keep the art but change the story, ethical question

[Family Fun]

I'm not very good at DAZ but I know enough Ren Py to be able to write a simple story.

would you play a game that took the art from a game, didn't change the art at all and wrote a new story totally different from the original?

I was making a mod for Foot of the Mountains and correcting some spelling and grammar mistakes when I realized that with so many images I could just re-use those to tell a whole new story.

I'm not looking to make money, no Patreon or anything, just recycle images that someone else made.

Yeah, yeah this is a pirate site but all the same there will be ethical boundaries.

 

[lazymunchlax]

If you wanted to do it, go ask the Author / Team behind a game if you can make a Mod for their game that gives a completely different story. Do it, and continue to let everyone know what the original game was.

If every author says no, I have no answer for you.

 

[Aristro]

You probably need to ask permission from the original creator...

 

[Diconica]

There is actually a simple solution to this.
Create all the changes and package it as a mod.
This way the person has to have the original game to start with and when they install the mod files it creates the new game.
Basically you would end up replacing all the files and deleting some of the files they have except images.
You will probably need to write a python script to handle the installation correctly.
That way any files that aren't needed and aren't replaced are actually removed.

That should solve all the ethical issues because you aren't just simply redistributing his images. They are still coming with his game.
You are just transforming a copy of his game by modifying it.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

Seems kind of slimy and lazy. I mean there's nothing stopping you from doing it, but I would never play something like that.

 

[Deleted member 3145675]

I'll go with the "ask for permission" option (keep a screenshot)
that is what moders do on The Nexus when they re-use - re-invent old mods.

 

[lazymunchlax]

Seems kind of slimy and lazy. I mean there's nothing stopping you from doing it, but I would never play something like that.

I'd hardly call that slimy and lazy. People have skills, maybe he's tried at Modelling and failed, or simply wants to express his creativity now and can't stand the extended periods of learning he's gone through with low success.

What about Paying an artist to make you a Model? Then what about some other developer reusing that model? Still lazy?

He's asking for advice on how he can express his story with limited funds / skills, focusing on what he has. He's not stealing, going about it illegally but is genuinely asking for advice on it. I think it's harsh to imply that's slimy.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

I'd hardly call that slimy and lazy.

The whole "asking the author for approval" thing was your idea, not his. Sure, if he asks the dev and he is okay with it, it wouldn't be slimy, it still would be lazy though. There are lots of ways to get your vision out there as a game, even if you suck at Daz or don't have a high end graphics card or whatever the excuse is. Use something like Honey Select or The Klub, or even the fucking Sims, there are so many ways to make graphics for your game on a budget. Or make a text-only game, if your writing is good enough it will hold up without art.

 

[Family Fun]

I'd hardly call that slimy and lazy. People have skills, maybe he's tried at Modelling and failed, or simply wants to express his creativity now and can't stand the extended periods of learning he's gone through with low success.

That's really where I'm at. I've tried to use DAZ and it works but is much more of a challenge than I assumed. it now makes total sense to me why games have such small updates after 1-2 months.

I can understand the slimy and lazy label even if I don't like them. That's the main reason I wouldn't attempt to collect any money via Patreon or anything else.

I wrote a Mod for the FOTM Sex grind Mod that changes the relationship between the primary characters. The Sex grind Mod itself changed the story adding scenes and deleting whole characters. I was hoping the community would see this total story retelling as an extension of that type of Mod.

 

[Family Fun]

The whole "asking the author for approval" thing was your idea, not his. Sure, if he asks the dev and he is okay with it, it wouldn't be slimy, it still would be lazy though. There are lots of ways to get your vision out there as a game, even if you suck at Daz or don't have a high end graphics card or whatever the excuse is. Use something like Honey Select or The Klub, or even the fucking Sims, there are so many ways to make graphics for your game on a budget. Or make a text-only game, if your writing is good enough it will hold up without art.

Asking for approval is probably the best move and I will/would before I went through the trouble of writing something. I'm polling the community to get an idea if this new game re-using assets would even be accepted. if there were strong support that might help sway the original artist to give their support. if it is viewed negatively then I wouldn't need to bother the developer as the community wouldn't support the finished product anyway.

There are literal clones of Big Brother using the same assets and even re-telling the exact same story. I don't see this idea as being that different.

Using DAZ is time consuming and frustrating. far more difficult than I imagined. I'm not familiar with Honey Select or Klub. I'll have to check those out.

I'm not trying to present the art as my own, just the story. The story is what keeps me in a game but the art is a necessary component. I've tried text only stories and I just can't get into them.

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

There are literal clones of Big Brother using the same assets and even re-telling the exact same story. I don't see this idea as being that different.

Yeah, and those are fucking embarrassing as well. Is that who you want to be? That's like bad fan fiction, but instead of just writing your own retarded version of Harry Potter you also steal all their art to make your game.

Using DAZ is time consuming and frustrating. far more difficult than I imagined. I'm not familiar with Honey Select or Klub. I'll have to check those out.

I suggest you do, they're considerably less complex and easier to learn.

 

[Lerd0]

Yeah, and those are fucking embarrassing as well. Is that who you want to be? That's like bad fan fiction, but instead of just writing your own retarded version of Harry Potter you also steal all their art to make your game.

316 patrons......more than most dev's have.....
...how is that embarrassing.....

 

[fitgirlbestgirl]

316 patrons......more than most dev's have.....
...how is that embarrassing.....

You can also take it up the ass for a living and make some money. It's more than the homeless people make!

 

[Lerd0]

You can also take it up the ass for a living and make some money. It's more than the homeless people make!

been there done that.....
...made some good money....

 

[おい！]

You can also take it up the ass for a living and make some money. It's more than the homeless people make!

Are you speaking from experience?

 

[Family Fun]

been there done that.....
...made some good money....

I knew I recognized you!

 

[おい！]

I knew I recognized you!

Here's a reminder:

 

[ShamanLab]

? what so special about those images? Pretty standard overused DAZ stuff.

 

[Lerd0]

Here's a reminder:
View attachment 1116277

 

[Family Fun]

? what so special about those images? Pretty standard overused DAZ stuff.

They are and very possibly were downloaded from this same site for free.

Whomever created the model sold it to DAZ with the understanding that others would use their work. That is specifically why the model was made.

It still feels a bit different to download the same assets and create something new but similar vs to literally copy the artwork someone else did. Even giving credit and not attempting to solicit donations made me wonder about the ethics of it.

Assuming the developer gives their approval I'm not sure how the community would respond to a game they had seen before but had not seen that story.