(I apologise beforehand for not quite fitting in this forum.)

I've been having quite a rough time these past few years, and 2021-2023 I even suspect hacking of devices and networks at various points (not the first incident in my life). I understand how copyright and intellectual property works—which is why I'm not worried considering I have my files and projects—and realise that monetarily there might be nothing I can do, most of my systems I would've implement and made open source either way, the same goes for formats and other standards.

However, having someone potentially steal your files, lists, doodles, notes, and ideas is not part and parcel of gaming, the game scene, or game design and development. I also think I've been more suspicious than I have to, but that's what happens when you deal with bad friends and bad actors. Still, should I be able to find some people to discuss these things that would help me get this off my chest and perhaps slowly start working on justice for more than two decades of my life.

This is a playlist of videos I've made trying to show what I have without actually giving away my ideas and files:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBAW818DX-NSKHy6XcayLG07w7mzfkCO8​

I've been doing game design (including computing, development, etc.) since 2000-2001 and have designed several concepts that are pretty much just "clones" of other games, heavily inspired by games made and ideas implement many times before. Then I also have those few half-original ideas that kind of makes me worried.

I've contacted several people and several organisations in the hopes of someone understanding what I've been going through, just in case they could keep their eyes open and find whoever has been doing something stupid behind my back.

I have also been in contact with a few YouTube channels that usually deal with this kind of content and these kinds of incidents, but I'm unknown and have toiled away in obscurity (I have never worked in the gaming industry and have showed very little of my ideas) so I am literally coming out of left field with 35 GB of files in gaming (and more in computing, etc.) making quite the bold claims of designs and dedication.

I should've continued with gamedev in the early 00s and I should've made some friends and connections, but hindsight is 20/20, nothing I can do about it now. I can just try to find some likeminded people and a few friends and professional who would be interested in listening.

I have talked to Valve and even reported one game, but it's still going to be one hell of a ride trying to sort everything out.

Considering I've worked in obscurity I've never showed anyone my ideas and my files, so I am naturally quite careful and weary of actually showing anything—perhaps unnecessarily, but I'm not used to dealing with these kinds of issues.

I'm looking for some people to discuss this with and see where it leads.

So far I haven't received any answers from those I've contacted directly, but that's understandable, they're most likely busy with their stuff and their lives—my situation is rather complex and strange anyway.

If anyone is interested in talking, helping me out, or listening, then feel free to reply or contact me.​

kforsback said:
having someone potentially steal your files, lists, doodles, notes, and ideas is not part and parcel of gaming, the game scene, or game design and development. I also think I've been more suspicious than I have to, but that's what happens when you deal with bad friends and bad actors. Still, should I be able to find some people to discuss these things that would help me get this off my chest and perhaps slowly start working on justice for more than two decades of my life.

You wrote an awful lot of words without actually saying much. If I understand you correctly, you aren't talking about game design, but rather theft. Accordingly, this is now moved to the Game Business and Law forum.

You should talk to a lawyer or attorney or barrister or whatever they're called in your country. But I'm pretty sure he's going to say you need solid proof of misbehavior, and a culprit you can name. Good luck.

I forgot to mention, we have a list (possibly outdated) of attorneys/lawyers with experience in the game industry. It's right here in the Games Business and Law forum. Click Back to Games Business and Law above.

Having checked your links: if you're just trying to get people to visit your X and YouTube pages, this thread belongs in Your Announcements instead of Business and Law… So… do you want to tell us what your actual purpose is in posting this thread?

sigh I'm not even a streamer, let's player, or anything else that thrives on attention, I have 297 subscribers for Pete's sake. I was at peace and I was blissful early 2021, alone and working on my projects, but then all of "this" started happening and my mental health plummeted. I've been talking to the cops just as long, I have suffered several breakdowns, and I've been in a mental hospital in a closed ward three times trying to deal with all of this. It's been a while since I was on GameDev, but I was hoping to talk over what to do, how to document my projects, how to build my case, or something similar.

I have filed police reports and have been in contact with lawyers, but as you say, I need someone to blame and I need probable cause. I've dealt with hacking incidents before, I've dealt with suspicions before, but I've just been able to continue in peace and quiet with my files, not this time. It's been many painful years now and my mental health is not exactly stellar anymore.

Is this how you treat all independent designers and developers? But thanks for moving the post to where it belongs.

kforsback said:
I was hoping to talk over what to do, how to document my projects, how to build my case, or something similar. I have filed police reports and have been in contact with lawyers, but as you say, I need someone to blame and I need probable cause. I've dealt with hacking incidents

I was just trying to get to the heart of your issue. As you say, the post is where it belongs. Good luck.

kforsback said:
It's been many painful years now and my mental health is not exactly stellar anymore.

What happened? What's the cause?
Do you think somebody has stolen your files? How do you know?

