Lemmings
R.W.Kay
Hello,
Here is a message from Dave Jones, author of Amiga Lemmings, he has no
direct usenet access but can read from the net. So I'm posting this on
his behalf, any comments or mail will be forwarded to him.
Russell
----------------------------------------------------------
I have been reading the Lemmings talk with interest and I would like
to offer my opinions. These are the opinions of DMA Design, & not
Psygnosis. Remember we are developers, not publishers.
Branding a game because it is PUBLISHED by a particular company, is
akin to not buying records pressed by WEA or CBS!, i.e. taking no
account of the performer.
First of all the reasons for making lemmings a copy protected disk.
To most users this is transparent. Copy protection simply requires
the reading of a single track, only once, as the game is loaded. If
we did not tell users the disk is protected, and they did not try
to copy it, there is absolutely no way to tell it is protected.
The disk routines themselves are fast, reliable, do NOT grind the
heads etc. We step the heads as quickly as they will go within
the CBM guidelines. ALL disk loads are buffered to RAM, this means
after playing the game for a while, very few disk accesses are ever
required (none with 1 MEG of expansion). Two drives are supported.
To those people who will NOT buy the game, because they are used to
other types of protection (I too dislike bad programming that causes
the heads to step non-stop at slow rates) are simply cutting of their
noses to spite their face.
Why not try the game, you will find NO problems with the loading, it
is quick & quiet. Remember other developers wrote other Psygnosis
games, we did not write Beast or Awesome.
We KNOW it does not stop the pirates. But you think we should give in?
Just release unprotected disks? Let every Tom, Dick or Harry copy the
disk with 'diskcopy df0: to df1:'
We HAVE to stop casual copying. This is the killer. If a young kid buys
a game and can very simply copy the disk for his friend, then we are
in big trouble. Protected disks are the only way to stop this. I know
pirates will always rip the protection out in a day or, but the way
we look at it is that pirates, and the people they swap with, would
never buy the games anyway.
HD Installation?
Right, to install on HD requires the operating system to be intact.
The operating system want 100K of CHIP RAM minimum.
We write our games to utitilise ALL the memory.
We write our disk routines to be fast.
100K of CHIP is a serious amount of memory to lose. Remember the Amiga
is heavily dependant on CHIP RAM. Some users have > then 1/2 MEG of
chip RAM, but they are at the moment a minority. To make the game
HD installable would require us to use AmigaDOS on floppy. This
is seriously slower then our routines. We lose about 100K of disk
space (we squeeze 980K from a disk). This means more comprimises.
Basically if we make these sacrifices the majority of users (A500
owners with an extra floppy) lose out, just to please the guys with
hard drives.
Remember we are in this for a living. In Europe the typical setup
for 90% of Amiga owners is an A500 + Extra Drive.
We have deadlines to meet, we have other versions to write. To make
every version use full OS of all the machines we are using will take
a lot of time. Every owner of every machine wants a game to make use
of all the hardware they have. Where do we draw the line?
Extra memory? Supported
Extra drives? Supported
HD installable, do you REALLY need it. You want your HD being filled
with games? You sit down to play a game when you have time, or are in the
mood. No doubt some games NEED a HD (Cinemaware for example), but
Lemmings does not NEED the benefits of an HD. I use Amiga's all the time,
if I want to play a game I can live with it taking 1 minute to load rather
than 10 secs. Remember to look at games individually here. Lemmings has
overcome all the gripes we get (apart from HD) so I dont understand people
saying they will never buy another game that is protected. 'Protected' is
far too global a word.
After saying all this though I have a proposition. We wrote Lemmings
in a very modular way (I take offence to previous comments stating
programmers who do not use the OS as 'brain dead', these people
obviously have no idea of constructive criticsm and should should join
rec.games.IQlessThan5) to the extent that we can have a HD intstallable version
running in 2 weeks time. I have proposed, Psygnosis have agreed, that
they will offer this version. It will require a minimum of 1 MEG of memory
(though only 512K of chip RAM will suffice). IF this version is successful,
(we should be able to offer an upgrade to users who have already bought the
game but want a HD version), then maybe Psygnosis will be swayed this way
for future products. We will probably switch to codeword protection
for future games (we MUST have some form of protection), and maybe
offer a 1 Meg HD AmigaDOS version for HD users.
