HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ealdrich@zeus.calpoly.edu (Eric M. Aldrich I)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Pax Imperia Demo
Keywords: Pax Imperia
Date: 21 Nov 92 09:33:41 GMT
Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

I got a copy of the demo off mac.archive.umich.edu. I am assuming it is the
same as the one on sumex.
The version is listed as .71a. It is buggy as all heck but it is still
incredible. Do not think of this as a playable demo -- it isn't. There is NO
documentation to explain the unbelievable amount of detail in this game.
But the level of detail is what makes this game potentially the best of any
of the "conquer the galaxy" type games I've seen. The economic model
includes allowances for colony support, research, ship building, ship
maintenance, infrastructure, social spending, and a few other things.
You are given a whole galaxy to chose your playing field from (literally
thousands of stars in several densities), but can only play with 100 at a
time. (the fewer stars the less it seems to crash -- my guess is that this
beast is a memory hog -- it is initially set to 2000 k, but seems to like
more . . . .) Each star contains several (0-10) planets of varying sizes. There
are five types of minerals possible on each planet AND any associated moons
(yes, you can colonize the moons of planets in this game). There are
different atmospheres -- and your species does not have to breath oxygen! --
possible, including (but possibly not limited to) vacuum, oxygen, nitrogen,
hydrogen, carbon, and gas giant.  You can build factories, bases, cities, and 
ports on planets.
As said before, you can pick advisors, but from what I can tell, they do
nothing. You can design your own race. Most of the traits are obvious, (this
thing even includes optimum temperature and tolerance) but some are not
(aggression? It is apparently good, but I have no idea what it does).
It also seems you can shut down a lot of the detail if you want too and just
focus on certain things. Not all of this is implemented yet (i.e. you're
forced to deal with some things in detail), but the mechanisms for it seem
to be there.
As by now you have guessed, I like this game, and would recommend it
wholeheartedly, with one caveat: the bugs need to be fixed. The demo is
about 2 megs, and it is obviously imcomplete. The graphics are good too. All
in all I will have no problem plunking down the $34 Mac's Place is listing
it for. But don't take my word for it -- see for yourself.

Eric
(thrilled to death that the wait may well have been worth it -- this thing
may make me even ignore Civilization when it comes out (next Month according
to a spokesdroid at MicroProse))

-- 
***f**********n*****************o***********************r***********d*** ^ ***
* Eric M. Aldrich I             *  "And the Mayan panoramas             / \
* ealdrich@polyslo.calpoly.edu  *   On my pyramid pajamas              /<O>\
* ealdrich@eos.calpoly.edu      *   Haven't helped my little problem" /_____\
From: an780@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Travis Grundke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: King's Quest VI for Mac?
Date: 22 Nov 1992 22:53:48 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: an780@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Travis Grundke)
NNTP-Posting-Host: thor.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, Jason.Kool@f204.n2603.z1.ieee.org (Jason Kool) says:

>It will come out next year!
>
>
>--  
>=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
> Jason Kool - Internet: Jason.Kool@f204.n2603.z1.ieee.org
>

According to Sierra, it should be available (along with many other Mac
games) between February-April of next year.
-- 
Travis Grundke	 	    |  For More information about MacGames Digest,
Contributing Editor-        |  The First Publication Dedicated to Macintosh
MacGames Digest		    |  Gaming, Please contact us at the previous 
an780@cleveland.freenet.Edu |  E-mail address. (c) 1992 Travis Grundke/MGD
Organization: Senior, Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 00:49:13 -0500 
From: Christopher Bruce Kidwell <ck31+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Pools of Darkness help

I'm stuck on level 10 of the Red Tower.  The spectral servant
asks who is calling, but no name that I give it makes it
respond.  It just raises an eyebrow and tells me to get out.
Any hints?

Chris Kidwell
ck31@andrew.cmu.edu
From: exuhag@exu.ericsson.se (James Hague)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Mac game developer seeks advice
Date: 17 Nov 92 17:43:17 GMT
Reply-To: exuhag@exu.ericsson.se
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Richardson, TX
X-Disclaimer: This article was posted by a user at Ericsson.
              Any opinions expressed are strictly those of the
              user and not necessarily those of Ericsson.

