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Hi Dakka guys!
I was wondering: did starcraft copy w40k?
Because you've got the terran as SM, protoss as Eldar Tau and Tyranids and then you have the zerg which are like tyranids and chaos demons.
So what so you guys think?

Check date of Starcraft first release.
Check of the 'start' of 40k.
No.

Ugh, this again? Really?

purplefood wrote:Check date of Starcraft first release.
Check of the 'start' of 40k.
No.

I think you're reversing what he's saying.

He's asking if starcraft (which he acknowledges came after 40k) copied 40k.

Short answer - yes... sort of.

Long answer - this stems back to "Humans and Orcs" from blizzard and how it copied fantasy (I believe it was actually supposed to be a Warhammer game that GW pulled out at the end).

Cryage wrote:

purplefood wrote:Check date of Starcraft first release.
Check of the 'start' of 40k.
No.

I think you're reversing what he's saying.

He's asking if starcraft (which he acknowledges came after 40k) copied 40k.

Short answer - yes... sort of.

Long answer - this stems back to "Humans and Orcs" from blizzard and how it copied fantasy (I believe it was actually supposed to be a Warhammer game that GW pulled out at the end).

Fair play. After 3 hours of writing an English essay it appears i have lost the ability to read. This does not imply good things for my future.

Cryage wrote:

purplefood wrote:Check date of Starcraft first release.
Check of the 'start' of 40k.
No.

I think you're reversing what he's saying.

He's asking if starcraft (which he acknowledges came after 40k) copied 40k.

Short answer - yes... sort of.

Long answer - this stems back to "Humans and Orcs" from blizzard and how it copied fantasy (I believe it was actually supposed to be a Warhammer game that GW pulled out at the end).

The game was starcraft and 40k, not warhammer and WoW, though that was copying too.

/recline
/popcorn

Ok then why isnt blizzard sued for copying w40k?

Leonid wrote:Ok then why isnt blizzard sued for copying w40k?

I believe there was a legal thing, where Blizzard ended up paying a sum to GW, though I am not sure.

Timeline:

1) Someone came up with an idea.
2) That idea was built upon and made into multiple seperate ideas.
3) Those ideas were again built upon and subsequently formed yet more seperate ideas.
4) People realised the difference between copying and drawing inspiration.
5) There was much rejoicing.

I find it appalling that the question asked was about starcraft 2, instead of starcraft 1... you know, the one that came first.

Ok cool

Someone needs to wright an article about this so we can just post it when the question comes up again.

IIRC members of GW design team worked on Starcraft after leaving GW.

Why isn't Gw being sued by Tolkein/Bungie/Herbert and the countless other things they were 'inspired' by?

"Good artists copy, great artists steal" - Picasso

Toastedandy wrote:IIRC members of GW design team worked on Starcraft after leaving GW.

Why isn't Gw being sued by Tolkein/Bungie/Herbert and the countless other things they were 'inspired' by?

"Good artists copy, great artists steal" - Picasso

Good point

Because it's hard to sue over a vague concept like "Space bugs, space elves, and big pauldrons."

EDIT: Kinda funny that Tyranids after Starcraft looked -alot- like starcraft zerg.

Oh really...


If you want to search for threads and posts on this you can delve into the depths of this oft asked question.
But I'll give you the short of it. A copy of a copy of a copy copied back and forth till you can't really care much anymore.
40k copied Starship Troopers, Starcraft1 copied it too. 40k took somethings it liked from Starcraft and vice versa and today Andy Chambers, formerly of GW is project lead of Starcraft2. Andy also seems to have secured the rights to Starship Troopers as well and is up to some game project on that too. So here we are with all the goats being roped round and round the mulberry bush.

Shut up shut up shut up shut up

Brother SRM wrote:Shut up shut up shut up shut up

You can count on Brother SRM for words of wisdom

Honestly, I'm not sure if they did copy warhammer, or if they didn't...but I do know their both fun games, and we should leave it at that...

Avatar 720 wrote:Timeline:

1) Someone came up with an idea.
2) That idea was built upon and made into multiple seperate ideas.
3) Those ideas were again built upon and subsequently formed yet more seperate ideas.
4) People realised the difference between copying and drawing inspiration.
5) There was much rejoicing.

Except in this situation. IIRC GW commisioned a game but then backed out part way through production, Blizzard changed the names and published it anyways.

Brother SRM wrote:Shut up shut up shut up shut up

Yeah...
SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDRIIIIIIIIIII

For the same reason Lord Dunsany didn't sue Tolkein...

Oh dear....

Blizzard and the GW thing, We have no idea.
It could of happened they seem very similar.
Especialy the overmind and the hivemind... Which is basically the same thing....

im2randomghgh wrote:
Except in this situation. IIRC GW commisioned a game but then backed out part way through production, Blizzard changed the names and published it anyways.

The only people who have said this are hardcore Blizzard fanboys. Everyone else, including Blizzard employees when talking off the record at events like Blizzcon, say that Blizzard approached GW with a completed game hoping for a licensing deal like what was currently in existence with Mindscape and SSI.

GW told them to change their crap or face a lawsuit, under pressure from Mindscape/SSI which was one of the bigger gaming companies doing turnbased/realtime strategy games at the time.

Leonid

Joined: 2011/09/21

81 posts at the time of writing

The OP hasn't been around too long. And maybe not aware of the perennial chestnut.
But that doesn't seem to stop "old timers" jumping in with cuttiing remarks instead of politely suggesting using the search engine first.

Rehashing old topics is 80% of what this forum does to begin with. No sense in trampling on tradition.

Yes, Warcraft copied is highly, suspiciously derivative of Warhammer, and much the same can be said of Starcraft and 40K.

Namica wrote:/recline
/popcorn

Can I have some?

Starcraft rules, Warhammer 40k rules even more!

Okay, here's the deal. GW came before Blizzard, but both franchises often take stuff from each other.

juraigamer wrote:I find it appalling that the question asked was about starcraft 2, instead of starcraft 1... you know, the one that came first.

QFT. I basically stopped reading after this post.

Belexar wrote:Starcraft rules, Warhammer 40k rules even more!

Okay, here's the deal. GW came before Blizzard, but both franchises often take stuff from each other.

If GW was there before blizzard, then how could they have taken anything from Blizzard?