Blatantly using aspects of other games. Where is the line?

[tanstaafl]

In the game I am developing I am pondering taking a progression point directly from another game. Not a feature or plot similarity though, but a method of plot progression. The game in question is No More Secrets. I liked how decisions in that game affected specific relationships and how specific relationships didn't affect other relationships until the very end. The last scene then decided the actual ending you got, I.E. Which girl/girls you actually ended up with. It made the game feel like a progression of multiple mini-games that lead up to a major final jeopardy type game.

Obviously, I'm not talking about plagiarizing any of RoyalCandy's work or story, instead just lifting a small bit of progression mechanic that I feel would make my game better. It just makes sense in a netori style game to have each conquest be its own thing rather than a spiderweb style plot affected by other conquests.

So this leads to the big question: Does this cross a line? Will people see this as taking the easy way out?

I realize that this question might be a bit pedantic in a genre where people regularly lift other people's game assets, but it's really kind of astonishing what you find yourself worrying about when you are actually in the driver's seat of a game.

 

[Maswoo]

I can understand this worry. I can tell you what I think you already know, it's not plagiarism if it's a game mechanic.
You can imagine what would have happened if you couldn't, Doom would be the only FPS ever made, since when that came out it was their idea and when people saw it an liked it other developers just copied or iterated on it.

Most important thing is to make sure it makes sense in your game and if an idea comes to you to improve upon the mechanic then even better you'll have really made it your own.

Good luck with your game.

 

[tanstaafl]

I can understand this worry. I can tell you what I think you already know, it's not plagiarism if it's a game mechanic.
You can imagine what would have happened if you couldn't, Doom would be the only FPS ever made, since when that came out it was their idea and when people saw it an liked it other developers just copied or iterated on it.

Most important thing is to make sure it makes sense in your game and if an idea comes to you to improve upon the mechanic then even better you'll have really made it your own.

Good luck with your game.

Yeah, I was leaning towards that myself, but I was worried that it would come off more like copying the Master Chiefs energy blade than creating another shooter.

Thanks for the input.

 

[おい！]

In the game I am developing I am pondering taking a progression point directly from another game. Not a feature or plot similarity though, but a method of plot progression. The game in question is No More Secrets. I liked how decisions in that game affected specific relationships and how specific relationships didn't affect other relationships until the very end. The last scene then decided the actual ending you got, I.E. Which girl/girls you actually ended up with. It made the game feel like a progression of multiple mini-games that lead up to a major final jeopardy type game.

Obviously, I'm not talking about plagiarizing any of RoyalCandy's work or story, instead just lifting a small bit of progression mechanic that I feel would make my game better. It just makes sense in a netori style game to have each conquest be its own thing rather than a spiderweb style plot affected by other conquests.

So this leads to the big question: Does this cross a line? Will people see this as taking the easy way out?

I realize that this question might be a bit pedantic in a genre where people regularly lift other people's game assets, but it's really kind of astonishing what you find yourself worrying about when you are actually in the driver's seat of a game.

As far as I am concerned there is no line to cross, you only have to look at the amount of games on here that follow the same themes for example:
Someone dies and you have to move somewhere new, etc etc etc...............
So long as you are not copying the game word for word, then there should be no problem IMO.

 

[Droid Productions]

Mechanics are totally fine; there's a line you can cross where you end up totally cloning the game, but borrowing gameplay ideas, mechanics, etc is both common and fine.

For Love of Magic I started off inspired by this battle mechanic from an old Japanese mobile game, called Sword & Poker.


The card mechanic is similar (match poker hands on a 5x5 grid), but Love of Magic adds some additional wrinkles with the gems and ally system. It's also just one element of a larger game, some people are totally ignoring the Poker game and doing auto-play for it, since they're in it for the Visual Novel part.

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