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Best free RISC OS games! |
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John Hoare |
Message #113189, posted by moss at 08:53, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113184 |
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My thread! My beautiful thread! |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #113190, posted by filecore at 10:09, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113189 |
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Speaking of old games (and copy protection schemes), I found these while looking through a pile of pulped dead tree format stuff from the mid-90s:
Cluesheet for Haunted House (PDF)
Cluesheet for The Time Machine (PDF)
And just for fun, an early version of piracy: hand-drawn Rorschach blob type continuation codes from the Flashback manual. I sure did put a lot of effort in when I was younger.
Flashback codes (PDF)
Those were all great games. We were just discussing Haunted House on IRC; I'm going to maybe dig it out and play it again. I remember all the hours of fun we had with HH and TM both, the whole family sitting round the Arc and trying to work out the clues! |
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vanpeebles |
Message #113191, posted by vanpeebles at 10:30, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113190 |
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I used to love the chuggy sound the old skool computer made in the basement when you fed it coal. |
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Phil Mellor |
Message #113192, posted by monkeyson2 at 10:55, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113190 |
 Please don't let them make me be a monkey butler
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And just for fun, an early version of piracy: hand-drawn Rorschach blob type continuation codes from the Flashback manual. I sure did put a lot of effort in when I was younger.
Flashback codes (PDF) Yes - it was a right pain flipping through the pages of the manual to find them so I did something similar - but I made a real Draw file.  No idea where it is now.
Zool had a bizarre copy protection mechanism too - that rotating colour wheel. |
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Jeffrey Lee |
Message #113193, posted by Phlamethrower at 11:15, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113192 |
 Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot stuff
Posts: 15100
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And just for fun, an early version of piracy: hand-drawn Rorschach blob type continuation codes from the Flashback manual. I sure did put a lot of effort in when I was younger.
Flashback codes (PDF) Yes - it was a right pain flipping through the pages of the manual to find them so I did something similar - but I made a real Draw file. No idea where it is now.
I presume you also printed the drawfile out, otherwise I can't see how it would have been easier to use than the manual  (Unless you had two computers next to each other  ) |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #113194, posted by filecore at 16:15, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113193 |
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I presume you also printed the drawfile out, otherwise I can't see etc Pedant! Troll! |
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John Cartmell |
Message #113196, posted by qercus at 17:54, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #112970 |
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Either the Acorn User Dec 97 and Nov 98 cover CD ROMs had the Acorn Computing cover and subs discs archives on them.
Copyright of these discs resides with Finnybank I guess. Let's get them online please, for one week only, or something :-p If I can help making games from the cover CDs available then I will. Some of the magazine/CDs are still available from us as back issues (not quite free) but I would be interested in putting some on our website if 3rd party copyright allows - perhaps linked to an article in a future issue of Qercus. Anyone interested in helping that to happen should contact me.
John Cartmell
john@qercus.com |
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John Cartmell |
Message #113197, posted by qercus at 18:36, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113093 |
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Looking at some of the ones that have been available, some of the Acorn User ones invite you to "Share this CD with your friends"...
Andy.
Would you please let me know which CDs those are - and where the comment can be found? AFAIK none of the AU CDs are totally free of third party restrictions - but if that's shown not to be the case I would want to start re-issuing them as soon as possible. |
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John Cartmell |
Message #113198, posted by qercus at 18:44, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #112974 |
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Of course, if Qercus still owns the copyright, then they can't count as free games, annoyingly. Someone owns the copyright of all games, free or not. Let me know which cover games you mean and I will see if they can be made available in some other form again - though the CDs may still be available as back issues. |
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Andrew Poole |
Message #113199, posted by andypoole at 18:44, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113197 |
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Looking at some of the ones that have been available, some of the Acorn User ones invite you to "Share this CD with your friends"...
Andy.
Would you please let me know which CDs those are - and where the comment can be found? AFAIK none of the AU CDs are totally free of third party restrictions - but if that's shown not to be the case I would want to start re-issuing them as soon as possible.
AUCD 3 !README starts with
PLEASE SHARE THIS CD WITH YOUR FRIENDS!
OR, TELL THEM TO PHONE 01474 357350 FOR THEIR OWN COPY!
That's what the comment was referring to. Upon further reading, that may only apply to the Hyperstudio program. It certainly suggests you can share the AUCD though...
Andy. |
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Andrew Poole |
Message #113200, posted by andypoole at 18:50, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113199 |
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As a thought. If AU had an agreement to distribute certain apps/content on the CDs, surely if they're still distributing the apps/content on the same CD there shouldn't be a problem. That assume, of course, that the agreement to distribute stuff wasn't time-limited, or limited to a single pressing of the CD.
IANAL though, so I reserve the right to be completely wrong.
Andy. |
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Peter Naulls |
Message #113201, posted by pnaulls at 19:34, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113200 |
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As a thought. If AU had an agreement to distribute certain apps/content on the CDs, surely if they're still distributing the apps/content on the same CD there shouldn't be a problem. That assume, of course, that the agreement to distribute stuff wasn't time-limited, or limited to a single pressing of the CD.
