chiu@ucsee.Berkeley.EDU (James Chiu) (05/19/91)
In article <745@generic.UUCP> ericmcg@pnet91.cts.com (Eric Mcgillicuddy) writes: [Stuff Deleted] > >90% of the "latest and greatest" IBM software is just rehash of Apple II and >Mac stuff years old. There are some very notable exceptions, but the majority >is crap that would not sell on any other system. > True... I recall something I seen several years back that bears striking resemblance with the original Leasure Suit Larry... And that thing was entirely text based and was written in BASIC in DOS 3.3! >UUCP: bkj386!pnet91!ericmcg >INET: ericmcg@pnet91.cts.com
unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) (05/20/91)
In article <1991May19.164402.12684@agate.berkeley.edu> chiu@ucsee.Berkeley.EDU writes: >In article <745@generic.UUCP> ericmcg@pnet91.cts.com (Eric Mcgillicuddy) writes: >>90% of the "latest and greatest" IBM software is just rehash of Apple II and >True... I recall something I seen several years back that bears striking >resemblance with the original Leasure Suit Larry... And that thing was >entirely text based and was written in BASIC in DOS 3.3! SoftPorn Adventure, right? I don't think I ever played it, but I've heard about it. It's hard to believe none of the rest of you are worried that Egghead dropped the Apple II... it's awful news.. -- /unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu Apple IIGS Forever! unknown@cats.ucsc.edu\ |WANT to help get ULTIMA VI //e or GS written?-mail me. CHEAP CD info-mail me.| \ It's a Late Night World.... Of Love /
philip@utstat.uucp (Philip McDunnough) (05/20/91)
In article <15983@darkstar.ucsc.edu> unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) writes: [quotes re old text based AppleII versions of Leasure Suit Larry...] > It's hard to believe none of the rest of you are worried that Egghead >dropped the Apple II... it's awful news.. Don't fool yourself, I'm sure many people are worried. And if not, they should be. Probably the greatest impact computers will have over the next few years will be in the home, disguised as entertainment/educational/ bit of work devices integrated with the family TV/VCR/etc... This is quite a logical place for Apple to direct the GS. It is what is happening in Japan( not Apple directing anything) and last week I was invited to Canada's debut of Commodore's CDTV( this took place at our main museum) which is sort of an A500 powered by a CD-ROM(+ graphics) device but looks like your usual CD Audio( which it plays) unit. It's black, has various computer ports in the back, S-VHS, NTSC, Midi, infra red control units( mouse, keyboard,etc..). There is a broad range of interesting software ranging from educational to games to encyclopedias, and of course it can run any of the Amiga 500 software. Similar units( not Commodore) exist in Japan from a variety of companies and they are rather popular. People are no longer content with your run of the mill computer games. The current trend is to replace AppleII()'s in schools by either Mac's( usually the Classic, as the LC is too expensive by today's standards) or PC's. The GS, which costs roughly the same as an LC, simply has no natural "home". It has a terrible price/performance ratio at this point. What you are seeing is Apple's quite admirable support for existing customers but that's it. Others see this. We have a nice computer with the GS and all the tools to turn out some interesting software for our own use. But don't look for too much shrink wrapped software, unless Apple were to somehow come out with a GS based entertainment unit aimed squarely at the home(and this seems most unlikely). In any case, it's kind of fun owning niche computers( in my case a NeXT and a GS). The mainstream ones aren't a whole lot of fun, unless you enjoy using Lotus1-2-3, Excel, PageMaker,etc... Philip McDunnough University of Toronto philip@utstat.utoronto.ca [my opinions,...]