We will never compromise on a game for the sake of HD users. The base
machine we aim for will always be a 512K Amiga, of which we will use
ALL the memory, plus our own disk routines for speed. This means more
to the 90% of people that buy the games. As the times change, and the
hardware changes, so will the way we write the games.
Lemmings is a fun game. I challenge anyone who buys it to point out
any flaws or gripes that has put them off other games.
Dave Jones
DMA Design
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russell Kay (rw...@uk.ac.hw.cs) | Programmer of PC Menace ) all
PC Ballistix ) released
PC Lemmings )by Psygnosis
Kent Paul Dolan
failure of the original media doesn't nuke my game investment, I'll go
out of my way to find and buy a copy of Lemmings. Just make sure it shows
up REALLY PROMINENTLY on the front of the box that this is an HD
installable version (no key disk or other original media dependence),
and get it to the stores. Go Amigo is nearby and a big distributer, let
me know when it shows up there, and I'll publically review it here and
eat crow on my bad mouthing of Psygnosis.
Kent, the man from xanth.
<xant...@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xant...@well.sf.ca.us>
Moriland
}--
}Hello,
}
} Here is a message from Dave Jones, author of Amiga Lemmings, he has no
}direct usenet access but can read from the net. So I'm posting this on
}his behalf, any comments or mail will be forwarded to him.
}
}Russell
}
}----------------------------------------------------------
First, let me just say that it's nice to hear from the author of Amiga
Lemmings. It's nice to know someone is listening even if it doesn't
change anything right away.
}
}I have been reading the Lemmings talk with interest and I would like
}to offer my opinions. These are the opinions of DMA Design, & not
}Psygnosis. Remember we are developers, not publishers.
}Branding a game because it is PUBLISHED by a particular company, is
}akin to not buying records pressed by WEA or CBS!, i.e. taking no
}account of the performer.
}
}First of all the reasons for making lemmings a copy protected disk.
}To most users this is transparent. Copy protection simply requires
}the reading of a single track, only once, as the game is loaded. If
}we did not tell users the disk is protected, and they did not try
}to copy it, there is absolutely no way to tell it is protected.
}The disk routines themselves are fast, reliable, do NOT grind the
}heads etc. We step the heads as quickly as they will go within
}the CBM guidelines. ALL disk loads are buffered to RAM, this means
}after playing the game for a while, very few disk accesses are ever
}required (none with 1 MEG of expansion). Two drives are supported.
}To those people who will NOT buy the game, because they are used to
}other types of protection (I too dislike bad programming that causes
}the heads to step non-stop at slow rates) are simply cutting of their
}noses to spite their face.
}Why not try the game, you will find NO problems with the loading, it
}is quick & quiet. Remember other developers wrote other Psygnosis
}games, we did not write Beast or Awesome.
I have tried the game at a friend's house who bought it because he
doesn't really care either way and I must admit, the protection
routines are some of the best and most transparent I have encountered.
}
}We KNOW it does not stop the pirates. But you think we should give in?
}Just release unprotected disks? Let every Tom, Dick or Harry copy the
}disk with 'diskcopy df0: to df1:'
}We HAVE to stop casual copying. This is the killer. If a young kid buys
}a game and can very simply copy the disk for his friend, then we are
}in big trouble. Protected disks are the only way to stop this. I know
}pirates will always rip the protection out in a day or, but the way
}we look at it is that pirates, and the people they swap with, would
}never buy the games anyway.
I have never said that I am totally against protection. I understand
the reasoning behind it and I have to grudgingly except that this is
an imperfect world. My main objection was lack of HD support. You can
support an HD and still have protection. Manual Keyword lookup is one
way. The Immortal, which was written on the Amiga, supports this
method, and it even lets you play the first level before it kicks in.
It uses several codes looked up by finding a matching picture in the
manual. It only comes up once during the game and is, at worst, a
minor annoyance. (It comes up between first and second levels, or
immediately before restoring a game so as least to disrupt play)
I would even accept a key disk method if it allowed me to put the game
on the HD.
