From: nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov
Subject: Re: BattleMech Game for MS-DOS
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md, USA
	<1992Aug27.194529.6851@pimacc.pima.edu>
Distribution: rec.games.frp.misc
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 22:56:59 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.194529.6851@pimacc.pima.edu> ppugliese@pimacc.pima.edu writes:

>nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov writes:
>> 
>> 
>> It is simply amazing the number of PC owners that are so insecure with
>> their "state of the art" 486 machines that they must bash the 1985
>> vintage technology Amigas...to which most Amiga owners respond "I spent
>> $699 for a multi-tasking, multi-media platform that plays some great
>> games...how much did you spend on your 486/SVGA/SoundBlaster game machine?"
>> 
>
>   You mean a $699 system that hardly any game companies support don't you?
>   (Still waiting for WC or Ultima 7? Don't hold your breath!)  

360, MicroProse, Psygnosis, Koei, Lucas, Spectrum Holobyte and a host
of other game companies do support the Amiga.  With over 1 million
machines sold it is still a reasonable game market to pursue for the
minimal cost to port a product...for instance I can get all major
MicroProse titles (Civ, RR Tycoon, M1 Tank Platoon, RSR, HFRO, F19).
About the only thing I can't get and want is Falcon 3.0 but the damn
thing is still so buggy that I can't honestly say it is a better
product than the Amiga Falcon product which is rock solid...looks and
plays real nice though (actually the newest version is reasonably
bullet proof...too bad they can't say the same thing about the newest
PC Harpoon from 360)...but the damn thing NEEDs a 486 w/SoundBlaster
and ThrustMaster combo to really be nice...a 386 is a tad jumpy
sometimes...smooth as silk on the 486.

Now, I'm not bashing PCs...I'll eventually buy a 486 when NeXTStep 486
comes out...but for what I do (play games, ray tracing, and Mac stuff
like report/memo writing) the Amiga is a great platform.  It cost me a
ton less than a real mac (for doing real work) and plays much better
games ;-).

>Heck, Lord British is a self-admitted Mac-fanatic & he won't port them
>over to that because he knows there's not enough of a market. (He said
>IBM is 80% of the game market. I wonder how much the Amiga is?)

Probably bigger in Europe than in the US...anyone who says it is a
pain to port a game product is doing some poor software engineering in the
first place.  Then again programming on the mac can be a royal pain in
the rear.

Microprose seems to have game porting down to simple mechanics...every
major release on the PC is followed shortly (a couple of months) by a
release on other platforms.

>>>   Anyone else working on a program like that? Who can give me some tips?
>> 
>> Yes...don't bother.  If you do a good job of implementing BattleTech
>> FASA will sue you if you release it public domain or attempt to sell
>> it.  BattleTech is a copyrighted and trademarked game.  If you hack it
>> sufficiently that FASA will ignore you then you aren't doing
>> BattleTech anymore.  Not necessarily a bad idea but it wouldn't be the
>> same...  

>Well I'm sure you may *think* it's illegal in Germany but have you actually
>checked it out?

Nope...not my job...the warning is for US PD writers.

>> 
>> Given the way FASA has dicked over Ralph Reed (Author of MechForce)
>> and dropped the ball on a PC release of BattleTech I think PD game
>> writers should be very leery of writing computer games based on FASA
>> products unless they have a good lawyer on retainer...
>> 
>> If you don't plan on releasing it then hack away but it'd be a shame
>> if you put a lot of effort into it and no one else could play it.
>> 

>Just release it & when they bitch (IF they bitch) then it'll be too
>late. Alternatively, you can just release it anonymously & it'll be
>up to them to PROVE that it's really your work. 

While I dislike FASA with a passion they are entitled to ownership of
their products, product names and other intellectual property.  If on
the other hand they didn't buy or otherwise secure these rights in
Germany then grab them for yourself and do to them what they did to
RoboTech and make boku bucks marketing BattleTech for yourself ;-).

[rest deleted]

   PHIL

Nigel
--
Nigel Tzeng
.sig under construction