VN Making a VN based on the work of another creator

[Precox]

I have been thinking about making a VN lately. I have written a few notes on ideas I have for stories and for concepts that I think might be good.

The thing is is that a few of them are based off of old fanfic and other stories I have read over the years.

The stories I have in mind are not copies of these pieces but they take one or two major plot points or concepts from them. Themes, setting , characters and plot are different from the originals enough that I could feel confident in publishing a VN based on them.

But I am concerned about wether that is the right thing to do.

Should I try to contact the original creators? Some of these works are very old and it might not be possible to get a hold of the authors. If so then what?

 

[osanaiko]

Unless you are directly plagiarizing from the source material, there's not even a moral barrier.

So much art is "inspired" by other's works. Just go for it.

If it still concerns you, add a shout-out to the original author/game/etc "Thanks to xxx for inspiration"

 

[MissFortune]

osanaiko basically hit the nail on the head. Everything is inspired by something. Nothing is original. This is especially true for art in many mediums. My parents still actively go to museums and new galleries for up-and-coming artists, both for enjoyment and as fuel for inspiration or new/clever techniques. I know many artists do the same in different forms.

My own VN is basically inspired by those early 2000's angsty teen dramas, as anyone born around those times could probably tell you. Specifically, Skins and My So-Called Life. Just based around music while playing on similar topics. Though the latter not getting quite as dark as Skins or my own VN, but all generally play on the same - rather dark - topics. Multiple forms of abuse, addiction, manipulation, etc. In my case, I tend to be sort of tongue in cheek about it, but the story is still unique enough to separate from its inspiration but also obvious enough to draw direct comparisons to the aforementioned or anything like it.

At the end of the day, I'd say that what really matters. It's fine if a scene or plot point is inspired by another project as long as, as mentioned, it's not outright plagiarized. I don't really think there's anything wrong morally with using a scene inspired by something else as long as it deviates from the source, but if you feel uncomfortable with it still, then (again, as mentioned) just credit the original author/dev.

 

[Meisla]

Oh I'd feel honored to see someone making a VN based on my work!

Once and for one song, I used a 10 seconds sample from a famous YouTuber's video. It was used anecdotally in the track, but I asked the author if he was OK with that (he was).

I think that in your case it's not a problem. But I like to warn the author, as a matter of principle and politeness.
And of course, a big ol' mention of the source of inspiration for your work never hurts!

 

[Mr_Ainz]

I recently read a story on literotica and I haven't been able to think about anything else since. I've thought about translating the story to a VN style game and already I have a document with ideas, characters and other things, although mainly focusing on story and narration. Every time I write something new the story strays more and more from the original, the characters becoming unique and events that happened in the source material break into different events or transform into something else.

I wonder myself, if I ever decide to make the game, when does it become different enough that I can publish it and not be "stealing" from someone else's work.

 

[osanaiko]

Mr_Ainz that's a Ship of Theseus question, there is no single correct answer.

See if you can contact the author somehow and ask.

If there is no response, just go for it - abandoned anonymous erotic internet stories seem like fair game as inspiration material. Call it a homage.

 

[Precox]

Thank you all for your advice . I reread some of the stories I'm inspired by and compared them to my own notes. They are different enough just one basic idea but the original story and mine go off in very different directions.