Tom Sloper said:

kforsback said:
I was hoping to talk over what to do, how to document my projects, how to build my case, or something similar. I have filed police reports and have been in contact with lawyers, but as you say, I need someone to blame and I need probable cause. I've dealt with hacking incidents

I was just trying to get to the heart of your issue. As you say, the post is where it belongs. Good luck.

I see, I might have been a bit too hasty myself and assuming the worst. It's been painful, it's been stressful, and it's been hard getting people to understand, believe, and trust me. I don't expect any special treatment, but it's still been painful years.

Years that could've been just peaceful and quiet.

JoeJ said:

kforsback said:
It's been many painful years now and my mental health is not exactly stellar anymore.

What happened? What's the cause?
Do you think somebody has stolen your files? How do you know?

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe that during the years 2020-2023 someone had at one point or another hacked my devices. A past friend passive-aggressively showed me in 2020 that he knew what URLs I visited and what I was looking to buy on certain shops. That freaked me out and started this whole mess down the rabbit whole.

There have been several incidents in my life where I believe my devices have been hacked and files potentially stolen, 2007-2008, 2010-2011, 2013-2014, and 2020-2024. Likewise there have been many times in my life that I've been suspicious, wondering if certain projects have stolen my ideas.

I've designed so many things in my life since 2000-2001 so it would be strange if I didn't react to some things, but then there are other things that just makes the hairs stand up. I've been trying to deal with the stress of these past few years (on top of Covid-19) and trying to clear my mind so that I could calmly and professional sort it out and present my case.

It hasn't been that easy and I'm looking for ways of how I could best do it.

I also have an old hard drive from the second incident in 2010-2011 that I need to send for recovery in order to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what projects I was working on, and recovery is a bit expensive so it's taking its sweet time.

With any luck I'll figure it out, maybe find some friends, talk it out, and find a path forward, the primary goal being me just continuing to work on my projects… I've just had to deal with things these past years that I never dreamed I would have to.

/insert Doom Guy low health face

kforsback said:
With any luck I'll figure it out, maybe find some friends, talk it out, and find a path forward, the primary goal being me just continuing to work on my projects…

I would at this point propose to work offline, using a second computer specifically for online needs.
Then you can be sure nobody is spying on your work, and the paranoia should go away. And if it doesn't, the mental issue might need some more attention or treatment.

Regarding stolen ideas, we all work on the same goals, share the same inspirations, and thus come up with similar ideas. It's quite easy to speculate somebody took some of my ideas directly from my game. On the other hand, my game is itself based on other games, so whom shall i blame?
It's quite blurry, and maybe not enough to feel betrayed or targeted.

On the other hand, say if you have a coworker, and you come up with a really distinctive design idea like Tetris, but then the coworker leaves and later releases a game containing your idea without any doubt, you do have a reason, i would say. Taking legal action could be a fruitful investment of time and money, eventually, but idk.

Anyway, it seems your primary source of doubt involves electronics and networks.
Pull the plug, cut the source of evil off and see how it helps…

JoeJ said:

kforsback said:
With any luck I'll figure it out, maybe find some friends, talk it out, and find a path forward, the primary goal being me just continuing to work on my projects…

I would at this point propose to work offline, using a second computer specifically for online needs.
Then you can be sure nobody is spying on your work, and the paranoia should go away. And if it doesn't, the mental issue might need some more attention or treatment.

Regarding stolen ideas, we all work on the same goals, share the same inspirations, and thus come up with similar ideas. It's quite easy to speculate somebody took some of my ideas directly from my game. On the other hand, my game is itself based on other games, so whom shall i blame?
It's quite blurry, and maybe not enough to feel betrayed or targeted.

On the other hand, say if you have a coworker, and you come up with a really distinctive design idea like Tetris, but then the coworker leaves and later releases a game containing your idea without any doubt, you do have a reason, i would say. Taking legal action could be a fruitful investment of time and money, eventually, but idk.

Anyway, it seems your primary source of doubt involves electronics and networks.
Pull the plug, cut the source of evil off and see how it helps…

I've taken care of the mental health issues from the stress, it's been getting better since last year.

It is true that we all share the medium, inspirations, and ambitions and we might very well come up with similar ideas, which is why I've never done anything before, it all seemed like nothing more than superficial similarities and coincidences. I just bought new equipment, reinstalled, made more backups, and made sure my devices were secure.

This time around there's been a few weird occurrences and similarities that's been a bit more than the usual, so I've attempted to contact some people to try and sort things out.

My issues with electronics and networks seem to be in the past, but you do have a point and it's something I would consider too if I had the money to spend of two computers :/ That's life as an indie, not that glamorous.

I guess it's because I'm a nobody and pretty much unknown that I've gotten “those” kinds of comments, that I'm just paranoid and making it up. Meh, guess I'll have to slowly build respect and reputation for what I do.

It's also been a while since I was on GameDev, I think around 2011-2012 was the last time I frequented these hallowed halls. Nice to see it still around, DevMaster went quite a few years ago and a few other sites are gone as well.