From: nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov
Subject: Re: BattleMech Game for MS-DOS
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md, USA
	<NIGEL.92Aug28175659@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov>
	<1992Aug29.042306.6858@pimacc.pima.edu>
Distribution: rec.games.frp.misc
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 21:48:39 GMT

In article <1992Aug29.042306.6858@pimacc.pima.edu> ppugliese@pimacc.pima.edu writes:

>nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov writes:
>> ppugliese@pimacc.pima.edu writes:
>> 

>   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

Funny...I haven't had problems in finding games that I want to own.  A
few companies won't pursue Mac and Amiga markets but a sizable number
do.  

>   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.

I use an Amiga simply because it is the cheapest Mac alternative on
the market.  I'm running 6.0.5 on my machine and will switch to system
7 when I can afford to buy the package (and more memory...the damn OS
burns 2 megs of RAM by itself).  If she had a A3000 she could have had
a Mac emulator for under $400 that is as fast or faster than most real
macs and runs all Mac software.  

>>>> 
>>>> 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 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.

We aren't talking about mech editors but a full fledged rip-off of a
FASA game.  Ever notice that while there is an 1830 game written for
X-windows you have never seen it on any FTP site.  This is because
Avalon Hill hold the rights to 1830 and forbids its release.  The same
thing for Ralph Reeds version of BattleTech.  

As far as PC vs Amiga games go I suppose the response is that Amiga
owners can have a BattleTech like board game on their machines while
PC owners have to wait for FASA to figure out what to do.  Fact is it
really makes a nice GM tool for MechWarrior campaigns.  I really like
being able to preset scenarios and allow the players for fight the
computer and just watch how they do.  No dice fudging necessary and
the computer is an impartial (if somewhat weak) opponent.  MechForce
is highly recommended and it does have MOST of the editing capability
a GM would want for a scenario designer.  It in fact follows
MechWarriorI character design rules.  

If you see a cheap Amiga 500 on the market (say $300 ball park used)
with 1 meg snag it...you wont be dissapointed for a generic game
machine and MechWarrior GM aide...heck you can add a '030 card for
under $300 and really give the 486 guys a run for the money ;-).

>   PHIl

Nigel
--
Nigel Tzeng
.sig under construction
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc