SGT M'S PROFILE

author=Liberty
Be warned that I just checked my email box after giving a few reviews pointing out that these games had been stolen only to have it inundated with spam. This is my normal rmn email account (where I tend to send all my rmn-based inquiry emails and not my mian account), but this fuckhead seems to have forgotten that nowdays it's dead easy to just hit a few buttons to forever consign email spam to the depths of hell.

So, yeah, this guy is retaliatory in the way he does shit.

Doesn't exactly sound like we're dealing with a genius mastermind, here.

EDIT: Looks like he's retaliating by uploading more games. I know the dev who made Craig so i'll let them know of the theft. Keep on him!

It's a good practice to always check usage rights and clauses in any scripts you use. And if it is not in the script itself, it's likely somewhere on their website. Make a citation of it for yourself on where you found it, too, since more and more scripts are disappearing online from dead links, etc.

I tend to do this as early in development as I can, and always avoid scripts with a "no commercial" clause even if my game is free. That way I'm not putting myself in hot water later if I make the decision to go commercial and I'm not scrambling to find a replacement script.

Geez you guys are making me blush, lol. I didn't realize I had been such an influence to you all and it means so much that it left such an impact on people. I probably wouldn't keep doing this whole game development if I couldn't do that.

Thank you so much, everyone. Gotta keep going!

Thanks, folks. This was a tough call that I was ready to make months ago and just didnt have the courage to admit it until now. If I prided myself on one thing as a developer, it's the ability to follow through with what I started. And to not be able to do that for the first time in years felt like the one thing I could do well was now a moot point and I had nothing going for me.

But I'm realizing more and more that Crescent Prism has been a wonderful experience for exactly the reasons you noted, Nova. I wish I had known the things going into Soma Spirits or Yuusha that I had learned through CP's development and I think what I'm bringing away from it will make the next project all the more cohesive. I finally, for example, feel confident enough in my visual style that I can make a more consistent-looking game from start to finish. CP definitely had some Art Evolution going on, and early assets were experimental at best.

Now I feel like I have better methods of doing things, for both pixel art and for everything on the backend and I'm truly aiming to have a more organized approach for the next project. Crescent Prism taught me a lot, and so many things about it will hopefully make the next game stronger.

The internet is a different place now than it was even just five or ten years ago and the moral implications of using rips and edits, especially from indie games like Wargroove, have changed dramatically. Many sprites you find online and in other games now are from small-time creators just like you and me.

You also shouldn't immediately assume that it is still okay to do this if your game is free due to the way copyright law works. If you are absolutely dead set on using existing assets, you should either purchase them, or seek out assets that have proper Creative Commons Licenses for reuse.

I'm gonna say it once more for the people in the back: Do not assume you can do this if your game is free.

That said, using other sprites as a point of reference is a great way to learn how to learn how to make your own pixel art and many of us have done the same thing in order to develop our own styles. Unlike ten years ago when rips and edits were the norm, there are infinitely more resources, tutorials, and other tools out there to help you make your own distinct art. And even if you think you're not ready to make that step, there's hundreds of artists on Twitter and Gamedev forums looking to do commission work, so help 'em out!

I think what you're doing is a good start in making your own assets, but you absolutely need to go further than that. Nowadays, there's no reason not to.