Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!apple!chuq
From: chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Portable yes, Mac NO !
Keywords: Software BOMB
Message-ID: <36701@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 21 Nov 89 20:59:08 GMT
References: <2106@cs-spool.calgary.UUCP> <21247@ut-emx.UUCP>
Organization: Life is just a Fantasy novel played for keeps
Lines: 41

>>     I just played with a portable.  One of the tests I like to do is
>>Crystal Quest.  See how many critters you can get without bogging
>>down the machine.  Well, version 2.2 CRASHES THE PORTABLE !!!! It
>>does not crash SE, SE/30 or MacII types.  Modified ROMS huh ?  I guess
>>it is back to the drawing board or find a fix time !


>Having had a chance to do considerably more than "play" with a portable
>(I was loaned one for two days with which I could do anything I wanted), I
>have to say that the above statements are rather rash and pointless.

Actually, considering the number of very low-level (e.g. visible only to the
software) changes that there are very few real compatibility issues with the
Portable. I've worked with it a fair amount, and it's hard to find things
that don't work. Crystal Quest doesn't, but most of the games I've tried do,
including things like Shufflepuck.

What bothers me is this "I've used it for 10 minutes, a program crashed on
it, it's terrible" attitude -- why do you automatically assume it's the Mac
problem? The original Crystal Quest, for instance, wouldn't work with
Multifinder, for instance.

It's impossible to really evaluate anything based on *a* program or *an*
afternoon. Imagine if I'd just read the first four words of your posting and
decided what I thought of it from there....

>Games, in particular, are known for violating developer guidelines - witness
>all the games that had to be re-written when the Mac II was introduced, and
>games like Falcon that *only* work with the Apple color card because they 
>continue to do unusual and dubious things even in their current incarnations.

Or the games that won't load onto hard disks, or the games that *still*
won't work under multifinder, or the games (like MicroLeague Baseball) that
still won't work on a Mac II, or....

-- 

Chuq Von Rospach   <+>    Editor,OtherRealms    <+>   Member SFWA/ASFA
chuq@apple.com   <+>   CI$: 73317,635   <+>   [This is myself speaking]

All it takes is one thorn to make you forget the dozens of roses on the bush.