n074ez@tamuts.tamu.edu (Joe Bezdek) (11/07/90)
While we're on the subject of RPGs, I have a question. I was very active in the gaming scene a while back, but haven't been nearly as involved in a little over a year. I've also just switched from an old Apple IIe to a Mac. In short, my question is this: what is the latest version of the Ultima series released for the Mac? I know that Ultima VI has been released on Tandy and other such machines - is a Mac release of that planned soon? Thanks. Joe
ccocswr@prism.gatech.EDU (Winston Rast (Micro- coop)) (11/07/90)
In article <9871@helios.TAMU.EDU> n074ez@tamuts.tamu.edu (Joe Bezdek) writes: >In short, my question is >this: what is the latest version of the Ultima series released for >the Mac? I know that Ultima VI has been released on Tandy and other >such machines - is a Mac release of that planned soon? As far as I know, there is no planned release of ANY Ultima series adventures. Except for Ultima II which is already out (?). Better hold on to your Apple IIe for Ultima VI... Winston Rast -- -| Winston M. Rast \\ Ever seen a low-cost color Mac?| - -| GA Tech Computer Tech \\ Neither have I. Well, maybe.|k|.. - -| ccocswr@prism.gatech.edu \ MAC RULES!!! | -
conty@cbnewsl.att.com (enrique.conty) (11/08/90)
In article <9871@helios.TAMU.EDU>, n074ez@tamuts.tamu.edu (Joe Bezdek) writes: > While we're on the subject of RPGs, I have a question. > I was very active in the gaming scene a while back, but haven't > been nearly as involved in a little over a year. I've also just > switched from an old Apple IIe to a Mac. In short, my question is > this: what is the latest version of the Ultima series released for > the Mac? I know that Ultima VI has been released on Tandy and other > such machines - is a Mac release of that planned soon? Origin hasn't released any of the Ultimas for the Mac since Ultima III. As far as I know, it doesn't have any plans to do so. -- E n r i q u e C o n t y jester@ihlpl.att.com
drz@po.cwru.edu (David R. Zinkin) (11/11/90)
In article <1990Nov8.215859.19374@isis.cs.du.edu> kreme@isis.cs.du.edu (Fred Q Zeats IV) writes: >In article <16538@hydra.gatech.EDU> ccocswr@prism.gatech.EDU (Winston Rast (Micro- coop)) writes: >>As far as I know, there is no planned release of ANY Ultima series adventures. >>Except for Ultima II which is already out (?). Better hold on to your Apple >>IIe for Ultima VI... > >Nope. Ultima VI will not be released for the Apple. This is accordinf to >Origin Systems. However, there does seem to be some confusion among the >distributors..... > >-- >| kreme@nyx.cs.du.edu |Growing up leads to growing old, and then to dying, and| >|---------------------|dying to me don't sound like all that much fun. | >| The voice of the majority is no proof of justice. Johann Schiller | > While we're on the subject, does anyone know the address and phone number of Origin Systems? Since I threw out most of my Apple II magazines I lost the address. Thanks! -- Dave Zinkin
ted@cs.utexas.edu (Ted Woodward) (11/19/90)
In article <1990Nov10.190258.22843@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> drz@po.cwru.edu (David R. Zinkin) writes: >While we're on the subject, does anyone know the address and phone number of >Origin Systems? Since I threw out most of my Apple II magazines I lost the >address. Thanks! Sure. Here ya go, straight from the Austin phone book: Origin Systems Inc 110 S. Wild Basin Rd Austin, TX (I don't know the zip code, but it's 787xx) (512) 328-0282 Perhaps some of you folks can get on the horn to Origin and get them to do more mac games. In fact, I wouldn't be angry with you if you mentioned my name as a person in Austin who could be part of the Mac team :-) -- Ted Woodward (ted@cs.utexas.edu) Mad scientists HATE shopping for shoes -- Peaches
n074ez@tamuts.tamu.edu (Joe Bezdek) (11/19/90)
Oddly enough, I was looking at the IBM box of Ultima VI, and on the back it includes among its disclaimers: Macintosh and Apple II are registered trademarks of Apple Computer. I don't know what this means, if anything. But it may be a ray of hope. I myself can see no reason why a game that can run on an IBM with VGA can't run on a Mac II with very few changes (cosmetic). Joe
ted@cs.utexas.edu (Ted Woodward) (11/20/90)
