mykes@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) (01/16/91)
The bulk of EA's software compatibility problems lie with their copy protection scheme. Seems they used the trackdisk.device in some funky way that is not software compatible with 2.0. I would think that CBM would want to figure this one out and fix it. I do know of one EA product that works great on the 3000 - Budokan, which I wrote. I took over the entire machine and wrote my own floppy disk drivers. I find it kind of ironic that the most unfriendly program you can write for a machine can be the most upwards compatible. I went to great lengths to not violate any of the obvious rules (like CPU loop timing, etc.) and tested the game on a 68030 machine just to make sure. I told RJ Mical about how I wrote Budokan and he told me that the 3000 has a new interrupt structure, and that had me scared. But CBM must have done this in a friendly way to allow Budo and programs like it to work. By the way, I am one of only a few developers for EA that ever took over the machine, and I believe it shows in the relatively poor quality of their games. EA has rarely developed a product that was designed to exploit the Amiga. The bulk of their games are weak ports of PC games. I would sure like to see them change this by making the bulk of their future games great ports of their Sega Genesis products. I hope they get the message... My opinions may seem harsh, but they are obvious fact to me. And judging from what I have read on usenet, many of you don't care for their style either. But to give EA the credit they deserve, they continue to provide the most (quantity) titles of any publisher for the Amiga. Dan Silva no longer works for EA, and despite the amazing success of DPaint on the Amiga, they only have one programmer working on DPaint IV. DPaint was once the best program you could buy for the Amiga, but it has not kept up. One of the biggest problems I have with it is that it was cross developed from a PC and because of that, Dan did not put into it the features that those of us who use the machine daily see done better in other programs. The program could easily have a better file requestor, ARexx, Amiga-keys = pull-down menus, audio support (to go with animations), custom copper driven displays, and more. I don't blame Dan for the problems, since he used what EA gave him to use - a PC. And it was taking him 3 or 4 minutes turnaround time to see the smallest of program changes work. EA had a single programmer working on DPaint IV for the Amiga over a year ago. But the programmer was pulled of the Amiga version to work on the PC version of DPaint II. I would think it would make more sense to put 4 or 5 programmers on the Amiga version FULL TIME. If the Amiga community really wanted to see DPaint IV anytime soon, I would suggest that we each call or write to EA and express ourselves. Their phone number is 415-571-7171. Ask to speak to Trip Hawkins! Bye
borgen@stud.cs.uit.no (Boerge Noest) (01/18/91)
>In article <1991Jan16.065908.16719@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> mykes@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG >(Mike Schwartz) writes: [sad things about DPAINT IV] Hey Mike, if you visit EA HQ would you think about telling Rob Hubbard that all die-hard C64-lovers still have a soft spot in their hearts for him and his music(I hear he is rocking ( :-) ) up a storm on the Genesis/Megadrive these days). Come back Rob, all is forgiven. (seriously :-) :-) :-) ) -- |/// borgen@stud.cs.uit.no (Borge Nost) \\\| |// ...and then there was AMIGA... \\| |/ studying at the worlds northernmost university (Tromsoe, Norway) \|
hastoerm@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Moriland) (01/26/91)
I find it amazing to hear some of my same complaints about Electronic Arts being echoed by someone who worked for them. I can remember back when I bought my Amiga in early 86 how EA was ranting on about how it was the future and they were committed to it. I want to know what happened to that committment. Programs that were promised at the beginning never showed (Pinball Construction Set, among others) and only a few titles have been worth talkin about. F/A-18 was one of their best and Deluxe Paint was their other good one as well. Beyond that I can't name many exceptional EA titles except for those from companies such as Bullfrog who wrote their stuff either from the ST or the Amiga. It's a shame too, back in my days of the C-64, I bought ANY game that EA brought out for the C-64. I was that certain I would like it and I was rarely disappointed. EA was my favorite game maker. Can't say the same of them anymore. --Moriland -- | hastoerm@vela.acs.oakland.edu | __ | | | __/// Viva Amiga! | | Founder Of: Evil Young | \XX/ | | Mutants For A Better Tomorrow | "Single Tasking: JUST SAY NO!" |