HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: dwade@svcdudes.com
Subject: Re: Sim Life
Organization: Software Ventures, Inc.
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 00:25:10 GMT

In article <BvJzEI.BAr@apollo.hp.com> esteban@apollo.hp.com (Steven Fernandez) writes:
>In article <1992Oct2.090049.2414@brandonu.ca> $ennsnr@brandonu.ca (Neil Enns) writes:
>>
>>What the hell is wrong with SimAnt? I think it is the best of the Sim programs
>>to date.
>>
>>All flames gladly accepted.
>
>
>The graphics are good and it seams pretty realistic but it gets boring
>quick. I should put it back on my hard drive and take a look at it again.
>It is fun to watch but you don't really have much control over the world.
>Taking over the back yard is hardly challenging. If I recall you can do
>nothing and you will probably win the "game."
>
>Steve
>


	And that's the point.  It's not a "game" -- it's a toy.  Both SimAnt
and SimEarth in particular are trivial to "win".  But they're fun to mess
around with, and you can impose your own win conditions or methods of play.
(Worrying about how happy the inhabitants are, or not doing anything
"unantlike" -- like building walls of rocks so that the red ants can't easily
find food and starve.)  If you believe that, they're a lot of fun.  If you
don't, they're pretty useless after you "win".
	People don't say this as much about SimCity because it's more score
oriented -- there's not a win condition in any real sense, just a high score
of population as many people see it.  On the other hand, you can try to
build a garden city...
	Even in SimDeath (aka RoboSport) the situation is similar.  You can win
with equal abilities, or you can vary the power of the various sides.  The AI
in this one's not as good as it might be, so it's still possible to wipe out
the enemy at enormous odds, but even this one feels like Maxis.
-- 
Doug Wade  /  dwade@svcdudes.com  /   Disclaimer:  It's not official, folks.
From: IO91748@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (Jon Carr)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: What is Links?
Date: 8 Oct 92 18:07:09 GMT
 <yjc-041092222103@b61539.student.cwru.edu>
Organization: University of Maine System

LINKS is a fairly decent golf simulation game for the PC.

I have yet to see a Macintosh version though.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: heeschv@cognos.com (Brian VanHeesch)
Subject: Lemmings level #4
Organization: Cognos Incorporated, Ottawa CANADA
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 01:02:07 GMT

What's the average time left on this left?  I usually have 3-4 seconds
left.  The secret is to have 2 or 3 lemmings digging at once..

Hope it helps.

BVH
From: ck31+@andrew.cmu.edu (Christopher Bruce Kidwell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Lemmings Question
Date: 9 Oct 92 19:10:53 GMT
Organization: Senior, Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>Is there a way to make these little critters dig UP??


*SPOILER*

















There's a little known feature, that if you option-click on any
one of the buttons, then it will perform the reverse of that
effect.  Note this is particularly useful if you've killed off
a few of your Lemmings -- just option click on the "Nuke"
button, and then on a Lemming, and *poof*, you now have two
Lemmings.

Chris Kidwell
ck31@andrew.cmu.edu

PS.  :)
Seriously, the best you can hope for is to climb up, not dig.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: heeschv@cognos.com (Brian VanHeesch)
Subject: Re: Sky Shadow?-Help!
Organization: Cognos Incorporated, Ottawa CANADA
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 13:34:51 GMT

ozma@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes:
: I'm going to take an informed guess - I believe it's the System stealing
: background time.  Myself - I just don't make System calls that will allow the
: Finder background time (while a game is in progress).  I think Patrick does. 
: So, unless another upgrade is forthcoming, my best suggestion is to bail the
: Finder.  I believe there's a shareware program that allows you to quit the
: Finder (without it relaunching until you quit the app your mucking with).  I
: know that C&G's new utility package (Innovative Utilities) has an INIT/cdev
: that bails the Finder for you.  Good luck!

Actually there's a program/util (free/share) that will install a QUIT command
on the finder's FILE menu.  I use it when I am running Illustrator as it
always pops to the finder for some reason?

