Abandoned My Sweet Neighbors | Completing the game project !

[Norman Knight]

I think there is a difference between stealing something and expanding it

while I understand the point that some have made regarding the original material (the work of pandelo) what the op offers is additional content to expand the work already done. he did not say the content will be modified or deleted only expanded like many modders have done with several games

if the intent was to somehow change the work already done by the creator, then I will object to this project, but that doesn't seem to be the case (at least that is what I understood)

regarding the potential monetary gain from it all I can say is that the op will spent time and possibly money in the process of creating new content, as long as he makes absolutely clear that his work is fan content and gives the proper credit to the creator of the game then he should be allowed to receive the financial support of those who wish to see this new content.

for now all we can do is wait and see if the original developer answers or not.

 

[Stormhurricane]

Great news! Promising

 

[drpavelcia]

so excited, and hopefully you can continue the story, only thing now I guess is to hope Pandelo doesn't say no

 

[RedSignal]

No forced NTR please!

 

[Ass-a-Lot]

chiki,dont bother yourself man.they(some people) dont let you start this project,because apparently they thinking he'll comeback or respond to questions.afaik and i do believe,he abandoned it,probably have a family now,or whatnot.he doesnt respond to anybody,no communications at all.some people here think he'll respond with a yes or no,lmao,God knows when will that be.maybe he will in decade.

 

[kaizersoze27]

chiki,dont bother yourself man.they(some people) dont let you start this project,because apparently they thinking he'll comeback or respond to questions.afaik and i do believe,he abandoned it,probably have a family now,or whatnot.he doesnt respond to anybody,no communications at all.some people here think he'll respond with a yes or no,lmao,God knows when will that be.maybe he will in decade.

I am of the firm belief that Pandelo found Jesus, which means he is not spending his Sundays to develop the game. This is why people like Chikimaro are needed.

An unfinished game with a cliffhanger is not a good game, especially when it is a top one like this. I hope people realize that Chikimaro has to put in a lot of effort and work, and all this so that we all can enjoy a closure to the story.

 

[ubblesnop]

I hope this gets made. Pandelo can always return and finish his own project his own way, and get paid for it.

Has anyone made any discoveries about the assets? I’m personally curious about the milf.

 

[Slappy Kinkaid]

I'd say if it's been longer than say, 1 or 2 months since you contacted him & still no reply, then consider it abandonware & proceed with your remake. For starters, your efforts would not only fall under fair use, (as it would in effect be transformative in nature), but also as a fan remake, (though I WOULD be wary of monetizing it as the original dev could go after you for profiting off his IP. that said, if you're doing it for "free" as a passion project, he won't really have much ground to claim damages). Also, if he is still collecting income from Patreon but not providing any new content, that could be used as leverage against him if he decides to go the litigation route, as him doing so would also open him up to having to take accountability for continuing to collect income without providing content. Hope that helps.

 

[jeroentje]

This would really be great if this goes through. It was one of the first games I played and I was really disappointed when it was no longer updated.I hope you get it done. You got my blessings

 

[Eddiee]

Go for it i would love to see this continued.

 

[JRD]

I was a supporter and I still hold onto the hope that Pandelo will one day return. But in the meantime this isn't a bad option if Chikimaro keeps to their word of only releasing the continuation here on F95. It's pretty obvious they enjoy MSN as much as everyone else, and clearly they're doing this as a dedicated fan.

I say good on ya and good luck, Chikimaro.

 

[Salxvatore]

Tbh I'm very happy to hear this news cause MSN is one of my fav VN. Can't wait for it~

 

[Luziferii]

yes please

 

[SecretSal]

Also, if he is still collecting income from Patreon but not providing any new content, that could be used as leverage against him if he decides to go the litigation route, as him doing so would also open him up to having to take accountability for continuing to collect income without providing content. Hope that helps.

The income from Patreon is patronage, there is no legal obligation to provide any content, just a vague social contract, which I doubt will see court. Never mind the fact that others have said he's pausing the donations every month and isn't collecting anything.

On the flipside, litigation against what would essentially be fanfiction would be more trouble than it's worth, and I don't see Pandelo doing that. But if there's a Patreon page up for the fan-mod, and Pandelo decides he doesn't like the idea, getting the page taken down for unauthorised copyright infringement would be considerably easier.

No reason it needs to go that far. Get permission, otherwise make a free mod, or make something original. Sure, the option is always there to flip the bird and do it anyway, but game development in its best-case scenario is still an ordeal. Doing something like this on shaky ground to begin with is not going to make for a good time. Hope it works out either way, though.

 

[Chikimaro]

On the flipside, litigation against what would essentially be fanfiction would be more trouble than it's worth, and I don't see Pandelo doing that. But if there's a Patreon page up for the fan-mod, and Pandelo decides he doesn't like the idea, getting the page taken down for unauthorised copyright infringement would be considerably easier.

