Protecting a Game in Progress: How?

[TheChris]

For quite some time now, I've been working alone on a large visual novel and am planing on registering a copyright for it or getting a Creative Commons license once I've finished. Of course, that only helps prove the work is mine once it is completed. How does someone protect their work while it's in production. How much information can you leak out about your game during production without worrying about your basic game story/characters/ideas being stolen? I'm sure every ones' criticism would be helpful, so I've been considering announcing my game in lemma soft forums in the near future, but... you know. How do you all approach this problem? Do wait until your project is close to completion, do you not worry about, or do you just limit how much information you make available?

[papillon]

How does someone protect their work while it's in production.

By actually finishing it.

While your game is just an idea, you have very little worth protecting.

With a VN, it's really all in the execution. If someone takes your idea and is inspired by it and runs off in their own direction, the end result will probably be so different from your own work that people will happily play both of them, if they're any good. One game about a sexy catgirl spy is not going to be the same as another game about a sexy catgirl spy. The specifics of the art and writing will make the two games different. And you don't need extra protection on the specific art and characters, that's already intrinsic from the point of creation. They can't be used without your permission.

Most people around here have too many ideas of their own already. They're not lurking in WIP looking for someone else's game to rip off.... and the kind of people who DO try to rip off someone's work for a quick buck wait to see what's successful first. THey don't want to rip off just anybody!

[Taleweaver]

How does someone protect their work while it's in production.

By actually finishing it.

Quoted for truth.

Ideas are a penny a dozen. It's the execution that counts.

If you're worried about someone stealing your assets - art, music, etc - well, don't make them public before your game is done. Show concept art. Show soundbites. Make some mouthwatering promo videos showing selected scenes and features of your production. Just don't release your 4k-sized sprites our your final BG art before you're releasing your game.

[SundownKid]

I wouldn't worry about your idea getting stolen - ideas are extremely common, but actually making a game is rare. The likelihood of someone stealing your idea and making a successful visual novel about it before you do is extremely low, this isn't like mobile games where a good idea can be copied and stolen rather easily.

Just don't release stuff like full sized art assets and such.

[TheChris]

Thank you all for the replies. I really appreciate it. I'm working on my first game (alone), it's large and I've already spent countless hours on it, so I guess I've been feeling over protective about it.

[Tyrantauranox]

I've worked for idea-stealers before, and you don't have to worry about them. They have their eyes glued on games that have sold incredibly well. If you publish a game that sells incredibly well, your idea WILL be copied many times, usually changed up enough to keep you from suing. If that happens, you'll be too busy counting your money to notice

[TheChris]

I've worked for idea-stealers before, and you don't have to worry about them. They have their eyes glued on games that have sold incredibly well. If you publish a game that sells incredibly well, your idea WILL be copied many times, usually changed up enough to keep you from suing. If that happens, you'll be too busy counting your money to notice

Thanks for the advice and laugh. Nice avatar by the way... I don't plan on watching the second season, but I enjoyed the first.

[Kato]

As everyone has said already, you needn't fear having your ideas stolen. Most everyone here had their hand in their own projects and are already swamped with things to do, as you are probably well aware of working solo. Even if I wanted to steal someone's idea of, say, a constable in the outback trying to apprehend a ragtag group of criminal kangaroos, there's just simply not enough time .

Fact of the matter is posting the synopsis of my VN on lemma was the best move I've made to date. Everyone here is helpful, passionate and want your projects to succeed just as much as you do.

[TheChris]

As everyone has said already, you needn't fear having your ideas stolen. Most everyone here had their hand in their own projects and are already swamped with things to do, as you are probably well aware of working solo. Even if I wanted to steal someone's idea of, say, a constable in the outback trying to apprehend a ragtag group of criminal kangaroos, there's just simply not enough time .

Fact of the matter is posting the synopsis of my VN on lemma was the best move I've made to date. Everyone here is helpful, passionate and want your projects to succeed just as much as you do.

Thanks for the helpful comment and sorry for the late response. I'll make sure I post my synopsis when I finish my script, but it's turning out to be very long, so it's going to be a while. It's going to take at least 100,000 words for me to express everything I want to express in this story, but even that number is seeming small now.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

Well, being first and foremost a Naval Historian, the best answer is the old Naval (and maritime) saying: "the best watertight door is no watertight door".

Out of methaphor, the best means to avoid unauthorized access is an offline computer, preferably in your room (or house, if you're single) for dev works....

Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.

[GreatSam]

How much information can you leak out about your game during production without worrying about your basic game story/characters/ideas being stolen? I'm sure every ones' criticism would be helpful, so I've been considering announcing my game in lemma soft forums in the near future, but... you know.

Just to make it clear: ideas are not protected by any copyright and so are your basic story and character ideas. What can sound strange at first makes sense once you look around a bit. Creativity is rarely something that invents the whole thing from the scratch but more a kind of "I'll take this from here and that from there...and I'll add a bit to it". So most things are actually just modified copies. Look at Disney with it's archetypes and stories, the music scene and it's melodies and the books in the bookstore. There is hardly something which wasn't there before - especially when it comes to Pop culture. The downside of this is that everybody can take your idea and turn it into an game. But as stated here, it needs more than just that to make a good game, right?

Just wrote this because I fell like people often think their ideas are totally unique and should be protected by any means. This isn't the case and actually there is a sense behind the copyright laws. Most of those people don't realize that a bunch of other peoples ideas form their own idea
In philosophy they say that every piece of media we look at forms our personal reality which is the source for any creativity.

Having said that, you can simply licence the actual content of your game as Creative Commons right now. There is no need to wait to the end of the development process for that. But remember, only the content of your game is protected and by no means your ideas.

[TheChris]

How much information can you leak out about your game during production without worrying about your basic game story/characters/ideas being stolen? I'm sure every ones' criticism would be helpful, so I've been considering announcing my game in lemma soft forums in the near future, but... you know.

Just to make it clear: ideas are not protected by any copyright and so are your basic story and character ideas. What can sound strange at first makes sense once you look around a bit. Creativity is rarely something that invents the whole thing from the scratch but more a kind of "I'll take this from here and that from there...and I'll add a bit to it". So most things are actually just modified copies. Look at Disney with it's archetypes and stories, the music scene and it's melodies and the books in the bookstore. There is hardly something which wasn't there before - especially when it comes to Pop culture. The downside of this is that everybody can take your idea and turn it into an game. But as stated here, it needs more than just that to make a good game, right?

Just wrote this because I fell like people often think their ideas are totally unique and should be protected by any means. This isn't the case and actually there is a sense behind the copyright laws. Most of those people don't realize that a bunch of other peoples ideas form their own idea
In philosophy they say that every piece of media we look at forms our personal reality which is the source for any creativity.

Having said that, you can simply licence the actual content of your game as Creative Commons right now. There is no need to wait to the end of the development process for that. But remember, only the content of your game is protected and by no means your ideas.

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you mentioned I can use the creative commons, that's more of what I was wondering about when I first wrote this thread. I also understand what you're saying about not copyrighting ideas, but at least for me, I'd rather be the first person to make a game/story with my ideas. Once I fully release it, I realize the ideas won't be protected, but at least I'll be the first. I can point to my game and say "I created that".