Minecraft Imitator Hitting Xbox Live Indie Arcade In March

DamnLag - "Well, since we’ve got a Minecraft groove going at the moment, I figure this is as good a time as any to mention FortressCraft. What is it? Well, it’s basically Minecraft with better graphics, texturing and lighting. And for the Xbox 360, no less. Though, the creator claims it’s going to be 'Minecraft meets DwarfFortress meets TransportTycoon meets DungeonKeeper.'"

[giantchicken]

Using the avatars is a nice touch, but I smell a lawsuit coming on.

[thrasherv3]

Lawsuit?

The only way he could be sued is copyright infringement. And he is not infringing anyone's copyright.

[Kran]

You see that little note at the bottom of the menu screen? Do not Distribute?

Well this is EXACTLY what it meant.

And OK. You came up with a BRILLIANT idea for a game. You used it. You made the game. You get lots of money.

Somebody takes that very same idea but "slightly" changes it (e.g. bringing it to an Xbox 360). The person who stole your idea gets money. And you get nothing. Not even a credit mention. Now i dont know about you but I would feel a little p***ed off with that.

[hassi94]

@Kran

Yeah but this is not the same code or engine or anything. So he hasn't distributed anything.

[Kran]

Having the same code or not, the game is still tonnes like minecraft, bar the graphics (which thats why theres mods. To make the PC version of Minecraft HD)

Once the game is released, it will have been distributed.

There is a copyright rule when a game cannot look a certain % like another game. And this game pretty much breaks that rule.

[dragonelite]

@kran you a law special with that kind of logic most games wouldn't come out.

[Wenis]

The funny thing is Kran, Minecraft is actually very similar to another game as well, Infiniminer http://img7.imageshack.us/i... and is actually what inspired minecraft, partially at least according to Notch. Secondly, distributing this game has nothing to do with distributing minecraft since... its not minecraft. Yes the game is obviously a blatant rip off but thats it. I mean look how similar racing games are to eachother, but you don't see people issuing lawsuits about that, mainly because they can't.

[HolyOrangeCows]

Wow, talk about rip offs.

And I don't care about infiniminer; game sucked compared to Micecraft. But this....THIS is practically a carbon copy of Minecraft (without the fun in sight). Hardly even bothered to change the name.

Typical Xbox Indie devs.

[FlyWestbrook]

Whaaaat?

[Pandamobile]

Wow.

"I can't come up with an original game idea, so lets just rip off a massively successful indie game"

[bodybombs]

just like 90 percent of anything you can think of nowadays. 10 percent of whatever you see around you is original

[danmachine]

My face is original!

[bodybombs]

nah, im sure somebody had a face before you

[rlm41]

You jelly it aint coming to PS3?

[Pandamobile]

Why would I be jealous when I can play the real Minecraft whenever I want?

[SupahJ]

I'd totally spend $1 on this! Why not?

[Mastersnake10]

Wow, after checking out the footage, I'm actually kind of looking forward to this. Why not make an imitation that improves upon the original when the original doesn't even try to improve itself?

[TheIneffableBob]

Hmm... I wouldn't say better graphics. Fancier graphics, yes; better graphics, no.

[hassi94]

Better technically. Which art style you prefer is a matter of taste and that alone.

[dragonelite]

what dude compare the water and higher res textures on the blocks. But 31 players online seems reall interesting probably be laggy as shit if its on p2p.

[ic4ruz]

Thats just not right......

[Corrwin]

Cease and Desist letter in 3... 2... 1...

Really - there's imitation, and then there's saying the word "Yoink!" while pickpocketing somebody.

I would not be surprised if he gets sued.

[H2OAcidic]

Did you know Minecraft was created from the game Infiniminer? Plus this dev is doing it from scratch.

[Corrwin]

Infiniminer?

http://www.minecraftwiki.ne...
"Zachtronics discontinued development of the game less than a month after its first release. The source code was made public"

Big difference. It would be ok for them to base the game off Infiniminer, but by deriving it from Minecraft they tread shaky legal ground.

[H2OAcidic]

Did you all just find out about this XBLIG? I've been talking to the dev. of the game since December.

[HK6]

A rip-off of a rip-off? What happened to innovation in the gaming industry?

[Soyokaze]

I honestly believe that FortressCraft is BAD for the games industry. Developer and gamer alike. Long story short, it kills Minecraft's unique business model - which could have gone on to work for future indie titles. It makes game designers less able to make innovative games. If you'd care to hear my reasoning, hit the jump: http://wannadev.blogspot.co...