Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ukma!dftsrv!mimsy!midway!quads.uchicago.edu!jm13
From: jm13@quads.uchicago.edu (Kermit T. Frog)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: In Defense of Harpoon (was Re: Vette!)
Message-ID: <1991Apr6.091815.8675@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: 6 Apr 91 09:18:15 GMT
Sender: bcareful@midway.uchicago.edu
Distribution: comp.sys.mac.games
Organization: University of Chicago
Lines: 56

In article <1339@caslon.cs.arizona.edu> jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (J. Taggart Gorman) writes:
>In article <1991Apr4.225837.7179@midway.uchicago.edu> jm13@quads.uchicago.edu (Kermit T. Frog) writes:
>>
>  Okay, you say that you don't like the fact that you have to buy additional
>battlesets for Harpoon, but you say that you _would_ but an additional course
>disk for Golf.

OK, I realized the inconsistency of this when I typed it, but what I meant
was that I would buy additional sets (of courses, battles, etc.) of any
game that I would a) STAY interested in, and b) had no bugs.  One of the 
things that really impressed me about Golf was that it has _no_ bugs.
If I am paying 40-50 dollars, I want to get something with no bugs.

>  First, the scenario disks are only $23 with shipping from Mac's Place.

Where, or what, exactly IS Mac's Place?  I've heard a lot about it,
but could someone get more specific?

(Useful comments about complexity and diversity of scenarios deleted to save
bandwidth)

>  As for all these comments about the game dying all the time, I must say that
>on my Si with 5megs of memory, I have had Harpoon die once!  That has to be
>a record.  What I did was increase the memory allocated to the APPL to 1000K.

Did this alleviate the problem, or were there other annoying bugs still
in existence?

>The game froze alot more often on my Plus though.  I think it was to do with
>the complexity of the scenario, and not the game, for simple scenarios with a
>few ships run without a hitch, but monsterous games with 30 or more subs, each
>as an independent unit really tax the computer and cause it to choke.

Don't get me wrong -- Harpoon seems like a really cool game, and your 
recommendation may just tip the balance in its favor -- but I just get
infuriated when I pay twice as much for commercial products with bugs
as shareware products without them.  The guys at the computer store
are eying me warily when I walk in now, because I return stuff every
so often.  Now, when I return Vette!, I want to get something that
I will enjoy a LOT and will not frustrate me with its inconsistencies.

Also, to clear up another point, Vette! has no bugs that I can see -- 
I'm just tired of it after two days.  Not worth the money, IMHO.

>
>|      J. Taggart Gorman Jr.     | "I'm a no rust build up man myself."
>|                                |          -Christian Slater
>| jtgorman@caslon.cs.arizona.edu |             in 'Heathers'

Thanks for the input -- I appreciate it and other input like it.
(hint, hint -- anyone else out there have any suggestions?)
-- 
Paid for by the Committee to elect the Boston Bruins
as the 1991 Stanley Cup Champions.
Sponsored by the Committee to elect the St. Louis Blues as
 the 1991 Campbell Conference Champions.