Need? Does anyone really need to play games to begin with? Not really.
No major loss if you don't. It's for the enjoyment that we play,
right? My enjoyment is increased if I can load it in off of my HD at a
faster speed than any floppy routine can hope for. I commend you on
finally realizing that more and more Amiga owners have more than 512K
and one floppy. In many instances that can make up for lack of HD
support. (My BIGGEST gripe is having to swap disks on my 3 Floppy, one
HD system because someone doesn't know how to recognize more than one
floppy at a time.) Your arguments for lack of HD support are valid and
reasonable to me on the grounds of loss of memory and disk space only.
I can see saying "We would have put in HD support, but to squeeze in
the extra levels, we just didn't have the room on one or two (etc)
floppies." I can not agree with "We didn't put it in because we are
such programming studs you don't NEED it."
}
}
}After saying all this though I have a proposition. We wrote Lemmings
}in a very modular way (I take offence to previous comments stating
}programmers who do not use the OS as 'brain dead', these people
}obviously have no idea of constructive criticsm and should should join
}rec.games.IQlessThan5) to the extent that we can have a HD intstallable version
}running in 2 weeks time. I have proposed, Psygnosis have agreed, that
}they will offer this version. It will require a minimum of 1 MEG of memory
}(though only 512K of chip RAM will suffice). IF this version is successful,
}(we should be able to offer an upgrade to users who have already bought the
}game but want a HD version), then maybe Psygnosis will be swayed this way
}for future products. We will probably switch to codeword protection
}for future games (we MUST have some form of protection), and maybe
}offer a 1 Meg HD AmigaDOS version for HD users.
This bit of news makes me very happy indeed! For most folks with HDs,
having at least 1 Meg shouldn't be a problem. I don't know of too many
people with Amigas and Hard Drives that don't also have at least an
extra 512K of RAM. In my user's group the order of buying seems to be:
Amiga, Extra 512K RAM (if it was a A500C and needs it), hard drive.
I would like to point out, that at least here in the states, there are
THREE models of the A500. The A500C which is sold through mass
merchandisers like JC Penny, etc. The A500P which is sold through
Dealers only and has 1 MEG RAM standard and the A500S (starter) which
is still a JC Penny sold machine and still 512K. My user's group
suggests to anyone who asks us to purchase their machines from dealers
over Mass Merchandisers only because they won't get upset with you if
you come back looking for help and bought it from the dealer to begin
with. (I know one dealer in Michigan that refuses to help anyone who
bought a machine from a Mass Merchandiser. Can't blame them) The A500P
means the number of A500 owners with at least 1 Meg will be growing
and the path to owning an HD will be cut short one step.
}
}We will never compromise on a game for the sake of HD users. The base
}machine we aim for will always be a 512K Amiga, of which we will use
}ALL the memory, plus our own disk routines for speed. This means more
}to the 90% of people that buy the games. As the times change, and the
}hardware changes, so will the way we write the games.
Understandable, but I still reserve right not to buy software that
doesn't support the features I want irregardless of how "great" it may
happen to be.
}
}
}Lemmings is a fun game. I challenge anyone who buys it to point out
}any flaws or gripes that has put them off other games.
}
}Dave Jones
}DMA Design
}
Lemmings is indeed fun. Please send me info on when and where I may
purchase a copy of the HD installable version of Lemmings. I will buy
it if it does indeed come out as stated.
To the others involved I say here's our chance to try and show our
support for folks who support our machines the way we'd like them to.
Let's prove we're serious by holding up our end of the bargain.
--Moriland
--
| hast...@vela.acs.oakland.edu | __ |
| | __/// Viva Amiga! |
| Founder Of: Evil Young | \XX/ |
| Mutants For A Better Tomorrow | "Single Tasking: JUST SAY NO!" |
Michael J. Farren
>Branding a game because it is PUBLISHED by a particular company, is
>akin to not buying records pressed by WEA or CBS!, i.e. taking no
>account of the performer.