No reason it needs to go that far. Get permission, otherwise make a free mod, or make something original. Sure, the option is always there to flip the bird and do it anyway, but game development in its best-case scenario is still an ordeal. Doing something like this on shaky ground to begin with is not going to make for a good time. Hope it works out either way, though.

Thanks for the advice, as i already said i'm still waiting for an answer, it has been almost a month since i contacted him about the project, also i already said that he game will be published here at F95zone for free, about the copyright infringement Daz assets can't get copyrighted the only possible way to get a page or the game down is using the story that's why i'm still hesitating form starting everything from the beginning with the same events, or to continue with the current one in the last update.

 

[SecretSal]

about the copyright infringement Daz assets can't get copyrighted the only possible way to get a page or the game down is using the story that's why i'm still hesitating form starting everything from the beginning with the same events, or to continue with the current one in the last update.

Here, it's less the story and more about the brand 'My Sweet Neighbors.' Legally, I'm not sure what the implication is for collecting donations/patronage to work on a free mod for a game that might be abandoned, without any word from the creator.

The whole indie adult game scene is a bit of a gray area anyway, with assets that may or may not have been paid for, with content that may or may not be allowed, but also may be patched in later.

I'd say that IF you're planning on going ahead with it nevertheless, please don't start from the beginning. Pick up from where it left off, and try see how you can bring it to a satisfying conclusion as quickly as possible, without feeling too rushed. That way, there's more chance of the project being finished if you have a very focused approach. Also, it'll be good to get that sense of closure to the story, instead of having it drag on forever. And I think most people will come around to appreciate your efforts more in that case, you'll probably have less accusations of milking or stealing (which is never fun), and you ultimately do a service to one of the abandoned gems here, and use the experience and goodwill to maybe go ahead and do something of your own. Either way, all the best.

 

[anne O'nymous]

about the copyright infringement Daz assets can't get copyrighted [...]

It only apply for out of the box assets. But once you start to apply some morphs, to use the skin form another asset, the normal map from yet another one, and in fact do something that will make the result effectively unique, it become your creation and your intellectual property.
It's the same process than writing a book or music. What you used (words or music notes) can't be copyrighted, but you own the rights over the result.
And this apply whatever if you effectively register it or not ; registration is just the way to prove without possible doubt that you own the property, not what make you own it.

Here, it's less the story and more about the brand 'My Sweet Neighbors.' Legally, I'm not sure what the implication is for collecting donations/patronage to work on a free mod for a game that might be abandoned, without any word from the creator.

Parasitism ; not sure it's the legal word in English, just the translation of the one in my own language.
You benefit from all the works someone did to grow his fan/community/customer base, by making a product (or here a game) that looks "exactly" (relatively speaking) like his creation. Not sure that the USA have a law against this, but most of western countries have one.

 

[ImperialD]

this was one of my favorite games till it suddenly stopped ... made me sad

 

[Chikimaro]

It only apply for out of the box assets. But once you start to apply some morphs, to use the skin form another asset, the normal map from yet another one, and in fact do something that will make the result effectively unique, it become your creation and your intellectual property.
It's the same process than writing a book or music. What you used (words or music notes) can't be copyrighted, but you own the rights over the result.
And this apply whatever if you effectively register it or not ; registration is just the way to prove without possible doubt that you own the property, not what make you own it.

i see, thanks.

i was thinking of sculpting the characters from scratch , specially the daughter because i searched and i found no one that looks similar to the one used.

i'm also trying to not to think a lot about the copyrights side, if i get a take down notice or message from the original creator asking me to stop, i will, and i'll start again with something fresh and new.

i don't like to do something that could make troubles later, and i never tought this thread will get so much attention, anyways i guess there's no turning back now.

 

[SecretSal]

Parasitism ; not sure it's the legal word in English, just the translation of the one in my own language.
You benefit from all the works someone did to grow his fan/community/customer base, by making a product (or here a game) that looks "exactly" (relatively speaking) like his creation. Not sure that the USA have a law against this, but most of western countries have one.

Ok, I can definitely understand that being frowned upon, but didn't know it was actually illegal. Just been desensitized to copycats and derivative works, I guess.

But this being pitched as the completion of a mostly abandoned game, rather than a competing product, muddies the water a little bit for me. This law sounds more specifically applicable to something like My Second Life trying to springboard off My New Family, to the point where I was momentarily confused as to whether it was a spin-off by MNF's dev.

Even with picking up abandoned games informally, there are cases like Wootch's UrbanxLife being remade as Urban Demons, which was largely praised at the time by the community, since Wootch was seen as an unreliable dev who wouldn't deliver, and Nergal was coming off a good run with A Zombie's Life.

It seems like these get judged on a case-by-case basis - since Wootch wasn't highly regarded, and Nergal did a lot of work remaking the game to be significantly better, it's not considered a problem. On the other hand, Pandelo still has a lot of goodwill, and has already done a lot of work on the game, so any piggybacking at this point would be problematic. I can understand the skepticism and pushback, but still not sure if it would realistically see court.

P.S: Off-topic, but if the law applied in Asian countries, more than half our creative industries would shut down.