In article <10205@helios.TAMU.EDU> n074ez@tamuts.tamu.edu (Joe Bezdek) writes: >Oddly enough, I was looking at the IBM box of Ultima VI, and on the >back it includes among its disclaimers: Macintosh and Apple II are >registered trademarks of Apple Computer. >I don't know what this means, if anything. But it may be a ray of >hope. I myself can see no reason why a game that can run on an >IBM with VGA can't run on a Mac II with very few changes (cosmetic). Actually, if you are smart when you 1st write the program, you can. What you need to do is come up with your own set of screen libraries and only use those, not machine dependent stuff. Then you write the libraries for each machine using the machine dependent stuff only in the library code. So, if you wanted to draw a bitmap, you call your bitmap drawing routine. The calls are the same in your source, but the libraries do things differently inside. Of course, you have to add menus for the mac, and change the input to event driven, but you can write the original so that is not very difficult. It's still not easy, per se, but if you write the original to be machine independent it's a lot easier than what we have been lead to believe. And once you do this, all subsequent programs can use this library so port of those programs are much easier too. -- Ted Woodward (ted@cs.utexas.edu) Mad scientists HATE shopping for shoes -- Peaches
hale@scam.Berkeley.EDU (Greg Hale) (11/22/90)
In article <87@syrian.cs.utexas.edu> ted@cs.utexas.edu (Ted Woodward) writes: >In article <10205@helios.TAMU.EDU> n074ez@tamuts.tamu.edu (Joe Bezdek) writes: >>... I myself can see no reason why a game that can run on an >>IBM with VGA can't run on a Mac II with very few changes (cosmetic). > >Actually, if you are smart when you 1st write the program, you can. What you >need to do is come up with your own set of screen libraries and only use those, >not machine dependent stuff. Then you write the libraries for each machine >... Of course, this produces an ibm-like program on the Mac, often without windows, menus, nice interfaces, etc..., which absolutely drive Mac people insane when they must do without. Gads - when will people leave Mac ports to Mac programmers... :( O; \\// Greg 'All Black Stones Die' Hale, alias "The Leprechaun Guy" &-- o----o Internet: hale@scam.Berkeley.EDU (128.32.138.1) |\. \__/ UUCP: ...!ucbvax!scam!hale (415) 601-7500 "Shodan"
ted@cs.utexas.edu (Ted Woodward) (11/23/90)
In article <9154@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> hale@scam.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Greg Hale) writes: >In article <87@syrian.cs.utexas.edu> I write: >>In article <10205@helios.TAMU.EDU> n074ez@tamuts.tamu.edu (Joe Bezdek) writes: >>>... I myself can see no reason why a game that can run on an >>>IBM with VGA can't run on a Mac II with very few changes (cosmetic). >>Actually, if you are smart when you 1st write the program, you can. What you >>need to do is come up with your own set of screen libraries and only use those, >>not machine dependent stuff. Then you write the libraries for each machine >>... >Of course, this produces an ibm-like program on the Mac, often without >windows, menus, nice interfaces, etc..., which absolutely drive Mac >people insane when they must do without. Again, not if you do it correctly. And some games don't need to be 'macified' anyway. Other than nice menus, of course, like the ultimas. To port an Ultima using the above method all you need to do is put the stuff in windows and add menus, and, of course, mouse support, and it will be fine. My trick above eliminates a lot of the tedium of finding the graphics calls for the IBM or Amiga or somesuch and replacing them with the mac calls. Oh, by 'correctly' I mean customize it for the machine being ported to. Someone ought to call Origin and tell them that pull down menus are not that hard to deal with. And are actually easier than writing your own code (like microsoft did in its flight simulator...UGLY!) >Gads - when will people leave Mac ports to Mac programmers... :( I am a mac programmer. And I agree; only a mac user can truly tell if an interface would be palatable to other mac users. -- Ted Woodward (ted@cs.utexas.edu) Mad scientists HATE shopping for shoes -- Peaches