From: ppugliese@pimacc.pima.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: BattleMech Game for MS-DOS
Date: 29 Aug 92 11:23:06 GMT
Distribution: rec.games.frp.misc

In article <NIGEL.92Aug28175659@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov>, nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov writes:
> 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 ;-).
> 

Funny how there's still so many games out that aren't ported. More sig-
nificantly, the most popular games aren't getting ported. (WC series &
the Ultima 7 on up.) This has happened before with the C64. It once had
a larger market share than the Amiga ever will. It had companies, like
MP & Electronic Arts, that primarily wrote C64 games. But, it also was
a Commodore product & that company is so screwed up that it doesn't
matter what they come out with. They can mess up anything. I outta'
know , I suffered with their products for years. As an example, a prof-
fessor at the local uni ,who is prominent in the ESL field, started off
with a C64, then a C128 & then an Amiga 500, 2000 & 300! She finally
gave up  & went to a PC with a Mac on the side. No support.

>>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?)

That's Europe. This is the US. If I planned on going to Europe it might
be significant. I doubt if it's 80% of the market in Europe & I also
doubt if the European market is anywhere near as large as the US one.

> 
> 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.
> 

Well the poster was from Germany. Not from the US. Not that it makes much
difference anyhow. There are at least 2 mech editors available over the
InterNet right now. One is even shareware.

>>> 
>>> 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 ;-).
> 

I say go ahead & do what they did to RoboTech regardless!

PHIl
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc