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[Discussion] Pokemon Game Engine Help

gSpartan150

Intermediate Johto Trainer
    • 22
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    12
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    • Seen Jun 30, 2013
    Alright. I really want to make my own Pokemon game but I don't want to get in trouble with the law by using ROMs. I have tried the Java Pokemon Engine, PokeClone, and I've done numerous Google searches. Please help!
     
    gSpartan150 said:
    Alright. I really want to make my own Pokemon game but I don't want to get in trouble with the law by using ROMs. I have tried the Java Pokemon Engine, PokeClone, and I've done numerous Google searches. Please help!
    Click to expand...

    Have you tried Essentials?
    It's the most commonly used engine for RPG Maker XP used for Pokémon Games.

    There's a whole subforum for it on Pokecommunity.
     
    spriters resource has a lot of sprites if you need those.
    It is also legal to use copy righted material if it is a parody
     
    bradosia said:
    spriters resource has a lot of sprites if you need those.
    It is also legal to use copy righted material if it is a parody
    Click to expand...

    Fan games are not parodies, and also with parodies you can get into slippery territory very quickly. There is a reason a lot of professional parody avoids blatantly ripping off copyrighted materials and tend to somewhat scramble the names of trademarks (think: South Park).

    While Nintendo is not likely going to take action against non-commercial fan games, I don't think it's good idea give the impression to new developers that these games have any kind of legal standing if Nintendo does decide to issue a cease & desist.

    Even if we look at Parodies exclusively it's not that clear-cut. It's pretty easy to defend a self-made video clip or short flash game parody like the PETA Pokémon Parody (which does not use copyrighted assets of the original games though). It becomes a lot more difficult to hold up the argument that a fully featured game that rips off copyrighted art/sound is a parody.

    That said though, if you actually would rather use ROMs than doing that is probably in your best interest. Using someone else's (or your own) game engine rather than a ROM does not protect your game from Nintendo.
    Don't let that discourage you though, I don't know of any precedent case of Nintendo taking down a [Pokémon] fan game as long as money was not involved (e.g. charging for the game, accepting donations).
     
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