HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: chernoff@sousa.ltn.dec.com (Anton Chernoff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: MTbolt strange devices (Q)
Date: 27 Jul 92 21:22:46 GMT
Reply-To: chernoff@sousa.ltn.dec.com (Anton Chernoff)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


In article <1992Jul25.164246.8743@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, dcoplin@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (David L Coplin) writes:
|>     My son has two questions about 'strange devices' in Mission
|>Thuderbolt.  First, how do you shut off holo-cubes after you have
|>activated and dropped them?

You don't.  You could dig a hole underneath one from the next level and
then get a 'bot to fix up the floor...

|>Second, has anyone ever found a jaunt box
|>and figured out how to use it?

Jount boxes typically don't appear in Mission Thunderbolt - they're more common
in the next mission (and don't ask me when it'll be out, OK).  You can sometimes
find one in the Factory Outlet, and very rarely you'll find one as ordinary
loot.  You charge it and activate it, and get to teleport elsewhere on the
same region.  If it works on the region, that is.
--
Anton Chernoff (chernoff@tallis.enet.dec.com)
"Stupidity got us into this.  Why can't it get us out?" - Will Rogers
From: macdevil@netlink.cts.com (Leonard Cayetano)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: PMFB Answer to Tom.
Date: 29 Jul 92 05:37:16 GMT
Organization: NetLink Online Communications, San Diego CA

I forgot the email address to a person named Tom.  Whatever the
case, here is an answer to his question on DBs and CBs.
 
From: wise456@aol.com
X-Mailer: America Online Mailer
To: macdevil@netlink.cts.com
Subject: Re: PMFB questions
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 92 21:46:23 EDT

Tom,
     I'm not exactly where you got my name and address but I'll try to 
answer your questions regarding 2.0 as best I can.  There is no speed
difference between safeties and corners whatsoever.  If
If
you are looking for raw speed try droppng the player's strength to 90 or 80
which is especially useful for WRs. You can easily design a footrace play in
the editor and check out the effectof the various talent distibutions and
you'll find that the WRs and DBs are fastest at speed 100 and strength 90.
      There is no difference between a nose tackle or defensive end either.
The game simply allows you to designate your middle lineman as a NT if you
utilize a 3-4 defense.
     You can most certainly have a hot runner and hot receiver at the same
time. Therefore, it is usually effective to have a couple of 4 quarter only
plays utilzing your off back and second receiver to keep the defense honest.
     The timing on 2.0 is different from the old version and this is
especially apparent on scan passes. the QB is better able to lead the
receiver but he often leads him right into coverage which is resulting in
many more interceptions. As for the fleaflickers, the non-QBs ability to 
make
laterals and take direct snaps has been significantly weakened which results
in an increased number of fumbles.
    Let me know if you have any other questions or comments,and especially
keep in touch if you have any interest in joining an online league. We have
the country's premier PMFB league on AOL.
Wise

--                    
INTERNET:  macdevil@netlink.cts.com (Leonard Cayetano)
UUCP:   ...!ryptyde!netlink!macdevil
NetLink Online Communications * Public Access in San Diego, CA (619) 453-1115
Xref: sparky comp.sys.mac.games:7606 comp.sys.ibm.pc.games:7644
From: molloy@catalina.janet.ucla.edu (Stephen Molloy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Subject: Re: Virtual Reality Survey
Date: 24 Jul 92 22:26:52 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.games
Organization: University of California at Los Angeles, EE Dept.

In article <1992Jul22.113234.14057@husc13.harvard.edu> jdavis@husc13.harvard.edu writes:
>In article <1992Jul21.174623.22414@ultb.isc.rit.edu>, sjked@ritvax.isc.rit.edu writes:
>> Virtual Reality is far from being a reasonable system for
>> playing computer games. However, it is becoming 
>> increasingly easy for anyone to experience virtual reality.
>> 
>Could you define "Virtual Reality?"  From your post, I take it that you're
>using the now-popular "real-time polygon rendering tied into body motion in
>a realistic manner so that the user feels like s/he's 'really there.'"
>This is an extremely narrow definition.  Virtual Reality refers to any
 --------------------------------------
But one of the few "useful" definitions.

>system that simulates some realm of reality.  Infocom was actually one of
>the early pioneers of VR, and games like Wizardry IV are VR too...

They are not. These "all-encompassing" definitions of VR are going to
doom VR to the same fate as AI. 

