There are a bunch of really good looking games or projects that are a great concept which are sadly abandoned. Is it possible to take up development of abandoned games? If so what would be the process, and if not how come?
Can you pick up and adopt abandoned games?
- Thread starter GeometricalTaco
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- May 2, 2021
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As in start where they left off, using the original dev's work?
If I were you, I would contact the original dev and ask permission.
Otherwise, I think Patreon or Subscribestar or whoever would look harshly at someone 'stealing' someone else's work. Of course, that assumes the dev or someone complains.
If I were you, I would contact the original dev and ask permission.
Otherwise, I think Patreon or Subscribestar or whoever would look harshly at someone 'stealing' someone else's work. Of course, that assumes the dev or someone complains.
Would be with their permission of course, would never want to steal someones project and present it as my own
Do you happen to know of any times someone has picked up where a dev left off?
Unless you sign an IP transfer agreement with the original creator giving you ownership of the IP, you will not be able to monetize it.
If you want to start where the creator has left off, which implies ownership of existing assets, you would need to:
1) Repurchase all assets of the original creator - you do not have the rights to use assets purchased by another party
2) Get the original IP holder to sign an agreement that either gives you an indefinite IP license or IP ownership
3) Receive all existing files and systems to build upon, otherwise, you will have a different game
In other words - too expensive, too much hassle, not worth it.
If you want to start where the creator has left off, which implies ownership of existing assets, you would need to:
1) Repurchase all assets of the original creator - you do not have the rights to use assets purchased by another party
2) Get the original IP holder to sign an agreement that either gives you an indefinite IP license or IP ownership
3) Receive all existing files and systems to build upon, otherwise, you will have a different game
In other words - too expensive, too much hassle, not worth it.
- May 2, 2021
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I seem to recall one dev offering up his work to anyone who wanted to continue on with it. Not sure if anything became of it though.Would be with their permission of course, would never want to steal someones project and present it as my own
Do you happen to know of any times someone has picked up where a dev left off?
- May 2, 2021
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Would you need to own all the 3d model assets in the existing renders or just the ones you would need going forward? I assume the latter, but I could be wrong.
That is an interesting question ...
I believe that Rendered assets become a separate property owned by the game developer, so they would fall under the IP ownership of the developer, not the original creators, and can be monetized.
Every render that you create afterward, using any of the assets, needs to be purchased.
I am drawing from my SFW experiences, but I feel fairly certain this should be correct. I would need to read the policies deeper to be sure.
- May 2, 2021
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- Jun 10, 2017
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This is just the easiest part.
For the game to not be worse than it was, you'll need to have the same writing style than the original author, as well as the same drawing/rendering style. And when your writing and drawing/rendering skills permit you this, why bother with a story started by someone else ?
- Jul 4, 2017
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I'd say all of this applies only for those who care about legality. There's a metric fuckton of games using 100% pirated assets or copied real porn images. The chances of a random f95 porn game dev who abandoned their project after v0.2 actually trying to run some sort of legal action across borders is close to zero in my estimation.
In my opinion, unless OP is trying to build a commercial, monetizable game from another dev's leftovers, then there is nothing to sorry about.
Note that for Renpy games, all the assets and scripts can be extracted using easily available tools, and then modified, extended and rebuilt into a "new" working game. So you don't strictly *need* the original files. However, for a 3d rendered game without the original Daz scene files it will be a lot of work reproducing the original look.
Yeah, my answer was from the perspective that you want to make a 'legit' monetizable thing. If you just want to make fan content, Ren'Py is almost impossible to encrypt - so you can download any game and do whatever you want with the files. Obviously, you won't have access to any 3D setups, so you will just be taking codebase and renders, which defeats the purpose, unless you want to redo the story, make mods, etc.
I downloaded a bunch of games from F95 that I liked just to study their assets and codebases - this is the beauty of Ren'Py.
And learning a codebase of another person - I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
Btw, if you publish stolen IP on Steam - borders don't matter, you can nuke the game if you contact their support, and get the revenue in some cases. It gets a bit more difficult on other platforms, but doable.
- Jul 4, 2017
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Hahaha, i know what you mean. Especially an indie "i want to make a NSFW game but I have no coding experience"... Cthulu fears to tread...
Yeah, I wasn't planning on making a monetizable game, and as someone said more of a fan-production of an idea that i think has potential to be enjoyable for others
That is very helpful to know, thank you!
- Sep 27, 2018
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Everything one makes, you included, in most sane jurisdictions, gives them automatic copyright ownership and can steamroll anyone provided that you can show receipts for making it before said new author. That applies to authors of abandoned adult games.
Unmonetized fan projects are okay with most people, mostly large companies like Rockstar and Nintendo come down hard on fan content while for example Valve embraces it. Best way to proceed is to ask the original author.
But overall, most abandoned games will not warrant a cease and desist, so you don't really have to worry if you go down that path. But never will you become the copyright holder on anything other than your fan creation. And at any point the original author can contest your work should they decide to come back.
Best use of your time and passion is making something new, but I don't see anyone really coming after you for this.
Unmonetized fan projects are okay with most people, mostly large companies like Rockstar and Nintendo come down hard on fan content while for example Valve embraces it. Best way to proceed is to ask the original author.
But overall, most abandoned games will not warrant a cease and desist, so you don't really have to worry if you go down that path. But never will you become the copyright holder on anything other than your fan creation. And at any point the original author can contest your work should they decide to come back.
Best use of your time and passion is making something new, but I don't see anyone really coming after you for this.
One more small note: The projects are usually abandoned for a reason. And IMHO the most frequent reason I see (ok, second to monetization failure) is when the project becomes unmaintainable, most often hitting a scale problem (when adding a feature or fixing a bug requires rework of a significant part of the project). Picking up such a project even if it's free and open source (and FOSS concept exists for a reason! ) may be harder than writing it properly from the scratch.
) may be harder than writing it properly from the scratch.
It'll never be the same, so just use them as inspiration for your own game. Be it a scene, a character's personality, or even part of the story/concept.