Stop making “fan projects” 👏
These companies don’t give a shit about your passion. They will shut you down or sue you. Put that effort into making your own original game and rep the benefits of your passion.
this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2025
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Or make them quietly and release them basically complete, or release them anonymously (and actually anonymously, not via a pseudonym on a website like github where you can be easily tracked down)
But at that point I probably wouldn’t bother either
Trouble is, in addition to it likely still being taken down, or you being sued still, that also means you can't ask online for assistance in building it.
These things are rarely one person working on it. They get the word out to find more modders who want to help.
Yeah absolutely, and any bugs that are found are permanently gonna be there, stuff like that. It sucks. Thus the “I probably wouldn’t bother either”. But if you’re really passionate about it I say go for it, just cover your tracks really well, only work with people you trust implicitly, and don’t popularize the project until you’re ready to be done with it. The moment it gets hyped and picked up by ign/kotaku/etc you’re done.
I think you can still get the word out to get other modders though. These things don’t seem to get squashed at the planning stage, otherwise publishers would be spending tons of resources going after people who have maybe done no actual work. It seems like what happened with this mod, when they make socials and release ongoing updates, screenshots, videos, etc, of their work, that’s what gets people hyped and all the attention (and eventual hammer) on them
Of course this means you get no credit for your work, which sucks. If you’re undertaking such a massive effort and getting 0 credit I could understand why you wouldn’t bother (although it’s kind of badass to do it for no clout)
Releasing something anonymously is not going to prevent a company from getting the content removed from the web server. Hosting companies have to act according to local laws, and if a company can abuse this (like DMCA) then releasing stuff anonymously is not going to change anything
Sure but the project gets completed and released onto the internet. If it’s not of note then it probably won’t get noticed and deleted. If it is then it will probably get covered by publications like this, downloaded a ton, and archived before removal.
Like that links awakening windows port that one dude released. Just showed up and dropped it anonymously, feature complete with widescreen, 120fps, crazy map view upgrades, and dipped. Nintendo nuked it within the day but you can easily still find it for download
Like I just googled it and within 30 seconds found https://archive.org/details/links-awakening-dx-hd
If Nintendo would see it, they can still get it taken down. But I'll concede that as long as it goes under the radar, there's a chance for it to proliferate
Of course they can and they did, that game was originally distributed via itch and Nintendo dmcad it within like 12 hours of release. But enough people downloaded it that links and torrents are still active and likely will be for years, is the point. Even if they get that archive link (a bit shocking they haven’t in 2 years, Nintendo is getting weak), the torrent will live on and it’s also uploaded many other places
You didn't try to download it did it, did you?
Use the torrent (but use a vpn as Nintendo is pretty notorious for sending love notes to your isp)
Edit also fwiw just tried the zip, on mobile atm but def works? Download completed, extracted, files are correct. Can’t run it bc I’m on mobile but it’s correct
I think the point is trying to get it out there, so people can share it once the original source is taken down. Doing it anonymously just prevents you from being sued.
It's the same reason people make fan art or fan fiction. it's a way to develop technical skill without starting from scratch with creative skills you may have no interest in.
It's totally understandable why people do this, but my advice would be stick to small mods.
As soon as an add on is large enough to be a DLC, or even its own game, big companies are 100% coming after it. Especially if it is a popular game and it gets in all the gaming press like this.
It's basically illegal, although "good" publishers don't care.
Surprise surprise
What's the city(s) the new one is set in? If it has any part of Liberty City, yeah they're gonna take it down. Unfortunately.
I was under the impression it was meant to be Vice City. They're just not very friendly to modding in general.