Ok, first off, I realize this is becoming a tired and old post topic so I'll get right to the point. I realize Ambrosia itself is not willing to port EV over to the PC. But if say a developer were to backward engineer an EV engine for the PC would Ambrosia be willing to negotiate some sort of deal in allowing the original graphics, game mechanics and text to be used in a PC port. Even if that meant Ambrosia would receive a majority of the profits? Would Ambrosia be willing to distribute such a game as well. I hope that was clear, I also hope that Andrew(or Cajun or another Ambrosia representative) still trolls these areas.
--feel free to ignore all that is below--
Now I'm going to indulge myself in a little reminscing(sp?). I first discovered Ambrosia back in it's AOL days. EV was one of the first computer games I ever downloaded. Unfortunately I only have access to macintosh now when I'm at my parent's home. Being a CompSci major I hope to remedy that though.
I can still remember going to the AOL boards. It felt like a small comunity then(although it probably wasn't). I alway visited keyword: Ambrosia in hopes of discovering a new product that they had released. Maelstorm(which now has a Linux port), EV and Avera were probably my favorites, although I probably downloaded them all. I even got to beta test Cythera, ahh, those were the days ehh? I lost my train of thought. Oh well, I really should try to get some sleep tonight.

Stephen Smithwick

------------------

It would be quite nice of ambrosia to port EV and/or some other games over to PC, because many of my PC-bound friends and relatives sit behind me on my mac and drool over the game. But ambrosia will never port it. If they ever would, they would have done it by now. I don't see why not, though. Dont they just have to select "windows" in codewarrior before they compile? Or is it more complex? Im not sure because im not really a programmer. Maybe someday I will be, but not yet.

------------------
--ares
"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes."

Quote

Originally posted by ares1:
**Dont they just have to select "windows" in codewarrior before they compile? Or is it more complex?
**

Yes.

------------------
The most dangerous people are the followers in positions of power.
(url="http://"http://www.escapevelocity.f2s.com")EV Upcoming Plug-Ins Directory(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.nohate.f2s.com")Don't Hate Me(/url) | (url="http://"http://yoshi.zzux.com/spaceport/")The Spaceport Bar(/url)

Yes to what? Its complex or all they have to do is check off windows?

------------------
--ares
"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes."

Quote

Originally posted by ares1:
**Yes to what? Its complex or all they have to do is check off windows?
**

Yes, it's more complex than that.

Also, for smithwic, David Arthur and I have posted some thoughts in the EV FAQ as to why Ambrosia shouldn't port it, even by allowing another developer to do so, so see my arguments there if you're curious. Also, they don't have the compilers for EV anymore anyway - in short, the original code no longer exists and probably can't be reverse engineered at this point.

------------------
- Macavenger | e-mail: (url="http://"mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com")mailto:e-gamerguy1@home.com(/url)e-gamerguy1@home.com

Also, I've asked if the source code of EV would ever be made available, and andrew has repeatedly said that it will never be made available. It is the property of Ambrosia. You want EV? Make a version yourself based on your own skills.

- Anatole

------------------
There will come a time, when the/curse of the One above/will not be tolerated further/when the Lineage of Caine will be weak/and there will be no Embracing for/these Childer/for their blood will run like water/and the potence in it will wither/Then, you know in this time that/Gehenna will soon be upon you.
- The Book Of Nod

In other words EV stands no chance of being GPL'd like Maelstorm was?

That probably means that Ambrosia would be against someone remaking their game on PC too. Hmm, I guess I'll just have to settle for a similar game. That is if I ever get off my lazy ass and attempt to program it.

-Steve

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by ares1:
Yes to what? Its complex or all they have to do is check off windows?

It's much more complex than that. The Escape Velocity engine is very tightly intertwined with a number of Macintosh technologies (most notably the Resource Manager, which is used to store scenario data both for the standard scenario and plugins) which have no counterparts on Windows.

------------------
David Arthur
(url="http://"http://members.aol.com/darthur1/talon-ev/")Talon Plugin for the original Escape Velocity(/url)

See the emulation topic I posted on this board for PC EV-playing info.

------------------
Want to play EVO but have a PC? (url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/game_master107/howtoemulateamac.html")Click here(/url) for step by step by step instructions to set up an emulator, all the supplies are included.

Earn a dime every time you receive email!
Sign up FREE at: (url="http://"http://www.MintMail.com/?m=807681")http://www.MintMail.com/?m=807681(/url)

If you are willing to create an EV for PC, you would start with the Sprite Animation Toolkit that Matt used to make EV. I believe there is a windoze port of SAT (or was that spriteworld?, heck, spriteword would do just as well). Don't worry about cutting deals with Ambrosia, sign up with Kagi and sell the game yourself under a different name.

------------------

(This message has been edited by magicianeer (edited 09-09-2001).)

Quote

Originally posted by magicianeer:
**Don't worry about cutting deals with Ambrosia, sign up with Kagi and sell it yourself under a different name.

**

Ooh, You Wascawwy Wabbit™...

------------------
Coreył (Cubed)
I'm a (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum6/HTML/001781.html#")Boozerama Bar(/url) kinda guy!

Maybe you all should realize that maybe Matt just doesn't WANT a port for Windows. Maybe part of what EV is is that it is Mac-only.

For those that know little about programming, an easy way to describe it is that most games are written in a cross platform language like C++, but certain parts of the code refer to OS-specific resources. Therefore, that code won't automatically work with another OS until that part of the code has been changed for a different OS, known as porting. There seem to be quite a bit of code in EV that refers to Mac only stuff.

There are a few exceptions though. Like right now I am working with some C programming and Java. C is for text based stuff, so it can be built (compiled) for an OS real easily. Java is built only once and every OS has a sort of emulator (Virtual Machine) for java apps.

As for GPLing it like Maelstrom, andrew says that was a one time thing.

If you want my opinion, if ASW was interested in porting stuff to other platforms like *nix and Windows, they should seek a company that specializes in porting applications to those platforms and giving them a share of the profits from the ported apps.

------------------
mikeeJ | Proud member of the vast right-wing conspiracy | 'Linux Geek'
"When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny"