What do you think about commercial game that use free assets

[komicer]

I need a 'like' button for this thread. The debates here are really informative for me and any one considering the business of games. As others before me had pointed out, a good game is a cumulation of many good elements. Good music, good art, good writing and may I add, good programming and design. Excelling in any one of these aspects helps but if any one of them are below average, then the game isn't worth much.

As both a resource provider and a consumer, I'll say that good resources are worth paying for; just as a good game is worth paying for. I'll think that once you have invested so much time and effort into a game, you should really consider making it commercial.

[Elze]

Ehh. Personally, I like original "everything" when I'm paying for a game. But if cutting out some things means a cheaper game that's almost as good, I must admit it is rather tempting.

Like everyone else, I won't pay for a game done with free sprites and CGs. For a game, visuals are the basic must-haves. If it's going to be taken from free sources, that means I'm going to have to see the same images repeatedly in different games, which is very tiresome and annoying. If the developer is not going to make an effort to even get his own visuals, there's no way I'm paying any money for it. To a certain extent, backgrounds can sometimes be compromised though.

Sound wise, as long as the music fits the mood well, I'm fine with it even if it's freeware. Of course, games that come with paid music will be preferred, but not necessary. I adore games that come with their own personalized (hired a composer) soundtracks though. I feel that it really gives the game a personal and professional touch. This applies more for commercial non-indie games though, since they have bigger budgets. That way, I can download the soundtrack or purchase it, and every time I listen to those pieces of music I can relive the moments in-game that I love. I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of loving the OST of a certain game so much that I replay it over and over again on my ipod. The same applies for movies. I buy Disney soundtracks to relive the moments in the animated movies.

Just one thing though. As animation students, we use a lot of royalty free music for our shorts. Unlike the more established schools like CalArts, we don't have connections to a music school and not all of us have the luxury of having composer friends. This means we've exploited A LOT of the higher quality free music out there, like Kevin Macleod's stuff. So much so that when I hear his music in a game, I get slightly annoyed. I think the same goes for those who play a lot of VNs, as well as game makers. It's just like listening to the same advertisement getting replayed. The bottom line is to choose free music that's not overused, which should be fine.

[Elenakiara]

A lot of people here talk about how "they've seen X-cliche and X-trope done well so everyone should do it!" but the fact of the matter is, you probably have, done by someone with much more writing talent than you. Pick something else. Anything else. At the very least you'll be different than mainstream.

I agree with that Kinougames said, all except this quote. Call me cynical, but I've never-ever read something that was completely unique... o_o It's hard to try to be different from mainstream, but to still be interesting and possibly logical to a certain extent.
But, unless you're talking about the really really cliche'd stories where you can guess the ending by just recognizing which trope it is... Then, I'd agree 100%! xD

On topic though, when I buy games, I want everything to be new and original! xD I have a good ear for music and a good memory when it comes to music, so it has to have been burried under a pile of other songs to ensure that I've never heard it! xD If we can't recognize it, then I can accept it, since it's not like I'm going to search for it. xD I probably wouldn't even know unless someone would point it out to me.

Otherwise, yes, character art has to be new, because it's one of the main parts of the story! :O The characters will be more memorable than just associating them to different personalities and stories.

@ KomiTsuku : Hang in there! xD Personally, I think that for now, you just need to possibly use free sources and free assets just to practice your story telling, the different genres that you like writing and all that. I know that if you start with a smaller-sized story, you can build your way up! xD People like to read the VNs and your fanbase will grow and you too. xD At least that's kind of what I'm trying to do as I'm making my first VN.

[Suikama]

I'm Winston Payne from Phoenix Wright...

Hey, at least you still got your hair right?

I'm in the military. I have long since lost mah hair. What remains is slowly going gray.

...oh dear

[Kurten]

As a developer
As a developer im split, i embrace the idea of the hacker culture along with open source software and the bazaar development model. When it comes to raw programming this is really, really helpful since it dramatically decreases development time.

On the graphics front im unsure though since im not an artist. I guess it decreases development time on that front as well but it would seem a bit odd if there were different art styles mixed up in one game.

On the story front i am also not very certain about borrowed stuff. Im not that much of a writer. but i do believe that the story needs to have what we call a red thread here in Sweden. That means it goes from point A to point B without losing track. If you put together small fragments of different stories i think that this "red thread" would be lost.

As a consumer
As a consumer i also embrace games that borrow code from each other, all games does it, in one way or another.

The graphics part is a bit mixed up though, some games do kinda well with borrowed graphics. others don't, it all depends on the game.

For the story, i prefer stories with a "red tread", so im not a fan of mixing different stories together.

Music is ok to borrow imo though.

[kinougames]

A lot of people here talk about how "they've seen X-cliche and X-trope done well so everyone should do it!" but the fact of the matter is, you probably have, done by someone with much more writing talent than you. Pick something else. Anything else. At the very least you'll be different than mainstream.

I agree with that Kinougames said, all except this quote. Call me cynical, but I've never-ever read something that was completely unique... o_o It's hard to try to be different from mainstream, but to still be interesting and possibly logical to a certain extent.
But, unless you're talking about the really really cliche'd stories where you can guess the ending by just recognizing which trope it is... Then, I'd agree 100%! xD

The idea is not to avoid all cliches ever, because I agree that it's impossible, but Lemma often gets the question: "What cliches do you love in games~~~" posted ad nauseam and I can only imagine that it's because people want to make a game that is well-liked by others. You can't completely avoid cliches, but you can choose not to make the seventylleventh dating sim with an evil ex-gf out to ruin your life. xD

[papillon]

but you can choose not to make the seventylleventh dating sim with an evil ex-gf out to ruin your life. xD

... obviously my next project should be the all-lesbian dating sim, in which your evil ex-gf keeps trying to undermine your new relationships!

[kinougames]

If the game is all girls, I fully support one of them being evil.

The all-lesbian dating sim has been a long-time coming. *sage nod*

[LVUER]

I wonder how many people would want to play this kind of game (lesbian dating sim)... no wait, this isn't really new though, I mean Strawberry Panic is a yuri VN. Boys would want to play it but how about the girlz?

[papillon]

There are boys who don't like lesbians. There are girls who do. There are girls who are lesbians. There are girls who are lesbians but hate yuri because it's usually done so completely unlike the real thing. It's really not a boys-vs-girls issue, it's much more complicated than that.

Anyway, I was (sadly) mostly kidding. While I would kinda like to do an all-lesbian game at some point I don't have any strong plans for it, I prefer mix-and-match.

[Headache]

Okay, on-topic: From a consumer's POV, I don't mind free assets. As long as it's legal and it looks good in the game, there's nothing wrong with it. And like papillon has said, sometimes original assets look crappy compared to free ones.

And yes, I like shiny-looking games.