Television fits your definition of VR, not mine. If this keeps up
VR is just going to be the latest buzzword (if its not already) that
will be applied to any and every game of the future, trying to jump
on a VR bandwagon.

How many games have stickers on the outside claiming "AI" in the
computer opponents? We've just begun to see games claiming that
you receive a "VR" experience.

Your broad definition is just going to lead to useless discussions of
"what is reality" and the like, while we could be working on the
technology.
From: dcutter@oregon.uoregon.edu (dann cutter)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Sim City 1.4 upgrade
Date: 24 Jul 92 21:34:42 GMT
Organization: Stellar Enterprises

Is there a Sim city 1.4 upgrade program out there on any ftp site, and what
are they... thanks, dann

___________________________________________________| Stellar Enterprises*	 
     	       	
"I know that one is left. And that once you        | private space explo...
figure out that, then the other hard is your right.| 	 Pres: dann Cutter
Then basically all you have to do is make a choice.|"because Space IS the 
But the question is, how do you figure out that    |   Final Frontier!"
first part." dann Cutter dcutter@oregon.uoregon.edu|
From: woofy@sgi.com (Wolfchild)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Sub Battle Simulator
Summary: Sub and PT boat games
Date: 24 Jul 92 18:15:52 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.games
Organization: Fair to middling-neater than some, sloppier than others

In article <uXDeoB1w164w@netlink.cts.com> macdevil@netlink.cts.com (Leonard Cayetano) writes:
>seymour@wam.umd.edu (Rockwood Lee) writes:
>
>> In article <63961@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt5870c@prism.gatech.EDU (Noah White) wri
>> >
>> >   No I don`t believe he meant Covert Action, but I think he was talking abo
>> >Sub Battle Simulator from (ack it has been a while) Eypx (maybe) it talked a
>> >you could play a German or American submarine commander, it was a neat game!
>> >
>> >
 
[Stuff about SBS/Epyx & PT-109/Spectrum-Holobyte deleted]

>Spectrum-Holobyte released both PT-109 and the submarine simulation both
>of you are referring to.  I know that Spectrum-Holobyte is coming out
>with an new version of Falcon.  I also am aware that on-line support is
>available on America On-Line.  

Wrong.  Waaaaaay back when... about 1985 I think, about the best arcade game
for the Mac was a sub game by Spectrum-Holobyte called GATO.  It was, however,
a fairly bare bones submarine simulation.  A while later, maybe 1987, Epyx
released Sub Battle Simulator.  SBS was an *excellent* submarine game whose
scenarios and technology had a high degree of historical detail.  As I recall
there were about 9 difficulty levels ranging from not-even-fun to
realistically-near-impossible.  A while later still, around 1989,
Spectrum-Holobyte tried to follow up on their Falcon success with PT-109, a
PT boat shoot 'em up game.  PT-109 didn't do as well as either the sub games
or Falcon.  My guess is that it was just not as glamorous to be JFK as it was
to be Gunther Prein or or a Top Gun wannabe.

I think that none of these games have aged gracefully.  Certainly none of them
are supported any longer.  Neither of the sub games will work on anything but a
68000 machine running sys <7.x (correct me if I'm wrong here folks).  I've seen
SBS run on an SE/30 with 6.0.x but it's age was showing-graphics drawn in wrong
areas of the screen and occasional crashes.  PT-109 still worked on 680x0
machines with 6.0.x but it was pretty shaky and some features didn't work.

Hope this helps.  I hadn't heard of Covert Action, I will soon-I'm off to sumex
even as I speak.

Andy

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Fabans                                                
                                                                 
   /\ /\        woofy@yorgi.csd.sgi.com (Wolfchild)       
    o o                                                        
    \ /     "You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on."
     *                                                    - Dean Martin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: wasson@matterhorn.ee.umn.edu (Paul Wassen)
Subject: Re: LTOI 2
Organization: University of Minnesota CIS
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 04:50:23 GMT

In article <jddmz7c.howard@netcom.com> howard@netcom.com (Howard Berkey) writes:
>In article <1992Jul20.225333.22626@Princeton.EDU> jacobw@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Jacob S. Weinstein) writes:
>>	I was in a shop in Chicago and I saw Lost Treasures of Infocom
>>II for the Mac. Anybody tried it? Howdoes it compare with LTOI 1?
>>-- 
>>***********************************************************************
>>*Jacob Weinstein  	|| 	"MMmmm... Gefilte Fish."              *
>>*			||	   -Homer, in "Matzoh Ball Madness"   *
>>***********************************************************************
>
>Do either of them contain A Mind Forever Voyaging?  IMHO, it's the most creative text adventure ever written, and I've never seen it for the mac...
>
>
>-Howard
>
>::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
>Howard Berkey						howard@netcom.com
>Genius, n.:
>	A chemist who discovers a laundry additive that rhymes with
>"bright".