ANYWAYS
BVH
From: davoli@natinst.com (Russell Davoli)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Lemmings - do you get bored too?
Date: 13 Oct 92 15:15:26 GMT
Organization: National Instruments, Austin, TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: eagle.natinst.com

I loaded up the demo on my Plus last night and tried it out.  First off,
the graphics and sound were great, and the game seemed to run quite
smoothly even when lots of Lemmings were wandering about.  I got to the
third level of the demo (the Nessy screen) and found that I never got
closer to the finish than getting on top of Nessy once in probably four
tries.  Granted, this is supposed to be a taxing level, but I find that
the stair-builder guys take long enough to complete a set of stairs that
my attention wanders off and before I know it the little guy plunges to
his death in the sea.  Is it just my machine being overtaxed, or does
this game run slowly enough for you to get bored while playing it?

-- Russell Davoli
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Distribution: world
From: Francis_C._Yu@bmug.org
Organization: BMUG, Inc.
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 00:56:26 PDT
Subject: Re: HARPOON

What "Harpoon Color Options" disk do you mean?
I have all of the color modules, and I could possibly sell
you the disk.
***************************************************************************
             From Planet BMUG, the FirstClass BBS of BMUG, Inc.
              The above message was gatewayed via PostalUnion
***************************************************************************
The message contained in this posting is entirely the poster's personal
opinion.  Any possible, real or perceived, (dis)similarities with the
views held by BMUG, are purely coincidental.
***************************************************************************
From: pa56680@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (P. Ialamanna)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: De-Compression Problem
Date: 8 Oct 92 22:44:19 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bvtr5w.2sw
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

I have this recurring problem when I try to de-hex certain down-loaded files.
When I began the de-hex using Binhex 4.0 it says theres a e000$ error(or something similar to that). If I try to use BinHex 5.0, it indicates an no checksum
error. Please e-mail me if you know of any solution to this problem.
Thanx

-- 
*********************************************************************************   - P. Ialamanna -    " I think you hear me knocking, and I think I'm coming *
			  in, and I'm bringing my big, bad opinions with me"  * 
 I represent the Univ. of Illinois. (Along with 50,000 others)===DISCLAIMER== * 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: ckd@eff.org (Christopher Davis)
Subject: Re: Mac games vs PC Games- comparison (again!0
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation Tech Central
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 00:01:25 GMT

Travis> == Travis Grundke <an780@cleveland.Freenet.Edu> 

 Travis> I've been playing Crystal Quest recently. Neat game, yes...BUT,
 Travis> *I* don't think its worth $49.95.
[...]
 Travis> If I'm buying a game, I will buy something like Hellcats OTP,
 Travis> or any of the Sierra or LucasFilms or Prince of Persia or
 Travis> Lemmings, but games like Crystal Quest or Oids completely turn
 Travis> me off and make me think "Shareware".

You're comparing a 1987 game with a bunch of 1991-1992 games.  Of course
it doesn't look as good; would you rather have a Mac II or a IIci?  CQ
predates *System 6*.  Early versions broke on the *SE/30*.  You remember
the SE/30?  It's been a while since *that* was new, hasn't it?

 Travis> Please-! No offense to their authors, they are excellent games,
 Travis> but I think Macintosh software gamers/publishers need to up the
 Travis> ante of the quality of their games- the time has come for a
 Travis> change.

Things *have* changed, as your posting pointed out (even if you didn't
realize it :-).

I played CQ when it first came out.  I still like it, though I play
Hellcats and Mission T-Bolt more now.  That doesn't change the fact that
for its time, it was a pretty darn amazing game (especially in color; it
was, after all, one of the first color games).

Not to flame you or anything, but I'd hope someone who's working on a
Mac Games magazine would have an idea of the timeframe for Mac games...
--
Christopher K. Davis      |       NET.INSIGHTS INTO ARTISTIC CRITICISM:
<ckd@eff.org>   EFF #14   | ``[Y]ou don't cure bad art by locking it all up
System Administrator, EFF | in one museum, you cure it by throwing tomatoes
+1 617 864 0665  [CKD1]   | at bad artists.'' --Barry Shein <bzs@world.std.com>
From: mepol29@ariel.its.unimelb.EDU.AU (Adam Rosham)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Hellcats questions
Date: 13 Oct 92 12:19:38 GMT
Organization: University of Melbourne, Australia

In <183854@pyramid.pyramid.com> andrem@pyrman2.mis.pyramid.com (Andre Molyneux) writes:


>Another stupid way to get yourself killed:  Drop a bomb while flying on the
>deck at low speed.  Your Hellcat will get caught in the explosion.

