Xref: utzoo comp.sys.amiga:59439 comp.sys.amiga.tech:12624 comp.sys.amiga.games:180 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!apple!vsi1!zorch!xanthian From: xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.amiga.tech,comp.sys.amiga.games Subject: Re: A Philosophy of Game Design, from the author of PocoMan Message-ID: <1990Jun9.222125.2499@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> Date: 9 Jun 90 22:21:25 GMT Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga Organization: SF Bay Public-Access Unix Lines: 103 I promised to post a part of the letter I received from the author of PocoMan, in response to my Multitasking vs Games posting, if permission were forthcoming. It was, and I think the part I have included is of interest to all game designers trying to decide whether to copy protect, multitask, und so weider on the Amiga. The first paragraph is mine, from my article, the rest is Ron's response. Followups to comp.sys.amiga, since these discussions tend to be more heat than light, and c.s.a.games isn't yet well enough distributed to allow a converstation there. Ron's email address is included for those who wish to address comments directly to him. Enjoy! >> 4) I've already said it, but of course you should exit! Give up the >> paranoia! Poco isn't copy protected, it multitasks, the game is >> completely described on the screen so you don't need a manual, and >> it is lots of fun and full of wonderful puzzles. I tell my friends >> to _buy_ a copy; I want the folks who made this game to be >> encouraged by lots of cash return to write another great game that >> is completely compatible with me and with my computer. > > I haven't seen a lot of cash return yet, but I am encouraged by your >kind words. > > I'm the author of PocoMan, and I'm glad to see that someone out there >is actually buying and enjoying it. It's been out since about last October, >but our publisher has been a less than stellar performer marketing-wise. >It's listed in a couple of mail-order ads in the latest (A3000) Amiga World, >so maybe it will start to gain a little momentum now. > > You might be interested to know that we (Sleepless Software) are a >tiny little two-man operation (my brother and myself, he does the artwork, >I do the coding), and that PocoMan is our first published product. In fact, >it's one of my first Amiga projects, I'm a Unix hacker, spent several years >at the U. of Texas as Sun guru. We now develop using two Amigas with >ethernet boards connected to my Sun 3/60. > > Regarding the discussions in the usenet thread, and the comments in your >article, you may be interested in the following text file which I originally >wrote as a readme file to be included on the PocoMan disk. The publishers >didn't use it in that form, but it illustrates my philosophy about >copy-protection and multi-tasking friendliness: >---- > > PocoMan - Introduction > > > Hello, and thank you for buying PocoMan. We hope you'll find PocoMan > to be a refreshing change from the usual shoot-em-ups and eternal adventure > games. You'll actually have to think in order to solve this game, and not > a bit of violence anywhere. > > PocoMan is not copy protected. You can easily make archival backups > and install it on a hard disk using the standard Amiga utilities (See the > instructions in the Docs directory concerning hard disk setup). We have > purposely chosen not to copy protect PocoMan. We are computer users too, > and we know what a pain it can be. It only serves to annoy the rightful > owners, and does little or nothing to prevent those determined to make > bootleg copies. We've chosen to trust you, please respect our copyright > and do not make illegal copies of PocoMan. > > PocoMan is multi-tasking friendly. We have gone to great effort to > keep the amount of chip ram used to a minimum, as well as overall > memory usage. PocoMan should co-exist well with just about anything > else you might wish to run at the same time. It does not take over the > whole system, nor require a special boot disk like many commercial games. > The copy that you run PocoMan from should be enabled for writing, PocoMan > needs to write to the score file periodically. If PocoMan is unable to > write to the score file, it will still run properly, but you will need > to dismiss an error requestor at the end of each new level when it tries > to update the score. > > Speaking of score, PocoMan doesn't really give you a score in the > usual sense. The only thing it keeps track of is which levels you've > solved. There are no points at all, just the objective of completing > all of the levels. We think that is job enough, without tacking on > meaningless point values. > > Copy this disk before doing anything else. Make sure your original > distribution copy is write protected, then duplicate it onto a blank disk. > Store the original in a safe place, and run PocoMan from the copy. > > This disk is not bootable. Boot up as you normally do, then insert > the PocoMan floppy. You can either run PocoMan from the CLI, or via > WorkBench by double-clicking the icon. > > See the other text files in the Docs directory on this disk for more > detailed information. Thank you, and enjoy playing PocoMan. > > Sleepless Software, 1989 > >----- > > Anyway, I'd be interested in anything you have to say about PocoMan >or game (mis-)design in general. We have two games underway right now, >both of which will fully cooperate with workbench. BTW, our publisher >tells us that of all their published titles, PocoMan is the only one >that runs fine as-is on the A3000, I guess it pays to play by the rules... > > Cheers, > >Ron Hitchens cs.utah.edu!caeco!vixen!ronbo hitchens@cs.utexas.edu Kent, the man from xanth.