Well, if WEA or CBS sold records which could not be used on my B&O turntable
(not a joke - I've got some records which cannot be played on it, due to
transparency fooling the photoelectric sensor on the turntable), I'd be
strongly tempted to avoid their products, too. In a way, it's YOUR problem -
nobody forced you to go with Psygnosis, and if Lemmings is such a good game,
you should have been able to find another publisher.
>First of all the reasons for making lemmings a copy protected disk.
>To most users this is transparent.
I have no problem with copy protection per se, only with the effects which
often come with it, such as Psygnosis' infamous "we won't run on a 68030"
business. If yours doesn't do that, more power to you.
>Remember other developers wrote other Psygnosis games, we did not write
>Beast or Awesome.
Perhaps. But if the copy protection troubles are caused by the developer,
it still doesn't excuse Psygnosis for tacitly approving of the problems.
>Right, to install on HD requires the operating system to be intact.
>The operating system want 100K of CHIP RAM minimum.
No. The OS wants RAM - it doesn't care whether it's CHIP or FAST, for
the most part. And with a bit of intelligent programming, you can cut
the required memory WAY down. It is true that the OS will eat some memory
no matter what you do, but the figure isn't anything like 100K, once you've
eliminated as many memory hogs as you can. Besides, you know from the
beginning just how much memory you've got to play with - if you really DO
need every single bit of a 512K system, how does that excuse your taking
all of my 5 Megabytes?
>We write our games to utitilise ALL the memory.
Whether or not you need it all, it would seem.
>We write our disk routines to be fast.
You write your disk routines to take up CHIP RAM that otherwise could be
used by the OS, right?
>100K of CHIP is a serious amount of memory to lose.
True - but 412K of CHIP is a serious amount to have to play around with, too.
I'm hard to impress in this arena, having written full (and complex) games
that have operated in as little as 16K RAM, including graphics, sound, and
a LOT of fancy code. True, this was only an Atari 400, but still...
Whining about how constrained you are by having "only" 412K makes me
snicker.
>To make the game HD installable would require us to use AmigaDOS on floppy.
Not true. It isn't THAT hard to check the system resources (remember,
autoconfig happens before booting does), and determine the environment you're
running in. If it's AmigaDOS, you win, because you won't have to load your
"special" disk routines, thus saving that RAM you claim is so precious.
If you're booting from your floppies, go ahead and load your loader. Take
over the machine. Do anything you want to - but if you're not, you don't
NEED to do all of those things. There's precedent, here - several games
(F18 Interceptor comes immediately to mind) that do different things if
they have extra memory to work with. You, yourself, admit that you check
to see if there's extra memory, and use it if it's there. Checking to see
if a hard drive is there isn't any harder, really.
Rule #1 - don't disable it unless you must. Don't take it over unless you
must. Don't cripple it unless you must. And don't believe you must until
it's proven - you're more clever than that.
>This is seriously slower then our routines.
Let me get this straight. You're seriously contending that your special
floppy loader is faster than my 14ms SCSI disk and DMA controller? If
so, you've been playing Lemmings too long :-)
>We have deadlines to meet, we have other versions to write. To make
>every version use full OS of all the machines we are using will take
>a lot of time.
Less time than having to "roll your own" for every different machine, I
can guarantee you. The OS is there for your benefit. Use it when you
can, bypass it only if you must (see rule #1).
>Every owner of every machine wants a game to make use
>of all the hardware they have. Where do we draw the line?
Only where you have to. My point is that you didn't have to draw the line
at HD install, but you chose to anyway, and were wrong. See rule #1, again.
>Extra memory? Supported
>Extra drives? Supported
And kudos to you for that. I don't mean to imply that you are totally
Evil (I reserve that for the folks from Ubisoft who require you to turn
the damn POWER off to reboot in UNREAL), just slightly misguided in some
areas :-)
>HD installable, do you REALLY need it.
Yes, I do.
>You want your HD being filled with games?
My HD is 27% games right NOW, and I'd put a lot more on it if they would
run. I'd get a bigger disk if I could put Populous, Archipelagos, Beast,
Unreal, and others on there.
