Safely send out demos

[Skyleft]

The concept of giving away a demo of my game sounds rather scary and unsafe, as that person could put it up or straight up copy the script. While I'm aware of how unlikely such a thing is, and to trust trustworthy people, is there a method to guarantee safety and give away demos of an unfinished game?

[fleet]

The concept of giving away a demo of my game sounds rather scary and unsafe, as that person could put it up or straight up copy the script. While I'm aware of how unlikely such a thing is, and to trust trustworthy people, is there a method to guarantee safety and give away demos of an unfinished game?

I am not a lawyer.
You might want to have the person you intend to give access to the demo sign a non-disclosure agreement. You probably should contact an attorney to make sure the agreement is enforceable.

[puppetbomb]

I thought a demo was just a small portion of a game that's distributed for marketing purposes?

Are you giving out beta versions of the full game?

Since this forum is catered towards creating a game, I would be shocked if someone was here to steal people's projects. This forum is full of people who want to create their own VN, and speaking from a writer's perspective, I find my own WIPs more interesting than other peoples.

If you want to beat the odds, my suggestion would be to find a few people with a decent amount of posts (good track record) with a few projects under their belt (experience) and/or with a WIP thread (has their own baby to raise, won't steal someone else's).

There's also the NDA agreement... but it's hard to enforce over the internet and lawyers are expensive.

[Imperf3kt]

From my experience, get a following first.

Post screenshots video clips and teasers to social media.
Make sure people know it's your game and you made it. That way when a kid uploads your "cool demo" to steam, you can prove it's yours. (actually happened to a guy, but I can't find the news article)

[Equil]

marketing before release probably a good way and if its a demo and not full game it should be fine as well, you could also control the demo I guess if you wanted giving password to first 1000 who like a post related to it or something

[Mutive]

In general, creative works are copyrighted to their creator. So as long as you can prove that it's yours (i.e. records such as emails, screenshots, etc.) you are legally in the clear. Of course, someone might still post it/take credit for it/otherwise be annoying. (I think that's unlikely, but all is possible.) But in that case, you should be able to go to the host and have it removed, showing off the earlier records of the game.

[Sleepy]

In addition to methods already stated (making sure you have a record of your ownership and NDAs), putting your name in the credits or in documentation helps prove ownership. Likewise, archiving the files helps prevent casual copying. It's not total protection but it makes it much harder for someone to just run off with your work.