Damn non-programmers...

Well, your friends are right...creating a Tetris/Pong/Breakout game is a "ripoff" in every sense of the word. Not that there is anything wrong w/ using old games to learn how to program, or to guide you through the game development process. I personally strive for creativity when working on a title, i''ve been tempted many times to "recreate" a classic, but its all been done to death.

A little creativity goes a long way.

And your point is what? You suck at original design?

Later,
ZE.

//email me.//zealouselixir software.//msdn.//n00biez.//
miscellaneous links

Yeah,

I wouldnt get hung up on anything like that .. they just dont understand how hard "the programming part" is for a game, we can''t do everything for gods sakes!

Well of course I know that it is a ripoff but I try to add in my own creativity but when it comes down to it, it is in some way or another based of something else...

CEO Plunder Studios

Yep, (most) of my friends think my Tank Wars" clone is "gay". I also get the "you copied this!" but I just thought it would be fun to do something a little more advanced than I''d done in the past, and it was a good candiate. Oh well, as long as we have fun making it, right?

2 things to do in this type of situation.
1) Don''t show your friends
2) Show your friends, and have fun laughing at their responses (privately, they won''t understand what''s funny).

Heck, my first game was a basic, "ripoff" of Final Fantasy (without the plot, lol), so with what little plot I had, I made cracks at my friends with it! Then they spent more time shooting off at each other about who got dissed worse

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aud.vze.com - The Audacious Engine <-- It''s not much, yet. But it''s mine... my own... my preciousssss...
MSN: nmaster42@hotmail.com, AIM: LockePick42, ICQ: 74128155

If only the idea of cloning a game was limited to personal learning/enjoyment and not the #1 marketing strategy of the gaming industry.

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Original post by elis-cool
Well of course I know that it is a ripoff but I try to add in my own creativity but when it comes down to it, it is in some way or another based of something else...

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Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899
Everything that can be invented has been invented.

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Gimme a break. Everything that''s unique and fun is not complicated. There are plenty of original ideas out there, and actually grabbing and developing one will help you in the long run in terms of game design proficiency.

Later,
ZE.


//email me.//zealouselixir software.//msdn.//n00biez.//
miscellaneous links

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Original post by Perferati
If only the idea of cloning a game was limited to personal learning/enjoyment and not the #1 marketing strategy of the gaming industry.

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For some reason Hasbro didn't learn this lesson. They keep pouring beefed-up versions of old stuff out.


[edited by - felonius on June 17, 2002 7:13:05 AM]

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Original post by felonius
[quote]Original post by Perferati
If only the idea of cloning a game was limited to personal learning/enjoyment and not the #1 marketing strategy of the gaming industry.

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For some reason Hasbro didn''t learn this lesson. They keep pouring beefed-up versions of old stuff out.


[edited by - felonius on June 17, 2002 7:13:05 AM]

Same with EA (Madden Series)


University is a fountain of knowledge, and students go there to drink.

It's like music. If everything you played WASN'T based on some pre-existing paradigm(12-tone scale, major scale, etc.), it would sound like a bunch of nonsense.

When someone writes an outstanding classical piece nobody says "oh yeah, Mozart already used that scale". This would be like you writing quake. It's so high-level that people wouldn't consider it.

When Creed churns out their latest 3 minutes of hell, just about everyone agrees "we've heard this crap before". This is like writing pong. It's so base and generic that most people instantly recognize it as a rip-off.

That's why there are so many bands out there spewing the same garbage year after year. That's why 98% of all pop music follows the same basic chord progressions and scales(which comprise about 1% of what is possible with music). That's why truly great musicians(Mozart, Bach, Al DiMeola, etc.) stand out from the crowd.

So, consider yourself more like (insert favorite band name here). Yeah, chances are that musically, someone's already done it, but it doesn't mean that you can't do it in a cool way too. You don't have to invent a whole new scale or style of music to express yourself in a meaningful way.