In the new version "Leyte Gulf" you can fire rockets right into the
back of slow bombers and blow yourself up with the debris. Why don't
you get guts all over the screen like in Memphis Belle!

Adam
From: burglin@opal.mgh.harvard.edu (Thomas Burglin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Lemmings level #4
Date: 11 Oct 92 07:06:00 GMT
Organization: Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Oct11.010207.12840@cognos.com>, heeschv@cognos.com (Brian VanHeesch) writes...
>What's the average time left on this left?  I usually have 3-4 seconds
>left.  The secret is to have 2 or 3 lemmings digging at once..
> 
>Hope it helps.
> 
>BVH

Just increase the + number to 99 so they come out of the trap faster.
and then press the shift to bring them home.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Yearning for the good old Infodays
From: corleyj@helium.gas.uug.arizona.edu (Jason D Corley )
Date: 15 Oct 92 19:00:08 GMT
Distribution: comp.sys.mac.games
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Summary: An addicted text-adventurer mouths off

People of the net:

	Does anyone, and I mean ANYONE know of any companies
that are producing quality text adventures for any computer,
not just Mac (excluding 99% of the public domain adventures,
which are worthless)?  I am an old (in computer market terms)
Infocom addict and can't seem to get my fixes anymore.  Sure,
Lost Treasures of Infocom came out, but I already have half
the games and the package is overpriced anyway!  What
I'm looking for is the same kind of good storytelling, thought-
provoking puzzles, and imaginative descriptions that used to
be around in the "days of yore", as opposed to the "hack-n-slash"
or "gee-whiz-look-at-this-great-animation" or "try-all-the-objects-
in-my-inventory-until-I-find-something-that-works" (OK, OK, you
had to do that on some Infocom games too, but only as a last resort)
games that permeate the market nowadays.  Sure, a good hack-n-slash
is good for a change of pace, but it gets awfully tiresome after
a while.
	Email or post, I don't care.  I _do_ read this newsgroup.
	Jason
	Ono-Sendai R&D
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: umcho000@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Connie Cho)
Subject: Re: Is Dark Queen of Kryn worth buying??
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 14:38:54 GMT

In article <1992Oct14.203351.13756@cheshire.oxy.edu> thinker@gate.oxy.edu (Mad Thinker) writes:
>In article <1992Oct13.185413.8129@ac.dal.ca> seanmcd@ac.dal.ca writes:
>>Is Dark Queen of Kryn worth buying? I've played Pools of Radiance and Silver 
>>Blades. They were okay, but pretty lacking in the interface department. Is
>>Kryn any better?
>>I glanced at a review today where the reviewer said that he gave up playing
>>the game 3/4 of the way through, complaining of poor game design and boredom.
>>Opinions??
>>
>>Thanks.
>>
>I think it by far the best game of the SSI AD&D series.  The graphics are the
>best yet, and the interface, while still suffering in a number of ways, is also
>improved over the previous oines, the combat menus being the most notable
>examples.  I have no cause so far to complain about the storyline, it is IMHO
>the most interesting yet, being very large in scale and pretty decent as far as
>detail.  If you like these kind of games, I would recommend buying this.
>

The combat screen is one of the strongest features, IMHO. What I especially
like is that sometimes you don't know where the monsters are, since they
are off the screen in some corner initially. Unfortunately, its too easy
to get around that and find them in a very unrealistic manner; I would
prefer it that if they are around a corner, I, the player, cannot search
and find them without sending one of my characters hunting.

CKC
From: lkingsley@crd.ge.com (Lorne J. Kingsley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Lemmings - do you get bored too?
Date: 15 Oct 92 12:30:09 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.games
Organization: General Electric R&D

In article <1bep6eINNopf@eagle.natinst.com>, davoli@natinst.com (Russell
Davoli) wrote:
> 
> I loaded up the demo on my Plus last night and tried it out.  First off,
> the graphics and sound were great, and the game seemed to run quite
> smoothly even when lots of Lemmings were wandering about.  I got to the
> third level of the demo (the Nessy screen) and found that I never got
> closer to the finish than getting on top of Nessy once in probably four
> tries.  Granted, this is supposed to be a taxing level, but I find that
> the stair-builder guys take long enough to complete a set of stairs that
> my attention wanders off and before I know it the little guy plunges to
> his death in the sea.  Is it just my machine being overtaxed, or does
> this game run slowly enough for you to get bored while playing it?
> 
> -- Russell Davoli

The trick is to remember the builders build 12 steps each time. So after
you make a Lemming a builder, hold down the shift key to speed up the
action, being careful to count the number of steps laid down.

