Quick question - Licensing Issue

This is an archive of a topic from NESdev BBS, taken in mid-October 2019 before a server upgrade.
View original topic
Quick question - Licensing Issue
by on (#187926)
I was trying to quickly slap together a second game, for the competition. (Half done)

But, it's based entirely on another game, that I now see is covered by a Creative Commons License...

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

So, I don't think it could legally go on a for-profit multicart. I may have to release it as a free to download only.

Thoughts?
Re: Quick question - Licensing Issue
by on (#187927)
Most "clone" video games are considered legal, as long as they don't take the actual art/text/music/etc. from the original. Game design is usually very difficult to copyright. Whether or not they're ethical is another story.

You could just ask the original author about it; just because they licensed it as CC doesn't mean they can't also license it to you in a different way, should they want to.
Re: Quick question - Licensing Issue
by on (#187930)
I just got this email from the designer of the original game...
Quote:
Yes, go ahead and use the game as long as you use your own original or properly licensed artwork.
Re: Quick question - Licensing Issue
by on (#188077)
Well...I thought I was done, but, when I try the game in any emulator that isn't FCEUX, it immediately crashes...

Actually, it crashes 10 frames into the title screen... somehow it successfully makes it out of famitone2, at the end of NMI, but as soon as it pla's...rti...the stack address points to address $0000, = BRK, crash.

I have no idea how it could work on FCEUX. Very well even.
Re: Quick question - Licensing Issue
by on (#188088)
I figured it out...

I wrote the game in asm6, but I copied and pasted the controller input from a ca65 file...

If asm6 sees this...

beq :+
blah
:
blah
more code
+

it will beq to the + and not to the :

So annoying.

The reason it didn't happen in FCEUX, is... the branch was on the 'DMC screws up input' checker...which FCEUX apparently doesn't implement errors of input from the DMC channel.


EDIT: Game is completed, tested, and submitted.