Who copied who?

Who copied who discussion aside, signs of life does look kinda neat.

 

It does look interesting, but I probably won't give it a shot unless it's ftp (not happening) or has good multiplayer.
Or, you know, delicious steam sale gives it away for a few bucks.

 

Looks more like Edge of space to me.

 

There is no "copying" going on, both devs had great ideas which happened to be similar.

 

Oh my god the art style is hideous

 

My wallet told me to tell you to stop posting this stuff. Now its lost a few more pounds, and was just getting back to a natural weight too.

 

No one is copying anyone.

Inspired by would be the better term.

 

Just like when doom was popular and everyone called every first person shooter a doom clone.

 

same genre different game is no a cospiracy

 

That game looks pretty cool! Not much of a copy but just another 2D sandbox genre game.

If anything Terraria is one of the most similar games to Starbound or Edge of Space... But they have their differences.

 

Well then, Starbound copied the original XCOM by having aliens, and XCOM copied Asteroids by having space ships (i.e. the alien ships).
JK, but really, people, shut the front door abput copying please.

 

Ultimately, though, any sufficiently enlightened person knows that hardly anything is truly original and those that are smart will draw parallels one way or the other. Thus on a grander level I question if there is even any point to hiding your sources, and if perhaps paying them tribute isn't a superior option simply on behalf of honesty.

 

Copy shmopy.

Personally, I was glad to discover Signs Of Life. Before that, Starbound didn't have any real competition. Darkout or Edge Of Space? Let's face it. Those games honestly feel like half-baked things. Both of those projects have problems that their respective teams seem unwilling or unable to fix. Personally, I don't see a big future for either of those two, if they keep going the way they are.

But, now we have a new kid on the block. It's called Signs Of Life. For once, I see another game in the Metroidvania style that gives me almost as good an impression as Starbound did. I like that. Personally, I'd love to see it get enough attention that it gives Starbound something to think about.

One thing, though. The Signs Of Life team has kind of gone silent for about a month. They haven't done their weekly update since June. I hope it just means they're in crunch mode, since the last serious thing they mentioned was wanting to get an alpha out. It might mean problems, too. Hard to really say.

 

Seriously, it really is terrible. It's so ugly. It looks like it's straight out of a cheap 70s children's book.

 

I actually don't mind the colorful planet art.

It's the semi-realistic human character that makes me want to vomit.
It clashes so hard with everything else and there is a definite hint of uncanny valley in there.

 

I was really looking forward to Edge of Space, though it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully things will turn out better for Signs of Life. Either way, I'll probably pick up both when they're released. Possibly even wait for a sale or bundle.

I don't seee these kinds of games as copies, I see them as "the more the merrier." Whoever developed their game first doesn't matter to me, how it plays is. When I finish a game or start feeling like the mechanics are repetitive, it's always nice to have games like this. A different perspective on the same/similar genre is just what I need when I'm missing the last game I played or want a change of pace. I like "copies."

 

To be fair.. signs of life will be based on a single planet.. or atleast within a very limited area compared to what starbound will offer... it also has a different artstyle.. and a more lonely almost horror feel to it unlike starbound which is a mixture of adventure.. building and perhaps some creepier elements though they don't dominate it.. I'm looking forward to both games though i feel they're about as similar as minecraft was to terraria or hexen was to doom >.> or Total annihilation to C&C all good games but similar in many ways but not enough to say they're outright stealing..

 

There's a difference between somone stealing idea's to gain success from a probably, way shittier version and somone using the same ideas/genre to create his own game. everything would be a cvopy with this mentality. Many people put elements together from their favourite games to make their own(rogue legacy, the roguelike elements with the castlevania/metroidvania gameplay for example).
Who cares who copied who? Also, even if starbound sort of, did it first, that doesn't mean people couldn't have had the idea a long time ago, but just didn't MAKE it (yet). They could''e even come up with it themselves when styarbound was out ,but they never heard of starbound. So why should starbound get all the credit? Especially if starbound's not really ''original'' at all(just look at terraria..). What if somone has a really good idea, and than LATER finds out it already exists? That shouldn't stop him from still making the idea come true. This is not limited to just games, look at this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_discovery

A real rip off/ copy should just be ignored(the minecraft rip offs for example, like fortresscraft), but a simialar game's always good. Remember when every FPS was called a doom clone? Doom was not even the first fps!(far from it). In fact, rogue likes are still called.. ROGUE likes, the genre doesn't have it's own name.

 

I'm not fan of the artstyle, but calling it hideous? Come on.
However, I agree wholeheartly with Daj right above me: the semi-realistic human character bothers me (without going as far as "makes me want to vomit).

As for the "copying" discussion... Let's see:

• Starbound was announced in February 2012. Sign of Life was announced in December 2012.
• Both games share a lot of very similar aspects: similar settings (sci-fi), sand box, exploration and combat in 2D environment...
• ... but both games are quite different on other aspects (different background, different universe, different artstyle, etc). Also, I doubt Starbound has exclusivity over the "2D sand box" game genre, be it in space or not. Minecraft doesn't have it, Terraria doesn't have it, and countless other games don't have it.

There are similarities, but you can't build a case with only that and sue them for unfair competition (yes, I'm answering a question which wasn't asked in the first place, moving on).
However, I would raise an eyebrow if Sign of Life announced a release date very close to Starbound's, shortly after Starbound announced its own. Given their respective existence, with Starbound being announced way before Sign of Life, I would wonder if it wouldn't be a case of parasitism (mind you, I'm talking about a french legal concept, so there's no way to apply such concept in this situation if a problem arise). But, well, I'm no expert in unfair competition, so I'll probably stop here.