Crap. I have enough of a hobby backlog that I really shouldn't, but that's pretty decent.
Part of me wants to hold out for a winter Steam sale and hope it's steeper (or there's a price drop and a sale that adds up together), but that is strongly tempting.
Thanks for the info!
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
I still miss the old alien species, and they've scattered references to them in certain places that actually got me a bit emotional. But at the same time, clearing the slate like this has freed them to do some very interesting things. Aquatic species, for example.
Combat feels like the classic SC2, remixed slightly. Same with the aliens. It all has the same sort of style as the old games, even if the faces are a bit different. It feels like Star Control.
I am not super far nor do I want to spoil things, but I do have one tip for folks based on some of my early mistakes. You occasionally might find a piece of alien tech sitting around. I sold one off not knowing what to do with it, because I didn't click on the ship component it would have upgraded. I focused too much on trying to find an empty slot where it would fit. Now I have to buy a new one at some point when I can afford it.
There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
I still miss the old alien species, and they've scattered references to them in certain places that actually got me a bit emotional. But at the same time, clearing the slate like this has freed them to do some very interesting things. Aquatic species, for example.
Combat feels like the classic SC2, remixed slightly. Same with the aliens. It all has the same sort of style as the old games, even if the faces are a bit different. It feels like Star Control.
I am not super far nor do I want to spoil things, but I do have one tip for folks based on some of my early mistakes. You occasionally might find a piece of alien tech sitting around. I sold one off not knowing what to do with it, because I didn't click on the ship component it would have upgraded. I focused too much on trying to find an empty slot where it would fit. Now I have to buy a new one at some point when I can afford it.
Here's my tip: always keep at least 500RU on you at all times. In your travels, you are absolutely going to be needing to buy replacement landers (I think I've gone through 5 of the things, and I've barely done anything at all).
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
And they got grounds, too. I wouldn't be surprised if this was among the things that loses Wardell the case, though, (not a lawyer) assuming they don't run out of money, P+F's case, from looking at their contract is pretty airtight - Star Control was licensed from them, and all the expiration clauses have fired for said liscence, from lack of new games by the holders by the time it was sold, to lack of royalties, to Atari selling the IP without their go-ahead. Atari never had the right to sell any of this shit.
Jeep-Eep on
I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
This may not stay on sale - it's apparently specifically within a DMCA by the original creators, though not filed yet due to court stuff.
*snip-snip*
And they got grounds, too. I wouldn't be surprised if this was among the things that loses Wardell the case, though, (not a lawyer) assuming they don't run out of money, P+F's case, from looking at their contract is pretty airtight - Star Control was licensed from them, and all the expiration clauses have fired, from lack of new games by the holders by the time it was sold, to lack of royalties, to Atari selling the IP without their go-ahead.
Bearing in mind that I haven't gotten very far into the game, they don't specifically name the Arilou the Arilou.
Other than that, the "little green men" with large foreheads and large, black, pupil-less eyes is...well...if it's not a public domain design, XCOM/X-COM will be in danger, too.
Unless your post was about something else...but given the thumbnail of the youtube video combined with the animated gif that you embedded, it was where my mind went.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
It's incredibly close, down to the design of the tabard; in the context of an ongoing copyright dispute showing signs of premediated attack by stardock, this is damning.
Jeep-Eep on
I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
It's incredibly close, down to the design of the tabard; in the context of an ongoing copyright dispute showing signs of premediated attack by stardock, this is damning.
Ehhhh..."incredibly close" is stretching it a bit. Color pattern, sure: dark blue paired with light blue, I'd say that's a bit close. Arilou do not have forehead gems, but do have a headband. The clothing design (aside from color) is different (silver large waistband with the Arilou, no waistband for the SC:O LGM).
Could you clarify what you mean by "tabard"?
