#osu!stream

Update: I posted this to reddit and got some amazing advice in the comments. I highly recommend you read the discussion threads there as they cover a lot of ground.

First of all, happy new year everyone! I hope you are having a great start to 2014. It's been a bit of a rocky start for me, and due to a number of reasons my productivity (measured in output on the visible spectrum) has been at an all-time low. While a lot of you that follow me closely will already know what I am about to convey, I write this with the hope that when I find a resolution, it will be helpful to someone out there that encounters a similar situation.

Let's return to December 2012, six months after osu!stream's July release. With the help of a small team we had released a couple of new song packs, accompanied by a 1.1 release fixing many bugs and adding a number of graphical enhancements and UI improvements. Out of the blue, I received an email from the somewhat mysterious [email protected] address.

Date: 12th December, 2012 (10:57) From: App Store Notices <[email protected]> To: Dean Herbert <[email protected]> Dear Dean, **Please include APP23992 in the subject line of any future correspondence on this matter.** On 11/26/2012, we received a notice from Alek Nils that Alek Nils believes the app listed below infringes their intellectual property rights. In particular, Alek Nils believes you are infringing their copyright. Please see their comments below. Developer: ppy Provider: Dean Herbert|1357346609 App Title: osu!stream Apple ID: 436952197 Comments from Complainant: Stolen Graphics, I already sent you guys 3 emails with all the links, so I guess u have those. Read through the email. My Email add.: [email protected] - You can reach Alek Nils through Alek Nils (email: [email protected]), copied on this email. We look forward to receiving written assurance that your application does not infringe Alek Nils's rights, or that the parties are taking steps to promptly resolve the matter. Please keep us apprised of your progress. Should you choose to remove your application, (for example, while you make any necessary changes) use the steps provided below.

Having created the majority of the game graphics myself, I was astounded at what I was reading. The particular graphic, while not stated specifically in this initial communication is the "spinner circle".

The accusation made by the complainant was quite preposterous on many levels, so let's briefly address that and get it out of the way.

The design is based off the Xi-Style skin for osu! PC. This was made by the skilled XiaoUnlimited (now Xiao) in 2008, and can be seen here. Before using this design in osu!stream, I received permission from Xiao (and he can be seen listed in the game credits since day one). While I do not have my original correspondence with Xiao, I did contact him recently to get a statement showing his approval.

While I did borrow Xiao's spiral motif, the centre and outer circle portions are straight from the osu! default skin, which was 100% my own work.

The design cited as being "stolen" has since been recreated from scratch twice, in order to support devices with higher resolutions. The latest version was made in POV-Ray, and source is available here, courtesy of mm201.

The complainant "Alek Nils" – actually Alek Nilsen – is a third party who created a number of "compilation" skins using other skinners' graphics – often without their permission. He is claiming to have created a graphic that he in no way has any rights to.

Hopefully by now you can agree that the claim is fraudulent, and we can move on.

Initially I followed up as per Apple's loose procedure to try and reach a resolution, but it was very obvious that the complainant's idea of a 'resolution' was nothing short of having the app being removed from the App Store. The conversation continued for months back and forth with the AppStoreNotices department as I attempted to explain this to them. At no point did they offer any alternate solutions or advice on how to resolve the dispute. They also took around one month for each reply, to a degree of accuracy that suggested it was a predetermined period for these kind of follow-ups.

Let me add that we did at multiple points try and resolve the issue directly with Alek. A full transcript of the email conversation can be found here.

During this time, the complainant – obviously unhappy with Apple doing nothing to inflict harm on me – took to spamming my blog and email accounts, launching denial-of-service attacks on osu! and other malicious behaviour. This was a significant time sink, but as per my usual strategy I blocked and ignored this as much as possible. I also avoided making any further direct contact with the complainant.

Travel forward to the 4th of January 2014, when Apple sent me a sudden notice that they are removing osu!stream from the App Store. Again, they offer no method of resolution and tell me to talk with the complainant directly.

