At the moment i only really just use CSIDE. I don’t really plan on making money from my stories yet but i was just wondering, since officially CSIDE isn’t owned by COG. Buy it does had the same language right? I don’t know how it works exactly and kind find a good answer, i just wanna be sure.
CSIDE is a tool, I don’t think it has anything to do with licensing regarding COG.
On the other hand, you can’t use choicescript language to make money outside COG.
In other words. CSIDE is a text editor. You can use any text editor to write choicescript games and code, like notepad++, VSCode, CSIDE, your phone, and any other. But you can’t profit from a game using choicescript outside the contracts that COG offers.
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What about donations and stuff? If i just published it for free on my own but do have a donation link is that allowed?
You can’t have a donation link associated with the game. That’s not a CSIDE issue. That’s a choicescript thing. Part of the terms is you can’t charge or ask for donations for your game without a contract with COG.
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So everyone i see with like a Patreon and stuff had a contract with COG?
Actually as far as I know, and take it with a grain of salt, donations aren’t the same as charging, so it’s more like a gray area. Again, don’t quote me, I can be wrong and I don’t know how that stuff is handled.
No. Patreon for HG/COG games in development seems to be exempted case given technically it’s to “support the author while they develop the game”. But, if you have a website with the game on it asking for donations (such as if you put it on itch) then it’s been said that’s expressly not allowed. You’re definitely not allowed to publish anything finished with a donation link. You might get away with a general website that has a donation button on the main page with multiple games in other codes, blogs etc (ie not just a website with CSGs on it) but I’m not certain- that would be something to email COG about. I know it seems like it might be splitting hairs if it’s a WIP that’s not on patreon but as far as I’m aware you can’t put a donation link on the game itself and no other sites have been exempted.
TLDR that ramble- To my knowledge you can’t make money out of published CSGs unless you publish through the official platform, get a contract with COG to do so, or have an unfinished game you plan to publish with COG/HG on patreon.
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It is my understanding that CS content on Patreon is allowed if it is going to be made public on a later date. (Patreon content that isn’t CS-based–q&a:s and news and such—which I assume is most of it, while it’s about a game, it isn’t the game, and as such is not subject to the CS license.)
I could be wrong though.
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