$12256 / $11500
So, I've been working on a 2D top-down RPG (solo) for some time now and I've been using sprites generated from here as placeholder: http://www.famitsu.com/freegame/tool/chibi/index1.html
I'm not using RPG Maker, though, and the site (which is under Enterbrain) specifically says I cannot use the sprites generated from there for games made without it. Reasonable. However, I really love that style of sprites. I've seen amazing sprites made for RPG Maker games and there are entire communities surrounding it but I digress..
So, I have four options now:
I have not a single dollar to spend on a pixel artist (sadly), I'd rather not go through the difficulties of having to work with people (it's not that I dislike people, I love people but I'm not exactly a team person..) and I doubt the third option will yield enough results. So, I'm left with learning to make 2D sprites on my own and here's my question:On the link above, you can see a sprite generator. When you start it up, there is a bare-bones sprite template that is uninteresting. If I use this bare-bones template as a base to make my own sprites, am I infringing on their copyright?
This website's content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
If you're going to be drawing on top of it, it's still going to be a derivative work, so not okay.
At first I thought they were actually using the LPC sprites ( http://lpc.opengameart.org/static/lpc-style-guide/assets.html ), though it does seem slightly different (e.g., different height proportions). But then having said that, if you just want a base template, how about using the LPC ones instead?
Dang =P
Well, my game's made on the assumption that all character sprites will be 32x32. I played a lot of RPG Maker games in the past and it's pretty much influenced my tastes, I will admit. It's specifically sprites in that style (I only know it as the RPG Maker style) that I like a lot. Guess I'll have to abandon all hope of ever using it.
Anyway, I don't think I've seen any 32x32 character sprite templates here on OGA. I think I saw a 32x48, though.
It's a constant struggle, but if you don't have cash you're generally going to have to compromise some on graphics. OGA's purpose is in part to make this compromise much less painful by providing quality graphics that you can use free of charge, but it's rarely going to be exactly what you're after, and you'll likely have to loosen your requirements to some extent. If you do decide to make your own base to work from, I'd encourage you to post your works in progress here. It may also be possible for you to modify the LPC base to match your specs.
I looked around the LPC site and saw that artworks there were released under CC BY SA 3; am I right? I never understood all that copyright and license stuff but I assume it means that any derivatives I make from the art there has to be released under that license and must credit the original author, right? I'm perfectly fine with that.
But what about making a game that uses such an asset? Does that mean that the source code has to be released under that license, too?
Also, does this link, http://lpc.opengameart.org/static/lpc-style-guide/assets.html, contain all the assets ever released for this LPC thing?
Yes, I don't quite know what LPC is. I assume it's a competition to generate more of these art assets.. Right? Sounds cool.
"but I assume it means that any derivatives I make from the art there has to be released under that license and must credit the original author, right? I'm perfectly fine with that."
This is correct.
"But what about making a game that uses such an asset? Does that mean that the source code has to be released under that license, too?"
Certainly not, because even if you had to release the game as CC BY-SA, that licence doesn't say anything about source code.
What is unclear though is whether CC BY-SA does apply to the entire game - if it did, then it would mean people would be free to distribute your game under that licence.
Is this a commercial project, or just for free/fun? If the former, these are questions to ask a lawyer. If the latter, why not release the source anyway?
Or if you mean you're happy to release the source, but are asking whether it has to be released under CC BY-SA. In practice, plenty of people release source under licences like GPL or BSD, even if they use CC BY-SA art. It is an unfortunate problem with CC BY-SA that if it really applied to the entire game, it would mean the source would have to be CC BY-SA too.
It's for a project I'm hoping to complete and release for free; the art and audio needs are really halting my project's progress, though =P So, I decided to address them now. I've cancelled previous personal projects before because I didn't resolve art and audio needs properly and it was a drain on motivation.
Thanks, I'll look up GPL and BSD; I guess the safest thing to do for CC BY-SA is to ask each artist directly before using their assets?