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[jackal2488]

Okay, so I have a question regarding brainstorming your game ideas with friends etc.

Can a suggestion from a friend that you then use in your game something to fear down the road? To what extent could someone say, "That aspect of the game was my idea, you owe my royalities!".

Does anyone have any experience with this?

[velocirection]

I don't really understand the fear of keeping ideas safe... Any developer who's actually developing already has a million brilliant ideas they'll never be able to make happen. So unless you have a truly revolutionary, never before done or seen by anyone in the universe ever idea that will solve world hunger and bring all of us closer together and cure cancer and AIDS, I think it's safe.

Someone might steal your idea but if you're entire game idea is like "Break out but with crafting" then... well eventually someone would think of that on their own or there's a good chance that it's been done before.

If you really want to keep your ideas safe, work on adult games. Not many developers want to venture into that territory. If your brainstorming and say "My game will be break out but the projectile is jizz! And the blocks snowball it and spit it back out at the paddle!" there's a good chance no one will steal that idea.

I personally love brain storming... mainly for the reason I mentioned. I have way too many ideas to actually make in my life time. So idk, if it inspires someone to make it happen, that's fine. You also have to remember that they put in the work to make it happen. If someone took an idea of mine, eh unless it was something I was currently working on, I'd be okay with it.

[jackal2488]

I guess that's my worry.

I've never published a game before. I'm about to finish my first game, that I've been working on for years now.

I've brainstormed with friends to cultivate the ideas that make up the game. Because I brainstormed with friends, are the ideas still mine? And if the ideas don't belong to me completely, do I have to share the hard work with those who helped develop the ideas?

Maybe I'm overthinking this all.

[fluffrabbit]

It's asymmetrical.

Legally, ideas are not copyrightable. You have a right to use every idea. The game itself is the copyrightable material.

In practice, it's a good idea to learn from other people's ideas but don't tell them yours because they will steal them and simultaneously worry about the same thing you're worrying about with being entitled to royalties, which will never actually happen. But they're just as paranoid as you are.

This advice applies to more media than just games.

[Cobralad]

you may make money out of it and your friend may fill a lawsuit. this thread here pretty much wins his case.
so it depends on what kind of friends you are.

[fluffrabbit]

you may make money out of it and your friend may fill a lawsuit. this thread here pretty much wins his case.
so it depends on what kind of friends you are.

Anyone can file a lawsuit. As for winning the case, the opposite has proven true many times in film. I am not familiar with game law, but considering the similarities I'd say you're wrong about that part. Friends can sue, but it will be thrown out.

[Cobralad]

you may make money out of it and your friend may fill a lawsuit. this thread here pretty much wins his case.
so it depends on what kind of friends you are.

Anyone can file a lawsuit. As for winning the case, the opposite has proven true many times in film. I am not familiar with game law, but considering the similarities I'd say you're wrong about that part. Friends can sue, but it will be thrown out.

i think law depends on judge and money involved

[fluffrabbit]

Of course the system is broken and corrupt. I'm only speaking in terms of where the law works as it's supposed to.

In the case of film, a large studio has the resources to out-sue anyone who sues them. In the case of indie games, it would depend on jurisdiction and how good the developer is at concealing his "eccentricity" from the neo-conservative SJW judge with a grudge. Piss off the court by being a sperg and you'll lose, but if you can afford proper representation or maintain a cool attitude, you'll win.

That's how it works in practice, though I believe that in general, the case is slightly better for someone making a game allegedly based on an idea than someone suing for idea theft.

[velocirection]

I guess that's my worry.

I've never published a game before. I'm about to finish my first game, that I've been working on for years now.

I've brainstormed with friends to cultivate the ideas that make up the game. Because I brainstormed with friends, are the ideas still mine? And if the ideas don't belong to me completely, do I have to share the hard work with those who helped develop the ideas?

Maybe I'm overthinking this all.

How involved are your friends? If they're your team mates, then it's only right to split revenue equally. But if they're just idea people that don't want to do any work or aren't able to because they don't know anything about game dev... I mean you can put their name in the credits or something, that's worth something isn't it? ;3

I'd say just keep doing what your doing. It's a bit unreasonable for someone who just said "It's minecraft but tetris!" or something and expect to be compensated just for that...  I've had some friends of friends who know I make games go like "I have an idea for a game, it's Call of Duty but underwater!" or something and expect me to be like "wow let me make that game for you!"

