I like the Harry editor! The only reason I didn't make many levels with it is because it was very buggy! (And I mean MAJOR bugs that usually made it so you couldn't have anything past a level 1...) I thought it was great besides that! Please release the Ferazel editor, please!
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I come, I go; You'll never know...
-Admiral Dennis
(url="http://"mailto:admiraldennis@mac.com")mailto:admiraldennis@mac.com(/url)admiraldennis@mac.com
Please don't! (read my post in "Additional Levels?")
I just don't think it would work.
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"It is not depravity that afflicts the human race so much as a general lack of intelligence."
Well, additional levels COULD work, provided they were reviewed and released by Ambrosia or something. Perhaps some 'normal' people might be allowed to have the editor, but I assume it can't be given away to public. For such a great and complex game as Ferazel, it could mean a deathblow...
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Ankh Starrunner, The Diamond Blaster
Admiral Dennis wrote:
**I like the Harry editor! The only reason I didn't make many levels with it is because it was very buggy! (And I mean MAJOR bugs that usually made it so you couldn't have anything past a level 1...) I thought it was great besides that! Please release the Ferazel editor, please!
**
The biggest problem with level editors is that they're generally to complicated to use, if you don't know the internals of the game. Besides, designing levels is very challenging (it isn't easy at all) and I don't think the editor would be much of a success (look at Harry -- there weren't very many add-on levels released.)
-- Brian
Brian Christensen wrote:
**I don't think the editor would be much of a success (look at Harry -- there weren't very many add-on levels released.)
-- Brian**
Sooo...everyone is saying that it would be rather a huge waste of the programmer's time and energy? Time and energy that could be better well spent on...oh..I dunno...another game? 
I can understand that. While it would be fun to think that somebody might design more Ferazel levels or make another Ferazel game, if the editor is only something that only a handful of people might be able to find useful it would be a complete waste of time for the programmer. Perhaps those of you who really feel as if they could do something with it should contact Ben via email. If there's an editor in existence and you're really serious and knowledgeable about programming and so forth, maybe he can get you a copy. (Once you've registered the game, of course.) On the other hand, if that's impossible too, maybe Ben should tell us all to find another topic to whine about and we can lay this one to rest finally.
---Zelda
It is not impossible that the Ferazel editor could be released, but the chances are rather slim. The editor is similar to Harry's, but more complicated. As anyone who's used the Harry Editor knows, it's somewhat quirky and not completely intuitive to use. It also has its share of bugs. I think if we were going to officially release it, it would need to be pretty much bulletproof, and even then, few people would end up using it. (How many Harry add-ons have you seen? I know about approximately 5 in the two years since it was released.)
Therefore, it doesn't seem like the wisest investment of time to do the work necessary to release the editor -- it would make more sense for me to work on my next game. Feel free to post if you disagree, though. We take all input
seriously.
-Ben
Can you possably consider making available "As is" to people that want it? I don't think that there is any harm witg letting people who want it download it as an "Add-on" only! (In other words, it doesn't come with the game package)
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I come, I go; You'll never know...
-Admiral Dennis
(url="http://"mailto:admiraldennis@mac.com")mailto:admiraldennis@mac.com(/url)admiraldennis@mac.com
Hmmm...maybe it's time for the strange rumors to start... 
Word is "someone" (but who?!) has access to the editor...it is not just Ben. Word is, he/she plans to create an add-on level pilot to test his/her abilities in level creation.
End message.
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/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room!"
-Dr. Strangelove
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Will Oram
Well, as I said, Editors aren't always good for games. They can be used to cheat, and to pass over crippleware limitations. In some cases, especially with RPGs, if they can be used to modify (and look into) maps the players hasn't seen yet, it can spoil a lot of things and effectively too.
I propose it to be compatible only with registered versions (for obvious reasons), that it can't be used to change existing levels (to prevent cheating) and that someone wrote up a guide (similar to the EV Bible) to make it possible to correct bugs made by the editor.
For those of you who enjoy messing around programs, there are of course other things to do - perhaps changing some of the sounds, making a few new picts and replacing Ferazel with something else, mess a little with a few other things in there - there are quite a lot of things you can do to a smart resource-based game!
Talking of ResEdit messing, have any of you people noticed that when you look into Dimbo's and Rojinko's mcnw files, there are quite a few things they never say? For example, there are some about Dimbo thanking you about you finding his lost brother, and another one about you stealing his money. In Rojinko's file, there is for example a new greeting when you talk to him a second time (which, it would seem, doesn't happen in the demo - the greeting never changes) and another one about him getting mad at you and saying, "I hate you. Leave me alone."
More interesting is, that the comments in the game don't match the ones in the resource files. In Rojinko's files, many of the things he says are followed by some more text, which for some reason never shows up in the game.
Hmm. Perhaps I'm too curious...
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"I don't say yes or no, more like the other way around"
Ankh Starrunner, The Diamond Blaster
Ankh Starrunner wrote:
**
More interesting is, that the comments in the game don't match the ones in the resource files. In Rojinko's files, many of the things he says are followed by some more text, which for some reason never shows up in the game.
Hmm. Perhaps I'm too curious...
**
It's possible that this just has to do with the demo. The full game lets you come back to previously completed levels. Perhaps the rest of the conversation only takes place if you come back later.
(This message has been edited by Brian Christensen (edited 01-25-2000).)
(This message has been edited by Brian Christensen (edited 01-25-2000).)