Incidentally, I'd say the more potentially damaging thing would be the music homage to SC2's hyperspace BGM. But, if I remember, homages (in terms of music) are okay as long as it's not a 1:1 lift from the original source material.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
It's incredibly close, down to the design of the tabard; in the context of an ongoing copyright dispute showing signs of premediated attack by stardock, this is damning.
Ehhhh..."incredibly close" is stretching it a bit. Color pattern, sure: dark blue paired with light blue, I'd say that's a bit close. Arilou do not have forehead gems, but do have a headband. The clothing design (aside from color) is different (silver large waistband with the Arilou, no waistband for the SC:O LGM).
Could you clarify what you mean by "tabard"?
Incidentally, I'd say the more potentially damaging thing would be the music homage to SC2's hyperspace BGM. But, if I remember, homages (in terms of music) are okay as long as it's not a 1:1 lift from the original source material.
The tunic thing worn by the notarilou - it's actually become more infringing since concept art, along with the rest of the design. The music is safe, as it belongs to the original artist by the contract.
They're both little green men style aliens but I wouldn't exactly call it damning
Outside of the concerted attempts to poach the IP, this might be the case, but in this context, no.
I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
It's incredibly close, down to the design of the tabard; in the context of an ongoing copyright dispute showing signs of premediated attack by stardock, this is damning.
Ehhhh..."incredibly close" is stretching it a bit. Color pattern, sure: dark blue paired with light blue, I'd say that's a bit close. Arilou do not have forehead gems, but do have a headband. The clothing design (aside from color) is different (silver large waistband with the Arilou, no waistband for the SC:O LGM).
Could you clarify what you mean by "tabard"?
Incidentally, I'd say the more potentially damaging thing would be the music homage to SC2's hyperspace BGM. But, if I remember, homages (in terms of music) are okay as long as it's not a 1:1 lift from the original source material.
The tunic thing worn by the notarilou - it's actually become more infringing since concept art, along with the rest of the design. The music is safe, as it belongs to the original artist by the contract.
They're both little green men style aliens but I wouldn't exactly call it damning
Outside of the concerted attempts to poach the IP, this might be the case, but in this context, no.
As I mentioned, aside from the color pattern of dark blue on light blue, the rest of the dress doesn't scream "damning" to me. Would I say that they are 100% completely unrelated? Not with a straight face, no. But the two are different enough to look more like SC:O design is an homage rather than lifting designs straight from one to the other.
Erlkönig on
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
Again, it's the context and how they behave in game that make it damning - and I might note the other not-arilou have more infringing clothing design.
I dunno...I just get the feeling that you're maybe a little biased here and are seeing things that you want to see. I mean, your posts thus far have been 100% anti-Stardock/pro-P+F with no attempt for impartiality - going so far as to say 'sure, they're slightly different designs...but looooooook!'
Just looking over the Stardock Q&A on the topic had me thinking that neither party is particularly spotless...but from all appearances, Stardock bent over backwards on SC:O to appease P+F, with the sole exception being the lawsuit (which is pretty much standard practice when dealing with defending a trademark/copyright claim).
If you want to see "damning" evidence, go for it. Just don't be surprised if not everybody sees the same thing you do.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
Again, it's the context and how they behave in game that make it damning - and I might note the other not-arilou have more infringing clothing design.
I dunno...I just get the feeling that you're maybe a little biased here and are seeing things that you want to see. I mean, your posts thus far have been 100% anti-Stardock/pro-P+F with no attempt for impartiality - going so far as to say 'sure, they're slightly different designs...but looooooook!'
Just looking over the Stardock Q&A on the topic had me thinking that neither party is particularly spotless...but from all appearances, Stardock bent over backwards on SC:O to appease P+F, with the sole exception being the lawsuit (which is pretty much standard practice when dealing with defending a trademark/copyright claim).
If you want to see "damning" evidence, go for it. Just don't be surprised if not everybody sees the same thing you do.
