♥♥♥♥ I still have the ORGINAL Startopia on disc.

[EmperorVolo]

How does this differ from what I already have? I mean I can just scale up Startopia to 4k and it looks like it's brand new and it already has multiplayer.

Am I getting anything new with this? Is there a comparable list somewhere?

EDIT: Also naked angles? Didn't see them on a play through. Did this get downgraded for consoles?

[Vengeful_Bunny]

GodEmperor, I am in the same boat. Love and still have the original on disc...funny that it does not seem to mention 'BTW, this is not an original idea' (Or I am just not seeing it.)

Either way, keen to see where it goes. Though USD 50 is pretty steep.

[Kunovega]

Originally posted by Vengeful_Bunny:

GodEmperor, I am in the same boat. Love and still have the original on disc...funny that it does not seem to mention 'BTW, this is not an original idea' (Or I am just not seeing it.)

Either way, keen to see where it goes. Though USD 50 is pretty steep.

You expect games to start noting that they are not original ideas?

That might just be the most absurd thing I've read all day.

[EmperorVolo]

Originally posted by Kunovega:

Originally posted by Vengeful_Bunny:

GodEmperor, I am in the same boat. Love and still have the original on disc...funny that it does not seem to mention 'BTW, this is not an original idea' (Or I am just not seeing it.)

Either way, keen to see where it goes. Though USD 50 is pretty steep.

You expect games to start noting that they are not original ideas?

That might just be the most absurd thing I've read all day.

I think most games that are remade typically say Definitive Version or some other language like that. They typically also list changes that have been made.

Personally I'd just like to know what the difference is the graphics look different and they seemed to have dumbed down the garden dome area or whatever but that's it.

[Kunovega]

Originally posted by GodEmperor:

Originally posted by Kunovega:

You expect games to start noting that they are not original ideas?

That might just be the most absurd thing I've read all day.

I think most games that are remade typically say Definitive Version or some other language like that. They typically also list changes that have been made.

Personally I'd just like to know what the difference is the graphics look different and they seemed to have dumbed down the garden dome area or whatever but that's it.

It's not owned or being created by the original developer or publisher, so it's not a remake or a remaster or a definitive version as it has nothing connected to the actual original game

You are suggesting that some company makes a knock off product and then labels it the definitive version of a game made by a completely different company

Is Coke the definitive version of Pepsi just because they are both "cola"?

This is a competing product made by another company that shares similar themes and uses only the words and concepts that are in the public domain; it's not using anything that is copyright from the other game, no unique aliens, names or story content

It would be like someone made "War in the Stars" and you want them to label it the definitive version of "Star Wars" nope, competing product, different company, same space themes and vague concept but no direct intellectual property being used

The word "startopia" is no longer trademark protected, it was abandoned in 2008:
https://trademarks.justia.com/760/60/startopia-76060381.html

The word "spacebase" is not unique and is usually used to define a type of station that is not directly in orbit to a planet or moon but instead floats independent in space

Aside from the the word "startopia" all other aspects of the game are generic concepts of a spacebase type management game with no borrowed copyright property

[EmperorVolo]

I think you may have typed out a here's your sign award. The game is still the same. It's Startopia. Your example of Coke is absurd. Your basically saying if the can of COKE had coke in it and had Coke on the label that it is not coke because someone ended up buying the rights to Coke and the companys name from Coke-Cola Company to Sad Randy Company which has nothing to do with the label by the way.

It's not a Coke or Pepsi situation THIS IS the same game with the same name essentially.

Your just rambling and ranting.

Also Startopia's trademark is still active:
2 76060395 2544225 STARTOPIA TSDR LIVE
Actual government website by the way: http://tsdr.uspto.gov

Startopia is still sold on Steam by the way. The only reason it's Starbase Startopia is to show there is a difference from the base game. The reason why it doesn't have a definitive on it is because their planning on adding tons of DLC to the game and create a service style game. Hence why it doesn't have definitive cause it'll have more content down the line so it can't be definitive because the games technically not complete or finished in their minds. I wasn't asking why it doesn't have definitive on it. I was just saying YOU ARE WRONG, about games not having labels. That is all.


