What is the region of acceptance/credibility for use of pre-made resources?

[Cosmo99]

Hi, I didn't think this really belonged in the technical forum so I'll just ask in here. Anyway, I am a really bad graphics editor, and found a lot of pre-made resources for use in a game, but I was wondering if using resources such as the RON pack or insta-game or using stuff like that would demean you, in short, what sort of pre-made resources is frowned upon if used? Thanks, just curious.

[Cosmo99]

Oh and also, if you use a RON template do you have to use any guidelines because I have seen many posts about a RON SERIES and things like that and they are all similar, so I was not totally sure if it was bad to make a game completely and totally different from the RON games previously made.

[Radiant]

Not really a problem, that's what they're there for. RON especially is made for sharing resources and the universe. Of course you should give credit where due.

Note that there are quite a lot of free graphic resources on the internet. Most of them aren't particularly suitable for an adventure game, but you may be able to find something useful.

[m0ds]

Babar used InstaGame for his game "Alien Time Zone", and it was featured on at least one PC mag coverdisk. So resource packs are definitely a good thing!!

[Babar]

What he ^ said!

Instagame is great! Use instagame! Especially if you want to test your creativity by finding new ways in which you can interpret purple goo spewing out of an alien's head.

Using premade graphics is certainly not looked down upon, but you might raise a few eyebrows if you use ripped graphics. Nothing wrong with Resource Packs like Instagame or RON.

[m0ds]

Hahaha Babar

Also, if you like Pirates, a new resource pack is in the works
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=30748.0
..with perchable parrot!! YAY

[Cosmo99]

OK thanks guys, I just wasn't exactly sure how far I could go with it and I think I understand now. Thanks, problem solved. 

[radiowaves]

Personally, I don't like ripped graphics or wide spread resource packs. For me, characters are part of the story and their appearance gives them personality which is, again, part of the story that is unique. So, using pre-existing gfx puts the story and originality down a little. But that is just me, so...

[Anym]

Well, I don't know what the consensus is, but here are my opinions:

I think the RON resource packs exist for making RON games (which all take place in a shared universe), so I don't think you should use them in a non-RON game and using them would probably lower my opinion of your game in the same way as if you had ripped graphics from a LucasArts or Sierra game. (And I'm not actually sure if you're technically allowed to use them in non-RON projects at all.)

Now Insta-Game is a totally different matter. It was created with the explicit purpose of allowing people lacking the time or the skills to create nice graphics to make a nice-looking game anyway and it won't demean your game in the least, at least in my eyes, if you decide to use those graphics instead of making your own.