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Here's a quick page a threw together with screenshots
http://bbitmaster.com/loloscreens.html
Now, my main concern is the legal issue of ripping off the lolo series. Basically here is what is copied:
* Many of the graphics (mostly sprite work) are taken from a Japanese only PC eggerland game that was released in 1994 by HAL. This particular game was never released outside of Japan, however. I am unsure if there are international copyright laws protecting them.
* I have personally tried to duplicate the lolo game behavior as closely as possible, and it hasn't been easy. Some of the enemies have very specific behavior in the NES game, and I ended up disassembling the ROM image and obtaining their movement logic directly from the 6502 ASM code. (I am a rom hacker from way back, and happen to have the skill to do this). To make things clear, I did not directly copy any code. I only copied the logic that the code produced.
* The lolo series itself is copied in name. The project will be called "The New Adventures of Lolo"
Now, this all sounds pretty bad, right? Well, let's look at the good side of all of this.
* All of the music is completely original. Sivak is a skilled musician, and I personally love his work. There is one tune he made that is a remix of an eggerland tune. As far as I know, it is the only tune that has any resemblance to anything in eggerland/lolo, and he did it by ear, so I think it could be considered his original work.
* The few (non-legal) friends I have talked to have assured me that since HAL of America (the company that released lolo here) is now dead, nobody will likely care to come after us. I realize that somebody owns the rights to lolo, but I am not sure who, nor am I sure how to find out. I would *guess* it would be Nintendo. But, that may not be the case since lolo was released on a few non-nintendo computer systems. (If anyone knows how to find out, please let me know). I was buying this argument for a while, because I look at other projects like zelda classic that went completely under the radar.
I am posting here looking for the opinions of other game development professionals on what I should do now. If I think I can finish and release this as-is, under the radar, with little risk of getting a cease and desist letter, then I want to do so. But I have no money or time to get into any legal battle, and it would kill me to see all the work we've put into this stopped with a letter. I am just a programmer doing this as a hobby.
One idea I had, and this is what I am leaning towards, is to rename the game and all of the enemies and try to find an artist to redraw all of the graphics to something original. There are two other projects that seem to have done this, both with the same name: "The Adventures of Bobo"
http://www.gamedev.net/community/gds/viewentry.asp?projectid=368134
http://www.nebslilypad.com/bobo.htm
I really absolutely love the current graphics though, so maybe later I could release an *unofficial* separate stand-alone mod to convert the game graphics back to what they are now, as I really love the current graphics and I am quite certain there are other lolo fans out there who want it as is. The game is designed to be easily modable so anyone can create their own levels and graphics if they wish, this mod would be nothing more than that.
I am really unsure what to do from where I currently am with the project. Please help me out and give me some advice on what I should do.
-bbitmaster