Stardock's QA is hilariously biased in their favor, FYI. As you should expect. For example the confidential settlement offer...wasn't confidential. "Bent over backwards" doesn't really cover "We're going to file trademark claims on the stuff you have copyright for." or "Our settlement is you give us $250,000 and all your IP."
The Stardock Q&A is a fabric of lies and half-truth, as is most of his correspondence on that, as has his posting on the Star Control subreddit over the last few months, to a ludicrous degree, to the point of lying about publicly searchable parts of american law. Anything he has said about the original devs can be totally discounted, and should be. I've read the actual documents, they are damning. They have infringed on the IPs repeatedly, to the point of using Ghosts Of The Precursors to advertise their own game, and lying about the involvement of the original devs. Nothing stardock has to say can be believed. This is the result, among other things, of Wardell not doing his due to diligence about what, exactly, he brought, finding out he basically had a pig in a poke, and only owned the SCIII IPs after paying ~300k for the lot, as well as being a creepy spurned fanboy.
Jeep-Eep on
I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
Again, it's the context and how they behave in game that make it damning - and I might note the other not-arilou have more infringing clothing design.
I dunno...I just get the feeling that you're maybe a little biased here and are seeing things that you want to see. I mean, your posts thus far have been 100% anti-Stardock/pro-P+F with no attempt for impartiality - going so far as to say 'sure, they're slightly different designs...but looooooook!'
Just looking over the Stardock Q&A on the topic had me thinking that neither party is particularly spotless...but from all appearances, Stardock bent over backwards on SC:O to appease P+F, with the sole exception being the lawsuit (which is pretty much standard practice when dealing with defending a trademark/copyright claim).
If you want to see "damning" evidence, go for it. Just don't be surprised if not everybody sees the same thing you do.
Stardock's QA is hilariously biased in their favor, FYI. As you should expect. For example the confidential settlement offer...wasn't confidential. "Bent over backwards" doesn't really cover "We're going to file trademark claims on the stuff you have copyright for." or "Our settlement is you give us $250,000 and all your IP."
The funny part is that I'm already discounting what Stardock and P+F are saying and focusing on what they did. Stardock acquired the copyrights to Star Control 3 and they literally had to defend their claim because of how US copyright and trademark law works (if they don't make any action to defend their claim, they lose all rights to said property).
And when I say "Bent over backwards" I'm specifically talking about them not doing a straight lift of races and designs from SC2 and 3 into SC:O.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
Let's be pretty careful about our comments on active legal proceedings and avoid saying anything potentially defamatory on these forums, especially about people who have a reputation for turning up to defend themselves.
The person in question is also a member of these forums and therefore covered by the glorious edict, however regrettably.
Again, it's the context and how they behave in game that make it damning - and I might note the other not-arilou have more infringing clothing design.
I dunno...I just get the feeling that you're maybe a little biased here and are seeing things that you want to see. I mean, your posts thus far have been 100% anti-Stardock/pro-P+F with no attempt for impartiality - going so far as to say 'sure, they're slightly different designs...but looooooook!'
Just looking over the Stardock Q&A on the topic had me thinking that neither party is particularly spotless...but from all appearances, Stardock bent over backwards on SC:O to appease P+F, with the sole exception being the lawsuit (which is pretty much standard practice when dealing with defending a trademark/copyright claim).
If you want to see "damning" evidence, go for it. Just don't be surprised if not everybody sees the same thing you do.
Stardock's QA is hilariously biased in their favor, FYI. As you should expect. For example the confidential settlement offer...wasn't confidential. "Bent over backwards" doesn't really cover "We're going to file trademark claims on the stuff you have copyright for." or "Our settlement is you give us $250,000 and all your IP."
The funny part is that I'm already discounting what Stardock and P+F are saying and focusing on what they did. Stardock acquired the copyrights to Star Control 3 and they literally had to defend their claim because of how US copyright and trademark law works (if they don't make any action to defend their claim, they lose all rights to said property).
And when I say "Bent over backwards" I'm specifically talking about them not doing a straight lift of races and designs from SC2 and 3 into SC:O.
