So why haven't Harbour Master Devs been sued by Firemint

[facepickle]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am thinking of making a game similar to Harbour master, won't I get sued?

[walsh06]

no. Thats like saying there can only be one FPS on a console and one rpg and one rts. You can make same genre games.

[Palfince]

Flight Control isn't the first game of this genre. :rolleyes:

Also wrong section this should be in General Game Discussion and Questions.

[facepickle]

Flight Control isn't the first game of this genre. :rolleyes:

Also wrong section this should be in General Game Discussion and Questions.
Ahhh thanks dudes, pretty new to all of this stuff! sorry about the wrong section!

[DotComCTO]

That's like asking, "Why hasn't Nintendo sued everyone else that made a platform game?" Harbour Master is a different game than Flight Control. It's similar, but there are differences in the play mechanic (as well as the setting, graphics, sound, etc). In addition, it's not like Harbour Master is based on a reverse-engineered version of the Flight Control software. Now, if that were the case, then Firemint could go after the Harbour Master devs.

:cool:

--DotComCTO

[Palfince]

Ahhh thanks dudes, pretty new to all of this stuff! sorry about the wrong section!

It doesn't matter, although a lot more people are going to flame you...

A lot of people will just think that Harbor Master is a copy of Flight Control and that will make it have lower sales than it should. In my opinion Harbor Master is a lot better than Flight Control.

[facepickle]

It doesn't matter, although a lot more people are going to flame you...

A lot of people will just think that Harbor Master is a copy of Flight Control and that will make it have lower sales than it should. In my opinion Harbor Master is a lot better than Flight Control.

Yeah I love Harbour Master, in fact it's the inspiration for be becoming a dev (got alot to learn first!)

[gnadenlos]

Funny Fact: The Harbour Master developer forced another developer to remove a "copy" of one of their word games some months ago.

[super6ft7]

A lot of people will just think that Harbor Master is a copy of Flight Control and that will make it have lower sales than it should. In my opinion Harbor Master is a lot better than Flight Control.

No offense to the people who made harbor master, but it is very similar to flight control (I have both) and it came out whilst flight control was up high in the 25. Because of this they don't deserve as many sales, mostly due to timing. Now I'm not saying HM or FC are brand new concepts but it appears HM was trying to ride on FC's success.

[facepickle]

Funny Fact: The Harbour Master developer forced another developer to remove a "copy" of one of their word games some months ago.

Yeah see this is what worries me, if I made a Harbour Master style game they'd sue me right?

[Anders]

Yeah see this is what worries me, if I made a Harbour Master style game they'd sue me right?

Not unless you use their graphics or steal their source code, those are copyrighted. You cannot patent an idea either, only a technical solution.

[djflippy]

Flight Control isn't the first game of this genre. :rolleyes:

Didn't know that; what game came before it?

[your personal robot]

I think, the true rip-off is the one with controlling the taxis.
They even stole the style 1:1! This is very brave...

[Palfince]

Funny Fact: The Harbour Master developer forced another developer to remove a "copy" of one of their word games some months ago.

That was about 7 months ago and they settled it. The developer of Harbor Master (Imangi Studios) said that it was their first game and they didn't know the full way the App Store worked back then. Read the whole of this thread (http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=816) if you want to find out what happened.

[Palfince]

Didn't know that; what game came before it?

MrSnap (some one on this forum) posted (http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=311126&postcount=13) this link of one of the original games in this genre:

http://www.sonicpowered.co.jp/bokukan/

Flight Control was the first one on the iPhone though.

[VeganTnT]

Yeah see this is what worries me, if I made a Harbour Master style game they'd sue me right?

Imangi (the devs of Harbor Master) gave some guys from firemint a personal demonstration of the game at WWDC. This was before the game was approved by Apple as Harbor Master was submitted only a day prior. The guys from firemint didn't have an issue with it.

Someone referred to Imangi trying to get another app off the appstore. This was because the other was an almost exact copy of their first game and priced cheaper. They had been making games for all of a month when this happened. They learned later that certain things in video games can not be copyrighted. Though it should be noted that the game in question was still removed.

Harbor Master isn't a copy of Flight Control. It's the same genre of game and uses a similar art style but that's it.

They wouldn't sue you for making a game of the same genre because they now know the copyright issues with video games. So unless it was an exact copy you would be fine

[nattylux]

Facepickle, glad you're enjoying Harbor Master.

Please feel free to expand on the traffic control genre, as we have. If you want to see a pre-Flight Control game in the same genre, check out Air Traffic Controller - ATC 4.0 (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=303195673&mt=8) (Lite version here) (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=303472036&mt=8). It's a great game that's been around forever, but Flight Control made the graphics much more sleek and modern, and made the controls completely intuitive to use, which drastically improved the game.

As long as you don't use our name or assets, please develop away - we'd love to see what you come up with. This is a great genre with plenty of room for more :D

[wiesse]

What about a NFS vs Real Racing lawsuit? heh...

[facepickle]

Facepickle, glad you're enjoying Harbor Master.

Please feel free to expand on the traffic control genre, as we have. If you want to see a pre-Flight Control game in the same genre, check out Air Traffic Controller - ATC 4.0 (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=303195673&mt=8) (Lite version here) (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=303472036&mt=8). It's a great game that's been around forever, but Flight Control made the graphics much more sleek and modern, and made the controls completely intuitive to use, which drastically improved the game.

As long as you don't use our name or assets, please develop away - we'd love to see what you come up with. This is a great genre with plenty of room for more :D

Hello, thanks for the reply, I would never dream of using your name or assets, and I have along way to go to ever compete with your masterpiece!

But it's really reassuring to know that big devs like you have that attitude, and with I that wish you great success (although I think you've already got it!) with Harbour Master!

