California residents Darin Scott and Edward Polgardy of Cinemagraphix Entertainment have sued 3D Realms for allegedly stealing their idea for the Earth No More (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) game.

They claim to have presented the idea for a game called Earth No More back in 2005 to a number of game companies including 3D Realms.

The lawsuit lists Apogee Software, 3D Realms' legal name, as a defendant along with Action Entertainment and Earth No More development partner Recoil Games. Scott and Polgardy are seeking damages which could include game profits as well as statutory damages of up to US$ 150,000.

Speaking to Next Generation, Tre Lovell, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said that Scott and Polgardy's game concept revolved around spores that terraform and threaten Earth. 3D Realms' Earth No More involves poisonous vines that terraform the Earth and mutate plants and animals.

Lovell further stated that an average person would be able to tell the similarities between the two games. “It’s more or less like the Apogee game is," said Lovell.

It gets even more interesting. 3D Realms, using the moniker Apogee Software, already filed a preemptive request for declaratory judgement against Scott and Polgardy in October 2007. In that suit, the company claimed that it developed Earth No More without using or even having any access to Scott and Polgardy's material.