TLDR; I'm not confused about this situation or the naming. I'm just pointing out why your wrong about most games having a label of some kind. The game has content coming so it logically <- can not have the label definitive, remaster, or whatever else.

[Kunovega]

Originally posted by GodEmperor:

I think you may have typed out a here's your sign award. The game is still the same. It's Startopia. Your example of Coke is absurd. Your basically saying if the can of COKE had coke in it and had Coke on the label that it is not coke because someone ended up buying the rights to Coke and the companys name from Coke-Cola Company to Sad Randy Company which has nothing to do with the label by the way.

It's not a Coke or Pepsi situation THIS IS the same game with the same name essentially.

They did not buy the rights to Startopia, they are not the same company, this is in no way legally related to the other game, that's the point you are failing to realize. The developers themselves have already made note of this.

Originally posted by melkathi:

Hmm, when I saw "Startopia" my first, burning question was "How does this relate to the original". Yet neither in the FAQ nor in the "Burning questions" is the original even mentioned. That is a shame. I am not saying all talk should be about that, but if the game is great enough to inspire this, great enough to warant the use of its name, then it should be acknowledged; and someone from the team replying in threads that it is inspiration only but this new game will be its own game, that doesn't count, that is just posts in random threads.

So my initial, instant wishlist has been turned into a tentative follow. Not feeling overly confident when the existence of the original isn't acknowledged in the description or FAQ.

Originally posted by TigerShark:

Originally posted by Unerde:

Hi everybody,
@Don't Give a ♥♥♥!
Correct, we are currently not planning any mods/modding.

@melkathi
What you want to hear, that has not been brought up somewhere else already?
Yes, there is an Original game called Startopia, Spacebase Startopia is inspired by this game, but furtheron neither a reboot, remake, nor anything like that. Just inspired and a hommage to that original game.

-cheers

Wait a minute. So you're saying this game has no ties to Startopia at all...? Not a remake, remaster or reboot? Okay, now I hate this game. Not buying it. Thank you.

Originally posted by Unerde:

Please be aware that Spacebase Startopia is not a remake, successor or anything to the original game. Spacebase Startopia is the spiritual successor, but besides that is a whole new game on its own.

-cheers

Originally posted by Unerde:

Hi Mr. nice guy,
not yet planned and no promises on that so far.
Yet, most importantly, please be aware that Spacebase Startopia is not a successor, just inspired by the original, besides that it is a whole new game on its own.

-cheers

That's just one of many conversations about this that has already been responded to by a developer:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/840390/discussions/0/1636416951458413679/

They have tiptoed around this endlessly, but they do not have the copyrights for the original game, they are using a concept that is legally in the public domain to make something similar.

Once you realize that you will stop suggesting that they should imply that they are an upgrade or definitive version of a game that they do not own or have any legal rights to use.

It is very much a Coke vs Pepsi comparison. One company made a cola and another company decided to make their own version of a cola. The only difference is this has a more similar name to the competition. It is in no way related in the way you continue trying to claim.

Just FYI but Kalypso (the publisher) has done this before with their Dungeons series. Dungeons was advertised as a spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper, but they didn't have the license or any of the rights to use anything from Dungeon Keeper. The only difference here is that they can get away with using a more similar name with Spacebase Startopia.

[Freely]

Haha... not heard of the word plagiarism?

Song writers have sued other writers for the use of the same beat on songs. They won due to it sounding very much alike.

Same is happening with games.

'Blizzard Entertainment is suing Chinese developer Sina Games for allegedly copying its Warcraftseries with free-to-play mobile title Glorious Saga. As reported by Polygon, Blizzard filed a lawsuit in California on August 16 and claimed Glorious Saga is effectively a direct ripoff of Warcraft.'

Don't be surprised if this happens.

[Kunovega]

Originally posted by Freely:

Haha... not heard of the word plagiarism?

Song writers have sued other writers for the use of the same beat on songs. They won due to it sounding very much alike.

Same is happening with games.

'Blizzard Entertainment is suing Chinese developer Sina Games for allegedly copying its Warcraftseries with free-to-play mobile title Glorious Saga. As reported by Polygon, Blizzard filed a lawsuit in California on August 16 and claimed Glorious Saga is effectively a direct ripoff of Warcraft.'

Don't be surprised if this happens.