Hui Dong writes:
>
>I wrote SpaceInvader!, from sumex site only,
>there are more than 1100 downloads so far (not even counting American On
>Line and more than 6 shareware distributors' disks and CDs), I only got
>two checks by now (I did get more emails though). Although I think the game
>has pretty good quality among most shareware games, you can certainly
>argue about that. 

If you write a novel and have it published through commercial channels
then the end result is guaranteed to meet some kind of standards, for
salability if not quality.  If you decide to just distribute your novel
via the net then you have defeated the natural filiter for separating
professional quality writing from the poor or mediocre.  This is not
to say that every bit of writing uploaded to the net would be be awful,
but everyone has a tendency to think their child the most intelligent
and beautiful baby in the history of the universe.  Not everyone will
agree with them, however.  The game-playing public has the final word.

>The rule should be that if you play games second time after
>you know what the games are about, you are obligated to pay. I believe we
>all bought commercial games that don't last very long, usually after play
>them a few times or solved the puzzle, never come back again, but we pay
>for them anyway.  We should require the shareware fee be paid if 
>you play the game more than once, because you are getting fun from it,
>so you should pay for it.

IMO games are not movies.  If I exhaust all entertainment value in
one sitting then I'd hardly call such a program a game.  If I want to 
come back and play again, that is the mark of a decent game.

--
James Hague   
exuhag@exu.ericsson.se
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Distribution: world
From: raph@ultramac.uucp (Raphael Figueroa)
Organization: Odyssey Ultraware, Inc
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 22:23:19 CDT
Subject: Re: Apple building a games machine?

You know, I heard the same thing a while back. I haven't heard anything new
about it though.

Rafael Figueroa
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: hnguyen%peruvian.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Hung Nguyen)
Subject: Re: OIDS patch
Date: 19 Nov 92 12:46:44 MST
Organization: University of Utah

In article <1eeh3bINN1hc@darkstar.UCSC.EDU>, zorro@cats.ucsc.edu (Dragan M Zivkovic) writes:
|> 
|> 
|> Does anyone know of a patch for OIDS 1.3? The Updater renders
|> previous patches useless, and so...
|> if you have something, lets see it!
|> thanks
|> 
|> -dz

why should you need a patch for OIDS.  If you do own the game, just
send in your registration and you get a patch that works for all version.
My pacth still works, even after upgrading from 1.0 to 1.3.

 - Hung -
From: scott@swindle.berkeley.edu (Scott Silvey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Graphics performance of Leyte Gulf (compared to original Hellcats)
Date: 23 Nov 92 15:41:38
Organization: UC Berkeley Experimental Computing Facility (XCF)
	<1992Nov23.044524.29975@gn.ecn.purdue.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: swindle.berkeley.edu
In-reply-to: tblackma@gn.ecn.purdue.edu's message of Mon, 23 Nov 92 04:45:24 GMT


% I personally think that the frame rate is a little faster in Leyte Gulf
% than in the original.  The new stuff doesn't really take away much speed.

Not true.  I've played it on a IIci and when firing volley's of rockets,
the game slows down significantly until the explosions finish.  Also, when
flying over the tanks with other planes in the area, the game slows down 
a bit.  I would imagine that a color SE30 would have very noticeable
sluggishness in these cases.  But don't let that discourage you.

By the way, the Corsair looks much better than the Hellcats do.  I was 
disapointed that they didn't upgrade the Hellcat model to at least the 
level of the Corsair (camo, engine/prop detail, canopy).

The Zeros are a bit more intelligent and they seem to have a better
roll rate.  They also appear to be a bit more vulnerable ... they
flame more easily.  The Franks look like jets in performance
comparison!  They have a tremendous roll rate and better speed/accel
than the Cat.  They are also much more resistant to damage.  However,
the Hellcat can STILL out-turn them!  (out-pitch them actually, with
flaps that is).  Also, they are a bit spastic, so if one overshoots
you, you can usually just close the distance despite its speed by
simply lead-pursuing it.  Basically, they are not much harder to kill
than zeros ... they take a bit more time, but it doesn't require any
clever air combat maneuvering.  You just do a level high-G turn until
he's in your sights and let go with the guns.

