Read your own post man...

"Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)

.....as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration"

What do you think the game design document is...oh yeah. A recording. Hmm funny how that happens like that.

Take my project for example. There are several post-apocalypyic mods that various groups are working on. Before those there were the games Wasteland, Fallout, and Fallout 2.

Ours however is a specific blend of FPS, RPG, MMO, and RTS. If you take a game with our method of gameplay and put it in a post-apocalyptic setting...Id venture to guess that the work we've done to date plus someones access to my GDD would hold up as proof in court that we were ripped off.

Your comment was patently (pardon the pun) broad. When you start to flame someone...try to take a little more care to be on point. Or at least listen to the original meaning of the person posting.

I was saying that although our very specific mix of genre, gameplay, and artwork could be ripped off from a reading of our GDD, unless I want to go to the time and expense of tracking the offender down and taking them to court...then im out of luck. But Ill be nice...maybe English isnt your first language.

Why dont you stop posting for awhile until you dont post here out of the need to puff yourself up as an expert.


[edited by - Vanquish on November 30, 2003 8:56:21 PM]

I''m not an expert but here''s my understanding. Doucments can be copyrighted but not ideas. To protect an idea it needs to be patented.

-----------------------------------------------------
Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project
Chaos Factor Design Document

Obscure et al, yes, you can patent an idea. End of story. You can copyright a design document easily, too, but the ideas aren''t copyrightable. Some "look and feel" stuff is protected by copyright too.

Let''s not argue law here, fellas.

I imagine that a relatively small portion of this population has actually produced a piece of software that rivals yours in scope or quality. *Please, please do not respond with "I''m a head designer for Enix and I do this sort of thing in my sleep!" The statement was qualified with you few in mind.

I think we would all benefit from a good look at a polished, thought-out design doc. You''ve got two dozen guys on the project with a big head start; I doubt anyone will beat you to the publisher. We might, however, be able to give opinions or advice on your project, and posting to us will drum up at least a little support for your finished project. Heck, I''m interested in it already, and I don''t know squat about it.

So yeah, put it up. Or at least put up a few snippets for us to see. I''d be interested in a bona fide design document. The usual fare around here has things like "And this system will be just like in Final Fantasy, but with better graphics and real kung-fu moves."

I tend to agree. Really, ideas are a dime a dozen and any hobo can have a great idea for a game. The fact you''ve got a team together and working on it already means you''re ahead. Actually turning the idea into something is the hard part and as others have said, I don''t think many people would want to take your idea and turn it into a game on their own - too much effort for ideas that aren''t theirs.

That''s not to say that people won''t take inspiration from your game idea, but that''s going to happen when the game comes out anyway. It''s a risk you have to weigh up against the benefits. If it makes you more comfortable, wait until you''re further down the track into actual development before posting anything. It would be nice to see another finished, polished design doc tho.

and if you are still too paranoid, you can just include parts that are relevant to the stuff you want to discuss.

Yeah. I knew I was making a mountain out of a molehill. No need to be a nervous nelly. I mean its not like I have the cure for cancer or the plans for an air-powered hovercraft lol.

So here it is:
http://members.shaw.ca/dcosborn/extern/omega/docs/CO_Bible-1.pdf

Hopefully it will be an interesting read, and spark comment, critique, and help a few people who are even more clueless than I am. lol

Have fun.

[edited by - Vanquish on December 1, 2003 1:57:28 AM]

I like the fact that you can have a big impact on the world. I don't like the complexity of the game. You could skip all the detailed leveling of your character. I would keep the possibility to team up and to build and destroy. Anyway the grandness of the design afraids me. It has the impression of being too big of a design with too much 'wants' into it and as such will never be finished. I want to see a more pure design.

This game design has lots of additions now it's time to do the substractions! Ask yourself, what experience do I really want to give to the player? What is absolutely necesary to incorporate to get this experience? Dumb all the rest.

This in order to ever finish the product and have a really good game design.

[edited by - MarcDM on December 1, 2003 5:06:31 AM]

Very well said. Thanks for the input.

The scope is big, I agree - and there is a lot to be done to make all of what is in that document come true. Your warning is duly noted, but I just couldnt (although it is prudent) pare down the game merely because our team might not be able to finish it all.

As for the complexity of the skills, I felt like a) this was the normal way things are done in most mmorpgs (EQ, Shadowbane) and b) thats part of what separates it from merely a FPS like Doom or HalfLife. Again, you may very well be right that the gameplay would be much better keeping the build and destroy qualities and losing the leveling xp grind. Let''s face it, no one likes that xp grind. We will definitely test it both ways.

Keep the comments rollin in!

Alfred Norris, VoodooFusion Studios
alfredn@conflictomega.com

Looks nice. I like the ability to get a RTS GUI up while you are in the officer''s section of your guild.

How are you going to keep the guilds balanced? If they aren''t balanced then there''s no real strategy in the biggest guild always winning.