A song is the combination of melody and words. Each is protected by copyright separately: the melody as a musical work and the lyrics as a literary work. One or the other could be used separately and still be protected. However, if the lyric or section is not original, or has entered the public domain it is not protected by copyright law.

Similarly, words and short phrases are generally not copyrightable. A court held that the phrase “Everyday I’m Hustlin” used in the song “Hustlin’” by Rick Ross is “a short expression of the sort that courts have uniformly held uncopyrightable.” As such, the use of the lyrics “Everyday I’m Shufflin” in the hit song “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO was not an infringement of the Rick Ross song lyrics. Similarly, in dismissing a lawsuit filed against Taylor Swift, a court recently found that the lyrics “Playas, they gonna play / And haters, they gonna hate” were “too brief, unoriginal, and uncreative to warrant protection under the Copyright Act.

However the songs they are contained within are copyright as a whole, the whole song being unique while the components were not.

In sum, music copyright law protects musical works and sound recordings that are original works of authorship and fixed in any tangible medium of expression, but do not protect generic or common use elements in small volume unless those elements can be proven unique, original and still under protection (there's tons of music in public domain not protected)

Similar concepts exist for protection of literary and film devices. The names Luke and Skywalker can not be copyright protected, but the name Luke Skywalker used in conjunction with a space opera would be copyright protected. But it's only copyright until it expires, many old films and books are now public domain.

Regardless, the point is the law is far more complex than you seem willing to acknowledge.

Also note that names of books, movies, games, etc can not actually be copyright protected. The content is copyright, the names are not

For a name to qualify for any type of protection it must be trademarked, and trademarks have a much different and more limited range of protections.

So, let's talk about how that relates to Startopia.

Startopia, the word was never and could never be copyright protected. It was at one time in the past, trademarked. That trademark was allowed to expire and because it was not protected it fell into the public domain. The word spacebase is too common and has never been trademarked.

While in the public domain the word Startopia was taken and used for this game, later the IP holder reinstated the trademark, however a trademark can not be enforced unless it has actively been enforced and is still in current use. That's a legal battle that could go either way. The word being used while the trademark had lapsed is exactly what trademarks are not intended to protect against.

The content of the original Startopia that would be copyright protected are: the characters and story content that are unique to it.

The parts that can not be protected are the general concepts of a space station or a management game.

So, if Kalypso used the word Startopia while the trademark was lapsed and created a new game that does not actually use the character/alien names or story from the previous game, they are free to create anything using generic non protected concepts even if it has a passing resemblance to something else that may already exist.

Note that this is very different from the Blizzard lawsuit. The stuidio that Blizzard is suing is not because of a generic idea, it's because they explicitly copied direct and actual content and names, not just ideas.

"[Sina Games] did not just copy a few discrete elements from Blizzard's Warcraft games; they create a game whose content is almost entirely copied from the Warcraft games and related products," reads the suit.

"Every character in the infringing game was copied from a character in the Warcraft games, and many even bear the names of popular characters in the Warcraft games such as 'Jaina Proudmoore,' 'Gul’dan,' and 'Malfurion.'"

The studio goes on the allege that every creature, monster, animal, and vehicle featured in Glorious Saga is also copied from Warcraft, along with specific audio cues, sound effects, and even the game icon

If Sina Games had changed all of the names, story and lore and simply created a generic fantasy game about orcs vs humans, there wouldn't be a lawsuit. That's exactly what kalypso is avoiding with Spacebase Startopia, they may have nicked the name while it was lapsed, but they are being very careful to not copy direct any copyright material from within the old game itself.

[FlappyJak]

Same, I have Startopia on disk from when I brought it new back in the day!

It is disappointing to see to see what's going on here with this game. I mean, aside from copyright arguments, plagiarism, etc; keep in mind the total lack of R&D that goes into just copying another game. It's so easy to copy. And AFAICT I don't see anything original here. At least with Dungeons, they mixed that up a bit compared to DK. I mean, it wasn't as good, but they took their own direction!

Startopia was around £40 new, and it took all the risks. Now it's £5 on Steam. Go grab it, it's a bonafide classic and much better value for money.

