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so its nothing the K2C guys developed themself, they used a Engine way to widespread for my personal luck (because im one of this unlucky ones who suffer from the Engines Nvidia screnfreezes)
and there is zero chance that this game (SoV) doesnt share art resources. it looks like literally the same game (as K2C)
are you sure you're looking at the right game? it is absolutely NOT a 'jump and run' platformer, and it absolutely IS pixel art.
even the description sounds like kingdom.
-"2d side scrolling"
-"base-building strategy game"
-"beautiful pixel art"
-"fight waves of opponents whose skills will steadily improve."
-"experience a wonderful daily cycle and a variety of weather conditions."
the sun moves through the same arc, the camera is the same distance away from the cut-away view of the island, allowing the identical-looking water to move at the same rate as in kingdom, the root systems of plants might be the actual same resources....
if this game from "Pixel Chest" has no developers in common with stumpysquid/fury/coatsink, then they actually MIGHT face a lawsuit. i mean, the actual gameplay adds a LOT above kingdom, but i dont think a casual observer of either game would be able to tell which was which
and somehow i missed the point where i coud play a char that can run and fight with bow and sword in K2C. also i dont see at any point that the game char pays NPC to do anything....
and if your stated points are enove to say a game is a copy we just need to wait for namco to pull the K2C makers before the cadi, because they copyied Green Bere. both are pixaleted sidescrollers.....
1) ....it just IS pixel art! its the style of art that the game is! this is THEIR QUOTE describing THEIR GAME:
"Sons of Valhalla combines side-scrolling combat with base-building strategy in a beautiful pixel-art Viking Age world."
maybe you think "pixel art" means "bad graphics..?". SoV looks more detailed than kingdom, higher res, and more lush, compared to Kingdom's more minimal style.
2) BUT the particular art style is still STRIKINGLY similar. compare the trees, the grass, the WATER....
3) the VISUAL LAYOUT of the game appears to be IDENTICAL. (water, cut-away island showing the dirt, the sky with the sun/moon on a track)
4) the essential gameplay elements are the same; base-building strategy game with economy management and increasingly difficulty waves of enemies. there's a lot of superficial similarities, too, like catapults and bow+arrows, some of which look similar
5) i never said it was a clone, in fact what i said was: "the actual gameplay adds a LOT above kingdom"
Do you have any idea how many games was inspired by Half-Life at the time?
Kingdom should be proud to be an inspiration to other devs :)
(Also, the two games are different in gamestyle. Kingdom is less fighting and more managing troops, while Valhalla is more fighting with your troops)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1465950/Phoenix_Hope/
of course, these numbers i gave are strictly subjective. also, i dont know the gameplay, except from what ive seen in videos, but the gameplay does NOT seem to be very similar. (EXCEPT in the abstract sense of it being a base-building/economy-management/tower-defense-ish type game)
i am NOT saying its a ripoff, and im NOT saying that pixelchest did anything wrong. i am saying that it looks enough alike to be CONFUSINGLY similar to a casual observer (me, and the OP, and definitely some others).
on a side note, pixelchest said in another thread, "No SOV is not a ripoff. I have nothing to do with Kingdom and it does not play like Kingdom. All who expect another Kingdom will be disappointed."
I really think you are discussing a "non-issue" at this point.
1- Pixel Art TYPICALLY looks similar.
Because of the hyper limiting nature of pixels, a LOT of pixel art, looks very similar to a lot of other pixel art. You only have so many pixels to work with before you are literally making raster art, and at that point, its...not really considered pixel art.
2- The style of game (2D side scrollers) will deeply inform the way the pixel art is arranged. For example, look at any top down pixel art game, now look at any isometric pixel art game. Isometrics will look different then top town, but top down will look hyper similar to every other top down, and isometric will look hyper similar to any other isometric. Since they are both 2d side scrolling games, they will have a lot of similarities out the gate. Obviously not entirely, as you could consider, Terria a 2D side scroller, but its very different in look than this. However, many games that utilize mechanics like Terria, also look identical too it. Therefore, often, mechanics inform design choices, and as you mentioned both games are similar in mechanics.
3- Inspiration is possible, but most things are deeply inspired by or derivative from, other things. This is a given and happens everywhere. Its important to note, these games both take inspiration from similar "Euro-centric" places and mythos, and thus, directly appear similar as a result. Euro-myths are hyper common, be it vikings and Valhalla, Greek Gods and Gladiators, or witches and will o wisps, these themes are everywhere in western culture, and media, and thus, you see similar stuff all over that looks identical to BOTH of these games.
4- You can't copyright a genre.
Thank God. And that's also the most important element here. The games, are different.
I played the SoV demo and they claimed this game was similar, and its why I'm here. To play something finished like SoV, cause SoV is good, but it doesn't seem these games ARE similar, which is the main issue if copyright was called into question. I don't see specific asset that look identical, and I don't see anything other than an idea being reused and made different between the games. Thus I don't see an issue at all.
5- No one will be confused if they look for a Kingdom game and find Sons of Valhalla.
Why? The naming convention is a dead give away. All Kingdom games start with the word "Kingdom" and then give a subtitle. NO search results for people looking for Kingdom will pull up Valhalla, beyond those searching for tags similar between the games, and then, that's kind of the point of tags...to find similar game play mechanics. I look for farming games and find Stardew Valley AND Story of Season...well that's the point. They both are that kind of game. And even though Story of Season was used as a template for the creator of Stardew Valley to work form, he ultimately made a different game. If it was an issue to make similar games, Engines like "RPG Maker" would be banned cause everything made out of that thing looks identical.
Let's put it this way....
How many "minecraft clones" rip-off the exact art style, and game play, and NAMING convention of "minecraft"? Like "minetest", or "mindcraft" or "minebuilder" or "minecrafted" that all seem intentionally named to get search results away from minecraft, and then imitate that game. Why have these games not been sued for copyright? Well, because they need to have a solid case to get it done.
A solid case has to prove something was stolen. And honestly, in the creative world, two people can create the same or similar things, and it won't be a problem. Its when direct stealing takes place, assets being lifted, names being taken, coding being snatched, and other such things, that people run into trouble. But identical ideas, created by two different people, still isn't always enough for copyright to find issue with it. When it falls into the realm of clear plagiarism, images traced, copied lines and quotes, identical assets, then you have a case, otherwise, inspiration isn't plagiarism. Nor is it a case.
heh, did i give you the impression i was trying to prosecute pixelchest for intellectual property crimes? i never said that they should be sued, or anything like that, just that the games look confusingly similar (which i stand by).
Not at all, you gave me the impression you were wrong, thus, I felt the need to show you why. Your closing argument is meaningless in the face of dozens of supporting arguments that were flimsy, and in need of clearing up. You need not shout fire, to drum up smoke needless from your own heels, and imply in every way possible there's room for concern, when to me, its obvious there isn't. Might as well put to rest such a thing, when it needs not be awake at all. Thus, my incontrovertible opening arguments "I really think you are discussing a "non-issue" at this point." Which, I stand by.
i think our main point of disagreement is that i think the visual similarity may cause confusion, and you dont.