World Turtles:A game with a setting on a turtle's back.

[Baldiron]

I appreciate that the game creators are fans of Discworld (as I read) but wouldn't it have been better to make an actual Discworld game? No offense to them, maybe they just wanted more freedom to make the game as they liked. It's a city builder, colony sim and strategy game.
Check it out.
https://www.worldturtles.com/

 

[Tonyblack]

That would involve legal actions to get the rights to Discworld. While Terry was still alive, he would often give his blessings to people that approached him, but to protect his legacy, his estate can be most protective and clamp down on fans that are using names without permission. By the way - the link you posted isn't opening for me.

 

[Molokov]

Tony's right about the legal rights, now controlled by Narrativia (which is co-run by Rob Wilkins and Rhianna Pratchett). And although it's possible that they'd love to see another Discworld-themed video game, it's also highly possible that the rights for spin-off material such as video and board games is also tied in with the TV/film rights which they've already signed off to a company somewhere - so there's no way anyone could make a game without also working with the TV/film production company that now holds the rights. It's all likely complex and confusing and beyond our ken, so we should just be happy that it looks like Dunmanifestin (the other company that Rob and Rhianna control) can publish lots of spin-off material books (like the Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch) and reprints/audiobooks as they are currently doing.

 

[RathDarkblade]

Tony, that's weird: the link is opening just fine for me. Here is the game on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/

Baldiron, I'm not sure that the people creating this particular game are Discworld fans. The only thing this has in common with Discworld is that the world is on a turtle's back. There is no mention of the elephants, or Great A'Tuin, or anything else to do with Discworld. There's not even a mention of the turtle's shell.

So, given that the whole "world on a turtle's back" is based on Hindu mythology (I think? please correct me if I'm wrong) and not original to STP, I think they can do what they like.

(P.S. before someone flames me for saying that the "world on a turtle's back" idea isn't original to STP ... please remember that STP took the original idea, but named the turtle, added the four named elephants, and created an original world based on that. The only thing that wasn't original about the Discworld is the "world on a turtle". Everything else is completely original.

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, here! Just covering my you-know-what)

 

[Baldiron]

Tony, that's weird: the link is opening just fine for me. Here is the game on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1512050/World_Turtles/

Baldiron, I'm not sure that the people creating this particular game are Discworld fans. The only thing this has in common with Discworld is that the world is on a turtle's back. There is no mention of the elephants, or Great A'Tuin, or anything else to do with Discworld. There's not even a mention of the turtle's shell.

So, given that the whole "world on a turtle's back" is based on Hindu mythology (I think? please correct me if I'm wrong) and not original to STP, I think they can do what they like.

(P.S. before someone flames me for saying that the "world on a turtle's back" idea isn't original to STP ... please remember that STP took the original idea, but named the turtle, added the four named elephants, and created an original world based on that. The only thing that wasn't original about the Discworld is the "world on a turtle". Everything else is completely original.

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, here! Just covering my you-know-what)

If you go to https://steamcommunity.com/app/1512050 and click on the topic named "Terry Pratchett's DiscWorld Turtle and this game" you can see a comment from the developer named Gideon.griebenow.
"Discworld was indeed the reason I chose the setting, since I'm a huge fan. Making the elephants fit in, with turtle and elephants animated, was a bit of stretch initially - maybe one day
The setting of "world on a turtle" has popped up in many cultures over the years. India, China, Americas. Even with elephants! So, it's fair game to use without infringing on copyright. I even contacted Rhianna Pratchett and she was fine with it, as long as I don't try to make it Discworld specific (characters, ideas, locations)."

 

[Tonyblack]

Thanks! The link is working fine now.

 

[RathDarkblade]

...I even contacted Rhianna Pratchett and she was fine with it, as long as I don't try to make it Discworld specific (characters, ideas, locations)."

Ah! This is the important bit. As long as the person in charge of the Estate (in this case, Rhianna) says it's OK, you're covered. (Of course, I don't mean you personally, I mean the game creator).

It doesn't matter if anyone thinks it's "fair use". What matters is what the lawyers say and if the judge agrees. I've created a few videos over the years and found some things that other people created, and always, ALWAYS tried to contact the original creators, explain myself and get their OK. It's a good idea for two reasons: one, I'm covering myself; and two, I'm avoiding bad feelings later.

It's not a good idea to use other people's copyright! I'm sure everyone here knows that.