dwl10@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) (07/12/88)
------------------------------------------
As the author of the original review of Adventure Construction Set, I'd like
to respond to these comments. [By the way, "I" am Doug Pardee... I can't
post from my site, only read, but I've convinced Dave to post my drivel to
the net for all to see. Don't blame Dave, he's just the messenger].
----
I read the following complaint as, "The C-64 is a dog of a computer, and thus
(through no fault of its own) ACS on the '64 is a waste of time. What you
need is a REAL computer."
> The problems I encountered centered around
> the general slowness of the machine ...
> ... The problem is not that the game is not well
> designed, but rather the limitations of the machine make any user interface
> very clumsy to use. I simply don't have the patience to invest that kind
> of time in a game, when the same concept put into another machine would
> obviously cut the task in half.
My review was posted only to comp.sys.cbm. I presume that my readers (if I
have any) are interested in C-64 software because they have a C-64, and that
they're not particularly interested in how much better any given program
might be on "another machine". That information belongs in the infamous
high-flame newsgroup comp.sys.my.computer.is.better.than.your.computer.
I also presume that my readers are generally aware of what performance can be
expected of a C-64, and that I would be insulting their intelligence to point
out that the IBM-PC and Amiga versions of ACS would certainly be faster than
the C-64 version.
Except for the movement on the World Map (which I called "surprisingly
sluggish") and the disruption caused by having to go to the disk for any
3-line messages associated with special effects, I didn't find ACS to be slow
at all -- WHEN COMPARED WITH OTHER C-64 GAMES.
>It is amazing to see ACS
>construct adventures on it's own given a rule set, but the resulting game
>is not usually worth playing.
This is (obviously) going to be a matter of taste, and one of the most
difficult parts of writing a review is to provide the information that is
needed for each reader to be able to decide if the product will agree with
his personal taste. Apparently I missed on this point, so I'll try again.
Although the computer-generated adventures can't be "tricky" with ingenious
puzzles to solve, I feel that they *can* be interesting when treated as the
basic hack-and-slash quest-for-an-object style of adventure.
For the more sophisticated adventure players who prefer intriguing puzzles
rather than computer-generated hack-and-slash, the ACS Club library has over
75 C-64 titles, each priced at a measly $5. Although I haven't tried any of
them myself, I've read the documentation on three of the games which were
rated "four stars", and I think most adventure players would be impressed.
--
Doug Pardee {ames,hplabs,sun,amdahl,allegra}!oliveb!edge!doug
Edge Computer Corp., Scottsdale, AZ uunet!ism780c!edge!doug
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"This isn't Heaven, this is Cleveland!!!!"
Dave Lowrey
Amdahl Corp.
Houston, Texas
(713)-850-8828
...!{ames,sun,decwrl,uunet,....}!amdahl!dwl10
[ The opinions expressed <may> be those of the author and not necessarily
those of his most eminent employer. ]czei@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu (Michael S. Czeiszperger) (07/12/88)
In article <960SUb8pfj10109AH/A@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> dwl10@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) writes: >I also presume that my readers are generally aware of what performance can be >expected of a C-64, and that I would be insulting their intelligence to point >out that the IBM-PC and Amiga versions of ACS would certainly be faster than >the C-64 version. My comment regarding the speed of ACS on a C64 was not meant to be insulting, but rather to indicate that perhaps ACS was too ambitious a project for the C64. Part of being a good software developer is to choose the right hardware for the task. I'm NOT FLAMING the C64 - I've owned one for years and still use it for MIDI music applications. Maybe it's just me getting older, but those 2-8 second waits while scrolling through the big map, and also in combat are just too annoying for me to sit through the game anymore. It's just MY opinion; someone else may not notice. (To put this in perspective, I also don't like using Sun 3/50's for the same reason) > >Although the computer-generated adventures can't be "tricky" with ingenious >puzzles to solve, I feel that they *can* be interesting when treated as the >basic hack-and-slash quest-for-an-object style of adventure. That's exactly why I tried to see if ACS could handle rogue. It's