... and it probably has something to do with the fact that it's ported.

-This game has horrible system performace. I have to click MANY times just to get a bounce connected on the map once I have a moderate number of servers available (around 10). Getting 2 frames per second in a game that is ENTIRELY 2d is a pretty amazing accomplishment with today's hardware (G4/64mb graphics/OSX).

-There's no separate music/sound preferences. Ok, go ahead and whine that it's hard to implement it the way it's coded now. That still doesn't change the fact that the lack of this simple option makes the game far under Ambrosia's par. I thought coders were paid to make things work? As a programming student, I sure know that isn't any excuse. Don't think that a "physically removing the music file" workaround is a good fix for this either, if that ever gets working.

-You get missions for things you've already accomplished. "Elite hacker needed to take out a server you just took out 4 missions ago." "Ultra l33t skills needed to figure out the balance on a bank account you already own."

Now, after all that I'll admit it's a fun game. I'm just saying, with the way it is now, it shouldn't have been released. All of these issues I've brought up should have been addressed somewhere in beta, and ultimately the fault for not having addressed them rests totally on Ambrosia's shoulders. The sound/mission points are probably originally the fault of the PC creator, but they are still faults and I am surprised Ambrosia released a game with so many. Didn't see anyone crying about EV or Pop-Pop, for good reason.

Edit: Almost forgot the most important thing: "X" doesn't do anything here!!

--Ptolemy

(This message has been edited by Ptolemy (edited 05-31-2003).)

Blame IntroVersion! AmbrosiaSW doesnt do this sort of crap. Its IntroVersions fault!
AmbrosiaSW simply put their work into a peice of crap SHAME ON THEM!

Anonymous

Hmm... it's a matter of opinion. I have nto had the problems that you seem to be having even though I am on a less capable system.

Anyway, I enjoy the gameplay and I think that this game is great. I will pay for/register after I get a job and can make my house payment...

But the best part of this game is that if you don't like it, you don't have to pay for it. Just remove it from you computer and forget about it. I love shareware...

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"Always listen to the experts. They will tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it."
- The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
There are things more annoying than using MS Windows... but I can never remember what they are.
Obligatory (url="http://"http://www.evula.com")"E"(/url) Link.

Quote

Originally posted by Ptolemy:
**... and it probably has something to do with the fact that it's ported.

-This game has horrible system performace. I have to click MANY times just to get a bounce connected on the map once I have a moderate number of servers available (around 10). Getting 2 frames per second in a game that is ENTIRELY 2d is a pretty amazing accomplishment with today's hardware (G4/64mb graphics/OSX).

-There's no separate music/sound preferences. Ok, go ahead and whine that it's hard to implement it the way it's coded now. That still doesn't change the fact that the lack of this simple option makes the game far under Ambrosia's par. I thought coders were paid to make things work? As a programming student, I sure know that isn't any excuse. Don't think that a "physically removing the music file" workaround is a good fix for this either, if that ever gets working.

-You get missions for things you've already accomplished. "Elite hacker needed to take out a server you just took out 4 missions ago." "Ultra l33t skills needed to figure out the balance on a bank account you already own."

Now, after all that I'll admit it's a fun game. I'm just saying, with the way it is now, it shouldn't have been released. All of these issues I've brought up should have been addressed somewhere in beta, and ultimately the fault for not having addressed them rests totally on Ambrosia's shoulders. The sound/mission points are probably originally the fault of the PC creator, but they are still faults and I am surprised Ambrosia released a game with so many. Didn't see anyone crying about EV or Pop-Pop, for good reason.
(This message has been edited by Ptolemy (edited 05-31-2003).)**

Firstly, this program wasn't made by ambrosia.
Secondly, NO game is ever perfict from version 1.
I wonder if something is wrong with your comp, i get a nice smooth preformence on a 466mhz g3 ibook.

As far as it goes, i have had no problems with the game. Though i am kinda worried the way ambrosia rushed the product to release trying to cover for the fact that people had a premature demo from introversion. I hope that these problems are fixed in future versions

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"Two things are certian in this life. The universe, and human stupidity. ...Though i'm not so sure about the universe."

The release date was announced long before the IV demo so you can't blame the problems on that.

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(url="http://"http://uplink.stewsburntmonkey.com")The Uplink Directory(/url)

(This message has been edited by Stewsburntmonkey (edited 06-01-2003).)