>You sit down to play a game when you have time, or are in the mood.
Which is a lot of the time. I don't write games just for the money
(I'd be a fool if I did - hey, folks, Cosmic Secret #1 - you're not
likely to make a million bucks writing computer games).
>No doubt some games NEED a HD (Cinemaware for example)
Funny - they used the same excuses you are making now, back in the days
when they didn't do HD install either. Maybe they now know something
you don't?
>Lemmings does not NEED the benefits of an HD.
Have you ever considered that my HD might need the benefits of Lemmings?
>After saying all this though I have a proposition.
[A hard disk version of Lemmings]
This is a handsome offer, and I thank you for it. It remains the fact,
however, that selling two versions of a game is going to be less profitable
than selling one version that satisfies everyone. If you'd included HD
installation in the same version that ran on a 500, you'd be ahead even
more (and so would we).
>We will never compromise on a game for the sake of HD users.
Nor should you. But you don't have to, you see...
--
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Michael J. Farren far...@sat.com |
| He's moody, but he's cute. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Stephen Holmstead
>[stuff deleted]
>After saying all this though I have a proposition. We wrote Lemmings
>in a very modular way . . . [more deleted]
>to the extent that we can have a HD intstallable version
>running in 2 weeks time. I have proposed, Psygnosis have agreed, that
>they will offer this version. It will require a minimum of 1 MEG of memory
>(though only 512K of chip RAM will suffice).
That is an EXCELLENT proposal! I'd buy that version right away! Where
do I send my money?
>IF this version is successful,
>(we should be able to offer an upgrade to users who have already bought the
>game but want a HD version), then maybe Psygnosis will be swayed this way
>for future products. We will probably switch to codeword protection
>for future games (we MUST have some form of protection), and maybe
>offer a 1 Meg HD AmigaDOS version for HD users.
I'm sure that there are plenty of people here on USENET that would be
willing to make this version successful. I'll drop my money on the
table to prove to Psygnosis that HD installable is a NEEDED feature.
Come on, people! You asked for HD installable, let's support it if it
comes!
>[more deleted]
>Dave Jones
>DMA Design
____ ____
| / /_ __\ | Disk 0S/2 == 1/2 OS (Leo Schwab) Stephen Holmstead
| | / / /_/ | | Mechanisms // ...!hplabs!hpdmlge!stephen
|___\ / /___| Division \X/ Amiga ste...@hpdmlge.boi.hp.com
Bill Cavanaugh
for my A500 for years, and have been avoiding buying Psygnosis games
because of the need to reboot and lobotomize my machine to play. Let
me know when the HD installable version of Lemmings is out, and I'll be
sending my registration card in the next day!
--
* Bill Cavanaugh uunet!tronsbox!bleys *
Byron Max Guernsey
necessity for so much memory. I guess doing overlays in ML must be very
difficult or something? I can't help but think of a program that was
over 4 megs in size on an old pdp-11 that used overlays of 32-64k. Overlays
do slow down the execution of a program, but overlays on a hard drive are
just barely noticable. The time it takes to load in the new code is
virtually nil.
I also see no reason to FORCE the user to get rid of the operating system.
With the necessary provisions, overlays, and code optimization for size
you would have no problem fitting it in 512k (YEa, thats a big assumptiuon
on my part, i don't know a whole lot about the amiga). Users with less
than a meg or so would have to play Lemmings without the operating system,
but those with a meg could leave it in?>!?!?! Why not?
Imagine the hysteria if that 4 meg program took over the whole pdp.
My suggestion is to work out different versions with different options.
1 for the low-end user (1 or 2 drives, 512k, no opsys) and 1 for the
high-end users (hard drive, 1 meg+, Multi-tasking). Label the package,
"Amiga 1 meg+, hd installable, keyword protection". The other one,
"Amiga 512k (1 meg optional), 1 or 2 drives, Soft-Protection, no OPSYS"
Charge 25$ for the 512k version, 35$+ for the hdable 1 meg. (Or whatever
the current going rate is- haven't seen it yet in our store, just the
demo). The extra work warrants a higher price and most hd users would be
willing to pay a little more to put it on their hard drive and multi-task
it if they run a large system.
