From: arnett@unixg.ubc.ca (Bill Arnett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Maelstrom Correction (was: maelstrom sux)
Date: 16 Dec 1992 23:24:26 GMT
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
NNTP-Posting-Host: unixg.ubc.ca

In article <13324.2b2efdc3@cpva.saic.com> wilsona@cpva.saic.com writes:
>In article <1992Dec16.042902.4114@leland.Stanford.EDU>, smashman@leland.Stanford.EDU (Adam Samuel Nash) writes:
>> i've ever read.  Looking around, i've noticed that the graphics look just like
>> Lunatic Fringe and Solarian.  But that is probably obvious to every one.

Nope.  It's not.  IMHO, nothing was "stolen" from LF or Solarian which
was "original".  I can't understand the comparison to to Solarian at all!
They are completely different games, and Solarian's graphics look pretty
primitive by comparison---hardly what I would consider "just like" each
other.

Comparing it to LF is a bit more understandable.  After all, Maelstom is a
copy of Asteroids and LF is a variation of Asteroids.  The asteroids look
kind of similar (i.e., they look vaguely like rocks).  The ships look kind
of similar (i.e., they both resemble the space shuttle; they both resemble
the ship in some variations of Zaxxon, ...),  they are both set in space,
they are both rendered in 3d, they have similar controls (left, right,
thrust, fire....gee, what a surprise).  I don't think any of these
"similarities" are surprising.

Of course the real objections have been
to the look of the high score screen (who cares? none of them are very
original on that count) and the look of the help screen. But the only
thing about the help screen that *may* have been original was explaining
*all* the objects on a *single* screen.  Other than that it was just
like dozens of older games.  

(As an aside, I don't understand all the fuss about Solarian anyway.
I trashed it after 4 games right after downloading it.  I gave it a
second chance after reading people's praise, but I trashed it again 
after another 4 games.  It is the most boring spaceinvaders/galaxian/
galaga/...  variation that I have ever played!  No offense to Ben
Haller (?) who did a fantastic job on LF, but IMHO Solarian sucks.
But, obviously, lots of people disagree with me on this...)

I'm even more amazed at how fanatic people get about Maelstrom "stealing"
from LF and Solarian, but the same people have *no* objection to it
(obviously!) stealing from Asteroids, or to the theft of sampled sounds
(which almost certainly violates a copywrite or two).   People even
objected to the *font* used at some point! (Christ! there are only about
3 fonts to choose from which are almost guaranteed to be present!)

>> What many might not know is an old black and white game called Star 'Roids 
>> has every feature maelstrom has and more.  The bonuses are the same, the play,
>> everything...except that you can warp in star 'roids.  The only difference is
>> Star Roid's is in black or white.

Who cares?  It's just another rip-off of Asteroids.  So was Megaroids
(which doesn't run under sys7---does Star 'roids?).

>> This probably wouldn't piss me off if the author didn't come off as the
>> self-proclaimed god of mac games.		   

Judging from people's posts here, it is obvious that Ben Haller is "god
of mac games".

>> It's definitely not Lunatic Fringe in terms of fun.

Agreed.

>IMHO, the game is far more playable than Lunatic Fringe ever was and is

Not it mine.  LF is *very* playable.  Maelstom is reasonable playable,
but
- it is too easy to die a quick (multiple) death.
- There is no (reliable) way to replenish a shield.
- You have no choice about which "care package" to chase after: some of
them are more harmful than beneficial to me (the one the blows up the
asteroids causing there to be 3 times as many obstacles on the screen;
and the one that causes your ship come to a stop all the time. (I want
it to keep going, but it won't!)

And it is easy to die in the hidden region surrounding the screen.  Is
this bug??  Or is there supposed to be a region you can't see?

>one of the top 3 shareware games ever written. The support has been
					  
It is good.  The best shareware game I've seen.
					       
Bill.
-- 
Bill Arnett                            Internet: arnett@unixg.ubc.ca