IANAL though, so I reserve the right to be completely wrong. This is most likely correct. It's unlikely that there would be more complex restrictions. I wrote about the entire topic a bit more:
http://www.riscos.info/index.php?title=Special:AWCforum&action=st/id146/RISC_OS_CD_Archiving_runs_into_Copyright_Hot_Water
Someone owns the copyright of all games, free or not.
Not correct, and an unhelpful sweeping statement. At least some of the games are likely to be genuinely PD, and therefore free of coypright. |
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Stephen Scott |
Message #113206, posted by sa_scott at 21:41, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113199 |
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AUCD 3 !README starts with
PLEASE SHARE THIS CD WITH YOUR FRIENDS!
OR, TELL THEM TO PHONE 01474 357350 FOR THEIR OWN COPY!
That's what the comment was referring to. Upon further reading, that may only apply to the Hyperstudio program. It certainly suggests you can share the AUCD though...
Andy.
Oh. dear.
I hope I'm not knee deep in legal klunge. I was young, foolish, my then fiance now wife was studying the Bar, but we weren't discussing copyright law 
The 01474 number must have been TAG Developments, I cannot recall whether I wrote that textfile or not... |
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VinceH |
Message #113207, posted by VincceH at 22:05, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113201 |
 Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
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Someone owns the copyright of all games, free or not.
Not correct, and an unhelpful sweeping statement. At least some of the games are likely to be genuinely PD, and therefore free of coypright.
Are we talking across international boundaries here, and therefore differing legal definitions, perchance?
John's statement is actually quite correct as far as UK law is concerned, under which all created works are subject to copyright. There is no such thing legally as "free of copyright" (or the term "public domain" to indicate that). The closest we can come is to release something under a licence which grants permission to freely distribute it.
Of course, those CDs may be stacked full of items written by people outside of the UK, possibly in countries that do have legally recognised terms such as public domain to mean free of copyright. I have no idea of the implications of that - I guess, as far as the UK is concerned, those items are still the copyright material of their originators/creators/authors.
Bear in mind when reading this that most, if not all of the CDs were produced/compiled in the UK, and the rights holders for the compilations are UK based.
And the word "compilations" is important here; it's what I was actually referring to (without stating it) earlier in this thread - though someone else mentioned such things as artwork etc., which I didn't mean but is also quite correct. My point was (and is) that in the context of copyright, we have a strange and quite idiotic (IMO) rule when it comes to compilations. (My understanding on this particular subject, I should add, largely comes from contacts in the music industry, who can and do rant quite a bit on this, but the same thing will apply to other material, and other formats).
Specifically, while whoever compiles a selection of works together doesn't own the copyright of the items that form that compilation**, they do own the copyright of the compilation itself. This is completely distinct from things like artwork and so on - the compilation of material itself.
(I suspect the same is true in Overpuddle.)
Edit: added this footnote:
** Assuming for the sake of this that they are compiling material created by others, which is what we're effectively discussing here with the CDs.
[Edited by VincceH at 22:08, 1/2/2010] |
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VinceH |
Message #113210, posted by VincceH at 22:34, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113206 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
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my then fiance now wife was studying the Bar I don't do that nearly often enough. Except without the capital 'B' !  |
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Stephen Scott |
Message #113212, posted by sa_scott at 23:30, 1/2/2010, in reply to message #113210 |
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my then fiance now wife was studying the Bar I don't do that nearly often enough. Except without the capital 'B' !
 |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #113213, posted by filecore at 00:01, 2/2/2010, in reply to message #113212 |
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A man walked into a bar. *clunk*
*badum-tish* |
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Blind Moose |
Message #113215, posted by Acornut at 08:35, 2/2/2010, in reply to message #113210 |
 No-eye-deer (No Idea)
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So, is that studying 'at The Bar' & now is a 'Silk' or looking at 'optics' & now wears silk? |
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Stephen Scott |
Message #113222, posted by sa_scott at 23:11, 2/2/2010, in reply to message #113213 |
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A man walked into a bar. *clunk*
*badum-tish* you see that day job of yours? i'd stick with it...  |
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Stephen Scott |
Message #113223, posted by sa_scott at 23:14, 2/2/2010, in reply to message #113215 |
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So, is that studying 'at The Bar' & now is a 'Silk' or looking at 'optics' & now wears silk? I ain't telling! |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #115176, posted by filecore at 10:44, 31/8/2010, in reply to message #113190 |
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Cluesheet for Haunted House (PDF) Just thought I'd also post up this Haunted House complete solution (spoilers!) for anyone who's still interested and who may be playing the game again for nostalgia's sake.
R. Unlock van door with key. R. Unlock gate (combination 48739222, from papers) and open it. Take pot lid. Move tub and take iron key. B. Unlock shed door with key and open it. R. Take fertiliser and drop it in the watering can. Take can. Take oak block, candle, lamp and drill. L. Shut shed door. Drop can in water butt. Get can. L. Drop oak block by door. Water weeds with can. Drop can. Take knocker. Put it on the door and knock three times. Take bell. F. Open books in order and add 10 to each page number. Move picture. Unlock safe with combination gained from each of the books. Open it. Drop bell, bible and candle onto the ghost. R. Put petit point on wall. Put pot lid on ginger jar. F. Drop lamp.
