Creatures Caves

This is a really interesting project you're putting together, Geat_Masta. I'd love to know more about it but it seems like the details are kind of scattered throughout this thread - do you have a more centralised source of information?

Unfortunately it's pretty late in my corner of the world now and I don't quite have time to read through this thread in it's entirety (I did get through about a third of the pages), so I hope you can forgive my laziness in simply asking questions in this post. If my questions have already been answered elsewhere just let me know and I'll keep reading for them

1. I can see from your sig that you're inviting people to donate to support development, could you give me an idea of what these funds would go towards? Are you planning to buy particular hardware/software/assets? Is the money going to be shared with those currently supporting you in this thread, or does it go to you alone?

2. As a spiritual successor to Creatures there are naturally many similarities between your project and the Creatures series, but most people will judge a book by its cover first and foremost. As far as I can tell, a lot of what you are doing is visually very similar to the Creatures series (probably moreso C1 and C2 than C3/DS), which was discussed a little in your other thread concerning the challenges of IP acquisition. Lawyers may not be too sympathetic on using art assets for development, but I can understand your need to use them as placeholders. That said, I am a bit concerned that the new art being developed is still too similar to the Creatures style. I note that you've mentioned seeking advice from an IP lawyer; are you confident that what you are currently working on wouldn't be susceptible to any sort of legal action from the current IP owner of Creatures?

3. You've indicated that you'd like to sell this project as a stand-alone product at some point in the future. Personally I don't have a problem with people charging money for a project that they develop, but I would like to get a better understanding of who has the rights to what and how profits from this project would be distributed. For example, who owns the rights to the artwork currently being shared in this thread? If you own all of the rights, will the artists receive any payment/compensation? If the artists retain the rights, do you have any guarantee that they won't revoke permission for you to use their works in the future?

I don't mean to insinuate anything with these questions, but I know that when monetising third-party content has come up in the past questions like this have been asked, and I think that having clear and transparent positions on each of them will speak a lot to the long-term viability of your project