jerry@polygen.uucp (Jerry Shekhel) (05/22/91)
chiu@ucsee.Berkeley.EDU writes: > >> >>90% of the "latest and greatest" IBM software is just rehash of Apple II and >>Mac stuff years old. There are some very notable exceptions, but the majority >>is crap that would not sell on any other system. >> >True... I recall something I seen several years back that bears striking >resemblance with the original Leasure Suit Larry... And that thing was >entirely text based and was written in BASIC in DOS 3.3! > This is incredible bull. It's like saying that Ultima VI is just a rehash of Ultima I, and therefore totally useless. Or that the Apple IIgs is just a rehash of the original Apple II, and is therefore worthless. I suppose you think that PageMaker 4.0 is just a rehash of the Print Shop? -- +-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+ | JERRY J. SHEKHEL | POLYGEN CORPORATION | When I was young, I had to walk | | Drummers do it... | Waltham, MA USA | to school and back every day -- | | ... In rhythm! | (617) 890-2175 | 20 miles, uphill both ways. | +-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+ | ...! [ princeton mit-eddie bu sunne ] !polygen!jerry | | jerry@polygen.com | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
alfter@nevada.edu (SCOTT ALFTER) (05/22/91)
In article <15983@darkstar.ucsc.edu> unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) writes: > It's hard to believe none of the rest of you are worried that Egghead >dropped the Apple II... it's awful news.. What's so rotten about it? I can't remember the last time I bought anything in a software store; almost all the stuff I have was either bought through mail-order, grabbed off the net or from a local BBS, or typed in from magazines such as Nibble. I suspect this will be the only way anybody will get wares in the future, but it's what I've been doing more-or-less continuously since 1985! Scott Alfter-----------------------------_/_---------------------------- Ask me about SoftDAC! Play Mac sounds / v \ on your Apple II! Internet: alfter@uns-helios.nevada.edu ( ( Apple II: GEnie: S.ALFTER \_^_/ the power to be your best!
ericmcg@pnet91.cts.com (Eric Mcgillicuddy) (05/22/91)
> It's hard to believe none of the rest of you are worried that Egghead >dropped the Apple II... it's awful news.. >-- >/unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu Apple IIGS Forever! unknown@cats.ucsc.edu\ I've never seen an Egghead store, so not seeing Apple II software in one is not a major concern. If you want to talk end-of-the-world then how about Programs Plus not advertising the latest issue of nibble? THIS is devastating!! :( UUCP: bkj386!pnet91!ericmcg INET: ericmcg@pnet91.cts.com
fadden@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Andy McFadden) (05/24/91)
In article <1106@stewart.UUCP> jerry@stewart.UUCP (Jerry Shekhel) writes: [somebody else wrote:] >>>90% of the "latest and greatest" IBM software is just rehash of Apple II and >>>Mac stuff years old. There are some very notable exceptions, but the majority >>>is crap that would not sell on any other system. >This is incredible bull. Fascinating. > It's like saying that Ultima VI is just a rehash >of Ultima I, and therefore totally useless. Or that the Apple IIgs is just >a rehash of the original Apple II, and is therefore worthless. I suppose >you think that PageMaker 4.0 is just a rehash of the Print Shop? No, it's like saying that the //c+ is a rehash of the Laser 128EX, and therefore worthless (Apple seemed to concur). It's like saying that the plethora of Risk-like games is a rehash of Global War (c. 1979). As far as PageMaker goes, take a look at Newsroom. Keep in mind the 90% figure. There's a very good 10%, but even spiffy games like the re-released Stellar 7 are based on old Apple II games (like, say, Stellar 7). >| JERRY J. SHEKHEL | POLYGEN CORPORATION | When I was young, I had to walk | -- fadden@cory.berkeley.edu (Andy McFadden) ..!ucbvax!cory!fadden fadden@hermes.berkeley.edu (when cory throws up)
ericmcg@pnet91.cts.com (Eric Mcgillicuddy) (05/24/91)
>>>90% of the "latest and greatest" IBM software is just rehash of Apple II and >>>Mac stuff years old. There are some very notable exceptions, but the >majority >>>is crap that would not sell on any other system. > >This is incredible bull. It's like saying that Ultima VI is just a rehash >of Ultima I, and therefore totally useless. Or that the Apple IIgs is just >a rehash of the original Apple II, and is therefore worthless. I suppose >you think that PageMaker 4.0 is just a rehash of the Print Shop? >-- >+-------------------+----------------------+--------------------------------- >| JERRY J. SHEKHEL | POLYGEN CORPORATION | When I was young, I had to walk | That is not what I am saying at all ( iassume it was I you were responding to). What I am saying is that a large number of IBM games essentially use the pseudo-code of Apple II games of the previous decade, add some