SMAC plagiarised?

Clear Skies · February 14, 2002, 14:37

Well, amidst all of knowhow's thread-bumping I thought I'd better start a new one. On an off-chance, I dropped into a second-hand bookshop near where I live and found a copy of Voyage from Yesteryear by James P Hogan. Have a look at the blurb and see what you think...

Earth seemed doomed to a fiery death, so they colonised the Alpha Centauri system with children.

But not everyone perished in Old Earth's War. Decades later a generation ship bearing a cargo of colonists - and an army to protect them - headed for the planet Chiron to reassert Earth's lawful control over the fledgling colony.

Too bad the colonists didn't see things the same way.

A deadly clash - with supermodern weapons - was inevitable as each faction sought to convert the other to the 'right' way.

Sorry to those of you who may've heard this before - I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Adalbertus · February 14, 2002, 15:40

I hope there will be no legal action against Firaxis

Seriously, I think sometimes plagiarism (at least in the negative sense) is used far too often. I think it should refer only to cases where copying someone else is used to cover the lack of own inspiration. This should be hardly the case if you are going to make a Civ-like computer game. The attitude of the artists of old seems much more appropriate: If there is something worth to adopted one should do it because it is an honour to be copied. Mozart took one of Handels fugue themes and made an even better fugue of it. Taking a few words from a whole book and a few starters to make a great computer game is an honour for the book and not a plagiate.
Enjoy the book, enjoy the game, enjoy the fact that you've read the same book as the game designers (if they simply didn't have the same source ...) and don't worry. It's a problem for lawyers whoare eager to ruin the reputation of their profession for a little money, but not mine.

Mr. President · February 15, 2002, 02:54

There's no original ideas in writing any more, particularly in science fiction and fantasy. For a Planetmind analogy, read Isaac Asimov's Nemesis and Foundation's Edge; for the factionalization of a colonization mission theme, read Ben Bova's Mars series; for the Cybernetic Consciousness with sex, read any number of books at my local library.