I'll never forget seeing a system where the owner had 8 megs of fast ram
and i think a meg or 2 of CHIP ram (On 3000). He ran a bbs (multi-tasking)
and was able to run Sim_city in the background, Zork Zero, and several
daemon type tasks. He got normal use out of the amiga while running a
Public BBS simutaneously. Thats how a multi-tasking machine SHOULD be.
Hail to those who allow multi-tasking/hd-installability even at the cost
of speed. Remember, while the computer will get faster and be able to
handle a "HOG-GAME" using alot of CPU, a game that takes over the system
will never allow multi-tasking.
Byron
--
Byron 'Maxwell' Guernsey | /// //\\
spe...@disk.UUCP or | /// // \\
uunet!ukma!corpane!disk!specter | \\\/// //====\\
"Great programs aren't written, they're fathered." \\\/ // \\ m i g a
Godfrey Lee
>}...to the extent that we can have a HD intstallable version
>}running in 2 weeks time. I have proposed, Psygnosis have agreed, that
>}they will offer this version. It will require a minimum of 1 MEG of memory
>}(though only 512K of chip RAM will suffice). IF this version is successful,
>}(we should be able to offer an upgrade to users who have already bought the
>}game but want a HD version), then maybe Psygnosis will be swayed this way
>}for future products. We will probably switch to codeword protection
>}for future games (we MUST have some form of protection), and maybe
>}offer a 1 Meg HD AmigaDOS version for HD users.
I for one would certainly welcome the HD installable version, and look forward
to the upgrade offer.
If you must have copy protection, I prefer key disk to code wheel or keyword
in manual. What can I say, I am lazy by nature.
I also thank you in the fact that your copy protection does not grind the
drive, and non-intrusive, but I still feel better to be able to have a backup.
--
Godfrey Lee
cunews!tigris!glee or gl...@tigris.ocunix.on.ca
Mike (My Watch Has Windows) Meyer
In article <23...@odin.cs.hw.ac.uk> rw...@cs.hw.ac.uk (R.W.Kay) writes:
I have been reading the Lemmings talk with interest and I would like
to offer my opinions. These are the opinions of DMA Design, & not
Psygnosis. Remember we are developers, not publishers.
Branding a game because it is PUBLISHED by a particular company, is
akin to not buying records pressed by WEA or CBS!, i.e. taking no
account of the performer.
You're right - I don't not buy software because of the publisher. I
don't buy it when it's not usable. You chose a publisher that has a
track record of publishing unusuable game. Bad move, but not fatal.
Not being OS friendly is fatal, though - and loses you a sale.
We KNOW it does not stop the pirates. But you think we should give in?
Just release unprotected disks? Let every Tom, Dick or Harry copy the
disk with 'diskcopy df0: to df1:'
Have you tried "giving in"? Do you know what the results are? The one
case I know of (EAs Deluxe Paint), they lost so much in sales that
they quit releasing the copy protected version.
We have deadlines to meet, we have other versions to write. To make
every version use full OS of all the machines we are using will take
a lot of time. Every owner of every machine wants a game to make use
of all the hardware they have. Where do we draw the line?
Actually, I _don't_ want you games that make use of all the hardware I
have. I want games that make use of all the hardware I'm willing to
let them have. That happens to be more machine than you need (for
deserving games, I can give up a meg of chip and meg of fast...). And
you draw the line wherever you want - then don't complain when you
draw it on the lazy side, and people like me categorically refuse to
buy the game.
Extra memory? Supported
Extra drives? Supported
Really? So why doesn't it use both drives that came in my A3000?
HD installable, do you REALLY need it. You want your HD being filled
with games? You sit down to play a game when you have time, or are in the
mood.
I play a game while compiles are running in the background; while a
download is going one. _WITHOUT_ losing my editing environment or the
database I've got loaded, or whatever. Especially when I'm doing it
for a few minutes relaxation while working on a project. Lemmings
would be perfect for this - it already has a pause button for when I
want to go back to work, even.
Lemmings does not NEED the benefits of an HD.