I bought LTOI 2 for the Mac at Software Etc. in Minneapolis.  It has 11 games:
Border Zone, A Mind Forever Voyaging, Plundered Hearts, Bureaucracy,
Cutthroats, Hollywood Hijinx, Seastalker, Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown
Jewels, Wishbringer, Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It, and
Trinity. 

I was surprized that there was not a hint book included as in LTOI 1.

Paul Wasson
wasson@everest.ee.umn.edu
From: joshua@lclark.edu (Josh Rochester)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Looking For Spaceward Ho! 3.0 Suggestions
Date: 28 Jul 92 16:38:35 GMT
Article-I.D.: lclark.1992Jul28.163835.15809
Organization: Lewis and Clark College

In my last article I suggested some huge changes to the battle mechanism . . .

 . . but there's more. Here are a few things I was thinking about but forgot
to mention:

Satelites: Satelites ought to be at a severe disadvantage in combat--they
can't manouver. Big orbiting gun-balls are useful for defense but should have
some weaknesses against moving, live targets. 'Wild Weasel' attacks have been
successful agains ground-based anti-aircraft weaponry in contemporary wars--
using manouverability to win should be a factor in SwdHo!

Reserves: It has oft been said that in combat, the victor will be the side
which has the last set of undeployed reserves. While allowing control of this
would require user involvement in the battles (not just pretty animation and
simulation), it would be great to have forces held back so that they could do
flanking attacks or exploit holes. (Speaking of holes, can one satelite be
expected to interpose itself between an attacking force and the planet--it
can't move! how can it defend the population against strafing ships?) If this
is too much, maybe two different fleets set to arrive in the same turn would
arrive at different moments in the battle allowing for a multi-front offense
(or possible a divided attact which would be easily destroyed?)

Thanks for listening!

Josh Rochester
joshua@lclark.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: ericm@dip.eecs.umich.edu (Eric S. McDaniel)
Subject: Re: Playmaker 2.0 bug
Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 13:01:57 GMT

In article <1672@hydra.bucknell.edu> jacobson@arcturus.tmc.edu (douglas jacobson GR) writes:
>>>I think that reflects a rule change in NFL football implemented
>>>to shorten games.  I believe the rule now is the clock runs until
>>>the last two minutes of each half.  
>
>This *cannot* be right!!!!! Let me tell you why...
>
>1) I certainly would have heard about such a drastic rule change. I
>read articles about football everyday in the newspaper.
>

You forgot a reason -- the NFL would never do something like that, and the
TV networks would never allow it    Think of the billions of $$ in lost
advertising revenue if the clock never stopped and the game was only half
as long!
From: lkingsley@crd.ge.com (Lorne J. Kingsley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Battlezone for Mac? (arcade)
Date: 24 Jul 92 13:11:54 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.games
Organization: General Electric R&D

In article <1992Jul23.053151.24496@metropolis.com>, robert@metropolis.com
(Robert Munyer) wrote:
> 
> 
> In article <1992Jul17.160029.13927@wdl.loral.com> dcb@wdl1.wdl.loral.com (David
> C Blume) writes:
> 
> > If you're talking about MacBZone, you are limited to 30 shots until you
> > register your copy.  Send $10 to Randy Frank to get a restration number.
> 
> Folks, please don't call this kind of thing "shareware".
> 
> This is "demoware".
> 
> There's a difference.
> 
>                                         Robert Munyer
>                                         robert@metropolis.com


I agree 100%. Shareware means (or at least I thought) that the product was
fully functional, and you were allowed to try the full product for a
reasonable amount of time, and if you liked it, pay the fee.

Demoware as a distribution system for games sucks. The best shareware game
I ever played was Solarian, by Ben Haller (which was not crippled in any
way). I played the game like crazy for a week. At that time I decided I'd
be crazy not to pay the small shareware fee he was asking.

MacBZone looks promising. But with only thirty shots, you can't get very
far. I'll probably end up paying the shareware fee (because the game will
probably remain on my hard drive), but I don't like the demoware idea on
games.