Date: 4th January, 2014 (04:56) From: App Store Notices <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Dear Dean, We regret that the dispute regarding the app listed below could not be resolved amicably between the parties. We have removed your application from the App Store. For any questions relating to this matter, please contact Alek Nils directly. For any technical questions, please contact iTunes Connect: www.apple.com/itunes/go/itunesconnect/contactus. Developer: ppy Provider: Dean Herbert|1357346609 App Title: osu!stream Apple ID: 436952197 - Sincerely, Victoria

I could probably end this post here and leave you in absolute shock at the appalling manner in which these cases are handled, but let's persevere: what could I have done differently to resolve this issue without the app being removed?

Probably not much (but I'm open to suggestions).

As per the last two years, I should have continued to respond to Apple. I was very busy during the period when I got the escalation email – and on top of that it was from a no-reply address – so I did not send my usual under-five-minute response to Apple. They may have assumed I was ignoring their email as a result (as silly as this sounds).

I should have turned to the legal system sooner. I naively believed that due to the lack of evidence supporting this claim, it would never result in anything like this. In reflection, this assumption was a bad one to make.

The current things I have done to try and resolve this issue, with no progress as of yet:

Replied several times to AppStoreNotices via email, giving a full history and evidence of the fraudulent nature of the claim.

Contacted Apple Developer Support via phone multiple times. Was told they can only contact AppStoreNotices by email via the same process I take, and therefore would not be of any help.

Contacted iTunes Connect support. See above.

Asked friends who have contacts high up in Apple. They are powerless across country/department borders and therefore cannot help.

Sent a plea to Tim Cook directly, in a hope he will correct the wrong which has been done.

Submitted a new build to the App Store stating the issue was resolved. Is stuck in perpetual "In Review" status.

Contacted a lawyer. Told that this should be happening under DMCA law but isn't. Very hard to follow up as Apple gives no detail as to their terms or process. I read through all the documents available on Apple's site but none mention the full process for IP infringements. The only reference anywhere is the submission form for these complaints. Please note that App Store complaints differ from all standard copyright issues, which are filed under DMCA (why?!).

I will update this post as I work towards a resolution. I am open to any advice; please leave a comment or if you wish, contact me privately at [email protected]. Thanks to everyone that has already shown their support in many ways.

For those uninitiated, "rank" is a (usually hidden) mechanic present in some shmups that increases the difficulty (as well as, sometimes, the potential reward) in a way proportional to the player's performance. Usually, the only way to reduce rank is to die. The most egregious example is in Battle Garegga, where the difficulty increase is so enormous that a typical strategy involves doing as intentionally poorly as possible during the first part of the game so as to make the later parts of the game physically possible. However, many other shmups from that era incorporate rank, albeit to a lesser extent.

Rank has almost completely fallen out of favor, and for good reason. By actively penalizing the player for doing well by putting them in greater danger, it blatantly goes against good game design. It's dumb and bad, and should never be used. I simply cannot abide anti-game-design decisions like that.

There is one game, however, that I believe handles the idea of rank almost flawlessly,and it's a rhythm game at that. That game is osu!stream. Yes, the monetized iOS version of osu! that only exists because blatant copyright infringement is not allowed on the App Store.

Its rank system is one that I wish to see copied by every rhythm game, and which I actually would really like to see in a shmup.

So what does osu!stream do differently, you may ask? It all boils down to one major difference:

Dying at max rank does not kill you, it merely resets your rank.

Today I attended and presented at a local game development showcase event run by letsmakegames.org -- "Show us your Bits". I decided to focus on the process involved with porting osu! to the mobile platform, and the technical decisions and optimisations that consumed a large chunk of the development time.

I also had the chance to talk with more local game developers than I knew existed, and give some eager people a shot at osu!stream :).

The event was recorded so there will likely be a recording of my presentation (and others) available in the future, at which point I'll make sure I link it.  For the time being I'm going to dump my presentation's slides here for public consumption. They may not completely stand-alone, but will give an idea of the stuff I covered. If you are interested in anything in particular, leave a comment and I can go into more detail!