Feedback Holding Out Your Game's Visibility

[Posho]

All I've ever shown on the internet are prototypes and game jams, but I've never really shown this full-length project that I've been working for arguably three years. I love getting feedback and attention just like the next guy but -in my head- it seems that showing off a project that is going to be sold in a state where it looks too "alpha" could be harmful and give the wrong first impressions, as the development progresses the project will eventually stop being a novelty and fade away.

Is this thinking, dumb? I am also afraid of showing much without getting a hold of a Copyright, because it has happened 3 times that my games were blatantly ripped off from close Twitter followers, so there's no way I'm showing anything unprepared anymore.

Dunno, I feel like I'm wasting a big opportunity by hiding my project, but also feel like it's the right thing to do.

 

[YanBG]

Mobile or PC? Most people that see alpha games aren't the average player on say steam, showing your game early would be helpful for a big project, not so for small i guess(because you'll know what to do).

Your games were ripped off, how so? You have copyright over graphics and other assets as soon as you create them.

 

[Posho]

Mobile or PC? Most people that see alpha games aren't the average player on say steam, showing your game early would be helpful for a big project, not so for small i guess(because you'll know what to do).

It's an story-based action adventure game. And oddly enough, it'll be for both Mobile and PC. I know this genre is odd for Mobile, but I'm happy to say that it runs and feels nice to play on mobile.

Your games were ripped off, how so? You have copyright over graphics and other assets as soon as you create them.

This happened to me when I was 15 so I wasn't sure about what my legal standards were. In one case, a Twitter follower and person I've been talking to made a game using a literally color-swapped replica of the character of the game I was making. Worse even was the fact that the guy also made replicas of the cutscene slideshows from my game, showing the same character on the same positions and with the same props.
He went ahead and started mocking me on Twitter, accusing me that it was me the one that copied him, since he released his game before mine. But I replied him with links of blog posts I've been posting showing the dates of the posts. And, of course, he blocked me.

Another case was from a game I've been posting on IndieDB that got a quite decent amount of attention. Later on I found out that on the GameMaker: Studio Workshop there was a game with the same mechanics, goals and even same TITLE. I contacted the guy and said he didn't know about my project, though I give him some validation, since that game I made wasn't that original to begin with.

A third case is from the same game as well, only that some fan of the game I met IRL (he knew who I was because he knew the game already) made a Unity clone, visually and mechanically. I didn't care much about this because it was very bare bones and he also told me that he had dropped the project. But it concerns me that things like this happen.

 

[Phoebe Klim]

Well, from my experience I can tell you this: Don't worry about getting ripped-off. Or giving bad first impression. Chances are you'll get so little attention, that you won't even get close to experiencing these problems.

I think that you should show game as early as possible, there's nothing to lose and at least a little to gain.

 

[Yal]

Seconded. In the US and some other places, anything you create gets automatically copyrighted, and you can take legal action against anyone who uses your stuff without a license (it's just generally not worth it because lawyers are expensive); however, a lot of people mix it up with trademarking, which is something you need to apply for, and which gives you more protection (such as the right to sue someone infringing your rights for damages, aka sales lost because customers would've been tricked into getting their knockoff). Any attention is good attention, you won't get any players unless you build up hype in time. If you're worried about someone stealing your art assets, watermark them (aka paste semitransparent text over them) with your logo or site URL or something, that's usually enough to deter people to steal your stuff out of laziness (since removing a watermark takes more effort than finding another asset to steal).