Quote

Originally posted by Skyfox:
**Firstly, this program wasn't made by ambrosia.
Secondly, NO game is ever perfict from version 1.
I wonder if something is wrong with your comp, i get a nice smooth preformence on a 466mhz g3 ibook.
**

I was saying that the poor quality was BECAUSE it wasn't made by Ambrosia. I am also saying that since Ambrosia is putting their name on it, their average quality is going down, unless this simple stuff is fixed.

Aside from the mission thing, I believe the performance and sound issues are really fundamental and I don't see them fixed in the NEXT version, either. I am hoping to be proved wrong, but I am definitely not counting on it.

It is definitely clear that this game was rushed.

I, quite frankly, was never bothered by the music/sound thing, because at a low volume the music is basically just drum beats, and the sound effects are still audible. I run iTunes behind Uplink, and it works quite well (IMHO).

As far as gameplay goes - post your computer specs. I'm running OS X on my 500 MHz iBook at 1024x768, and it's runs a spanking pace.

You also can't expect absolutely no bugs on the initial release. If you do find bugs, report them straight away so they can be fixed - griping about them isn't going to help you out.

------------------
Bartender please,
Fill my glass for me,
With the wine you gave Jesus that set Him free after three days in the ground

I too am somewhat unimpressed with the problems I've heard of that have come across in the port, and I also understand that maybe people didnt noticed them due to it being rushed. But then, I'm somewhat unimpressed with the bugs the PC version has as well, heh. The mission thing has always been a part of uplink, I just found it funny though, heh. With the graphics, similar sorts of things happen to the PC version on some cards, in my case at the high resses only (ie 1600x1200) and I'm ticking over on a 2.4Ghz PIV with a GeForce 4 floating about, as I'm sure you appreciate, high above minimum spec. The solution here is take out a couple of the GL dat files (presumably to force it to use the instruction sets your system has) but of course, I dont think you can do that on mac because those files dont exist (at least they're not in the sit file). Uplink is a bit more haphazard on the stability side of things, and these 'fixes', along with others, are more delete some file and hope, but that's sorta what I like about it.

I do sort of agree with you though. Most of them seem to have arrisen because it's a port, yes, and I'm guessing most will be filtered out, along with some of the more simple to fix PC ones (you lucky sods :p). Apparently the sound thing's dealt with in a next patch, and btw, the PC version does the sounds quite happily with the music off, so I'm guessing that arrose in the conversion as well

Just remember you've got it lucky, we had Uplink version 1.0, this is 1.3.1, and you're complaining about sound issues.

Heh... When I think back to those bugs before the v1.1 patch...

Man. You guys are SUCH whiners

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I am both worried and saddened by nationwide news of increasing rates of anxiety and depression.
The creator of RedshirtX and GatewayX (not yet public)

Keep in mind that any bugs that exist in the PC version will exist in the ASW version unless IV expressly fixes them. ASW is not legally allowed (i think) to make any gmeplay changes other then porting to the code.

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Don't blame IV, blame controbrand for the port. And this game wasn't rushed, it should of been finished months ago but for reasons unknown it wasn't. Games have bugs, deal with it.

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

I'm sorry, but if you have problems with the program, you have 3 options from my point of view:
1. Complain about it to ASW.
2. Learn how to fix them yourself.
OR
3. Throw away the game (not recommended since Uplink, despite the bugs, is still a cool game).

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If Ambrosia isn't contractually obligated to do a straight port, then I would concur with the original poster: this is pure idiocy. Ambrosia shouldn't release a fairly old game without at least fixing the original's bugs and improving gameplay. It is simply smart business to make a product desirable, and those changes would go a long way towards doing that.

However, if they were contractually obligated to do a straight port, then Ambrosia is making a smart business decision in releasing Uplink in its current state. They will, of course, make money, and publishing the game is a good investment. However, I am a bit dubious as to whether they are actually contractually obligated to do a straight port...

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(url="http://"http://www.freeman.org")Freeman Center for Strategic Studies(/url)
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Ambrosia didn't do the port! Ambrosia is the publisher, of the shareware version no less!

Remember that this is the first version of the Mac port. You should've seen the bugs in the PC v 1.0; as I said before, you guys are such whiners

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I am both worried and saddened by nationwide news of increasing rates of anxiety and depression.
The creator of RedshirtX and GatewayX (not yet public)

Welcome to the boards, Victerminator1.

Quote

Originally posted by Victerminator1:
1. Complain about it to ASW.

Right... And what is the topic again?

Quote

Originally posted by Victerminator1:
2. Learn how to fix them yourself.

The whole "If you can't do better yourself, don't complain" argument doesn't work with me. The fact that I don't know how to build a house from scratch, doesn't imply that I have no right to have an opinion on what makes a good house. If we followed that argument, we would all still be living in caves.

