Author Topic: update on the db game  (Read 7780 times)

Offline fulizer

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update on the db game
« on: December 13, 2007, 11:17:14 AM »
should I (more like will no one be unfair to me) if I make a darwin bot game?
you would be a bot defending your part of the simulation from a mass of bots that go into the area for various reasons.
some for the vegs, some drifted there, and some are evil virused bots from a bertha somewhere that have been sent to controll every section of the simulation (maybye).
you would be able to use every kind of shot in the game (including viruses(probably))for your help and then possibly (if I can work out a way) tie feed on other bots.
so should I? (I actually mean will I be punished if I do)
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Offline Numsgil

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« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2007, 12:01:39 PM »
Darwinbots' license is not really officially, but I think it says GPL.  Somewhere between GPL and public domain.  And anyway, we don't have any money to sue you, so it's all pretty moot   Of course, if you're doing an independant project loosely based on Darwinbots, and you just want to use the Darwinbots name, that's especially fine.  Darwinbots isn't trademarked, so you can do pretty much whatever you want with the name.  Well, if you made another alife simulator and called it Darwinbots that would cause logistical problems, but it would be legally fine, I believe.  So even if we weren't fine with independant projects, we don't really have any legal ground to stand on.

As to wether you should or not, what are we talking about exactly?  Comptuer game?  Table top RPG?  Board game?
« Last Edit: December 13, 2007, 12:07:23 PM by Numsgil »

Offline Peter

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« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2007, 12:24:03 PM »
I am not sure how official this is, but this stands in DB under help in about, so you could make one from the source code from DB.
The quote from it.
Quote
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that:
(1) source code distributions retain the above copyright notice and this paragraph in its entirety,
(2) distributions including binary code include the above copyright notice and this paragraph in its entirety in the documentation or other materials provided with the distribution, and
(3) Without the agreement of the authors redistribution of this product is only allowed in non commercial terms and non profit distributions.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

And, if it would going to be a whole different game, apart from DB made. I would chose another name just in case it would be looking to much at eachother. If you plan to make a game based on DB-source code it would possible in some way look like it and the name could reference the original.

For if you're going to use the source code.
If you read point 3 you could make a game and distribute it(not sell it), if you sell it, it would be good to ask Eric and Numsgil and possible PY and Carlo.

Anywhere you go, I would like to hear more details and what the exact game-genre is(sound nice), I do not know if you have coded before, but be warned, good possibility it is going to take more time then you would think, coding always seem to do.
Oh my god, who the hell cares.

Offline EricL

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« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2007, 12:35:15 PM »
I think what he really means is a bot challenge...
Many beers....

Offline fulizer

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« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2007, 03:44:37 AM »
no I am speaking of making a game from scratch it would have the darwonbot name and some of its other things like the different kinds of shots and the botshapes.
basicly it would be a shooter and you would have to get a large amount of energy by getting it off the other bots that come into your turf.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2007, 03:46:19 AM by fulizer »
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Offline Peter

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« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2007, 06:04:02 AM »
Okay, nice a DB-game  . I see forward to see it.
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Offline JossiRossi

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« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2007, 08:26:42 AM »
As stated above there's nothing to stop you from making something and calling it Darwinbots, but I think it would detract from the darwinbots identity which is already way way less well known than it should be.

Offline fulizer

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« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2007, 08:35:31 AM »
I will therefore give it a different name a state it is based on darwinbots.
with permission from nimsgil (I have already stolen it from him before) I will have animal minamalis appear in it.
it will be in exe or possibly(but unlikley) swf format.
you will all get a special thanks for your help.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2007, 08:38:25 AM by fulizer »
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Offline Numsgil

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« Reply #8 on: December 14, 2007, 09:41:20 AM »
A flash game, right?  You seriously don't need our permission, especially when what you're doing is only really using the ruleset.  We'd have to patent it, like they did with D&D or Magic the Gathering.  And a video game can only loosely follow the ruleset anyway.  So the similarities will be superficial at best.

