Lot's of backgrounds...

[madcrow]

There's a fighting game engine called MUGEN that has lots of free content available, while not all the backgrounds available are suitable for use in an adventure game, a surprisingly high percentage are. All you need to do is convert the backgrounds to PCX... and voila, beautiful scrolling rooms/ outdoor areas...

MUGEN content: http://www.mugenation.com/index.php/cat=stages/sez=44

search google for sff2pcx to get the converter...

[Ubel]

Could you upload or send a converter for me or at least give a site where I can get one. I tried to search for it but couldn't find a thing.

[Abisso]

Yeah, Mugen is great. If you need to do a fighting fan game, it also offers chars to use.
I think that probably the "Digital Spell" is made so, and even a game of mine will be...

[Helm]

Not to discourage anyone from making a game, but unless it's some sort of test game or something, please, don't use ripped backgrounds or artwork in your games. At least when I see it, I feel like not playing the game in question. I can understand a character or something as a template, or at least paintovers, but straight ripping doesn't help any ambitious project be respected.

[Snarky]

I really don't see why not. People can be interested in making a game without being interested in each and every element thereof. Do you feel the same way about games that use non-original music?

[Helm]

People might be interested in making a game without being interested in each and every element thereof, but most of the time, the games they make are released to the public. And unless it is perfectly clear and stated that indeed the art is ripped, not made by them and just there because 'they don't care about making graphics of their own', construsion may occur.

and while generally, I do feel the same way about non-original music, it is not exactly safe to make that parallel, because graphics, and music,  in a graphical adventure game, are not of the same importance, or serve the same end.

[Gilbert]

Well, in my opinion it depends, ripping everything is never a good practice (like in the case of using MUGEN game stuff, most of the time you're ripping ripped stuff). But if the materials are free for use and the original creators encourage you to do so I don't see any problem, at least for novice users to quickly create their test games and be familiar with the engine, they may work harder on their other games to bring more original content into them afterwards.

[shamelessplug]There're quite a bit of such free and legal materials, for example you have the roger sprites by our G.O.D. CJ (hehe) and the Instagame pak.[/shamelessplug]

[TerranRich]

What if you have absolutely ZERO talent in the graphical area, but a lot of story and writing talent and have no other choice? That's the boat I'm in. Short of ripping others' graphics, 3D is my only other option for a talentless hack like me.

Hmm, that wasn't really a solid defense of ripping, was it...

[Gilbert]

Or, just blacksmith someone in the forum who has the talent to do the original artworks for you.
You don't really need to do these kind of dirty job yourself, we have C. Leksutin afterall.

[MillsJROSS]

I think if your going to all the work to make a decent game, and your not talented in one area, that you should try to get someone to help. Which there are plenty of people who probably would be willing to do so. I like all things to be original for a serious attempt. Somehow I just have trouble getting into something with ripped images, and copied game music.

-MillsJROSS

[Snarky]

It's at this point I point out that '5 Days a Stranger' (and if I remember correctly '7 Days a Skeptic') used "borrowed" music... and still did rather well.

I for one thoroughly enjoyed QFG 4.5, and 90% of the graphics in that game are ripped (not just from QFG1). If a game provides a decent story, good puzzles and funny dialog, why should I care that the graphics have also been used somewhere else? If I know the original game well it might be distracting, but it's not that difficult to overcome. I may have more respect for a game with original graphics... but only if those graphics are good, and the games are otherwise equally fun to play.

As for giving appropriate credit, I think that's a given. You don't pretend something you didn't make is your own. As for the idea that ripping violates the rights of the original creators... eh! Who cares? These are just amateur freeware games, and a game that uses ripped graphics is especially a hobby project.

Making new adventures from existing parts is something I think we should welcome, not criticize.

[Helm]

Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.