How does this community feel about complete re-writes of games

[amBest]

I don't think I'll ever have time for this. Nor the interet if I'm being completely honest. But in my free time, I've been playing several games that are ... script wise. Complete and utter trash fires. Sometimes the grind is unreal and rely on RNG. Or are faux-boxes. Kinda like sandboxes but pointelss and empty. Trash-Fire. I edit the scripts for myself, to make them more enjoyable for me. But I usually go so overboard I'd never post something like that as a "fix". HOWEVER, if I leaned back on my extreme fetishes and just try to rework the story and characters, I could easily improve some games that most people go "graphics are amazing but story is shit".

It is within my ability to fix them. I ain't no amazing writer of any sorts, but I can do better than some of the trash I see here. I can fix RNG, I can fix grind. But I'm not interested in making mods. But rather stealing someone's art and scenes and completely redoing the dialogue and characters. And it is stealing. I might have time to handle the scripts and coding, but there's no chance I'm gonna find a way to get my hands on their models and learn to use Daz3d and posing and stuff. Not happening. So it is in essence leeching somoene else's work.

Normally, on a pirate forum, I wouldn't even bother asking. But I kinda like the community over here. I'm curious how do you think something like this would be received?

 

[desmosome]

Fundamentally, I don't think it's any different than doing a translation. You are translating their trash tier gibberish into actual English... lol.

Some translators set up patreons, so I would even go as far as to say that monetizing it in this specific way is within the acceptable threshold as long as you credit the original devs.

If that seems iffy, you certainly won't have any problems if you don't monetize.

 

[TSSG59]

I absolutely agree with you, some games I don't get much beyond the start before I'm bored stiff, not only with the story, dialogue, ridiculous characters or stupid plots but with the game play itself. I have no talent to create or alter a game but if I did I would certainly want to put more thought into the character creations , story and game play than some developers seem to do. I cannot understand why someone would put all that time, effort and money to create rubbish and, often as not, not even finish the game. So many abandoned games, some should be abandoned and, sadly, some that are abandoned were some of the best games out there. The talent is there as is proven by some of the amazing fan art on this forum.

 

[amBest]

Ah, I don't see myself monetizing. I doubt I could make a career out of this. I make too much money during my day job to consider switching. Don't get me wrong, the top games on the site are making more money than me, but those guys absolutely deserve it. I have no intentions of competing with the likes of DrPinkCake or PhillyGames, because I fundamentally can't. All I can do is code better than most, write decently but not amazingly. And no 3d talent what so ever.

Don't know how much the translators are making, but I doubt it's worth it as a main job. So this would be infrequent and late updates.
Or MAYBE I'll stick with completed games, so that no one notices I only manage 2-3 games a year

 

[MissFortune]

Speaking as a developer, I feel like if my English sucks and someone came along offer to write it out for me, then why would I say no? As long as you have permission, I don't really see anything wrong it.

That said, why not just hop onto a currently going project as a writer/coder with great art but not-so-good writing? Most artists/devs will understand that it's only part time as you have an IRL (especially as most of them are only doing it part time as well), and you'll likely make some money on the side doing it. Seems a lot more worth it, and you still don't have to learn Daz (at least quickly) to do it.

 

[amBest]

Speaking as a developer, I feel like if my English sucks and someone came along offer to write it out for me, then why would I say no? As long as you have permission, I don't really see anything wrong it.

That said, why not just hop onto a currently going project as a writer/coder with great art but not-so-good writing? Most artists/devs will understand that it's only part time as you have an IRL (especially as most of them are only doing it part time as well), and you'll likely make some money on the side doing it. Seems a lot more worth it, and you still don't have to learn Daz (at least quickly) to do it.

I actually did this in ... late 2017, early 2018. I was jobless back then and had no trouble colaborating with the dev. I'm actually a way better coder than most people on this site, so I even suggested changes like layering, state machines and general separation of concerns. He didn't want to cuz he didn't get it and thought it slowed him down. Whatever.

But that was then, and now I have a very time consuming job, pets, and need to loose a lot of weight. I can't do this at a reasonable, steady or even predictable pace. Which means I could easily take a completed game, and rework it over the course of months. Post it and no one would care if I disappear for half a year.

However, colaborating on an ongoing project? I would be totally unreliable. And I don't even like the thought of being "that guy". You know?

 

[fantasmic]

I think if you just call it an "overhaul mod" then no one will really complain. A lot of the overhaul mods I've seen are simply an entirely different game built with a pre-existing game's engine and assets. You might not be going that far, but I imagine I'm not the only one wary of any works labeled as rewrites or "improvements" over the original.

How you present the project will also affect it's reception. Some might think you're arrogant if you go "The art in Jupiter Rising is really wasted on the story, so I made a better story," but they'd be more receptive if you said "At first I just wanted to change X and Y to be more in line with my tastes, but while I had the hood off I tinkered with some other stuff and now it's pretty different from the source material. Still, I like what came out and figured some others may too."

 

[MissFortune]

But that was then, and now I have a very time consuming job, pets, and need to loose a lot of weight. I can't do this at a reasonable, steady or even predictable pace. Which means I could easily take a completed game, and rework it over the course of months. Post it and no one would care if I disappear for half a year.

However, colaborating on an ongoing project? I would be totally unreliable. And I don't even like the thought of being "that guy". You know?

Oh, I totally get it. I'm working under supervised (and paid, thankfully) internship while also finishing up a few classes for my PhD. So, the time I currently have to work on my own VN is pretty limited currently. Though, thankfully, many seem to understand that as I've been fairly transparent about it. But I totally understand that not every can or even wants to put themselves under a load like that (or your own). Lone-wolf'ing it (while also adding your own touches to said projects) makes complete sense, sort of why I went the solo route with my own VN despite the increased workload.

 

[osanaiko]

Speaking as a developer, I feel like if my English sucks and someone came along offer to write it out for me, then why would I say no?

You would think so, but so far I've encountered multiple developers who initially accepted some edit suggestions but then became hostile when the flaws in their story/logic/gameplay/programming were raised. And it's not as if I go in guns blazing, this is gentle and constructive suggestions on how to seriously improve the quality of their game.

Luckily I've also found some others who are great to work with. Maybe a split of 2/3 good, 1/3 unwelcoming of constructive criticism.

So, In my experience, "your-mileage-may-vary" when it comes to working with devs.

 

[hiya02]

Why not make your own "game" instead of "fixing" some other's work? As a bonus, that should also give you an idea how much work & time even a simple renpy clickfest requires...

 

[MissFortune]

Luckily I've also found some others who are great to work with. Maybe a split of 2/3 good, 1/3 unwelcoming of constructive criticism.

So, In my experience, "your-mileage-may-vary" when it comes to working with devs.

I could see that, those with thinner skin don't tend to handle criticism (or in this case questioning of quality) well. I was looking at it through my eyes, as in I'm welcoming of all critiques/help if it makes my work better, but clearly not everyone is into that.

I suppose the willingness to accept that (and learn from it) is what separates the bad, good, and great.

 

[osanaiko]

MissFortune I loved WWJK so far btw. Are you still working on the project?

 

[MissFortune]

MissFortune I loved WWJK so far btw. Are you still working on the project?

I am (work/school played a part in the delay). Just finished writing last night, still need to download and place the audio along with a quick playthrough just to make sure things aren't bugged. Will be going to Patreon's after that.