BalancedPro Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 (edited) This was based of a question from a podcast called "SuperBestFriendCast". For example the person who made a remake of Metroid 2 spent years making that game, only for it to get shut down immediately . If it was an original IP based off of Metroid it probably would have stayed up and been it's own thing. Is it because of pride? Edited February 25, 2017 by BalancedPro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maybe Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 the guy wanted to do a remake of metroid 2 so he made a remake of metroid 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Corona Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Yeah, I think it has to do with wanting a remake of a game so bad, you'll do it yourself. God knows there have been games I've wanted a remake of, and if I had the skill and time I would make it lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calmy Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I think because is easier and some people are attached more to that particular series, after all there are many indie games that take elements from those games and converts them into their own, like Freedom Planet which, originally started as a Sonic fan game, but some people just want to focus on a pre-existent to add more content to it, to make something new based off that IP without necessarily being a new original title, like Pokemon Uranium or AM2R did, regardless, if someone is going to publish an indie game based on certain properties, they should be aware of Cease and Desists and such, so if you want to publish a game based of certain properties (not all, depends on the company, but in this case let's say Nintendo) it is better to publish it without advertising, complete, and then go off your way since once it is in the Internet, it cannot be stopped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryuke Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 It's a little easier since you know the layout ... in the small picture. Creating original game... you need to create new maps etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEVA Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 There are many sides to this question. I'll do my best to address them, since I do this kind of thing myself. Firstly, for beginners in game development, the obvious answer is that for fangames, you have a bunch of resources there for you to use already. God knows that assets, graphics especially, are a huge chokepoint in game development, so having some to work with them already when starting out is a huge help. In the case of rom hacks, which we do a lot of here, this even includes the game engine being available. Now, sure, there are some public-domain game assets available, but those carry with them a distinct feeling of... amateur-ness, I suppose. They also tend to be rather generic - that is, pretty uninteresting, unlike the assets from your favourite game. Those do tend to come from decidedly non-amateur sources, after all. Also, they have a danger of being overused. So do fangame assets, but there you at least have a sort-of-defense of "you've seen these in the original game already anyway, you shouldn't be complaining about that." Those are all relatively weak defenses, but they stack up with the ones below. Secondly, there is the issue of distribution. It affects everyone, but mostly starts to get noticed by intermediate-level fangame developers, who are fine with producing their own assets even for fangames. Once you've made your game, how do you get people to play it? This is a large issue affecting the entire game industry, from indie devs to large companies. Chances are, if you put enough effort into your game, there will be a market for it somewhere, but how do you reach that market? And then, how do you convince said market that they're your market? Well, if your game is a fangame, good news! You already know what the market for your game is, and where to find it. How? Because it's just the same market as the original work your fangame is based on! So all you have to do is find a big fan forum, such as this one, and inform the people there about your game. The hard work of collecting the fanbase has already been done for you by the original developers - and chances are, done better than you could ever hope to do it by yourself. (Heck, there's a website+forum specifically for Mario fangames, if that tells you anything.) Brand recognition plays into it too - good luck getting people to play some random-ass amateur game over a game from a series they're already familiar with and enjoy. Now, you might say that all this still applies to a game which is very similar, but technically doesn't infringe on the IP. Well, kind of. But also, that's what people call a clone. Or worse, a ripoff. There's a kind of negative stigma associated with that, precisely because you're using someone else's marketing effort for your own benefit. So yes, in a way this is the 'pride' thing you mentioned - by making your game an outright fangame, that's essentially saying "yes, yes I did use someone else's market, who cares, that's not what I'm here for." (By the way, if you make your game unique enough to not be considered a clone, you can't really use an existing fanbase to advertise it anymore, you risk being looked down on. You're basically one of those ads on the side of a webpage at that point.) And that leads me into my next point - what are you here for? While the other points were mostly practical, this one is less so. I believe that even experienced developers can make fangames, because of their personal connection with the series. Fangames are made for fans, by fans. The purest reason to make fangames is because that is the best way to make the people whose company you enjoy - the people in the same fan community as yourself - happy. You know all that hype which the community knocks up whenever a new game in the series is announced? I don't think you can ever get that with some random new IP you've never seen before. Have you ever thought, 'man, it would be really cool if the series went and did [x]?' Well, yes it would, and if it's unlikely the actual developers will make that happen, you can make it happen yourself! Put differently, both fangame devs and other fans usually want either more of the same, or more of the same but with a twist - and not the kind of twist that would allow you to declare it a different IP. (This applies in a big way to fan remakes, as you might imagine.) Often quite the opposite, actually. Therefore, everything the dev does to make it a different IP will be necessarily forced, and, you know, people don't like doing forced things. /wallOfText tl;dr You probably understand the motivation behind making a similar game, and a fangame is both the most natural and most convenient way of doing that by far. Sadly it happens to be the least legally safe one, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zera Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Excellently detailed explanation. But what about Freedom Planet? Nobody discredited it for being a ripoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maybe Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 6 minutes ago, Zera said: Excellently detailed explanation. But what about Freedom Planet? Nobody discredited it for being a ripoff. people did, and also it's not a ripoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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