Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!news.cs.indiana.edu!arizona.edu!arizona!jtgorman
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: Some Copyrighted Games...
Message-ID: <1357@caslon.cs.arizona.edu>
From: jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (J. Taggart Gorman)
Date: 8 Apr 91 22:29:56 GMT
References: <1341@caslon.cs.arizona.edu> <10932@bunny.GTE.COM>
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson
Lines: 46

In article <10932@bunny.GTE.COM> CAH0@bunny.gte.com (Chuck Hoffman) writes:
>Seems to me that wanting to imitate a game which someone else has 
>developed and marketed is a pretty clear acknowledgement that you think 
>their game is more successful, or their marketing is more successful, (or 
>both), than what you might come up with alone.  They might want to share 
>their success with you, and they might not.  But you have to make a 
>proposal to them.  After all, they've done all the work and taken all the 
>risks so far.  It's their game.
  
  You got it.  I totally think that this game is great.  I want to take
a board game (read "A game you play without a computer") and write a version
of it so that all Mac users (well okay, not all Mac users, just those who
own color Macs - I can't program that well yet!) can enjoy the game.  I
really like this game and I think that others would too.  I am not saying in
anyways that my game would be different (other than be computerized) or
better than the real thing.

>...  You 
>wouldn't be just selling a version of the other game, you would be selling 
>your own game, and would benefit only from your own distribution and 
>advertising.
  This same idea was put forth in the immediately preceeding article, 3872,
by omh@cs.brown.edu (Owen M. Hartnett).

  You assumed one thing wrong here - I never once said or even thought about
the word "sell."  I don't want to make any money out of this.  Not a cent.
Sure, that's crazy, spending all that time programming a game and not getting
any (monetary) compensation, but hey, I think the Mac world could use more
games, and if it's a free game, then why not.  I just want to see my name
mentioned in the InterNet by someone saying, "Ya, that game by Taggart Gorman
is really great!"  It's just an ego thing!  :)
  I just want to write this game because I think I can and I want to write
a nifty program.  I've always written programs in my spare time for the heck
of it that help out.  How many of us have written a game aid that will roll
up a fantasy character for a certain game?  I've done it at least 3 times,
and the last one I wrote is huge and took me about 40, probably more, hours.
Any compensation for it?  Not even.  Wouldn't want any.

  I just want to write a game, because I can (well, think I can).  There are
a lot of other people who can't program these complicated boxes we call Macs.
I just want to help them out.
  That's all.

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