Uplink, despite the coolness of the basic gameplay idea, needs to be made a lot better to be up to par with the rest of Ambrosia's games.

Maybe we are a little spoiled with the quality of the rest of the ambrosia games, which both have great gameplay, simple to use interfaces and are relatively bug-free. Or maybe that is the way software should be?

'glove

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Compilers - the ultimate god games.
(edit) I wish there was a preview feature on this board. (/edit)

(This message has been edited by Kidglove II (edited 06-01-2003).)

Maybe you should give them a patch before passing final judgement on the game.

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I am both worried and saddened by nationwide news of increasing rates of anxiety and depression.
The creator of RedshirtX and GatewayX (not yet public)

I'm running Uplink on a 15" Titanium (800mHz). I have a 32 meg ATI video card and 512 RAM. As the original post said, this game runs very poorly for what it is. (Don't get me wrong, I love the game and wish I could hack a bank in real life cause I wouldn't have to work at Starbucks anymore) I don't know if any of you have ever played/seen Black & White, but it's fully 3D. I can run it flawlessly at 1280x854, millions of colors, highest texture quality and highest sound quality. There is no reason why Uplink should lag at all. it's 2D. There isn't a lot of animation. I just think that having a few animated lines running across the screen shouldn't bog down my system. Anyway, I love my top of the line Gateway and if I had that thing I be Uplink would run great!

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

I find that people with high-spec Macs who complain about performance usually keep their hard drive in poor condition (ie. fragmented, cluttered). Clear out your drive and it'll make a world of difference.

EDIT:MalkContent - I'm interested how you found the patience to get to the best gateway in the game if it runs at such a poor speed.....?

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By the definition of
'average', half of the
world's population are
below average .

(This message has been edited by silversteel (edited 06-01-2003).)

Well I agree with the original poster's assessment. Uplink is a not a good game. And you have to pay the shareware to really find out.

In my last game, I wound up unable to get "trace" missions. They were all verboten to me. Why is that so? Because I have made too many transfers? Why is the game not better documented? Or rather why is it not documented at all? Why is it so un-mac like? Left-click to pick stuff and right-click to drop them? Egad, how counterintuitive is that? Until I found out how it works, I felt like Mr Bean trying to get rid of a piece of paper stuck to his hands.

All the game windows should be moveable. Connect; click on HUD analyser; pick the bypassers; click mission (why are those dang bypassers remaining on the screen hiding the text behind???): what an ordeal.

When a mission fails, you have no idea what went wrong and if you can redo it or must abandon it. "Frame so and so for some computer infraction". Okay, I enter the named computer (3 bounces). I make sure I am traced. Count 5 seconds and disconnect. Connect to INC (or whatever the name), log on, access logs and frame the dude. Back to the news. Fast forward. Nothing. Try again. This time I wait the trace down to 5 seconds left. Same result. Maybe I can't redo the mission. So I try with a different mission. No cookie. I have no idea what to do next. No documentation as I said.

Then there's the core missions (I assume). The Faith and revelation stuff. I get the dead dude's email when I am too poor to buy the equipment required. Then, in one game, I got a truckload of those missions from ARC and Arunmor all at once. In my latest game, I never got one. No idea why X happens, or doesn't or why Z does this time.

One more complaint: why can't this game be played in a window? You know: Command-M and it exists in its own little window. Like Diablo II does for example.

Being shareware is not an excuse. This thing costed me about $35 CDN. I bought DII for $50. And Return to Castle Wolfenstein cost me $70. Uplink is grossly overpriced for what it gives. So was PoG for that matter.

Treadhead

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

I agree that Uplink has more bugs than ASW's other games (written by ASW or just published). But I've paid my $25 dollars for Uplink and believe that it's worth about $20 right now; if the mac-port-only bugs are fixed it will be worth the money I paid for it.

The bugs are IMHO tolerable; I am enjoying Uplink. Thank you Ambrosia, Contraband, and Introversion. But please work on a patch...

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In the beginning, all was NULL, or perhaps (void*).
-- (url="http://"http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/")Vega Strike(/url) introduction
One, Two, Three, (url="http://"http://source.bungie.org/")Pfh(/url)(url="http://"http://resurrection.bungie.org/")or(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.idevgames.com/")iDevGames(/url)... do (url="http://"http://www.idevgames.com/content/contest.php?id=6")uDevGames(/url)?

(This message has been edited by sinclair44 (edited 06-01-2003).)