Game design documents

Release it, see what happens. I know you don't want another Sonic Xtreme fiasco.

There were people on here and on ebay that had design documents for sale for games already released.

Just put a disclaimer on it.

 

I'd really like to take a look a those documents, but seeing that the Shadowman IP returned to the original owner maybe it could cause trouble (but then again, maybe not). As Hawanja said you could just release it anonymously.

 

I know it sounds ridicules, but assembler do you have a lawyer? If so is it possible to ask him on this situation?

 

Well if there was a release, it would be scrubbed of personal info and dumped anon onto a newsgroup or rapishare.

I have all of their follow up docs too, like the features they removed, people they fired or who left, the criticisim of the skills of some people.

While fascinating, that is real stuff that could seriously harm someone's rep.
That stuff I won't release.

But the design doc is brilliant, it's like a "how to make a game" rolled into one. Stunningly complex, and stylish as well, it's themed...

 

Heh, I'm sure some of the letters could be really entertaining to read through, but those definitely should not be released.

 

Looks like throwback enetertainment only have rights to the Acclaim IP's, aqnd the licensed ones reverted to the trademark holder.

This would mean valiant comics.

It seems the only title worth a damn, re-volt is in for a remake.
I honestly think those guys threw away 3.5 million when they bought
all of acclaim's ips...

 

Agreed, and if you decide to release the other documents you should do it like Barc0de says:

 

This is the precise reason Diddydonn & I decided against currently releasing "Emergency Mayhem". Given that Codemasters were about to release a (very different) version of it on the Nintendo Wii. One developer we asked about it actually laughed and said 'Go on, live dangerously!' and I thought 'Nah, not right now thanks!'

I also think it should be made available only to trusted members. As for watermarking it...

I am torn. A) You don't want it falling into the hands of someone who immediately thinks he / she can profit from it and B) at the same you don't want too much attention. :noooo:

 

Watermarking a la Borman gets my vote

As for the matter of a lawyer, there is no real reason why Assembler should spend money on legal advice when it's evident that it is more probable than not that some of the material will give rise to the disatisfaction of someone somewhere - just not worth the risk.

Because even when you're totally legitimate in every way, there might always be someone to challenge that, and this will end up in a)stress b)lost time and perhaps c)costs, even if the case doesnt really lead anywhere - or a settlement in the best case scenario if it does.

Why go through all that trouble when you can just avoid being known/traced in the first place ?=)

 

Being a big fan of the Shadowman games I'd love to see this released. I think the best way would be as people have mentioned; remove all personal information, anything that might be considered risky, watermark with something like "for educational purposes only" and release anonymously onto rapidshare/public torrent.

 

And what about freenet?

 

I think newsgroups would be the best way, as well as rapidshare upload via proxy.

I also have the design docs for:

Dave mirra, that is around 350 pages. It has all level designs, great stuff.
Basically a how-to for driving games.

I, Gladiator - A great god-of-war learning tool.

Kung Faux - Horrible idea never past discussion, it was basically an online
FMV battle game with the lines dubbed over by "popular hip-hop stars".
Yep. I might pass on this one as it's still a living IP.

I don't know the value of these, I suppose I could ebay them and
make some cash, but I think that these would inspire many
many people to do programming and level designing.

I think that once this is unleashed, it will become a sort of amateur defacto
tool..

So I am willing to release them all, and Karsten is going to help me
censor out the names addresses and anything that might hurt people.

I want to release them all in one giant pack along with maybe 10-15
cds I have of renders, 3d models, textures, and sample source code
from some failed projects they had.

What I need is a scanner, a Fujitsu scansnap S500 or S510.
Most of these pages are UK paper size, as they came from Acclaim Teesside, aka Iguana UK.
The real question is is there enough people interested to raise the money for the scanner.

 

Would it be easier/cheaper to take it to a print shop and get them to scan it to pdf?

 

I tried, they won't touch copyrighted material.

 

how much would that scanner cost?

 

Anyone who wants to kick in can pm me. I wasn't ready to raise any funds yet , but people are already helping out.