Official Flappy Bird Thread - for all things flappy bird (including clones)

jonmulcahyjonmulcahy Member, Sous Chef Posts: 10,408
edited February 2014 in Working with GS (Mac)
From this point forward all posts about flappy bird should be in this thread. This includes posting about your clone, your friends clone, your fake clone. all of it.

let's keep the rest of the forums flappy bird free.

I am going to be merging all threads on the first page into this thread.

edit: this is sad. I moved 4 threads and that is just on the main page!
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Comments

  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    edited February 2014
    Here's my go at the Flappy Bird um, genre. I figured I would make a funny parody version instead of just a clone with no real difference. If you like my version then let me know and maybe I'll provide a template since I built this from scratch. Anyhow, hope you all enjoy the vid. If you play the game let me know what you think of the ending!

    Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stevehoffman.floppybird



  • tatiangtatiang Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 11,949
    I like it.

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  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited February 2014
    Nice ! :) I like the music too (what's the track?) it's suitably unhinged.
  • BBEnkBBEnk Member Posts: 1,764
    Nice, I like the messages.
  • LumpAppsLumpApps Member Posts: 2,880
    Good one!
  • StormyStudioStormyStudio United KingdomMember Posts: 3,989
    very cool. ... seems to head bang nicely in time with the music track.
  • neomanneoman Member, BASIC Posts: 826
    Ohh dear ... Ha ha very cool ... Good luck
  • Benjamin_m5Benjamin_m5 Member Posts: 646
    This made my day :D Very cool!
    ---
    Benjamin
  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    If I am to be completely honest, you are treading a very grey line. I wouldn't be surprised for you to get a lawsuit from the creators of Flappy Bird. In order for you to use Fair Use you have to admit copyright infringement. Then it also becomes your burden to prove how and why this is a parody. Your game is so similar to their game in almost every aspect other than having other monsters in it. I honestly think you would have a difficult time proving it as a parody and not just infringement, but I'm not an IP lawyer so who is to say.

    Also, are those bullets and plants direct copies from Mario? To attempt to parody Flappy Bird is one thing, but to use art so similar to Mario is really pushing your luck. Could result in 2 separate lawsuits.

    This would likely be the case yours would be compared to:

    "In 2007, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a fair use defense in the Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. Penguin Books case. Citing the Campbell v. Acuff-Rose decision, they found that a satire of the O.J. Simpson murder trial and parody of The Cat in the Hat had infringed upon the children's book because it did not provide a commentary function upon that work." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody

    I'm not trying to tell you this to rain on your parade. Looks like a cool game, but I am giving you some warning because you may be in some hot water. Especially if they notice you start profiting or stealing away their customers.
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited February 2014
    @FallacyStudios

    I'd have to pretty much agree with all of that, it's sailing pretty close to the wind ! The one thing I'd add is that he'd likely get a cease and desist order rather than the owners of Flappy Bird / Mario taking it straight to a lawsuit, but generally speaking I have to agree.

    And like you say, this is not said to be critical (I like the look of the game, I love the music too !), but if it comes to the attentions of the owners of Flappy Bird / Mario they may well take action.

    I'd change a few elements to put it out of harms way.
  • jamie_cjamie_c ImagineLabs.rocks Member, PRO Posts: 5,772
    It would be pretty ironic if Flappy Birds brought a lawsuit/cease and desist against someone else since they are clearing ripping off Nintendo/Mario graphics and sounds.
  • TouchiMediaTouchiMedia Member Posts: 154
    Yes lots of unoriginal copy and paste people in the amateur game development world.

    It's one thing to take ideas from graphics or a game to make your own.

    It's completely different to copy and paste a game and change graphics a little!

    Each to their own.
  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    edited February 2014
    Thanks, glad a lot of you like it and are having fun with it!

    @Socks - It's actually 3 tracks I meshed together from artists on the former 8bc.

    @StormyStudio - haha yep, flopbang to that music!

    @FallacyStudios - Yeah, I don't know if I'll be asked to remove it or if the stores eventually remove it. So far I've seen several copy apps that have been removed but Amazon seems to be ok w/ mine so far since it is a parody. They've approved it 3 times with metadata updates. It is a parody as in it provides commentary (on each level there's messages which are supposed to represent the user's thoughts) and also if you play the game for a bit you'll see it's different with gameplay changes and also a transformation of the main character. Also the game is much harder as the character is "floppier" and the pipes are closer together. The game is self aware of it and uses this as an aspect of the parody and is commented on by the main character. As for graphics I redid all of them with Pixen and theres no direct copies. But a part of the parody is that Flappy Bird has art inspired by Mario (and almost exact) so I take it one step further and ask "What's the difference between recreating 1 pipe asset or several that closely resemble ones from Nintendo?." So I have the Nintendo assets recreated to look like the bird during the dream sequence which shows how it took the pipe from Mario but now to many people it belongs to Flappy Bird. For the story parody of the game it's that you become so addicted and tired that you start to think you are floppy and you both die from exhaustion. Then there's a surprise ending which I won't spoil.

    @jamie_c - Agreed, Yes Flappy Bird is far from original but it's the "original" copycat and is popular so it gets away with it.

    @TouchiMedia - Actually this game is showing that you can do a "copy" app but add some value to it instead of making an inferior game that is simply re-skinned. I have shown this to many people who love the original and they like Floppy Bird because it adds to that experience as a parody. I don't think this will take away from the original but provides a comic version as a companion. So this is actually opposite of what many devs do which is re-skin a game with no additional value. This is a version that's similar in aesthetics but provides a comic story which comments on the addictiveness, difficulty, and use of Mario pipe assets by taking it further.
  • FallacyStudiosFallacyStudios Member Posts: 970
    @Socks Yea you are completely right. More than likely a cease and desist before anything serious. I was mainly just pointing out that it appeared to be walking a very fine line. You also never know. Some companies just absolutely love to sue and may jump to that as fast as possible.