Copyright claims don't have to be defended- that's trademark, and it's harder than people think. What they have is the trademark Star Control and that's pretty much it. SC3 was created under licenses from the copyright owners of SC1/2.
Not using the races isn't bending over backwards, because they don't have the rights to that. Putting the original races from SC/2, and anything from 3 that was from 2, would be a copyright violation. Bending over backwards would have been agreeing to the original settlement agreement instead of filing that bizarre counterclaim.
the trademarks on the races were filed very recently, weren't part of SC3, and IIRC haven't been approved.
Again, it's the context and how they behave in game that make it damning - and I might note the other not-arilou have more infringing clothing design.
I dunno...I just get the feeling that you're maybe a little biased here and are seeing things that you want to see. I mean, your posts thus far have been 100% anti-Stardock/pro-P+F with no attempt for impartiality - going so far as to say 'sure, they're slightly different designs...but looooooook!'
Just looking over the Stardock Q&A on the topic had me thinking that neither party is particularly spotless...but from all appearances, Stardock bent over backwards on SC:O to appease P+F, with the sole exception being the lawsuit (which is pretty much standard practice when dealing with defending a trademark/copyright claim).
If you want to see "damning" evidence, go for it. Just don't be surprised if not everybody sees the same thing you do.
Stardock's QA is hilariously biased in their favor, FYI. As you should expect. For example the confidential settlement offer...wasn't confidential. "Bent over backwards" doesn't really cover "We're going to file trademark claims on the stuff you have copyright for." or "Our settlement is you give us $250,000 and all your IP."
The funny part is that I'm already discounting what Stardock and P+F are saying and focusing on what they did. Stardock acquired the copyrights to Star Control 3 and they literally had to defend their claim because of how US copyright and trademark law works (if they don't make any action to defend their claim, they lose all rights to said property).
And when I say "Bent over backwards" I'm specifically talking about them not doing a straight lift of races and designs from SC2 and 3 into SC:O.
Copyright claims don't have to be defended- that's trademark, and it's harder than people think. What they have is the trademark Star Control and that's pretty much it. SC3 was created under licenses from the copyright owners of SC1/2.
Ahh...thanks for the correction. I couldn't recall if copyrights had to be defended on pain of losing any future claims. In that sense, I'm (regrettably, I might add) even more on the side that this whole legal thing is a whole lot of nothing. If they have the Star Control trademark and nothing else, from what I've seen, they're fully within the rights of said trademark. Aside from humans (and their predilection towards nuclear weapons), no other classic Star Control race is represented in the game (again, from what I've seen in the early game...if I run into the Slylandro, Yehat, Thraddash, Syreen, or any of the other races later on, then I'll amend my position).
Can I assume this thread won't be about the game from this point on?
Hey, I'm all for talking about the game itself, too! I just don't want to go into spoilers (or what I would consider spoilers: as an example, I laughed my ass off with my first encounter with a drone that was puttering around a planet...in fact, most of my encounters while planetside in a lander have been pretty comical)
Erlkönig on
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
It's incredibly close, down to the design of the tabard; in the context of an ongoing copyright dispute showing signs of premediated attack by stardock, this is damning.
I'm not sure that's how this works. The Arilou are already incredibly derivative of "classic" aliens and Buddhist monks because they are very intentionally a play on a familiar thing. The original creators don't own copyright on those things, they own the parts of that look that they made their own; the huge-ass belt buckle, glowing yellow eyes, and the whole metaphysical cockpit thing they have going on. None of which seems present in that video thumbnail.
By comparisson, if you found a Spathi or an Ur Quan that is just a different hue, then you might have something because those are (AFAIK) wholly original designs.
It's incredibly close, down to the design of the tabard; in the context of an ongoing copyright dispute showing signs of premediated attack by stardock, this is damning.