[chaosstare]

With this version we'll finally be able to play in multiplayer mode without it crashing all the time ^^

[dorianmode]

New combat, new crafting mechanics, variable sized stations, new economy simulation, new multiplayer and AI modes, a raft of different control elements and tweaks. The multi-pickup alone is a breath of fresh air. Maybe the changes will work for you, and maybe not - combat was a major negative of Startopia, but RTS mechanics aren't necessarily my preference- jury's out.
Decent multiplayer could be a revelation.

I'm surprised that this bothers people given this is referencing a twenty-year-old game that flopped. Or people just misunderstand how intellectual property works. Stardew Valley ripping off Harvest Moon and Rimworld ripping off Dwarf Fortress must have made you lose your minds.

[Flakey]

You should be crying about the fact that kalypso publishes multiplayer games that mostly don't even last a month post release. Tropico/Dungeons series being the only exceptions. I was utterly disappointed with how sudden strike 4 had no players within weeks. This game reminds me of star control origins which was again a goofy looking old game created for newer audiences like this one. It was dead on arrival and I felt cheated. They even pushed a season pass for a dead game after a year and that in my opinion, is highway robbery.

[Zorz]

first, WOW what a strange topic and informations here..

original website which is still online and covers the rights on the name "startopia":
http://www.startopia.info/

"© Copyright 2020 My Little Planet Ltd - All Rights Reserved"

so, as u can see the devs of "Spacebase Startopia" stolen the copyrighted brand name "startopia" which is reserved to My Little Planet Ltd since they was first at register the first domain with this brand name "startopia".

there is no need to pay for a name trademark as long you are the first with a domain name.

by the way, as long there is a domain with "startopia" online by the copyright holder My Little Planet Ltd the devs of "Spacebase Startopia" can't register a trademark "startopia", because trademark is already in use by original trademark domain holder.



and look, here are some special informations from a the german official plattform about this topic.

if u search for "startopia" on this site ( https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/einsteiger&lang=en ) u get 3 results:

1. "startopia" trademark claim since april 2017 - march 2027 by someone in Mannheim, Germany
https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/3020172053697/DE&lang=en

2. "STARTOPIA" trademak claim since september 2001 - may 2030 by My Little Planet Limited, GU52 6NT, Fleet, GB
https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/registerHABM?AKZ=001671361&CURSOR=1&lang=en

3. "SPACEBASE STARTOPIA" trademark claim since feb 2018 - oct 2027 by Kalypso Media Group GmbH, 67547, Worms, DE, Germany
https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/registerHABM?AKZ=017310517&CURSOR=2&lang=en

as u can see by yourself, "My Little Planet Limited" holds the right on the name "STARTOPIA" since 2001 and will hold it till 2030.

Kalypso Media Group GmbH, wrongly inserted the trademark against the rules, because trademark of STARTOPIA is still activ for another company. this game here will die in the moment My Little Planet Limited will get knowlege about this copyright thing here.

u will ask yourself how this can happen?

the german institut of the website i mentioned and institut of trademarks in germany doesn't search for copyright problems with other inserted trademarks. the research of possible trademark difficultys with other trademarks have to do the company who want to insert a trademark.

so at the end Kalypso Media Group GmbH will fail on court of justice, because they failed to rearch for already inserted trademarks, they wrongly inserted a new trademark while someone already haves a trademark which is against laws.

[dorianmode]

Not the original website, nor the original trademark holder - a new and very recent website since the game changed hands earlier this year between Square Enix and My Little Planet, which appears to be a previous member of Mucky Foot.

You could well be right, and a legal challenge might make things interesting, but if you're overlooking details this simple then I wonder how you can be so certain about a possible legal outcome.

[Zorz]

Originally posted by dorianmode:

Not the original website, nor the original trademark holder - a new and very recent website since the game changed hands earlier this year between Square Enix and My Little Planet, which appears to be a previous member of Mucky Foot.

You could well be right, and a legal challenge might make things interesting, but if you're overlooking details this simple then I wonder how you can be so certain about a possible legal outcome.

i know it's hard for non germans to read and understand this site: https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/einsteiger&lang=en

as i said if you type in the field right next to "Marke:" the brand ( Marke means Brand ) u will find all patents which are claimed world wide and germany only(mixed)

u can test it by typing, coke, coca cola or Startopia and u will get all informations about this patent/trademark.. ;)