Bug#861612: pixbros: level designs appear to be non-free

[Steve Cotton]

On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 01:14:09PM +0200, Markus Koschany wrote:
> Am 19.05.2017 um 02:24 schrieb Steve Cotton:
> > But the ones in contrib using original artwork only have the DFSG
> > parts in contrib, the copy of the original artwork isn't in contrib.
> 
> Exactly. But Pixbros has its own distinct DFSG-free artwork. Can't you
> see that?

This bug is about the level designs, the level designer's choices of
where the platforms are.  Whether the other game data is DFSG-free*
doesn't affect whether the levels are.

For the games in contrib, the levels or maps are frequently part of
the non-free data.  And for all the games where I've been part of the
community of players, I recall there's recognition of who made the
user-made maps and owns them, even for the communities that don't
require explicit licensing before putting user-made maps on a
community server.

* One of the enemies is anime/manga fan art, based on Naruto.

> Well and here it shows that you apply double standards. In Pathological
> the levels are "forced by the genre", in Tuxpuck it is just the
> rectangular table and the bat (and you forgot that the second player
> uses the same technique to move the bat as in the original game but
> nevermind). All major game aspects are implemented from the original
> games and it is easy to see from which one they stem from. Nevertheless
> the code and the artwork are completely different, DFSG-free and an
> independent piece of art. But Pixbros' levels which are simply bars in
> vertical and horizontal directions are somehow a copyright violation.

Imagine designing some intro levels of Pathological, and I think
you'll find it's quite probable that they'll look like the existing
intro level, simply because of the idea of the game.  I haven't looked
at the original or compared the other levels.

Now imagine designing some levels for Pixbros or any of the games that
inspired it. Even if you think of an existing level, and take its
ideas and general concepts such as "circle in the middle, some enemies
in the circle, some on the roof of the circle", do the new level's
platforms line up exactly with the original?

Pixbros' level of similarity is so close that I was surprised when I
checked level 37 (the "circle in the middle" one), and saw that it
does have a one-platform difference.

> Sorry but this bug report really makes me sad and I'm off to do
> something more useful now.

Same here.  While it's not PixFrogger, and it's not yet finished, I've
written a playable multiplayer frog race using Python and PyGame.
https://github.com/stevecotton/DartingFrogs

Steve