The Blank Game is an Alternative Magic Mod
Not necessarily trying to create trouble here, just figure anyone playing this game should know what they're actually playing. I also have almost no proof to back up what I'm saying since the original topic for this game got deleted. I also realize that the Japanese text games have never been very popular on here, I just thought anyone who has or was planning to play this game should know what is going on.
Alternative Magic is a Japanese game made with text game maker, a utility for building RPGs in japan. Even though it's called text game maker, it can still allow you to build a game with a full compliment of music and sound effects.
As far as I understand things, and keep in mind I've never actually tried to do this myself, but text game maker is supposed to allow you to encrypt or password protect your games if you don't want people to be able to access your source code. You have to use some pretty specific tools to decrypt and decompile the code or put the game in debug mode.
Anyway, The Blank Game came up earlier this year, claiming to be it's own project using the Alternative Magic source. However, the Alternative Magic game was never released as open source. Regardless of that, the only thing the game really changes is the storyline and character names, to some degree. The structure of the storyline is still in tact, having your characters still follow the events in the Alternative Magic story. For example, your main character still starts in school, still fights the same storyline battles, still visits the same locations, characters still join up in the same places where they did in Alternative Magic, only the story's text has been modified. Location names, item and equipment names, spell and technique names and other things from Alternative Magic have been completely left in. Morokuma's self-composed music, as well as the sound effects from Alternative Magic are also being used for this game. This at least, can be confirmed by downloading the two games side by side and comparing the sounds directories.
Even if there is a way to access the source code without breaking into files, should not the author's permission have been obtained first, especially as regards using his music and sounds? Would not it have been better to have just created an official translation of Alternative Magic with the author's full backing, rather than stealing his code and claiming it as one's own? Is this not almost the direct definition of a mod?
I realize that there's no license that I'm aware of and so nothing can probably be done about this, but I just don't like seeing people's work being ripped off this way. Especially not when this author knows how to use Text Game Maker for himself and thus, is fully capable of making his own game from scratch using the utility.
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