Just my opinion.

- 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  America Online: LorneK1
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: torkel@sics.se (Torkel Franzen)
Subject: Re: Word of warning about Sherlock
Organization: Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Kista
	<Jul29.190029.16677@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>
Distribution: comp
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 19:34:32 GMT

In article <Jul29.190029.16677@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> joe@lamar.colostate.
edu (joe carlson) writes:

  >Second, I would like to congratulate you on actually running 7 on a +.

  That wasn't my machine, but that of a colleague with angelic patience,
4M of Ram and two old and slow hard disks!

  My machine is a Classic II, and I think it's a great pity that Sherlock
won't run on it. Of the games in the "Lost Treasures of Infocom II" package,
all except Bureaucracy and Sherlock seem to run OK on the Classic II.

Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: tt@wag.caltech.edu (Toshi Takeuchi)
Subject: Re: Prince of Persia demo.
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 17:28:34 GMT

In article <92202.095921SPRD1080@HASARA11.BITNET> <SPRD1080@HASARA11.BITNET> writes:
>help
> 
>I've downloaded PoP demo from info-mac.
>Now i want to use Binhex4 on it, all that seems to work alright.
>But when binhex is finished, all i see is an empty icon with POP.demo.sit
>underneath it.
>It does not show the normal SIT icon.
> 
>Could somebody help me.
> 
> 
>Thanks.
> 
>Guido (amsterdam, Holland.)
> 

It must be defective!

I had the identical problem you had.

Toshi
tt@wag.caltech.edu
From: meharg@fraser.sfu.ca (Gersham William Meharg)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Spaceward Ho! 3.0: Keep Historical Info
Date: 31 Jul 92 01:02:47 GMT
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada

commons@Sunburn.Stanford.EDU (Peter Commons) writes:

>Someone sent me email (remember, please post to the net) suggesting some
>kind of movie at the end of a game to show you how it played out (showing
>how you expanded, killed the enemy, and conquered the galaxy)...
>Although this sounds rather more complex than might be easy and desirable to
>do, we have imagined 3.0 having some way to show at least recent history, like
>a graph of metal, money, and ship power over the last 20 turns.

>Comments? Thoughts? Would this be useful. What would you want? How much disk 
>space and update time would you be willing to sacrifice for such a thing?

YEAH! Great Idea.
The winner can gloat over all the other players at the end, "watch this,
this is where I crushed your 4 battlefleets in one turn and took half
your empire... heh heh"

Go for it, dont wory about disk space. Making the turn updates take much
longer than they do now would be bad though. Thats probably the only 
reason I dont play over 6 computers at once - it takes too long"
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: jlarke@css.itd.umich.edu (Jason Larke)
Subject: Re: Looking For Spaceward Ho! 3.0 Suggestions
Keywords: MultiPlayer Strategy Game
Organization: University of Michigan
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 23:23:39 GMT

In article <1992Jul26.042301.11863@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> conty@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Conty 1/2) writes:
>In article <1992Jul24.221553.16667@CSD-NewsHost.Stanford.EDU>, commons@Sunburn.Stanford.EDU (Peter Commons) writes:
>> 
>> Feel free to suggest whatever you want,
>

Well, I agree with several others that multi-class fleets would be
cool. I also like the idea of trade. Another neat thing would be
to make the ship pictures user-accessible, perhaps even variable by
player. The same old thing gets old after a while....

Xref: sparky comp.sys.mac.games:7519 comp.sys.mac.wanted:6863
From: dgemoets@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Darren Gemoets-- CSC)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games,comp.sys.mac.wanted
Subject: WANTED: Might & Magic I
Date: 22 Jul 92 14:12:46 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center

Does anyone want to sell his/her dusty copy of New World Computing's
Might & Magic I?  I'm awaiting M&M III, but I need something to tide me
over until November (or later).  Please keep in mind that they're selling
the M&M I and II (Color) packages pretty cheaply now.

Please email me your price if you want to sell your M&M I (box, manual,
original disks required).  I prefer UPS, but I'm open to other shipping means.

Thanks,
Darren Gemoets
dgemoets@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov
From: Joe.Francis@dartmouth.edu (Joe Francis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: More Warlords Hints
Date: 30 Jul 92 06:48:59 GMT
 <1992Jul27.213729.3509@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov>  
 <2795262764@dwetzel.mis.stratus.com>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

In article <2795262764@dwetzel.mis.stratus.com>
usenet@transfer.stratus.com (Mr. Network News) writes:

> > What's the point of Battle artifacts?
> I thought battle artifact helped the whole stack.  I may be wrong.