The game is a lot more fun if you use this method (especially on the 3rd or
4th attempt at a level...).

- Lorne

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lorne J. Kingsley                                  General Electric Company
---->My opinions don't represent those of the General Electric Company<----
Internet: lkingsley@crd.ge.com        CI$: 75166,2550         AOL:MacReport
From: jrawles@leland.Stanford.EDU (jody rawles)
Subject: Network games:  List & comments:
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 92 22:00:13 GMT

Seeing the recent post about Nettrek reminds me I am interested 
in the history of multiplayer (networkable) Mac games.

How many are there?  Which ones worked well?  Which ones didn't?  etc?
I know of and have played:

Stategic Conquest
Armor Alley
Robowar
NetTrek
Bolo
Spaceward Ho
-- 
Jody M. Rawles					
Department of Psychiatry 		email: jrawles@leland.stanford.edu
Stanford University School of Medicine	voice: (415) 858-3914
Stanford, CA 94305 USA			fax:   (415) 493-4901
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: martin@cs.curtin.edu.au (Martin Dougiamas)
Subject: Re: Sparkz
Organization: Curtin University of Technology
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 03:39:02 GMT

u921470@postoffice.utas.edu.au (A Chan) writes:
>af733@yfn.ysu.edu (Ryan James Smith) writes:
>> Yall must have a bad copy cuz it works fine on my LC. I only get
>> two '>' one on the top and one on the left side.  Make sure
>> you hold down the shift key when you want to enter the playing
>> area and any other key changes your direction.
>> I just wish you get more than one guy.
>> 
>I am running it on an LC and it's great (no probs either).

I suspect the problem is the way it runs on black/white Macs.
On my PowerBook the cursor is a single white pixel, which, being
mostly on a white background, makes it a little hard to see!

If the author cared to revamp the game with a bigger and more
visible cursor, it would make the thing much more playable.
(I also don't get any sound for some reason)
--
,--------------------------------------------------------------.      _ .
| All the deserts I could irrigate      Martin Dougiamas.      |   _r| Ll\
| All the poor I could emancipate    martin@cs.curtin.edu.au   |  |  |    \
| But that's not what interests me      Curtin University      |  \  |_   /
| I'm interested in apathy          Perth, Western Australia  -+-> x~  `-'
`=== This Is Serious, Mum ====================================='        V
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: peterco@eff.org (Peter Cohen)
Subject: Good Games for Plus?
Originator: peterco@eff.org
Organization: The Electronic Frontier Foundation
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 04:49:12 GMT

Does anyone have any suggestions for good games for a Plus?


-- 
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Peter A. Cohen  |   No, I don't reflect my employer's opinions.  |
| peterco@eff.org | Heck!  My employer doesn't even know I'm here! |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------+
From: ccocsme@prism.gatech.EDU (StatMan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Hint needed to Unnkulian I
Date: 16 Oct 92 17:27:09 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology


  I need a hint to solving the 'group of bar patrons' part. At least I think that is what I need. I am looking to get a 'real' Acmid for the wand machine in the
maze. Please reply to ccocsme@prism.gatech.edu.

Thanks,
Marty
-- 
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore..."  ---  Dorothy Gale
                         -------------------------------------------------
Marty Esterman           | It is not computers that I fear. It is the lack
ccocsme@prism.gatech.edu | of them that I fear. -- Isaac Asimov  1920-1992
From: ginsu@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Wes Simonds)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Mac games: marketing logic
Date: 15 Oct 92 01:02:52 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

From a recent post:

>  Estimated worldwide installed GUI base using MSWindows:        17,800,000
>  Estimated worldwide installed GUI base using Macintosh:         6,500,000
>  Estimated worldwide installed GUI base using Presentation Mgr:    700,000
>  Estimated worldwide installed GUI base using Motif:               330,000
>  Estimated worldwide installed GUI base using OpenLook:            300,000
>
>       So, if these numbers reflect the number of Macs vs. number of
>MessyWindows boxes, if you saturated the Mac market you'd still only
>make 1/3 of what you'd make with a Widnows game.  BUT, if you could get
>10 percent of Macs, at US$50 a pop, you'd still make a few bucks!