Haven't tried the rockets on aircaft yet, but I bet they'd be a great
tactic when the Zeros and Franks do those stalling wing-overs and you
get right up close to them...  In general though, rockets are too
powerful.  They make huge explosions and if you get one anywhere near
a target, the target goes up.  They do have significant gravity drop
though, so it is hard to hit things that are far away.  They are
absolutely awesome against airbases.  Problem is, you can always carry
them ... even with a full load of fuel and TWO torpedoes!  (Gee, they
should have used Hellcats instead of TBFs to sink heavy shipping back
then... ;^)  Oh well, they want the game to be fun, not accurate.

The thing I probably like best among all the improvements is that most
of the scenarios give you some kind of wingman or friendly air support
(Corsair, Hellcat, P-38's).  I don't like being out there by myself.
The wingman program is much improved too ... he is pretty good about
picking up whatever part of the mission you are leaving alone.

Scott
From: JDA108@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Duplicating items in SSI games (was: Dupl. in Blades)
Date: 22 Nov 92 18:16:02 GMT
Organization: Penn State University

In article <1179@kopasker.is>, brl@kopasker.is (Bjorgvin Runar Leifsson) says:
>
>In a reply to my follow-up to the original article, I was asked to post the
>replier's way to duplicate items (seems a better way than mine):
>
>In article <1168@kopasker.is> you write:
>>tominatr@ac.dal.ca writes:
>>
>>>Could someone please re-post the method for duplicating items in Secret of
>>>the Silver Blades?  I'm wondering if it would work for Dark Queen of Krynn.
>>
>>>Thanks,
>>
>>>     - Tom N.
>>
>>Go to the training hall and save game.  Remove (NOT delete) one character
>>(answer YES on the 'update' question).  Create a new character and add him
>>to your party.  Give the item(s) you want to duplicate to the new character
>>and then remove him (Yes on update).  Load the saved game.  Remove one char-
>>acter and add the new one.  You should now have the items with this new
>>character PLUS those characters that carried them originally.
>>
>>Bjorgvin R. Leifsson
>>brl@kopasker.is
>
>
>There is even a quicker way:
>
<Save character method deleted>

Well, the quickest way to duplicate items I've found in Blades is to use the
the fact that the vault is actually a saved listing of items.

Simply save the game.  Enter the vault, drop all the items into it.  Quit the
game WITHOUT saving.  Restart the game with above saved game, and TONS of items
for your use.

SPOILER BELOW:





















This method also works on NPC's. So, one can get Vala's silver shield which
reflects the gaze attacks of the medusa and basilisks. *MOST* useful. :)

-Jeff
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: sellswor@jarthur.claremont.edu (Scott Ellsworth)
Subject: Pax Imperia does have AI types.
Organization: Lederle Consulting Group, Laguna Hills, CA.  92653
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 10:22:46 GMT

  Pax will have an AI when it shipd, if changeling has any say in the matter.
They have also said that corporate policy will be that if the AI "plays really
badly," thier wording, upgrades will be free or "cost of postage."  At this
posint, the multi player, one machine version works solidly enough that they
have shipped that to a European market, and the Netlpay is being developed.

  NB, the last policy the thought up was to ship the netplay resources along
with the second copy for something like $20, but who can tell at this stage.

  Apparently, the only unfrozen feture for this release is the AI, as the
rest of it apparently can't be coerced into failure by anyone there.  I
have extremely high hopes, but also extremly high expectations.  This
comes form watching it evolve for the last six months or so.

  NB, I also have high hopes for Spaceward.  Last night, I vanquished the
best of the computer players in about two hours.  Since it seems that the
stats on my home planet and the surrounding ones are now the only determiners
of my success against the AI, it is time for some new dimensions og game play
that my current strategies can't handle.

  Lets all hope that each game stays with its niche enough to keep the m,arket
level, but throws enough competition at each that they have to stay on the
edge of neat features.  It has worked before...

