I've started to work on a project to recreate Steve Jackson's game: Munchkin Quest into a flash version. I got some doubts regarding legal issues and programming stuff.
1) May I create an EXACT copy of the game and distribute it freely without getting any revenue out of it (not even sponsorship)? I thinks this is not legal either, as Steve's company would lose money with people playing the flash game instead of buying the official board game.
2) Then, if the first option is not legal, what can I do? Is it legal to make a game with the SAME concept (randomly generated dungeon from pieces like a puzzle), cards with monsters/treasures/magic but using my own artwork/names/etc.? Is there any limitation in this option? Can I get it sponsored?
3) Where can I get more information about what is it legal and what is not when trying to turn a boardgame into a pc game?
4) What do you think is the best way to handle that each magic card may override the core rules of the game?
5) Is a data base required for storing all the cards and rooms in the game? I was thinking more of an XML that stores all the information of cards/rooms and then parsing it when needed. Then no database would be needed, persisted information would be stored in the xml and no need to add new data to it.
6) If anyone interested in (freely) help, feel free to whisper. I'll work on Munchkin Quest game (not munchkin card game). I deeply think we need an online version for this game. It would be very nice to challenge people all over the world or even play against the computer a quick match (quick = 3 hours :P)
Thanks in advance!