This is a bit off topic but you ever have someone who tells you an idea they had, you tell them it's good. Then they probably expect you to help them/do all the work for them but they get disappointed when you tell them "now you just gotta' learn how to make it!" -_- I know it's not easy learning how to do a variety of skills to make games but like why would I work on someone else's thing for free when I've already got more games in written down than I realistically can make in my small amount of time on this planet.

Anyway from what it sounds like you should be okay- as long as you don't have unreasonable asshole friends who think they deserve 50% of the game money because they said literally only just "What if... you play as the SLIME from dragon quest and the final boss is the HERO!?" and then you toil away for a couple years, expanding on the idea, making the graphics, music, programming battle and menu systems, writing the story, testing it, marketing, etc... making that game and it turns out to do okay sales wise. (btw that game has probably already been made several times already, its just an example)

Btw, collection of free ideas for all to use-
"Break out but the projectile is jizz and the blocks snowball the jizz and spit it back out at the paddle before being destroyed"
"What if... you play as the SLIME from dragon quest and the final boss is the HERO!?"
"Breakout but also mine craft"
"Zork battle royale"
"Deadly Premonition but it's twin peaks"
"Open world break out"
"Final fantasy 3 but with turnbased breakout combat"
"Myst on a Halo ring"

[jackal2488]

How involved are your friends? If they're your team mates, then it's only right to split revenue equally. But if they're just idea people that don't want to do any work or aren't able to because they don't know anything about game dev... I mean you can put their name in the credits or something, that's worth something isn't it? ;3

I'd say just keep doing what your doing. It's a bit unreasonable for someone who just said "It's minecraft but tetris!" or something and expect to be compensated just for that...  I've had some friends of friends who know I make games go like "I have an idea for a game, it's Call of Duty but underwater!" or something and expect me to be like "wow let me make that game for you!"

Thank you velocirection!

They are not teammates, they are friends who listen to my ideas and feed me their ideas. I take their feedback, mix it together in a blender with my own ideas. I take that blended idea, refine it, put it on paper, then create digital 3D models, UV unwrap, textures, bump maps etc etc etc, load into unity, write the code... all by myself.

But here is an example: throughout the brainstorming processes, someone mentioned a possible title of the game and I really liked it. So much so, that I'll prob end up using it.

I don't mind giving credit where credit is due. Or splitting profits if someone earned them. My worry is that someone could claim they came up with the title or they were the brain behind the game mechanics, or they wrote the story, and regardless of the hard work they put into it, they get an unfair share of profits etc.

I don't think any of my friends are assholes, or would take more than they deserved.

I'd like to say thank you for everyone who put in their comments!

[Karlipoppins]

I have a tendency to think that a lot of indie games fail because they're not shared enough during their development. Brainstorming / getting regular feedback is the best way to get your game right in the first place.

Good execution will always weigh in a thousand times more than good ideas.

[Thaumaturge]

In practice, it's a good idea to learn from other people's ideas but don't tell them yours because they will steal them ...

On this I disagree--specifically, on the latter part ("don't tell them yours").

For one thing, I suspect that the probability of theft is minimal. You might spark a new idea, but at that point I'd argue that it's no longer the idea that you shared. And even if they do take it and make their own version, yours and theirs are likely to come out very different.

And that's if you even end up working on the idea yourself anyway--as has been noted here, I gather that it's fairly normal for devs to have a great number of ideas, more than they ever get to. So why sit on a hoard of ideas never-used, when they might help others?

Finally, sharing your ideas with others invites feedback and brainstorming, which may improve your ideas.

My worry is that someone could claim they came up with the title or they were the brain behind the game mechanics, or they wrote the story, and regardless of the hard work they put into it, they get an unfair share of profits etc.

I am not a lawyer, so take my thought here with much salt. That said, my understanding is that those things are all quite different: a name might come under trademark or copyright law (although I don't know whether just saying a name is enough to get protection of any sort) and  writing (by which I mean concrete written words, rather than plot suggestions) under copyright. On the other hand, as has been mentioned I believe, my understanding is that ideas--and that includes game-mechanic concepts--have no protection.

(But again, I'm no lawyer, so if there are serious concerns regarding things like written contributions, perhaps consider seeking legal advice, if feasible.)