I'm not sure that's how this works. The Arilou are already incredibly derivative of "classic" aliens and Buddhist monks because they are very intentionally a play on a familiar thing. The original creators don't own copyright on those things, they own the parts of that look that they made their own; the huge-ass belt buckle, glowing yellow eyes, and the whole metaphysical cockpit thing they have going on. None of which seems present in that video thumbnail.
By comparisson, if you found a Spathi or an Ur Quan that is just a different hue, then you might have something because those are (AFAIK) wholly original designs.
Shoot...the original Arilou ships were as derivative as it gets to the whole 'flying saucer' concept. The ships for the LGM aliens in SC:O are most definitely not, in any sense, flying saucers.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
So, has anybody fiddled much with the ship creator? I was toying around with it a little, but the design I was half-heartedly making just wasn't looking right because 1) I couldn't make it symmetrical due to weapon mounts, and 2) it feels a little cumbersome coming up with a design, slapping on mounts, and having those mounts be their own shapes and sizes that may clash with the aesthetic of what you were designing in the first place.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
I'm not sure that's how this works. The Arilou are already incredibly derivative of "classic" aliens and Buddhist monks because they are very intentionally a play on a familiar thing. The original creators don't own copyright on those things, they own the parts of that look that they made their own; the huge-ass belt buckle, glowing yellow eyes, and the whole metaphysical cockpit thing they have going on. None of which seems present in that video thumbnail.
By comparisson, if you found a Spathi or an Ur Quan that is just a different hue, then you might have something because those are (AFAIK) wholly original designs.
Except that Stardock has been playing games by registering trademarks for basically all the old aliens, and the role in the story - the weird, paternal, wise alien watchers over mankind is incredibly similar, as can be seen when the video is played. When taken as a whole, it's rather clear.
I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
I'm not sure that's how this works. The Arilou are already incredibly derivative of "classic" aliens and Buddhist monks because they are very intentionally a play on a familiar thing. The original creators don't own copyright on those things, they own the parts of that look that they made their own; the huge-ass belt buckle, glowing yellow eyes, and the whole metaphysical cockpit thing they have going on. None of which seems present in that video thumbnail.
By comparisson, if you found a Spathi or an Ur Quan that is just a different hue, then you might have something because those are (AFAIK) wholly original designs.
Except that Stardock has been playing games by registering trademarks for basically all the old aliens, and the role in the story -
the weird, paternal, wise alien watchers over mankind is incredibly similar, as can be seen when the video is played.
When taken as a whole, it's rather clear.
(Quoted post edited by Erl to put in spoiler tags)
Might want to put that in spoiler tags (along with your earlier LP post). I know it's an event that happens real early on in the game, but still.
And the "weird, paternal, wise" LGM alien trope isn't unique to Star Control either.
While they don't wear clothes, Archer has an episode with that particular portrayal as well. It's not as unique a thing as you make it out to be.
Erlkönig on
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
With the alien design, story and backstory context and the history of Stardock in this affair, it adds up. Edit: AND they've been caught calling that very same ship and race 'arilou' in previous builds:
With the alien design, story and backstory context and the history of Stardock in this affair, it adds up. Edit: AND they've been caught calling that very same ship and race 'arilou' in previous builds:
The fact that they dance around the name kind of kills arguments against it not being infringement.
I'd hold off on sharpening the pitchforks and lighting the torches until those are actually a thing. Right now, even though they're on the store page, they're broken links that lead to nowhere. When asked about it, Stardock personnel on their forum say that the only DLC "currently available" is the soundtrack.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
So um, when you have an AI fleet controller how do you take manual control because dear god the ai is so bad, so very very bad. (But i sadly don't want to remove it completely due to fights that end in a single volley, i'm lazy)
With the alien design, story and backstory context and the history of Stardock in this affair, it adds up. Edit: AND they've been caught calling that very same ship and race 'arilou' in previous builds:
The fact that they dance around the name kind of kills arguments against it not being infringement.