"Like all good things, it starts with a monkey.."

[edited by - monkeyman on June 17, 2002 2:01:18 PM]

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Original post by monkeyman

So, consider yourself more like (insert favorite band name here). Yeah, chances are that musically, someone''s already done it, but it doesn''t mean that you can''t do it in a cool way too. You don''t have to invent a whole new scale or style of music to express yourself in a meaningful way.
[edited by - monkeyman on June 17, 2002 2:01:18 PM]

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Nirvana Nirvana Nirvana...music just hasn''t been the same since he left. He acknowledged a lot of his music was inspired by older bands he loved, as a musician thats almost impossible to avoid. But they did it like no-one else had done before..and years later what was ''Alternative'' is now mainstream..truly sad what people will do for fame and fortune.

"Sometimes I feel like what haven''t made a difference at all. I mean, if we made a difference there would be better music on the radio right?" - Kurt Cobain

eliscool, think yourself lucky- anything I do is insulted by one of my friends, we argue so much. The thing is, I have nothing to insult him back with except one thing, he doesn't do or know anything! (He's a guy without hobby except for his GCN)

The only insult you can throw back is "You're fat", last time that happened we had a punch up so....

Anyway, I have one friend who's cool about my little things, although for some strange reason none of my DirectDraw apps work on his PC. He's still being kind and drawing me some robots for my little game.

Anyway, the first friend is good in a way, he causes a motivation to make Quake 5 or The Elder Scrolls IIII

[edited by - garconbifteck on June 17, 2002 3:14:30 PM]

I know what it''s like to want to show friends what I''ve done, and I''ve gotten similar responses from them. It is too bad some people have to be that way. When you put your effort into something and it rewards you back with its results, you''re naturally going to be excited about it and want to show someone. They probably have no clue and seem to have no interest in just how much work it takes, or how much reward comes with it. And that''s a shame, because you showed it to them because you wanted to share it.

Goes to show how you have to toughen your skin a bit, I guess.

It might be worth explaining what it is you''re showing them before they start to play:

''I''ve been trying to write a game like pong, it''s not quite finished yet [it never is] and it might have a few bugs in it, but I''d like to know whether you think it''s as good as the original''

That way they''ll know you want to hear about the implementation rather than the idea.

Maybe I''ve just been lucky, but I always get very positive responses when I show people my games.

Man, I know how you feel... For example I start a game and I ask a friend to see it, and he goes: oh... it´s ugly, whata nasty bug, and so on and so on... And I say: I did not finhished it yet! I was just asking for your opinion! And he replys: It´s very ugly!

My little sister is the worst...

At least im not alone...

CEO Plunder Studios

My mom and my sister loved my tetris clone. They are pretty non technical though, so they are easily impressed.

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Original post by elis-cool
Well a couple of friends came around the other day, and they saw the icon for a game I made on the desktop, and decided to play it, after I said that I had made it they were like, "what a rip-off artist Eli", even though they did like it and were litrally fighting over whose go it was next! that was pretty cool and they said it was "pretty addictive" which was cool as well.
We are talking about a pong clone here - Twisted Pong - and they spent about 15-20 mins playing it... so that was cool.
So I then proceded to show them my next work of art, a still in production super-breakout clone (with tons of extra (not for public knowledge) features), and they again hurled comments at me about ripping stuff off!! I was like, well i''m just starting out! but they didnt care! I was just thinking, well id like to see you come up with an orginal idea that would actually work at that level... they just have no appreciation for what we do...

CEO Plunder Studios

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simple man, love to see them do it, dont be afraid to have a go back at them, fuk me, dont think about saying something, just say it. Or better still, get way better at it, then get into the industry if your good enough, then when they cry about how you got in there, just say "I started out by making pong and tetris clones, remember?".

Im sure we are all fairly creative to a degree, too bad we dont know how to "instantly" code a super duper original game.