If you go back to Rojinko later on in the demo he just continues to say the same things. In fact, I'm sort of annoyed that he doesn't recognize you after you've already talked to him. All this other conversation and prompts must have to do with the full version of the game. Which does intrigue me. Can't wait to get to it.
---Zelda
Please do make an editor. If you are woried about people getting around crippleware registration, just make it so you can't open up an edited level. I would love to have an editor.
Thanks,
Jasdf
There is a Ferazel's Wand editor; the odds that it will ever be released to anyone outside of Ambrosia are extremely slim. Why? Because the editor is in developmental form; it's good enough for Ben (the one who wrote it) to use for creating levels, but that's about it.
"Why not just released it as unsupported?"
Because we don't think that's a good idea. Despite the fact that we can clearly say it's unsupported, we will be deluged with questions. That is a fact that I know from experience. People will expect the editor to be updated; we'd rather have Ben working on another game.
If we thought for a second that releasing the level editor in its current form would do any good for anyone, we would do so. Experience is on our side, though; releasing it is a bad idea.
I submit that most people who are asking for an editor for Ferazel have not yet played the full game -- because there are MORE than enough huge, fiendishly devious levels in that full game to keep anyone busy for quite some time.
You can continue to debate this as you like, but that's how it is: no Ferazel's Wand level editor will be released, unless the level editor is significantly enhanced from its current form (which is very unlikely).
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Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
Admiral Dennis wrote:
**I like the Harry editor! The only reason I didn't make many levels with it is because it was very buggy! (And I mean MAJOR bugs that usually made it so you couldn't have anything past a level 1...) I thought it was great besides that! Please release the Ferazel editor, please!
**
I just realized that your first post sums up nicely exactly why we won't release the Ferazel's Wand editor.
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Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
Yes, I suppose it does.
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Think Different.
-Admiral Dennis
(url="http://"mailto:admiraldennis@mac.com")mailto:admiraldennis@mac.com(/url)admiraldennis@mac.com
Quote
Originally posted by andrew:
**There is a Ferazel's Wand editor; the odds that it will ever be released to anyone outside of Ambrosia are extremely slim. Why? Because the editor is in developmental form; it's good enough for Ben (the one who wrote it) to use for creating levels, but that's about it.
"Why not just released it as unsupported?"
Because we don't think that's a good idea. Despite the fact that we can clearly say it's unsupported, we will be deluged with questions. That is a fact that I know from experience. People will expect the editor to be updated; we'd rather have Ben working on another game.
If we thought for a second that releasing the level editor in its current form would do any good for anyone, we would do so. Experience is on our side, though; releasing it is a bad idea.
I submit that most people who are asking for an editor for Ferazel have not yet played the full game -- because there are MORE than enough huge, fiendishly devious levels in that full game to keep anyone busy for quite some time.
You can continue to debate this as you like, but that's how it is: no Ferazel's Wand level editor will be released, unless the level editor is significantly enhanced from its current form (which is very unlikely).
**
What if it was released as Open Source?
Then programmers including myself could help fix the bugs.
If you don't want comsumers to be able to get a buggy version, you could let only programmers get it until it was fairly stable.
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Andrew Schaaf
CEO of (url="http://"http://www.frontiernet.net/~pschaaf/imrom")IMROM Software(/url)
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May the schwartz be with you!
Quote
Originally posted by Ankh Starrunner:
**In Rojinko's files, many of the things he says are followed by some more text, which for some reason never shows up in the game.
Hmm. Perhaps I'm too curious...
**
For each snippet of conversation the byte before the first letter of the text specifies the length of the string. The game doesn't read, and apparently the editor doesn't write, past that point.
Everybody: Keep poking around with ResEdit!
Quote
Originally posted by andrew:
**
"Why not just released it as unsupported?"
Because we don't think that's a good idea. Despite the fact that we can clearly say it's unsupported, we will be deluged with questions. That is a fact that I know from experience. People will expect the editor to be updated; we'd rather have Ben working on another game.
**
Maybe you could make people hand-write "I will not bug Ambrosia about the editor" 150 times, and mail it to you.
I would be willing to do it.
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Andrew Schaaf
CEO of (url="http://"http://www.frontiernet.net/~pschaaf/imrom")IMROM Software(/url)
-------------------------
May the schwartz be with you!
Quote
Originally posted by Ben Spees:
**It is not impossible that the Ferazel editor could be released, but the chances are rather slim. The editor is similar to Harry's, but more complicated. As anyone who's used the Harry Editor knows, it's somewhat quirky and not completely intuitive to use. It also has its share of bugs. I think if we were going to officially release it, it would need to be pretty much bulletproof, and even then, few people would end up using it. (How many Harry add-ons have you seen? I know about approximately 5 in the two years since it was released.)
-Ben**
Okay, you have a point, but I really like the open-source idea. It can't harm ambrosia. People can have an editor, we could create a web site and direct questions to those e-mail addresses instead of ambrosias, and the editor would be maintained and updated like andrew mentioned people would expect.
Quote
Originally posted by spamguy:
**Hmmm...maybe it's time for the strange rumors to start...
Word is "someone" (but who?!) has access to the editor...it is not just Ben. Word is, he/she plans to create an add-on level pilot to test his/her abilities in level creation.
End message.
**
That's not nice. Your dangling a carot in front of our faces. Sure, your intentions were good (like telling us, "Have no fear, I will create add-ons for you!"), but your actually saying, "I can and you can't naynay!"
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