Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu From: awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer Subject: Re: Mac II Disappointment/Request for Game Recs Summary: WARNING: flames ahead Message-ID: <42149@ut-emx.uucp> Date: 4 Jan 91 22:16:22 GMT References: <1991Jan4.164554.5097@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> <42136@ut-emx.uucp> Sender: news@ut-emx.uucp Reply-To: awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) Distribution: usa Organization: The University of Texas at Austin Lines: 80 In article <42136@ut-emx.uucp> rdd@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) writes: >of game purchases are done by people running on Plusses or SE's; I do no not >expect the LC or IIsi to change the equation very much. With this in mind, it I personally think these models WILL change things quite a bit. The LC's screen makes some of those games easier to colorize, but the real reason I think (hope) things will change is that I've seen a LOT of SIs and LCs being sold. >>Lastly, I would greatly appreciate it if any Mac II owners could >>recommend any software that works spectacularly on the Mac II's. (I brought >>along a copy of Solarian, > >A copy, I hope, that you purchased. The rampant piracy of the good games Or sent the shareware fee in.... >is another factor that discourages any attempts to develop color software. If the installed base of color users were there, the piracy wouldn't be an issue. I'd guess that Apple's pressure and marketing of the Mac as anything BUT a game machine has about the same level of affect on color game availability that piracy might have. I note the Amiga is doing quite well in that area, and I know there is rampant piracy of Amiga wares going on too (as well as IBM stuff.) >One cannot sell $300 games; therefore, one doesn't have the same cushion No, but you can sell $300 game systems. >Now, if Apple would do the smart thing, and produce usable color systems >for < $1500, everything would change. I find it absolutely intolerable that, >with VGA PC clones selling for less than a thousand bucks, retail, Apple's What a bunch of horse manure. MAIL ORDER 286-16s with 640x480 VGA with 256 colors out of 256k colors are running $1400 (my numbers are from current InfoWorld and PC Magazine ads.) If you start quoting stuff from Computer Shopper, I'll find prices from grey market Mac sources. I just called the dealer that gives the best prices I can find locally and they said $2400 for the LC and the 512x382 color monitor. If I remember correctly, the installed VRAM on the LC will give you 8 bit color on that monitor, and 16 bit with teh extra VRAM. I'd also like to note that in spite of the problems I've had with Plus power supplies, those problems were nothing compared to the problems I've had getting a clone fixed. Even when you're careful to buy everything from one vendor, you can't be sure they'll support a machine very much older than a year or so down the line. "Wow, a motherboard from '88. Anybody remember how to fix those suckers?" "Why sure we can add on that tape drive. Uh, sorry, sir, it seems your ROM doesn't support that controller. We switched ROM suppliers a long time ago." I'll take SCSI chain problems any day. >bottom-of-the-line color system costs over $3000--and IT doesn't even come >with a floating-point chip or the necessary VRAM, for crying out loud! Apple Neither does your stock 286 VGA clone. Let me note that said clone doesn't come with reasonable sound chips, sound input device, or built in networking. How about support for multiple monitors built into the OS? More than 2 hard disk drives? "We can sell you a SCSI board. <$$ signs in salesman's eyes.>" I've seen a LOT of VGA boards shipped with 256k VRAM expandible to 512. It helps when the PC world is an order of magnitude bigger than the Mac world. >has consistently discouraged game production, tending to favor >business/personal-productivity software developers. And you wonder why there >aren't fancy games on the Mac? Sim Earth, SimCity, Falcon, and a host of others seem to be adequate. >In summary, it's economics, not the technical capabilities of the machines, >that affect whether you will see a Mac game run in color. Yep. 'bout the only thing I can agree with you there. It just means that those of us who are interested in games on the color machines have to pay $40 PLUS $5-15 for color versions of said games. I'd recommend that anyone starting the XXX computer vs Mac argument post features and costs of same in machine. I just love it when two people flaming the same machine can pat each other on the back when the one says the Mac sucks because everything is bundled in and the other says the Mac sucks when Apple starts letting you piece together a system.