ztn: How bold of you to post on a public forum asking for feedback on something you intend to patent. Are people supposed to share their thoughts and ideas with you knowing that whatever feedback they give might become part of something they''re not allowed to imitate? Nobody can stop you from applying for a patent, but if that''s what you want I suggest you do it on your own.

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Original post by Anonymous Poster
ztn: How bold of you to post on a public forum asking for feedback on something you intend to patent.

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Yet another person who doesn’t read before he posts…

I have NOT asked for ANY feedback on my design! What I asked for was examples of games that show similar behavior, or developers who are working on similar projects.

Otherwise, you would be quite right!
zTn

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Original post by a person
first off i am not being aroggant. you keep me ignorent since you dont tell us anything about the engine.

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Of course not! I’m patenting the engine! I never asked for any critiques or advice! I’m asking for help locating other titles which exhibit similar behavior or game play. I posted here because I hoped to learn how many other developers are working on similar projects.

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therefore i must assume.

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Why? Listen to yourself! I didn’t tell you much of anything about the engine, so why proceed to make guesses and assumptions, and then say why those assumptions are wrong! You have yet to guess anything remotely relevant to my design, BECAUSE YOUR GUESSING.

Furthermore you conclusions, based on these assumptions, have been and continue to be shallow, tedious, and in some cases just plain wrong.

Please,
Stop critiquing things you don’t know anything about.
Read my post and realize that it was never asked for in the first place.
Stop making groundless assumptions about how my code works.
Stop trying to use logic to deduce how my code MIGHT work.

…and if for some reason you can’t, for the love of graphics API’s, stop going on and on about how these assumptions YOU have made, wouldn’t work!


I’m starting to think you’re telling the truth, that you’re not TRYING to be rude anybody, that you’re helping and teaching me something. You’re not. You are making me angry by not answering my question, by accusing me of lying and manipulating, by asccusing me of hyping my project, and by running your fingers on about things I ALREADY KNOW.

If you feel very strongly that, based on what little I’ve described, my idea seems infeasible, then THAT explains why I’m patenting it!

My email address is in my profile card. If you wish to continue, i encourgae you to contact me personally.
zTn

What''s this patent thing? Sounds somewhat ridiculous.

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Original post by Krice
What''s this patent thing? Sounds somewhat ridiculous.

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Its something I''m really regretting mentioning. Very few people have been able to get passed it, and help me out with my question.

I guess I thought that by mentioning it, I could attract responses from developers who are also working on similar designs. –my bad.

zTn

You could look at Clonk Planet http://www.clonk.de (in english)

It does not exactly the same thing, you are doing but it simulates a own world with physics, materials, objects and so on.

Most of it is done with a scripting engine and some things are hardcoded.
You can create own things, too. But not as free as in your project.

If you get used to the controls then it is a very good game.

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Original post by ztn

…are made of materials and other objects.
…all react to external stimuli based on these sub-materials and sub-components.
…are all available for interaction with the player if they bother looking.
...

…create new objects by tying or otherwise combining two existing objects.
i.e. tie a dagger shard to a branch and make a crude weapon.
…break one object into smaller pieces of its comprising materials or objects.
i.e. Take the jewel out of a sword.
i.e. Take the tooth out of a dragon.

“Creatures in the Game”
Every Creature is made of objects comprising their body parts. This allows…
…targeting specific body parts when the player feels the need.
i.e. The wings of flying creatures.
…Tying a creatures legs to his hands

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I''ve seen elements similar to this in a robot combat game called Roboforge (love playing it). You''d build robots by taking components such as arms shields and servos and connecting them together. The result is hundreds of unique creations duking it out for supremecy in the arena.

Melee weapons are built by putting any number of weapon components together. Ferinstance somebody built a morning star like weapon by having swords attached to a sphere like component.

These elements are probably somewhat different from your ideas as this game is basically cage fighting with home built and programmed robots but the idea of building large entities from simple components is there.

To see screenshots or download a demo of the game check out www.roboforge.net


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Insert witty comment here!
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Props to Schiggl and Dan DAMAN,

Thanks for the leads guys!
zTn

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Original post by ztn Its something I''m really regretting mentioning. Very few people have been able to get passed it, and help me out with my question.

I guess I thought that by mentioning it, I could attract responses from developers who are also working on similar designs. –my bad.

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That''s because, of course, most of us (well, me, at least, and probably most of the Linux users) see software patents as a Very Bad Thing. This is a public place where we share ideas openly and constructively - do you really think we want possible techniques put out of our reach because ''someone else owns the rights to it?'' That''s the sort of thing that holds science back. Because so many scientific findings (which, frankly, game techniques ought to be classified as) are patented or kept secret by the discovering corporations, the people who would really benefit from them can''t use them.
Not to mention the fact that if there are existing games out there which use this technique, then you''re not the first to think of / implement it. Which means that you''re partly getting the patent ''because no-one else got it already'', which seems (at least a little) to me like cheating, somehow. (I''m guessing that you''re posting this to check who''s already done it; but the fact that you seem decided on patenting the idea before you even know the answer is not a good sign)

Sure, you''ve gotta eat. But... don''t expect much from us, if you''re going to forbid us the right to make our games the way we want them. That''s the equivalent of a warez monkey turning up on these boards asking for cracks, only worse, because you''re not aiming at what we''ve already made, you''re aiming at what we could.

Superpig
- saving pigs from untimely fates
- sleeps in a ham-mock at www.thebinaryrefinery.cjb.net

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Original post by superpig

Original post by ztn Its something I''m really regretting mentioning. Very few people have been able to get passed it, and help me out with my question.

I guess I thought that by mentioning it, I could attract responses from developers who are also working on similar designs. –my bad.

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That''s because, of course, most of us (well, me, at least, and probably most of the Linux users) see software patents as a Very Bad Thing. This is a public place where we share ideas openly and constructively - do you really think we want possible techniques put out of our reach because ''someone else owns the rights to it?'' That''s the sort of thing that holds science back. Because so many scientific findings (which, frankly, game techniques ought to be classified as) are patented or kept secret by the discovering corporations, the people who would really benefit from them can''t use them.
Not to mention the fact that if there are existing games out there which use this technique, then you''re not the first to think of / implement it. Which means that you''re partly getting the patent ''because no-one else got it already'', which seems (at least a little) to me like cheating, somehow. (I''m guessing that you''re posting this to check who''s already done it; but the fact that you seem decided on patenting the idea before you even know the answer is not a good sign)

Sure, you''ve gotta eat. But… don''t expect much from us, if you''re going to forbid us the right to make our games the way we want them. That''s the equivalent of a warez monkey turning up on these boards asking for cracks, only worse, because you''re not aiming at what we''ve already made, you''re aiming at what we could.

Superpig
- saving pigs from untimely fates
- sleeps in a ham-mock at www.thebinaryrefinery.cjb.net



I do see your point. There is no way to ensure good intensions. And certainly no way to make the point that my patent (if it comes to be) will not stop any of you from coding what you want to.

Its ironic that when Franklin designed the patent process, it was to ensure that information would not be lost or confined. However, this point is less relevant now that communication is so easy.

But anyway, I see your point.
zTn