License ?

[st.]

I saw that the subject was previously discussed and how the
issue was addressed in other AGS games. Everyone seems to have a
personal version of addressing the matter. To me it makes sense
that there should be only one way of licensing the game, to avoid
confusion. After all, AGS is about making it easy to create a game.
I will write here what I could think of, so that even yes-or-no
answers would be sufficient; of course, a no without a short
explanation would just send me back in the dark.

1) The game EXE already contains the AGS Copyright information in
   the Properties, Version tab.

2) Concerning the fact that the game is freeware, I would include 
   in the Main Menu GUI( or in the Credits ? )the following line:
   
   PUBLISHED UNDER THE GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

3) There will be a folder called Licenses containing the following
   files:

   - a part of the GNU General Public License according to what
     applies to my game
   - a similar part of the AGS License
   - others, according to what 3rd party software I used for the game
   
My game will probably never reach a great audience but the idea,
as I understood, is to protect anyone who might be tricked into
paying for it.

I apologize in advance in case the post is misplaced.

[RickJ]

1) I believe AGS itself is distributed under the Artistic License not GPL.  You can't claim that it is.

2) Games created with AGS can be licensed however the author desires.  The AGS license is irrelevant; It's not necessary to mention it at all if that is your desire.

3) GPL is not well suited to works of art including video games.  It is designed for distribution software where things such as artistic vandalism is of no concern and where incremental contributions/improvements/modifications by others may be of benefit. 

4) Creative Commons non-comercial attribution license would allow your game to be freely distributed, prevent others from taking comercial advantage, and protect it from vandalism.

[Ghost]

but the idea, as I understood, is to protect anyone who might be tricked into paying for it.

I don't think that this is a big issue. I am not a big player by any means, but even my games tend to spread wildly and appear on quite a lot of download sites; all free. And not just mine, MANY. Just try to find italian sites featuring AGS games, it's fun, they seem to love adventure games a lot and spread the freeware.
The internet has changed piracy; I remember when pirated games were traded and sold on the schoolyard but why bother today, when someone WILL just upload a version that can be downloaded for free?
There's really no possibility that I could think of that (these days) someone *could* pirate-sell the average AGS game.

But yes, putting a "This is freeware" message into the game IS a good idea- most people put in a credits/info panel in their games anyway, and such info would fit in there nicely.

[Snarky]

The GPL is really only applicable if you want to make the game open-source. If you're distributing the game without the source code, you'd actually be in breach of the license yourself.

The GPL also doesn't prohibit people from selling the game, so you'd have no recourse if some site offered it commercially. A Creative Commons noncommercial license would be more appropriate to achieving your particular goal.

[st.]

Thank you all. I am in your debt.

[bicilotti]

Just a very minor remark: depending on which version of the GPL you choose, you could get away with not bundling the source code with the .exe (you still have to make it available to download in some way, though).

As many suggested, a Creative Commons license could be what you are looking for. Good luck with your game!