You don't NEED to sell people like me a copy of the game, either.
I use Amiga's all the time, if I want to play a game I can live
with it taking 1 minute to load rather than 10 secs.
Sure, I can live with that. What I can't live with is the time it
takes to recreate the working environment you've gone out of your way
to destroy.
After saying all this though I have a proposition. We wrote Lemmings
in a very modular way (I take offence to previous comments stating
programmers who do not use the OS as 'brain dead', these people
obviously have no idea of constructive criticsm and should should join
rec.games.IQlessThan5) to the extent that we can have a HD intstallable
version running in 2 weeks time. I have proposed, Psygnosis have agreed,
that they will offer this version. It will require a minimum of 1 MEG of
memory (though only 512K of chip RAM will suffice).
Make it multitasking friendly, and I'll go buy a copy. Don't, and I'll
wait until the pirated version that is hits the boards. If that never
hits the boards, I'll never have a copy.
(we MUST have some form of protection)
And it's mathematically impossible for heavier-than-air vehicles to fly.
We will never compromise on a game for the sake of HD users.
I'll never compromise my work for the sake of a game.
Lemmings is a fun game. I challenge anyone who buys it to point out
any flaws or gripes that has put them off other games.
Well, I didn't buy it, so I guess the challange doesn't apply to me.
But even the bloody _demo_ version can't be run in a multitasking
environment. That puts me off a game pretty damn quick.
My Amiga is _not_ a game machine. It's a workstation I sometimes play
games on. Requiring me to treat it like a game machine which has to be
turned off to plug/unplug cartridges is unnaceptable. If I wanted
something like that, I'd have bought a Nintendo.
<mike
--
I know the world is flat. Mike Meyer
Don't try tell me that it's round. m...@pa.dec.com
I know the world stands still. decwrl!mwm
Don't try to make it turn around.
Dan Barrett
>I also thank [the authors of Lemmings]
>in the fact that your copy protection does not grind the drive, and
It doesn't?!!? Well, I have the demo version of Lemmings, and it
grinds my A1000's drive terribly!! I would not buy a game that makes my
drive sound like it is dying.
I know that the demo version is not copy-protected, so I'll just
have to assume that the custom disk routines are doing the grinding. It
sounds AWFUL.
Dan
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| Dan Barrett, Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University |
| INTERNET: bar...@cs.jhu.edu | |
| COMPUSERVE: >internet:bar...@cs.jhu.edu | UUCP: bar...@jhunix.UUCP |
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Henrik Alteborn
In article <76...@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU>, bar...@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) writes:
|> In article <1991Mar1.0...@tigris.uucp> gl...@tigris.UUCP (Godfrey Lee) writes:
|> >I also thank [the authors of Lemmings]
|> >in the fact that your copy protection does not grind the drive, and
|> >non-intrusive....
|>
|> It doesn't?!!? Well, I have the demo version of Lemmings, and it
|> grinds my A1000's drive terribly!! I would not buy a game that makes my
|> drive sound like it is dying.
The demo grinds the drive(s), the real game does NOT !
|> I know that the demo version is not copy-protected, so I'll just
|> have to assume that the custom disk routines are doing the grinding. It
|> sounds AWFUL.
Agree, never had anything that sounds worse.
I have the .zom-version, does the dms-version sound just as bad ?
-Henrik
cs12501- Jay A Kanta
only hurting themselves. Its Great! Its so addictive, I've forgotten to go
to bed one night already, and am thinking of skipping classes just to play
this excellent game.
I have one small problem, though. I thought the game was getting really
simple then I got to the 19th level on Tricky. I cannot, for the life of me,
think of doing anything differently than I have before this point. It looks
like so:
&
==============
=================
================= ============================
==================================== ============================
==================================================================
with the start on the left side and you only have 10 climbers,
10 floaters, 1 digger, 1 basher, and one miner. I really want to finish
this level, but I've already spent hours trying it. Can anyone help?
E-Mail would be great, but I can't send e-mail back (unfortunately).
Thanks!
Jay Kanta
'If time heals all wounds, why do we still have bellybuttons?'