I'd hold off on sharpening the pitchforks and lighting the torches until those are actually a thing. Right now, even though they're on the store page, they're broken links that lead to nowhere. When asked about it, Stardock personnel on their forum say that the only DLC "currently available" is the soundtrack.
They were taken down/delayed as results of the lawsuit. They may have come into existence as weapons for it.
I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
Oh... alien ships that you recruit demand you physically go all the way to that race's homeworld whenever you want to repair them, while salvaged alien ships can be repaired at the human station, and one-off alien ships that join you as rewards can never be repaired? And according to the developers this is intended?
Oh... alien ships that you recruit demand you physically go all the way to that race's homeworld whenever you want to repair them, while salvaged alien ships can be repaired at the human station, and one-off alien ships that join you as rewards can never be repaired? And according to the developers this is intended?
Baffling.
In a way, it makes a kind of convoluted sense:
Recruited ships: ships that are fully alien to your human starbase...repairs require alien techs to not cock things up.
Salvaged ships: Humans reconstructed an alien ship using a mix of human and alien tech...ship is understood enough to repair at human starbases
One-off alien ship rewards: ...... um.... profit! I dunno, maybe they're specially made exotic exemplars that are so exotic that nobody can repair them.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
Oh... alien ships that you recruit demand you physically go all the way to that race's homeworld whenever you want to repair them, while salvaged alien ships can be repaired at the human station, and one-off alien ships that join you as rewards can never be repaired? And according to the developers this is intended?
Baffling.
In a way, it makes a kind of convoluted sense:
Recruited ships: ships that are fully alien to your human starbase...repairs require alien techs to not cock things up.
Salvaged ships: Humans reconstructed an alien ship using a mix of human and alien tech...ship is understood enough to repair at human starbases
One-off alien ship rewards: ...... um.... profit! I dunno, maybe they're specially made exotic exemplars that are so exotic that nobody can repair them.
The recruited ship requirement sounds a bit annoying but I admit it would give one reason to visit an alien homeworld again compared to how in SC2 once you finished recruiting them and doing any quest/plot things you basically never bothered visiting your allies again.
Oh... alien ships that you recruit demand you physically go all the way to that race's homeworld whenever you want to repair them, while salvaged alien ships can be repaired at the human station, and one-off alien ships that join you as rewards can never be repaired? And according to the developers this is intended?
Baffling.
In a way, it makes a kind of convoluted sense:
Recruited ships: ships that are fully alien to your human starbase...repairs require alien techs to not cock things up.
Salvaged ships: Humans reconstructed an alien ship using a mix of human and alien tech...ship is understood enough to repair at human starbases
One-off alien ship rewards: ...... um.... profit! I dunno, maybe they're specially made exotic exemplars that are so exotic that nobody can repair them.
You didn't have to do this in Star Control 2 though, and in this situation I really think it should cede more towards a respect for the player's time anyway. You shouldn't demand the player make a homeworld tour of all of the allied races every time you need to do fleet repairs. All this ends up doing is discouraging the player from having ship variety in their fleet.
Posts
I actually got chills during the intro once I recognized the background music riff.
Part of me wants to hold out for a winter Steam sale and hope it's steeper (or there's a price drop and a sale that adds up together), but that is strongly tempting.
Thanks for the info!
But should we enjoy the sauce?
I still miss the old alien species, and they've scattered references to them in certain places that actually got me a bit emotional. But at the same time, clearing the slate like this has freed them to do some very interesting things. Aquatic species, for example.
Combat feels like the classic SC2, remixed slightly. Same with the aliens. It all has the same sort of style as the old games, even if the faces are a bit different. It feels like Star Control.
I am not super far nor do I want to spoil things, but I do have one tip for folks based on some of my early mistakes. You occasionally might find a piece of alien tech sitting around. I sold one off not knowing what to do with it, because I didn't click on the ship component it would have upgraded. I focused too much on trying to find an empty slot where it would fit. Now I have to buy a new one at some point when I can afford it.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Here's my tip: always keep at least 500RU on you at all times. In your travels, you are absolutely going to be needing to buy replacement landers (I think I've gone through 5 of the things, and I've barely done anything at all).