Uh... this ignores completely the real truth of the matter, which is that in
the PC world there are SO MANY QUALITY COMPANIES AND GAMES that the consumer
is less likely to buy any one product, far less likely, than the Mac 
consumer, who has NO supply and who is HUNGRY for quality... in other words,
it is not fair to say that you'd only make 1/3 of what you would in the PC
world, because the competition in the Mac arena is so much less substantial.

And even if we assume a scant 1% of Mac owners would buy a $50 Ultima, a game
of real excellence and with such top drawer docs that pirating is discouraged,
a gross yield of $3,000,000 + would be generated.

Velocity understands this.  MicroProse does too.  Too bad others don't.


Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games,comp.sys.mac.misc
From: ndgarigl@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Nick D. Garigliano)
Subject: Educational programs for the MAC
Originator: ndgarigl@rodan.acs.syr.edu
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 13:55:00 EDT


Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: collin@angelo.amd.com (Collin K. Ong)
Subject: Re: Mac games
Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 18:14:32 GMT

an780@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Travis Grundke) writes:

> You know, it does seem kinda odd, but interesting. I think that those
>figures were flawed. Maybe not, but the last report I read from July 1992
>(can't remember the source- kinda kills those credentials, eh?) was that
>there were approximately 18 million copies of Windows SHIPPED. It never
>said USED. Last count made said that less than 9.9 million people actively
>used/use Microsoft Windows on a daily basis as their primary OS. Coming
>from the same pop was the fact that the figures on installed Macs worldwide
>was somewhere in the domain of 10 million, not 6.5 million. Of course, its
>my word against your facts, so, go figure. <grin>

But the key is that IBM games don't run under windows while all macs run
the MacOS.  So even if nobody uses Windows, as long as they have VGA they
can run the multitude of IBM games.  And there are ALOT of VGA boxes out
there.

Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: rob_hawley@taligent.com (Rob Hawley)
Subject: Re: NETTREK! (& Mazewars)
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.games
Organization: Taligent Inc.
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 19:39:22 GMT

In article <1992Oct14.202435.20810@esds.mdc.com>, Stephen Aylward
<aylward@nn5.mdc.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> I thought NeTrek and Mazewars were public domain/shareware!    Atleast, I
> am fairly sure that older versions exist which are pd/sw.   Netrek is
> still being run on X based machines although many people debate which
>came first (X or mac), and others debate
>if they are even related (share code).

NetTrek was written by Randy Carr a friend of mine at Apple.  The shareware
verison was some preliminary copies of the program that we gave friends
that that they distributed.  The real game is commercial with all the
proper copyrights.  It was written for the Mac.
From: bluecow+@pitt.edu (Tobish E Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Japanese Plane in HOTP Leyte Screenshots
Date: 8 Oct 92 18:04:15 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Oct8.161240.11090@athena.mit.edu> sathomas@athena.mit.edu (Stephen A Thomas) writes:
>I took a long hard look at the Japanese plane in the Leyte Gulf screenshots that
>were posted the other day - I trotted out a big WWII aircraft encyclopedia I have
>and tried to match this sucker up.  My best guess is that it might be a KATE
>torpedo bomber because of what appears to be a large cockpit (for 3 crewmen) and
>a larger wing span than a fighter.  It's tough to tell.
>
>A reason why it might not be a KATE is that it appears to be turning into a
>Hellcat in this shot.  I don't think it a wise strategy for a torpedo bomber to
>try to engage a fighter.  Does anyone have any info on what kind of tactics
>this plane seems to use, it might help identify it.

I've seen the beta, watching a Hellcats god friend of mine play it, and it
has the following characteristics: 

1.  It's very very maneuverable

2.  It seems to be faster than the Hellcat.  It can scream past you head
    to head, with you going flat out, and 20 seconds later it's managed 
    to turn around and gain on you enough to start firing again.

3.  It seems to be much tougher to kill than the Zeroes.

His opinion seemed to be that it's a fictitious plane included just to
make the game more interesting.  It'll be interesting to see what the
manual says it is.

Tob

P.S.  No, I don't have the beta.


Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games