nifty graphics and resell themselves. We're not even talking classic Apple II games. Ultima VI is not a rehash of Ultima I, but it is not significantly better than Ultima V on an Apple II, except for the details such as perspective and some background sound (which I first saw used in Dungeon Master on the GS). Stellar 7 is the typical example, but there is Shanghai, Simcity and a dozen other Mac games as well. (slight exageration, ther aren't a dozen MAc games. :) Ther eare differences in the games, for instance the required hardware is more extensive, bigger faster systems with hard drives mandatory. This is a bonus for IBMers, but still hinders Apple II users significantly (the HD part). The point is that the system price point is about the same for both sides, $2000 for the neccessary hardware to play the best of them at maximum enjoyment. BTW I've been playing Finest Hour quite a bit and the animation was done in 256 colour mode of VGA (MCGA) the resolution is 320x200, the same as the GS. An interesting observation is that the true number of colours on the screen are much less than 256, I have counted 16 distinct colours, although I would estimate an error of plus or minus two colours. This means that the graphics for this game are well within the realm of possibility of the GS. I guess that calculating the animations would kill performance, but a ZIPped GS should still handle it adequately, I estimate that the game runs effectively at 12MHz since it doesn't seem to matter whether the host machine is 12MHz or 33MHz. UUCP: bkj386!pnet91!ericmcg INET: ericmcg@pnet91.cts.com
sysadmin@pnet91.cts.com (Matthew Montano) (05/26/91)
jerry@polygen.uucp (Jerry Shekhel) writes: >chiu@ucsee.Berkeley.EDU writes: >> >>> >>>90% of the "latest and greatest" IBM software is just rehash of Apple II and >>>Mac stuff years old. There are some very notable exceptions, but the majority >>>is crap that would not sell on any other system. >>> >>True... I recall something I seen several years back that bears striking >>resemblance with the original Leasure Suit Larry... And that thing was >>entirely text based and was written in BASIC in DOS 3.3! >> > >This is incredible bull. It's like saying that Ultima VI is just a rehash >of Ultima I, and therefore totally useless. Or that the Apple IIgs is just >a rehash of the original Apple II, and is therefore worthless. I suppose >you think that PageMaker 4.0 is just a rehash of the Print Shop? >-- Sierra recently released several "new" games. They were advertised as such too. "Exciting new concept in games" or something similar. Sierra's division called Dynamix seems to be handling them all. One game is a blatant (licensed?) rip off of an old Apple II game, O'Rielys Mine. Another is another blatant rip off of Stellar 7. Both Stellar 7 and O'Rielys Mine(s?) were fantastic games in their time. The graphics and sound now look pale in comparisson, but the game play was great. The games were really playable and simply fun. Sierra/Dynamix are taking these old great games, beefing them up with modern 320*200*16 graphics, and Ad-Lib graphics and releasing them as "new" games. Soft-Porn Adventure beared a little more than a striking resemblance to Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. See where the future of IIgs entertainment software should be? It's in our shoeboxes! --- ventureTech Intelligence - We're trying to make computers easy, SOME HOW! Email: sysadmin@pnet91.cts.com (most mailers won't barf on that..) My comments aren't even worth a disclaimer... And the further I get from the things that I care about... The less I care about how much further away I get - Robert Smith, 1989
jerry@polygen.uucp (Jerry Shekhel) (05/31/91)
In article <778@generic.UUCP> sysadmin@pnet91.cts.com (Matthew Montano) writes: > >Another is another blatant rip off of Stellar 7. > Excuse me, but this "blatant ripoff" happens to be called Stellar 7, so it's not really a ripoff, and it is one fantastic game! I've played both the Apple II original and the PC/VGA version, and both are great, of course. I don't see anything wrong with taking such a game and giving it new life by releasing a modern version. It gives people who were too young 10 years ago a chance to experience a great game which would otherwise be overlooked and forgotten. I wish other companies would do the same thing. What I wouldn't do for a new version of M.U.L.E.! Hey, did you complain when the music of the Beatles was re-released on CD? -- +-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+ | JERRY J. SHEKHEL | POLYGEN CORPORATION | When I was young, I had to walk | | Drummers do it... | Waltham, MA USA | to school and back every day -- | | ... In rhythm! | (617) 890-2175 | 20 miles, uphill both ways. | +-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+ | ...! [ princeton mit-eddie bu sunne ] !polygen!jerry | | jerry@polygen.com | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+