So I am working on a project that I plan on entering for SAGE. The rules say we can't use anything related to Mania, nor can we "replicate it". Can someone explain why this is?
Question About SAGE Rules
- Thread starter ZekeZurita
- Start date
Sega decided to be cool with us making fangames. We respect this by trying not to step on their toes. This means we avoid anything that would be significantly infringing to their franchise rights or ability to profit (eg monetizing a fangame). Given Sonic Mania is fresh out of the oven and in a sensitive sales window, we don't want to do anything that would interfere or make Sega nervous, especially since it was created by members of our community and we want to have their backs. In 2016, someone attempted to recreate the Studiopolis demo with sprites extracted from images and videos and submitted it to SAGE, and suffice to say it was not viewed favorably. We're currently reviewing the guidelines this year and there may be some changes.
Thank you for your response. Follow up question; hypothetically speaking, say I use Mania assets after SAGE is over. Is my fangame fine for the most part?
The same moderation guidelines apply to showcase submissions outside of SAGE. We've determined using assets here and there will be fine, what we don't want to see are significant or full on recreations of Mania content (eg a level right from Mania using all the same sprites, objects, music, etc). If anything from Mania is used, we encourage editing or "remixing" those assets that put them in a new context (such as pieces of level art combined with other sprites to make unique scenery).
