Well I just learned that something called 'Ovipets' exists through deviantart and it looks extremely similar is art style as well as the boy/girl different poses, baby-to-adult, and using 'genes and mutations'. I found a few pictures on deviantart that show "evidence"






It's apparently a game on Facebook which I can't check out because I don't have a facebook and don't feel like making one (I'd never use it) but those who have facebook could check it out and then post your thoughts? Personally I fear its a rip-off. I mean there are lots of virtual pet sites out there- I started with Neopets back in 2000 and I tried other sites (but never stuck with them for long), HOWEVER each one is different or has their own bits of originality. I mean you can tell that they have inspiration from other sites, but that's it- INSPERATION. This looks almost traced and copy-pasted. =/ Even the gold icon on the top corner is an identical version of the one for the merchant bought outfits in the wardrobe! So, what are your thoughts?

This is just my opinion, but... A pile of gold is a pile of gold. You really cannot make something like that unique.

As for the lineart... I do believe that the poses are similar but the actual animals have completely different art styles themselves. Enough to make it seem it was not copied.
I am one of those that believe it is alright to copy a pose (the way the animal is positioned) as long as the actual art and style is properly your own unique work.

True, I can see that, but I mean.....there's so many too close similarities and I don't just mean art style. Like I said, I don't have facebook so I can't really look more in depth into this which is why I was hoping someone could go take a look at it and post their thoughts here.

Looks different to me. And in a way, most pet breeding sims tend to be fairly similar anyway

1. The Pet Games Genre is quite common. I prefer Sylestia because there's an RPG Element added in.
2. Typically pet games just take a normal animal for a base and as the "mutations" come up.
This is really seen in the Ovipets as the base creatures look almost exactly like their original animal just with a bit of cartoony flare.
I prefer Sylestia because their creatures at least branch off so that it's not quite too obvious what the original is except for the older creatures but even those have their tweaks. I don't really think people mind that they're familiar though. It appears to be more of an effort as of recent as while the mega zone species is maybe a squirrel/ferret/weasel, you can't tell 100% for sure.
3. Copyrights
Ovipets Copyright = 2010-2015
Sylestia Copyright = 2011-2015
4. Some Artists can have a similar art style. I wouldn't be surprised if they have one person doing sketches, another lines, and another the basic colouring that allows their generators to work. Any Change there is considered a Mutation.
5. Ovi-pets doesn't have a baby form other than Egg. If i remember correctly, you can breed them as soon as they're out of the egg, named, and in your tabs as long as you have a compatible mate.

I honestly find Ovipets to be annoying. There's no way to earn the currency(Unless you pay for it) besides selling your pets which is almost impossible and the stuff that the currency is used for can get quite expensive if you're trying to unlock everything.
They have "Auctions" but those cost gold to run and your auction CAN fail to get a first bid.
There's also not really anything to do besides well... Breed more.
Pets also have to be fed individually unless you pay for it for mass feeding.

The developer of OviPets is the same person who developed PonyIsland. To my knowledge, OviPets isn't a rip-off of any existing art. The artists are listed on the OviPets credits page, all of whom have dA pages.

For the art to be copied you'd have to find exact lines elsewhere, and I see nothing of that in the posted photos of animals and the actual species artwork.

One of PI's artists actually does some artwork for Sylestia too!

I do agree re the money aspect, OviPets is currency-hungry and it's an expensive game to play, so whilst I tried it out during its launch, I didn't stick with it.

Edit to add: PI also uses genes/mutations (hardly a new concept!) and it has been around for 11-plus years.

Also wanted to add, now I found the info, OviPets was released on 1 September 2011, and was in development for years earlier, so it predates Sylestia by a fair bit.