And they got grounds, too. I wouldn't be surprised if this was among the things that loses Wardell the case, though, (not a lawyer) assuming they don't run out of money, P+F's case, from looking at their contract is pretty airtight - Star Control was licensed from them, and all the expiration clauses have fired for said liscence, from lack of new games by the holders by the time it was sold, to lack of royalties, to Atari selling the IP without their go-ahead. Atari never had the right to sell any of this shit.
Bearing in mind that I haven't gotten very far into the game, they don't specifically name the Arilou the Arilou.
Other than that, the "little green men" with large foreheads and large, black, pupil-less eyes is...well...if it's not a public domain design, XCOM/X-COM will be in danger, too.
Unless your post was about something else...but given the thumbnail of the youtube video combined with the animated gif that you embedded, it was where my mind went.
Ehhhh..."incredibly close" is stretching it a bit. Color pattern, sure: dark blue paired with light blue, I'd say that's a bit close. Arilou do not have forehead gems, but do have a headband. The clothing design (aside from color) is different (silver large waistband with the Arilou, no waistband for the SC:O LGM).
Could you clarify what you mean by "tabard"?
Incidentally, I'd say the more potentially damaging thing would be the music homage to SC2's hyperspace BGM. But, if I remember, homages (in terms of music) are okay as long as it's not a 1:1 lift from the original source material.
The eyes are different, the head is different, the tabbard is similar but still different
They're both little green men style aliens but I wouldn't exactly call it damning
The tunic thing worn by the notarilou - it's actually become more infringing since concept art, along with the rest of the design. The music is safe, as it belongs to the original artist by the contract.
Outside of the concerted attempts to poach the IP, this might be the case, but in this context, no.
As I mentioned, aside from the color pattern of dark blue on light blue, the rest of the dress doesn't scream "damning" to me. Would I say that they are 100% completely unrelated? Not with a straight face, no. But the two are different enough to look more like SC:O design is an homage rather than lifting designs straight from one to the other.
I dunno...I just get the feeling that you're maybe a little biased here and are seeing things that you want to see. I mean, your posts thus far have been 100% anti-Stardock/pro-P+F with no attempt for impartiality - going so far as to say 'sure, they're slightly different designs...but looooooook!'
Just looking over the Stardock Q&A on the topic had me thinking that neither party is particularly spotless...but from all appearances, Stardock bent over backwards on SC:O to appease P+F, with the sole exception being the lawsuit (which is pretty much standard practice when dealing with defending a trademark/copyright claim).
If you want to see "damning" evidence, go for it. Just don't be surprised if not everybody sees the same thing you do.
Stardock's QA is hilariously biased in their favor, FYI. As you should expect. For example the confidential settlement offer...wasn't confidential. "Bent over backwards" doesn't really cover "We're going to file trademark claims on the stuff you have copyright for." or "Our settlement is you give us $250,000 and all your IP."
The funny part is that I'm already discounting what Stardock and P+F are saying and focusing on what they did. Stardock acquired the copyrights to Star Control 3 and they literally had to defend their claim because of how US copyright and trademark law works (if they don't make any action to defend their claim, they lose all rights to said property).
And when I say "Bent over backwards" I'm specifically talking about them not doing a straight lift of races and designs from SC2 and 3 into SC:O.
The person in question is also a member of these forums and therefore covered by the glorious edict, however regrettably.
Copyright claims don't have to be defended- that's trademark, and it's harder than people think. What they have is the trademark Star Control and that's pretty much it. SC3 was created under licenses from the copyright owners of SC1/2.