got random rooms, a set cast of monsters, a finite set of potions and scrolls, and a special object to obtain. Theoretically, ACS should be able to handle this type of game, but my first and second attempts ended up with games that are impossible to finish. I'm sure it WOULD work if I spent alot more time tweaking things but I've kind of lost interest in it now... FLAMES a comin: Although I own 5 other EA games, the copy protection on ACS and Bard's Tale II are particularily vicious. I know, my Blue Chip drive isn't supposed to be able to handle that kind of protection, but after trying ACS and BTII in the stores, I just couldn't pass them up. It is extremely maddening to pay $30-$40 for a computer game only to have to replace the disks 2 and 3 times at MY EXPENSE. I expected the games not to load at all, but suprise, they did. If they would not have loaded and run, I would have simply taken them back for a refund. The problem was, after I reported to the dealer that they worked fine, and wanted to keep them, the disks quickly started getting errors, until finally they would not load at all. The BTII disks accumulated several bad blocks, which would hang the game right when I was about to solve a dungeon. To get around this I had to copy the disk, and then go in with an editor and try to re-construct the uncopyable blocks. This was after I replaced my entire first set of disks that became totally unusable. Copy protection causes more problems for legitimate users that hackers; it would be more effecient to prosecute those who steal their programs than cause miles of headaches for their customers. I'm never going to buy another EA product unless it is absolutely free of copy protection. FLAMES off; I still think it's an amazing program for those with enough patience. The length of time it takes to make a good adventure with any system is going to be substantial, and ACS provides a wonderful system for building your own without writing a program. For the $10 price you mentioned, it's worth it if you just get to take a look at the wonderful programming job. Michael S. Czeiszperger | "The only good composer is a dead composer" Systems Analyst | Snail: 2015 Neil Avenue (614) The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH 43210 292- ARPA:czei@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu PAN:CZEI 0161 -- Michael S. Czeiszperger | "The only good composer is a dead composer" Systems Analyst | Snail: 2015 Neil Avenue (614) The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH 43210 292- ARPA:czei@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu PAN:CZEI 0161
dwl10@amdahl.UUCP (07/13/88)
In article <381@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu> czei@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu (Michael S. Czeiszperger) writes: > >Although I own 5 other EA games, the copy protection on ACS and Bard's >Tale II are particularily vicious. I know, my Blue Chip drive isn't >supposed to be able to handle that kind of protection, but after trying >ACS and BTII in the stores, I just couldn't pass them up. It is >extremely maddening to pay $30-$40 for a computer game only to have >to replace the disks 2 and 3 times at MY EXPENSE. > >I expected the games not to load at all, but suprise, they did. If they >would not have loaded and run, I would have simply taken them back >for a refund. The problem was, after I reported to the dealer that they >worked fine, and wanted to keep them, the disks quickly started getting errors, >until finally they would not load at all. The BTII disks accumulated >several bad blocks, which would hang the game right when I was about to >solve a dungeon. To get around this I had to copy the disk, and then go >in with an editor and try to re-construct the uncopyable blocks. >This was after I replaced my entire first set of disks that became totally >unusable. Copy protection causes more problems for legitimate users that >hackers; it would be more effecient to prosecute those who steal their >programs than cause miles of headaches for their customers. I'm never >going to buy another EA product unless it is absolutely free of copy >protection. > >FLAMES off; > For what it's worth..... BARDS TALE III (The newest in the series) is NOT copy protected. Insted they have a "code wheel" that is used to produce a secret code needed to get antwhere in the game. They even suggest that you DO copy the disks, and save the originals. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- "This isn't Heaven, this is Cleveland!!!!" Dave Lowrey Amdahl Corp. Houston, Texas (713)-850-8828 ...!{ames,sun,decwrl,uunet,....}!amdahl!dwl10 [ The opinions expressed <may> be those of the author and not necessarily those of his most eminent employer. ]