[Josho]

Ascovel,

I would definitely count "ego" under "less ethereal criteria than the strength of the underlying concept." So I don't think I'm underestimating them; I think we're in agreement.

No, the game I was describing was not an adventure game, unfortunately.

--Josh

[Sik]

Originally Posted by Josho

BTW, for any interested parties out there still reading this thread: in the entire history of Sierra On-Line, there was one -- one, and only one -- game that was developed on the basis of a concept submitted by somebody outside of the company.

The people that submitted it, BTW, had turned it into a complete, fully-functional game before they submitted it. Sierra redesigned it graphically from the bottom up, rewrote pretty much all the text, but kept the gameplay almost identical to the submitted version.

Can anyone name that game?

--Josh

My first thought was Half-Life, but I don't know how much influence Sierra had on the development of that game. I've always considered Half-Life a Valve game published by Sierra. It's probably an earlier game from the days when Sierra actually developed games in-house.

[Ascovel]

Originally Posted by Josho

I would definitely count "ego" under "less ethereal criteria than the strength of the underlying concept." So I don't think I'm underestimating them; I think we're in agreement.

Oh. Then it looks like it was me who underestimated your statement.

I don't know many Sierra titles that weren't adventure games, so I won't be guessing.

[Josho]

Sik,

Yes, it was something "developed" in-house at Sierra, not under one of its subsidiary labels. And you're right, it definitely preceded Half-Life. (I put "developed" in quotes since the design and gameplay were really developed by the people who submitted the game.

--Josh

[Harald B]

The Incredible Machine (or one of its sequels)?

[Josho]

Harald,

Nope, that was another subsidiary (Dynamix).

--Josh

[Nautilus]

Originally Posted by adrianp

now for the question: say i finish the demo, cook a nice proposal document and get an interview with whatever company. they reject it. 2 years later my idea comes out, built by the ones that rejected it. is this possible? and if it is, is there a way to avoid this?

Don't be afraid. Game business is hard, but not so hard. You can make a great game with some friends (or friends of friends). After your independent game is out, it will be easiar to find a publisher.

Innovation in Indie Games
http://digitaltools.node3000.com/blog/innovation_in_indie_games_panel_at_the_independent _games_summit.php

[AndreaDraco83]

Josho, could it be one of the two Betrayal?

As always, I love your stories

[Davies]

Publishers (book as well as software) are very skittish about idea submissions, not because they fear legal ramifications, but simply because they don't want troublemakers coming back at them later.

(Not saying you're a potential troublemaker, just that they get them.)

The thing is, ideas are not copyrightable. Ideas are used and re-used all the time. For instance, how many games have there been with the basic idea of "Kill monsters, get treasure, finally kill biggest monster and save the kingdom"?

You can "register" your ideas on a website, or mail them to yourself so you have the date stamped on a sealed envelope, but it doesn't matter. It certainly doesn't mean anything in law.

In the creative world, ideas really are ten-a-penny. What matters is the details of how you develop them. (And that's what copyright rests in -- the exact form of words in a book, or the programming and detailed gameplay of a game.)

[Josho]

Originally Posted by AndreaDraco83

Josho, could it be one of the two Betrayal?

Nope, those were also Dynamix games.

Guess this one's too hard. The answer is...

Spoiler:

JONES IN THE FAST LANE, which was originally produced as "Keeping Up With The Joneses." In fact, it was programmed, printed, and packaged that way...until it came to our attention that the person in charge of making sure we had the copyright on the name hadn't done his work, and in fact there was a game show called "Keeping Up With The Joneses" in Canada. Every box had to be opened and thrown out, the game reprogrammed, the disks relabeled, and the boxes and manuals rewritten and reprinted.

I don't remember the name of the submitted game, but it was completely programmed, playable, and enjoyable as is.

--Josh

[AndreaDraco83]

Yes. It was way to hard

I never had a chance to play that game, and - since you mentioned it - I must admit that I completely ignored its existence