Not using the races isn't bending over backwards, because they don't have the rights to that. Putting the original races from SC/2, and anything from 3 that was from 2, would be a copyright violation. Bending over backwards would have been agreeing to the original settlement agreement instead of filing that bizarre counterclaim.
the trademarks on the races were filed very recently, weren't part of SC3, and IIRC haven't been approved.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Ahh...thanks for the correction. I couldn't recall if copyrights had to be defended on pain of losing any future claims. In that sense, I'm (regrettably, I might add) even more on the side that this whole legal thing is a whole lot of nothing. If they have the Star Control trademark and nothing else, from what I've seen, they're fully within the rights of said trademark. Aside from humans (and their predilection towards nuclear weapons), no other classic Star Control race is represented in the game (again, from what I've seen in the early game...if I run into the Slylandro, Yehat, Thraddash, Syreen, or any of the other races later on, then I'll amend my position).
EDIT -
Hey, I'm all for talking about the game itself, too! I just don't want to go into spoilers (or what I would consider spoilers: as an example, I laughed my ass off with my first encounter with a drone that was puttering around a planet...in fact, most of my encounters while planetside in a lander have been pretty comical)
I'm not sure that's how this works. The Arilou are already incredibly derivative of "classic" aliens and Buddhist monks because they are very intentionally a play on a familiar thing. The original creators don't own copyright on those things, they own the parts of that look that they made their own; the huge-ass belt buckle, glowing yellow eyes, and the whole metaphysical cockpit thing they have going on. None of which seems present in that video thumbnail.
By comparisson, if you found a Spathi or an Ur Quan that is just a different hue, then you might have something because those are (AFAIK) wholly original designs.
Shoot...the original Arilou ships were as derivative as it gets to the whole 'flying saucer' concept. The ships for the LGM aliens in SC:O are most definitely not, in any sense, flying saucers.
Yep.
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Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
The best part of people whining about nobody posting about the game is that they only drag it further off the topic they purportedly want to discuss.
Except that Stardock has been playing games by registering trademarks for basically all the old aliens, and the role in the story - the weird, paternal, wise alien watchers over mankind is incredibly similar, as can be seen when the video is played. When taken as a whole, it's rather clear.
Might want to put that in spoiler tags (along with your earlier LP post). I know it's an event that happens real early on in the game, but still.
While they don't wear clothes, Archer has an episode with that particular portrayal as well. It's not as unique a thing as you make it out to be.
https://i.redd.it/u97bbmkv1e811.png
And use the likeness to advertise an DLC under that very name:
https://www.stardock.com/games/starcontrol/images/buy/sc-dlc-arilou.jpg
The fact that they dance around the name kind of kills arguments against it not being infringement.
I'd hold off on sharpening the pitchforks and lighting the torches until those are actually a thing. Right now, even though they're on the store page, they're broken links that lead to nowhere. When asked about it, Stardock personnel on their forum say that the only DLC "currently available" is the soundtrack.
They were taken down/delayed as results of the lawsuit. They may have come into existence as weapons for it.
"We need to notify the captain immediately to return to service and man this new prototype ship, it's an emergency!"
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And then carry it around in your "Quest Cargo"
Baffling.
In a way, it makes a kind of convoluted sense:
Recruited ships: ships that are fully alien to your human starbase...repairs require alien techs to not cock things up.
Salvaged ships: Humans reconstructed an alien ship using a mix of human and alien tech...ship is understood enough to repair at human starbases
One-off alien ship rewards: ...... um.... profit! I dunno, maybe they're specially made exotic exemplars that are so exotic that nobody can repair them.
The recruited ship requirement sounds a bit annoying but I admit it would give one reason to visit an alien homeworld again compared to how in SC2 once you finished recruiting them and doing any quest/plot things you basically never bothered visiting your allies again.
Hell if I understand the one-offs though.
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You didn't have to do this in Star Control 2 though, and in this situation I really think it should cede more towards a respect for the player's time anyway. You shouldn't demand the player make a homeworld tour of all of the allied races every time you need to do fleet repairs. All this ends up doing is discouraging the player from having ship variety in their fleet.