From: Ianm@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Wraithe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: To the Defense of Pax Imperia
Date: 8 Jan 1993 07:30:59 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

>From: cg533@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (James Eugene Alloway)
>Look, Pax Imperia is a complicated, ambitious game.  It has serious graphics,
>ai, astronomical data, etc. It is also a version 1.0.  It will have bugs. Any
>game, in it's first edition, does.  This includes all games, not just
>computer games.  Ever hear of errata?  The only thing they can be faulted with
>is promising too early a release date. They have said they will give free
>upgrades, and are working hard to get those out.  This is not electronic
>arts , not a company of people who have no other job but game programming.

        I'll agree with several of your first points here. yes, Pax IS a
very ambitious attempt. The level of detail that seems to have been
attempted is pretty staggering, overall. They've basically tried to make a
HUGE game. 
        HOWever, that having been said, I feel coinstrained to point out a
few things: Their only "fault"(Changelings) is NOT just "Promising to early
a release date. It's a combiunation of release dates and OVER hyping.
        As my failing memory tells me, there have been messages on
comp.sys.mac.games since oh, at LEAST last year about "This great game
that, when it's released will blow away Spaceward Ho!". A year later, after
a TON of VERY unrealistic deadlines(Nothing REALLY new in teh SW industry,
though. :)), we have a game that SEEMS to be crashing on everyone and their
brothers. What happened to all the beta testers? 
        Are all these folks running THAT bizarre of set-ups? Somehow I
doubt it. Changeling can be faulted for rushing a game out taht they were
"only" about a year behind on promises of, and then having be full of bugs.
With the added dirt of all the folks(not affiliated with changeling,
likely) who were extolling how hot the game was gonna be.

        From what I've seen of Pax, it has potential. I've run teh Demo on
both my 512KE (4096KE, really. :)) and my LC, and had no crashes, but not
really gotten anything done. This doesn't really encourage me to output
money from my pocket for it. Potential is cheap. Working prototypes are
worth cash. :) Especially when there ARE better games out there, that WORK
and give pleasure. Lok at SH 3.0. WHEN did 2.0 come out? Look at the
difference between spinning tires and getting somewhere.
        I fully plan to give Changeling "A chance" but as yet, nothing
they've done is yet sufficient to encourage me to give them my cash.
        I wish them luck and I _HOPE_ they'll iron all this stuff out. The
potential that is there is impressive.

                                        -Ian
+=========================================================================+
| Ian Aelfstan Mallory                | "When you come up,into the light, |
| Net: Ianm@gnu.ai.mit.edu (1st try)  | When you come up out of your night|
|      Blantonw@gw1.hanscom.af.mil    | What do you see? And do you see?  |
|      Wraithe@pro-angmar.alfalfa.com | or have you lost your sense of    |
| Last ditch: Yell REAL loud....:)    |	Sight?"    -Concrete Blonde       |
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games