Check out fl0w.  Seems similar to what you're suggesting, sorta

Offline Peter

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« Reply #9 on: December 14, 2007, 10:08:27 AM »
Quote from: Numsgil
A flash game, right?  You seriously don't need our permission, especially when what you're doing is only really using the ruleset.  We'd have to patent it, like they did with D&D or Magic the Gathering.  And a video game can only loosely follow the ruleset anyway.  So the similarities will be superficial at best.

Check out fl0w.  Seems similar to what you're suggesting, sorta
Heh, I know I have played that game some time ago. Nice game, wasn't the game based upon one of the first stages of spore, that mentioned isn't the game spore already out, or has the deadline again been postponed. Let's check.

For anyone who hasn't heard of spore, shame on you, even I have heard of it. I you want to know google it, seems a really nice game, but it is awfal long in devolopment, hopefully the result will be better then.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2007, 10:11:43 AM by Peter »
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Offline Numsgil

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« Reply #10 on: December 14, 2007, 12:26:12 PM »
fl0w was developed without knowledge of Spore, but there's definately a similarity.  I think if you're making a game about microscopic critters they're going to bear a certain similarity

Spore should be out in the spring.  They've held to that release date pretty solidly for the last year.

Offline fulizer

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« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2007, 03:43:43 AM »
I am making a thread with some info about the game.
I dont have the link yet its not made.
it will not have the darwinbots name
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Offline fulizer

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« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2007, 03:51:24 AM »
here are some facts that will definatley be true.
1.all the kinds of shots will be included exept from ties because I cannot work out a way to use them with the software I use.
2. it will not be the db game but I am thinking about what to call it. if you have any ideas pm me or post them here.(right now it wil be caled circles of doom)
3.it will be in exe format.
4.this will not be exclusive to the db website but will be on may other sites too.
5. it will have an installer that will add it to games.
6. energy will play a massive part in this
7. there will be vegs.
8. expect a preview of it soon
if you have any questions pm me
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Offline Numsgil

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« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2007, 04:37:21 AM »
First, Merged and moved topics to off-topic.  Seems more appropriate.

Second: Big.  Text.  Hurt.  Brain.  Very negative connotations.

Third, most of your points are production, ie: not related to game design, ie: you're really jumping the gun here.  Horse before the cart and all that.  To get you thinking, let me present these points:

1.  Enemies will need AI.  That means either inventing your own from scratch or somehow adopting existing DB bots.  Neither is easy.  Darwinbots gives you the perfect testing ground for enemy AI, but you need to be comfortable with it to experiment properly.

2.  Shots involve a great deal of geometry.  Do you have the necessary mathematics background to know what you're getting yourself in to?  Do you know what I'm talking about when I say the words "vector", "dot product", and "cross product"?  Or "quadratic formula"?

3.  Is this project significantly larger in scope than other projects you've finished in the past?  Or worse, is this your first major project?  Have you finished the trivial game clone to wet your teeth with?  Ie: Tetris clone, pacman clone, pong clone, etc. etc.  In general, especially with something as large as game programming/design, the inventor's paradox does not hold.  You must start small and work your way up.

[discouraging rant]
That's it for now.  I don't mean to be discouraging, but I've seen a lot of similar projects, and many of my own, crash and burn.  It's better to go into this with eyes wide open.  It's just way too easy to underestimate the amount of effort it takes to make a game.  Any game.  Darwinbots is close to 20K lines.  That's like the size of a novel.  And Darwinbots isn't all that complex, really.  A simple version of Darwinbots stripped of almost everything and reduced to a shooter will still probably get you 5K lines of code, which isn't anything to sneeze at.  If you haven't done anything more than 200 lines of code before, you're just asking for trouble.
[/discouraging rant]
« Last Edit: December 17, 2007, 04:42:44 AM by Numsgil »

Offline fulizer

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update on the db game
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2007, 06:09:39 AM »
its fine dont worry.
besides it is based on db and not an actual db game so it wil obviousley never live up to the real thing
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