[walsh06]

No offense to the people who made harbor master, but it is very similar to flight control (I have both) and it came out whilst flight control was up high in the 25. Because of this they don't deserve as many sales, mostly due to timing. Now I'm not saying HM or FC are brand new concepts but it appears HM was trying to ride on FC's success.

flight control has been in the top 25 for like 2-3 months. basically since it was released and it will be there for a lot longer. So your saying they have to wait 6 months until its gone. Thats just stupid.

[super6ft7]

Or the eBook apps should sue each other for:
1) displaying words from left to right
2) having each page labelled with a number
3) using black font on a white background
4) having a tap to turn control method

now that would be a good one

[super6ft7]

flight control has been in the top 25 for like 2-3 months. basically since it was released and it will be there for a lot longer. So your saying they have to wait 6 months until its gone. Thats just stupid.

Well, he said "it should" have more sales. But if you look at it at a marketing point of view its timing wasn't great, so it shouldn't get more sales than it has.
Take example GTA4, they pushed that back a few months so its release wouldn't coincide with Halo 3's. This was because they were both serving the hardcore, shooter, 360 market so they got more sales.

[walsh06]

no he didnt. He said it doesnt deserve sales because flight control is high in the top 25.

also GTA4....hardcore shooter?? when you say that it really means more along on the lines of the large FPS franchises like COD, Halo, Resistance (for ps3) not a free roaming shooter.

[Palfince]

Well, he said "it should" have more sales. But if you look at it at a marketing point of view its timing wasn't great, so it shouldn't get more sales than it has.
Take example GTA4, they pushed that back a few months so its release wouldn't coincide with Halo 3's. This was because they were both serving the hardcore, shooter, 360 market so they got more sales.

no he didnt. He said it doesnt deserve sales because flight control is high in the top 25.

also GTA4....hardcore shooter?? when you say that it really means more along on the lines of the large FPS franchises like COD, Halo, Resistance (for ps3) not a free roaming shooter.

Ok, let me get this straight... I'm guessing that when super6ft7 says him he means me (Palfince) and when you (walsh06) says him you mean super6ft7?

So really you are agreeing with each other... :rolleyes:

For the record I (Palfince) said that Harbor Master should get more sales because it is a better game than Flight Control. super6ft7 said that Harbor Master doesn't deserve more sales because Flight Control is in the top 25 so it was all down to timing.

Now someone please tell me if I'm wrong here.

[super6ft7]

Ok, let me get this straight... I'm guessing that when super6ft7 says him he means me (Palfince) and when you (walsh06) says him you mean super6ft7?

So really you are agreeing with each other... :rolleyes:

For the record I (Palfince) said that Harbor Master should get more sales because it is a better game than Flight Control. super6ft7 said that Harbor Master doesn't deserve more sales because Flight Control is in the top 25 so it was all down to timing.

Now someone please tell me if I'm wrong here.

you are correct!

and to the guy talking about GTA4, it appeals to the hardcore gamers, and the shooter fans (me:D)

[LordGek]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am thinking of making a game similar to Harbour master, won't I get sued?

Just put in some original tweaks and you should be good.

I mean as soon as Firemint can sue folk for infringing on Flight Control they'll have to do some explainin' to the makers of A.T.C (the original Air Traffic Controller game on the iphone but originally with a slightly less intuitive control scheme).

[walsh06]

Ok, let me get this straight... I'm guessing that when super6ft7 says him he means me (Palfince) and when you (walsh06) says him you mean super6ft7?

So really you are agreeing with each other... :rolleyes:

For the record I (Palfince) said that Harbor Master should get more sales because it is a better game than Flight Control. super6ft7 said that Harbor Master doesn't deserve more sales because Flight Control is in the top 25 so it was all down to timing.

Now someone please tell me if I'm wrong here.
i thought the first post was by you but it was him so what superft(etc)... said didnt really make sense. But ya i was reffering to the "it doesnt deserve sales" because thats just stupid.

on another note nice to see an appmania reviewer :)

[super6ft7]

i thought the first post was by you but it was him so what superft(etc)... said didnt really make sense. But ya i was reffering to the "it doesnt deserve sales" because thats just stupid.

on another note nice to see an appmania reviewer :)

Yeah, i have been busy with exams so Appmania has been untouched for a while.

But in reply to you thinking what i said is stupid. Well as a game it deserves (in my opinion) less sales than FC because i don't think it is as fun. The COMPANY deserve less sales because of their bad timing.

[5jusername]

did locoroco sue rolando?;)

[walsh06]

Yeah, i have been busy with exams so Appmania has been untouched for a while.

But in reply to you thinking what i said is stupid. Well as a game it deserves (in my opinion) less sales than FC because i don't think it is as fun. The COMPANY deserve less sales because of their bad timing.

your problem is saying the word deserve. I dont know why but something about it just seems really wrong. The first is ok as you said you think flight control is better. Thats grand as everyone prefers games to others. But saying it deserves bad sales cos of timing is just wrong.

[Karuko]

ATC java games from Lunagames were lots of fun. You could only change the direction of a plane at a time, you had to line each plane individually to the runway. Its hard to multitask something like this with a dpad input, you had to go back and forth till you got it right... They even have take-offs sometimes, something Flight Control is missing and Harbor Master takes as an excellent feature to their game.

[CDubby94]

Personally I think William Higinbotham should sue everybody that ever made a video game.

[DaveMc99]

Personally I think William Higinbotham should sue everybody that ever made a video game.

I thought this was interesting. "He is said to have expressed regret that he would more likely be famous for his invention of a game than for his work on nuclear non-proliferation. When after his death, requests for information on his game increased, his son William B. Higinbotham wrote, "It is imperative that you include information on his nuclear nonproliferation work."