I think this is one I can answer.  Battle artifacts only *directly*
help the Hero, in the sense that they effectively improve the hero's
strength.  However, the hero's strength is used to compute a bonus for
any piece grouped with the hero.  The battle artifacts bonus counts in
figuring the Hero's strength.

A Hero with stregth:        gives a bonus of:      to other pieces (and
self).
                      0-3                      0
                      4-6                      1
                      7-8                      2
                      9                        3

Thus a Hero with strength 5, who finds the Firesword (a +1 battle
artifact), will have an effective strength of 6 and still give a +1
bonus to pieces in the same group.  If the Hero then finds the Spear of
Ank (another +1 battle artifact), then the Hero's effective strength
becomes 7 and the bonus goes up to +2.  

Command artifacts, of course, add their bonus directly to the pieces
with the Hero, and this bonus is in addition to the bonus from the
Hero's strength.  

It should be noted that, while I say "pieces in the same group" above,
the game appears to count pieces on the same square (or in the same
city, which is four squares) as "grouped" for this purpose, regardless
of whether you have used the group command to logically group them.
From: reynolds@park.bu.edu (John Reynolds)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Are there any modem/direct connect games between Mac and IBM?
Date: 26 Jul 92 17:53:18 GMT
Distribution: comp.sys.mac.games
Organization: Boston University Center for Adaptive Systems


I have an IBM 486/33 and a Macintosh FX in the same room at home.  
Are there any games which can be played through a modem or direct
connection on both machines simultaneously?  Thanks! 

-John
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Hellcats - Landing while dead
From: goppelt@scfb.nwc.navy.mil (dave goppelt)
Date: 23 Jul 92 15:54:34 PST
Organization: Naval Air Warfare Center

Had to pass this one along...

I was playing the "Flattop" scenario in Hellcats.  I made my first bombing pass
at the carrier and missed with both bombs!  (I hate that when that happens ;-))
Having already wasted enough time playing the game, I decided to "die" by
seeing if I could land on the enemy carrier.

I was making a beautiful approach, low, slow...I could of landed blindfolded. 
In a way, I did.  Of course as I was making my approach, the carrier was
shooting at me.  Then I heard that dreadful "Ugh!".  I was dead.  None of the
controls worked.  The plane kept flying.  And landed on the carrier!!  I was at
a slight angle, missed the arresting cable (if there is one?) and continued on
to fall off the carrier and splashed.

Great game... :-)

				dave
Xref: sparky comp.sys.mac.games:7495 comp.sys.mac.programmer:12779
From: rob@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu (Robert K Shull)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: What implies "legal user"? (Was: Hellcats help needed)
Date: 28 Jul 92 18:41:49 GMT
Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

doron@tavdac.ENET.dec.com (Doron Angel) writes:

>I do not get it. If you bought the game you SHOULD have both booklet and pilot's
>Manuall. If you are not a legal user, (original disk is not an idication)...

So what does indicate a "legal user"? Why not the media? It seems to me that
whether your concerned with an individual, a university, or a corporation,
the media is a lot easier to "track" than anything else. We can guard the
media, as we NEVER let the originals out of our site. We do have to let the
manuals out, since the point of having the software is for people to use it,
and they need to be able to learn how. Letting the manuals out means that we
lose a few over time. Does that mean that we no longer own the software?
Another case. While I was a student I moved a lot. Things get misplaced,
destroyed, etc. during moves. Disks are a lot easier to keep track of than
manuals. Particularly since I have manuals that have never even been opened,
but I have very few original disks that have remained unused :-)

Also, there are a lot of reasons why a LEGAL user might not have the manual
(lost, trashed, packed, stored elsewhere, purchased from someone who only
had disks, etc.). Why is it necessary to assume that someone has stolen the
software? Do you always have to assume the worst? How about a little thought
on "innocent until proven guilty" (or at least "innocent until we've got a
slight amount of evidence").

	Robert

P.S. I would have answered the original question, but I am in possession of
neither the disk nor the manual. :-)

-- 
Robert K. Shull, Sr. Applications Programmer, Engineering Computer Network
rob@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu
Disclaimer: OU can't afford opinions, so these must be mine.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games