  Scott
-- 
   Scott Ellsworth -- sellswor@jarthur.claremont.edu

  Of course reality is an option.  Not always a good option, mind you, 
  but an option none the less.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett)
Subject: Re: Falcon MC Demo (at la
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 06:39:15 GMT

In article <1873.339.uupcb@pcb.batpad.lgb.ca.us> glen.kawano@pcb.batpad.lgb.ca.us (Glen Kawano)  writes:
>I guess I have to respond to some of this major criticism about MC:
>
>>When I mean fast I mean a NICE smooth animation.  Falcon is soooo
>>jerky that you need at least a ci to play it correctly.  

Ran just fine on an SE/30 w/ Micron 8-bit card.  A bit too spry, maybe.  My
standards aren't too high: I'm happy with 5 Hz.


>The problem (I have) with Hellcats is that it uses extremely simple
>renderings to get frame rate up.

That's not where it's getting its frame rate from.  Hellcats draws what only
needs to be drawn, to get the fame rate up.  It doesn't blindly blast the
entire buffer to the screen, as Falcon and MS-FS, do.  Hellcats is quite a
revolutionary game.


>Thankfully, MC appears to be pretty good about accomodating different
>speeds now.

It seems to check machine type, and make relatively simplistic conclusions
as to what to show based on processor used.  It doesn't seem to benchmark
*actual* available processor speed.  By default, it turned on considerably 
more scenery on the IIsi that I tried it out on, despite the fact that it
turned off just about everything on an SE/30 w/Micron card (the actual 
video throughput of the two machines is very close, with the lousy IIsi 
video design being a major bottleneck in the system).


>As for the views, I think there shouldn't be a straight down view; in a
>real F-16, how would you manage that?

Flip over and look up.  I note they don't provide a look-up view, either.
I confess to using the look-down view in Hellcats, though: the lousy artificial
horizon makes it necessary (rather difficult, otherwise, to maintain a 
constant 140 knot best-rate-of-climb climb through 10K for a bomb attack, 
since the horizon disappears from view).






---
Robert Dorsett
rdd@cactus.org
...cs.utexas.edu!cactus.org!rdd
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Thursday, 19 Nov 1992 13:41:19 CST
From: <U59985@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Erotic Games?
 <Bxso3I.Mwu@nic.umass.edu> <86vX03cpbbDv00@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>

You may want to look in the back of MacUser or MacWorld magazine. I've seen sev
eral classified ads for erotic games. Including a strip poker game. I don't rem
ember the exact names at the moment, but they are hard to miss.

Leisure Suit Larry is semi-risque. You don't actually see anything, but the imp
lied stuff is pretty bad.

Thomas
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com (rodney jacks)
Subject: Re: Mac game developer seeks advice
Organization: Motorola Inc, Austin, Texas
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 16:48:31 GMT

>mssmith@afterlife.ncsc.mil (M. Scott Smith) writes:
> [Opening text about Scott working on a new game deleted...] 
>Rather, I'd like to solicit some information from the net community on
>some topics I've been thinking about.  I've got a few questions:
>
>[1] Do I need to support black and white?

  Easy question.  If you're going to go commercial then YES.  
  Many publishers and users expect a game to support B/W.  I guess if you 
  release your game as shareware then it's up to you, however, there is a 
  LARGE segment of the population with B/W machines.

>[2] Can I make System 7 a requirement?
  
  No, there are still a lot of people running System 6.0.5, 6.0.7+.

>[3] Is a game window the size of a Classic's screen big enough?
                         
  Those people with 16" or 21" monitors will be annoyed/disappointed
  if your game uses only 512x342 of the larger monitor, however, I don't 
  think it will *stop* people from buying/registering it.
        
  There are many excellent games that use the smaller screen size.
  john calhoun's Glider 4.0 is an example.
  
  If you want to sell your game commercially though, it might be *worth*
  the effort to make it use/support the larger monitors.

>[4] Do you buy Mac games?

