Unencrypting projects, what do you think? Options

[rewells]

I was wondering how people felt about leaving their projects unencrypted so that the people who download it may see and your actual project file. I like it when designers leave their projects unencrypted so I can see how developers event their projects, but I understand concerns about people stealing their projects and especially stealing custom artwork/music etc. I like to hope that no one is enough of dick to do that, but some people just lack ethics. Since our forums (specifically the gameplay forums) are leaning more towards offering feedback and learning from each other rather than just promoting our individual projects, I'd like to see more unencrypted projects. How do people feel about this?

[Ratty524]

Creating an unencrypted project takes longer, and it's a larger amount to download which tends to irritate players. This, in addition to the possibility of theft, is the main reason why I always distribute my projects encrypted. The only case I would leave a project unencrypted is for others to troubleshoot problems within the game's editor.

[Tsukihime]

I only use materials that I can obtain from the internet and the RTP and my scripts are posted up anyways so I don't see much of a difference whether I encrypt the data or not.

Creating an unencrypted project takes longer, and it's a larger amount to download which tends to irritate players. This, in addition to the possibility of theft, is the main reason why I always distribute my projects encrypted.

Couldn't you just compress the files yourself? It's not like their compression algorithm is any special.

This post has been edited by Tsukihime: May 28 2012, 07:56 PM

[Lato]

I really dont think anyone should ever unencrypted there games, the reasons listed above say it all, it just harms the community more then it helps, if it even helps at all. Then again ppl have there reasons for doing things so whatever.

[Xach-Crisis]

I agree; leaving project unencrypted is not a good idea. not just because of resource theft, but when you make something and dedicate so much time and effort; should you really just hand it out open? Even though it's for "learning"? it's like using you're imagination and abilities to give others the same imagination and ability. I like to see different approaches too each different project, so I believe if you want to learn something do it yourself!, that's the best way! It has and will always be the best way

[amerk]

It's really up to the developer. If somebody wants to hack into the game for whatever reason, there are plenty of resources available throughout the internet that will allow them to. No encryption method is 100% fail proof, and unless you are using your own, it's fairly easy to get around the default with the right know-how.

That said, everybody will have their reasons of choosing whether to encrypt or not, and I respect their decisions. Personally, in the past I liked unencrypted games so that if a game was severely unbalanced I could tweak the database (monster HP, gold/EXP drops, etc) to make it more playable, but the more I tried to "fix" somebody elses game the more I questioned why. If a game is so unbalanced that it's nearly impossible to play or enjoy, why should I be the one to fix it? Wouldn't it be better to notify the OP and have them play and fix their own game?

As for seeing events and how they are done, while understandable, there are others who would abuse the privilege and use it steal work. You can always send a request asking how something is/was done and have it posted where everybody will benefit.

Now, all this said, I more than likely will leave my games unencrypted because I have nothing worth stealing beyond some maps, story ideas, and events, and the community is pretty good at catching thieves who try to pass resources off as their own when they came from other sources.

[thatbennyguy]

I actually think that unencrypted demos are the best. When you have an open source to examine and learn from, you can really improve your skills a lot. I learnt a lot from examining Craze's games, which he often leaves unencrypted. He has unique ways of structuring events, databases, and encounters to provide an emergent style of gameplay, which anyone can learn from.

So having an unencrypted demo usually helps people to understand how to develop great games. That's my argument, anyway.

[shinyjiggly]

I have my games unencrypted when I show them off. I've never once caught anyone stealing my ideas or resources from them (key word here: caught. There very well could be some hypothetical thieves that had gotten away with it). Also, if someone ever did rip off of my work, at least I would know that my work was good enough to be considered swipe-worthy. What's the use in encrypting if nobody even wants to break in and take the goodies in the first place?

But of course, that's mostly just my slightly hopeful low self-esteem kicking in again, which probably has nothing to do with anyone else's opinions on the matter.