently using Hedgerow Hall's badger icon as a placeholder), it creates its own implementation of many (if not all) of the original's systems and if you want to exaggerate a little, the game is taking her intellectual property.
IP is really a non-fact of law, because there's no such thing as a copyright on an idea; it's only a work that can be copyrighted. Truth be told, I don't want to give it up because I love what it is, love Hedgerow Hall, and love working on it... But at the same time, I don't want to alienate Lexy, no matter if she's not hanging around BYOND at present. Even in spite of the differences it's still really her game, and I feel guilty for adding creative tweaks to it in the interest of satisfying my own game design whims.
Maybe if I get it a little further along, I'll try to get a hold of her and see what she thinks about it...
(For those wondering, Newtopia is much easier to develop than Haven because the scope is considerably better defined.)
If I was her (okay, I'm fairly non-like her) I wouldn't really mind if the game was pretty similar. Given that you've worked on it from scratch and have put a lot of effort into it...
From what I've heard, Lexy shut down HrH because the community and such really annoyed her with the way they acted. Since this time it'll be the community annoying you, not her, maybe she won't mind. =P | |
I'm not sure if everyone's clear on the background of Hedgerow Hall, but at the time where Lexy was getting burnt out by it, she offered to pass it on to someone else. I asked, and she decided that I would be the best candidate to keep it going, given her "What Spuzzum said" forum policy and the fact that I was a pretty decent programmer by reputation (although I'm starting to realise that I don't have much direct evidence of my much-improved programming skill out there!). I started taking down a big list of existing bugs and possible features in anticipation of being handed the source code, but she ultimately decided that she was too attached to the game and her story ideas to hand it off.
This is why it bugs me to make this project; she quite deliberately did not give me the Hedgerow Hall source code because she didn't want to give the Hedgerow Hall universe away. =) | |
Ah, I see your point. Well there's your solution: Make sure she never finds out about it!
Go and live with her and keep causing distractions whenever she might browse to your game. Like jumping up and down or demanding a hug. It could be the new romcom of 2007! :) | |
Jt my friend I will also offer all of my being to help you out, even though all of my being is not at all as helpful or useful as digitalmouse's being.
But you know what I mean. Music (even though you are pretty awesome at music and are probably better than me) or sound or anything that you need, or if you need to bounce ideas off of anyone, give me a holler. Maybe you can finally release a game! :D | |
Vortezz wrote:
Music (even though you are pretty awesome at music and are probably better than me) I strongly doubt it. ;-) | |
I'd ask her directly, but I don't see her having a huge problem as long as it's not actually Hedgerow Hall. Hedgerow Hall was a borderline FanGame to begin with. I would think she'd be happy to see such a game on BYOND.
Also it sounds like you're drawing inspiration more from the Hedgerow Hall that was released than Lexy's vision of what Hedgerow Hall would be. Anyway, I was never a huge Hedgerow Hall fan but I did like the game and what it did/potentially can do for the community (especially with a guy like you at the helm). I can't offer much help in terms of working on the game itself, but if you get to the point where you want good graphics (or anything else outsourced) get hold of me and I'll try and donate some money. | |
You have my sword!
(And possibly my axe but I don't know it's a pretty nice axe.) | |
Thorg wrote:
(And possibly my axe but I don't know it's a pretty nice axe.) You could replace the axe's handle with a less nice one, and its head with a less nice one as well. Then you could give it to him without having to give up the nice axe, and yet it would still be the same axe. (Or would it?) | |
While I certainly do not claim to speak for anyone else, I do not think that borrowing a common theme is plagiarism or theft of any sort. Especially when you acknowledge the work of others. Consider that before HRH there was Watership Down, Charlotte's Web, and The Wind in the Willows, not to mention the Secret of Nimh! Does anyone claim that these classic works steal from one another or that Lexy stole from them. Of course not! So long as you make your own world of anthromorphic animals, there is no problem. (Well, furries may be, but that is another issue entirely!)
Oh, and please,please,please allow crazy electrical gizmos, especially for the rats! | |
Crispy wrote:
Thorg wrote: You raise an excellent point, perchance do you have a newsletter to which I may subscribe? | |
I believe the actual quote is:
"Hmm; your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter." ;-) | |
Jtgibson wrote:
I believe the actual quote is: Are you perhaps implying that I am involved in quote theft, or as it is better know, THEFT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?. WHY HELLO MR. KETTLE HOW BLACK YOU ARE TODAY. | |
I used that kettle quote just the other day on the pager.
Who's the thief now?! Well, actually, mine was different. But it was close. =P | |
You win this minor encounter, Mr. Gibson but it will be I who wins the overall event.
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*vouches for Jt about his kettle quote*
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and, as with Lexy's game, i offer you a free development/testing account on the digitalBYOND server for Newtopia and all the tech-support that goes along with it. it is worthwhile for me to promote games in the spirit of HrH.