    @Crazybreadman I see. From your description it does seem to better fit a parody than originally thought. From the video it just looked so close that I questioned it more. I haven't played it as of yet, so I obviously haven't seen a full picture of it. Like @Socks said you would likely get a cease and desist before anything else anyways. I just wanted to give you a bit of warning and caution. I know it would suck to get slapped with a lawsuit. Especially getting blind sided by one.
  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    @FallacyStudios - Agreed, I would hate a lawsuit :) Thanks for caring! I expect if there's a problem it will simply get removed, but that might be more to not understanding that it is a proper parody. I didn't want to show too much in the vid to spoil it, but maybe I should have. Anyhow, I just had a lot of fun creating it. I hope that people get a kick out of it, and how it pokes fun at Flappy Bird.



  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited February 2014
    @Crazybreadman
    I expect if there's a problem it will simply get removed . . .
    They remove the app first, then they 'remove' you, do you have a safe-house and false identity ready in case the game is a hit ? ;)
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    @Socks - It's actually 3 tracks I meshed together from artists on the former 8bc.
    Works really well :)>-

    @StormyStudio - haha yep, flopbang to that music!
    'Flopbang', it's the new 'tweark'.
  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    @socks - haha, yeah it's 22 on Amazon right now so I better get that false identity together. Right now I have a pair of glasses with a fake nose and mustache on them so that should help.
  • tatiangtatiang Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 11,949
    Wow. I so quickly assumed that this wasn't an actual product that I didn't even notice the links to the stores. Shows how well I'm paying attention!

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  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    Well that's that. Amazon suppressed it just a moment ago. Well it's still on GPlay though.
  • jigglybeanjigglybean Member Posts: 1,584
    Its a shame that your app was pulled but its good to see Amazon take action so quickly on clones. Lots of them hit Amazon today and within hours, all pulled.

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  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    edited February 2014
    Yeah I don't have a problem w/ them taking clones off, but they do seem selective or ignorant or other clones. I mean look at the Minecraft ones, Tiny wings, or many other clones. They have a Tiny Wings clone at #2 in their free apps and also paid ones that have been on the store for over a year! They just seem fixated on taking Floppy Bird ones off. But they approved them so there's some major communication problem there. I wrote them an email and asked for specifics to why my app was pulled and we'll see if they respond. If possible I'd like it back on the store since it was up to #17 paid and that was quite nice.
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited February 2014
    If possible I'd like it back on the store since it was up to #17 paid and that was quite nice.
    Pretty impressive ! #17 paid was a decent result ! Did you make any cash from its short-lived run ?
  • pinkio75pinkio75 Member, PRO Posts: 1,212
    edited February 2014
    you're not Alone!

    Yes it's normal that Amazon suppressed it, it was an identical copy of Flappy Birds,
    could You make a re-skin version of this app and try to republish it,
    anyway all "Flappy Bird" clones were pulled down of Amazon market...
    I had also made ​​an identical game and now i can't publish it on Amazon...
  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    edited February 2014
    @Socks - Yeah it was on a crazy upwards trajectory. I was up to 70 sales per hour right before it got taken off. It's doing pretty decent on GPlay but nowhere as good as Amazon.

    @pinkio75 - Actually it wasn't identical as all art was redone by me and just resembled the original (which again isn't so original itself haha). The reason it looked so similar is because it was a parody and should resemble the original. I won't re-skin it because that defeats the purpose. I do have an idea of what to do if they won't put it back on the store though. I think they just are removing all apps featuring a bird and obstacles at the moment. Of course Ironpants is not removed but does not feature a bird. Kind of weird since their top 100 chart is full of clones of there games. I think maybe they are just doing it to not have their top chart flooded w/ clones, but I'm trying to contact them to explain why my app is a parody and should be allowed under the fair use doctrine which includes parodies or spoofs of any work. It fulfills being a parody as if refers to the original work and in some way requires use of the original for the user to understand it. The example @FallacyStudios gave of a parody being rejected in court was because it didn't reference the original in any way. On the same page it also listed how a parody for "Gone With the Wind" was upheld in court because it did reference the original and you had to have knowledge of the original to understand the parody.
  • pinkio75pinkio75 Member, PRO Posts: 1,212
    I think that you've this problem because the game is not free,
    and then you get monetary profits from it...
    anyway this is my personal interpretation...
  • CrazybreadmanCrazybreadman Member Posts: 674
    You get money from free games w/ ads. Flappy Bird is free and makes $50,000 a day from ads. It's not because it's paid, it's because someone at Amazon has a strong opinion that all birds that flap should not be on the store. Birds that don't flap on the other hand are ok. For example Tiny Birds is on the paid chart in the top 20. It is an almost exact copy of Tiny Wings.
    http://www.amazon.com/Solverlabs-Tiny-Bird/dp/B008PUL66O/ref=zg_bs_mobile-apps_16
  • BBEnkBBEnk Member Posts: 1,764
    You get money from free games w/ ads. Flappy Bird is free and makes $50,000 a day from ads. It's not because it's paid, it's because someone at Amazon has a strong opinion that all birds that flap should not be on the store. Birds that don't flap on the other hand are ok. For example Tiny Birds is on the paid chart in the top 20. It is an almost exact copy of Tiny Wings.
    http://www.amazon.com/Solverlabs-Tiny-Bird/dp/B008PUL66O/ref=zg_bs_mobile-apps_16
    Looking at Solverlabs other games, I think there in the copy business..
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