  Yes.  How many people would by your game?  Depends on how good 
  it is! :-)  How many people will register it as shareware?  Again
  it depends on the quality of the game.  There is an ongoing discussion
  about this on America Online.  Some shareware game authors receive
  a lot of registrations while other receive only one or two even with
  a large number of downloads.  However, a large number of downloads 
  does *not* mean people like, keep and play a game.  There is *no way*
  to determine that.
  
  Someone told me once that their guess was that the average Mac game 
  might sell between 5000-20,000 copies the first year.  

>[5] What are your feelings on copy protection?

  Don't do it.  You'll only irritate those people who *buy* your game.
  My opinion (and I once wrote a research paper on this) is that even
  the popular look up the question in the manual type of protection
  only hurts the honest people who buy/register the software they use.
  Those that pirate won't buy the game anyway.

>[6] What types of games do you like?

  All kinds.  Some of the best Mac games weren't created by a team
  of people.  Lunatic Fringe, Solarian, Glider, Pararena, Diamonds were all 
  created by very talented individuals.

-Rodney Jacks
(rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: brian@odin.scs.uiuc.edu (Brian Eugene Ackerson)
Subject: Re: Help with Out of This World demo
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 17:35:11 GMT

howard@locus.com (Howard Moskovitz) writes:
>I dowloaded the Out of This World demo and I'm impressed. I have a
>problem, however. I cannot get past the beast in the 4th screen. No
>matter what I do it kills me.

>Could someone give me a clue on how to get past him?

     Why not try to be friendly and bend down and give him a kiss?

     Well, at least it made me giggle.  Anyway, try running and jumping
away from him for a few screens to the left.

					Brian Ackerson
					brian@odin.scs.uiuc.edu

Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: amdavi@cs.wm.edu (Alexander M. Davis)
Subject: Games for sale/trade
Keywords: sale
Organization: The College of William and Mary
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 22:42:09 GMT

I have Space Quest IV (with cluebook) for $25 and SimLife for $45,
including shipping, original everything. I'll accept offers for trade,
too, but I'm really sick of Sierra games.

Alex Davis
amdavi@cs.wm.edu



Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com (rodney jacks)
Subject: Re: Maelstrom 1.0a1
Organization: Motorola Inc, Austin, Texas
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 15:08:40 GMT

In article <1egikjINN4oa@girtab.usc.edu> sknezevi@girtab.usc.edu (Steven John Knezevich) writes:
>
>
>Is this game on SUMEX?  If not post it...
>
>Steve Knezevich

As I said in an earlier post, "PLEASE DON'T POST THIS VERSION OF MAELSTROM
ON THE ARCHIVES".  This is a pirated ALPHA copy of Maelstrom.  It has
known bugs and most certainly will crash your machine.  The entire
game was not even implemented in the 1.0a1 release.  Please
wait for the final version which should be available in a couple
of weeks.

This ALPHA version of Maelstrom was distributed by an unknowing
or unscrupulous member of the beta-test team.  Andrew has threatened 
*never* to release Maelstrom if this thing spreads!

Again, please wait for the finished product. You won't be sorry
I guarantee it!  :-) 

Rodney Jacks
(rjacks@austlcm.sps.mot.com)
From: tblackma@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Marauder)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Switching the Hellcat for a P-38......
Date: 21 Nov 92 22:33:58 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network

I just got the new scenarios for hellcats and I have been poking around with
Resedit to switch the hellcat for a P-38.  No luck so far, but I'm not the
Resedit god as some others are.  Anyone willing to give it a try?
It would be absolutely awesome to take on a Frank with a P-38.  

-- 
tblackma@gn.ecn.purdue.edu--------------------------Thomas Blackman
Paint em all, let the judges sort em out.          Go team Tippmann
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: pizarro@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Jose Pizarro)
Subject: Dark Queen of Krynn Trade
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 12:40:17 GMT



	Thanks to all those that replied to my trade offer. 
	The game has been traded. 



                                    --------Jose--------
                                pizarro@mentor.cc.purdue.edu


                

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*          __ _______ ______ ______    * "Some people desperately want to be  * 
*    __   /\_\\______\\_____\\_____\   *  part of the crowd. Some people are  * 
*   /\_\_/ / // ___  //  ___//  ___/   *  special, they stand out in a crowd. * 
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