Unlock chest with drill. Drop drill. Open chest and take figurine. Take phone and dishes. B. Take candlestick and ginger jar. L. B. R. R. Open van doors, deposit the 6 treasures and close the doors. R. F. B. Open shed door. R. Take wine bottles. L. L. Take milk bottle. F. F. Pour milk into cat's bowl and drop the bottle. Move the cat-bed and the floor tile. Unbolt the kitchen door (all the bolts!) and open it. F. Arrange the bottles in descending order of height so that the orange bottle is 1, and the squat bottle is 5, and play the National Anthem on them (2231234454323212). Leave the bottles and take the doll and picture. B. Open oven and take jug. Take salver and silk painting. B. R. Put the pictures on the wall. Open the clock and take the vase. L. Take wall plaque and picture. B. R. R. Deposit the treasures (remember to close the doors afterwards!). R. F. F. R. F. R. Take both parts of the jardiniere. F. B. Take the 3 pictures. L. Play gramaphone and take sylvac dog. B. R. R. Deposit treasures again. R. Take ball. F. Take
tub. F. R. Take blue punch card. F. R. Take chamber pot. F. Turn on lamp. L. Open wall cupboard and take lead spider. F. Drop tennis ball. Take robot. Move Oz poster and get red punch card. F. Drop tub on mortuary table and take enamel bouquet. Drop robot on table. Drop chamber pot on table then take small key. Take green punch card. F. F. F. Turn on safe and insert punch cards in slot (red, green, blue). Take wall mask and coal bag. R. Drop bag to break it and take amber. B. Put spider in web. Take tang horse and jack. R. B. L. L. F. R. F. L. F. (This sequence of moves is derived from the first 'phone number - which shows the number of letters in the direction name for each move - and gets you to the secret room in the cellars.) F. L. B. B. B. R. B. (This is from the second 'phone number and gets you out.) Turn off lamp. R.
Unlock cupboard with key and open it. Take towel. L. Unlock small cupboard with key (on side of sofa). Open bedroom door. Open cupboard. Take soap. Drop it and the towel in the doorway. Take teddy. F. L. Put jack in box and take the jack-in-the-box. B. F. B. L. B. R. R. Deposit treasures. R. F. Take oak block. F. R. F. R. Take glass centrepiece. L. F. Take mirror. Open bedside cabinet and take scent flask. L. Drop oak block by Ottoman. Take
bronze horse, mirror and disc. B. F. B. L. B. R. R. Deposit treasures. R. F. F. R. F. R. L. F. Take shoe. L. Take bowl. B. F. B. L. B. B. Close shed door. Drop bowl in water butt. Take bowl. L. F. R. F.Turn lamp on. L. Open wall cupboard and take gold spider. L. Take car and poster. F. Drop shoe in box. Take box and gold locket. R. Drop box. Take show and put it in the box. Drop bowl. Take fish and put it in bowl. Take bowl. Open cabinet and take scent bottle. L. Drop bowl on table and take trophy. B. B. L. L. F. R. F. L. F. F. L. B. B. B. R. B. Turn off lamp. B. L. B. R. R. Deposit treasures. R. F. F. R. F. Turn lamp on. L. L. Take Madeira, sherry, onion and snuff bottles. R. L. L. F. R. F. L. F. Take robot and chamber pot. F. L. B. B. B. R. B. Turn off lamp. B. L. B. R. R. Deposit treasures. R. F. F. R. F. Turn lamp on. L. L. L. F. R. F. L. F. Take polychrome figure. F. L. B. B. B. R. B. B. L. B. R. R. Deposit treasure. The end! |
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richard cheng |
Message #115325, posted by richcheng at 11:20, 10/9/2010, in reply to message #112929 |
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So: anyone here got any suggestions? I've just remembered spending quite a large number of hours playing Swarm.
Also, did anyone mention Spheres of Chaos yet? I have a feeling that it wasn't always completely free, but I definitely remember playing it nonetheless. |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #115329, posted by filecore at 13:00, 10/9/2010, in reply to message #115325 |
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Also, did anyone mention Spheres of Chaos yet? I have a feeling that it wasn't always completely free, but I definitely remember playing it nonetheless. I seem to recall there being a shareware version. I'll have a look on my  |
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Trevor Johnson |
Message #118721, posted by trevj at 14:08, 15/9/2011, in reply to message #113002 |
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Wonder who did the voices... "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!" |
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Philip Webster |
Message #118724, posted by pwx at 15:07, 15/9/2011, in reply to message #115329 |
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Also, did anyone mention Spheres of Chaos yet? I have a feeling that it wasn't always completely free, but I definitely remember playing it nonetheless. I seem to recall there being a shareware version. I'll have a look on my
Wasn't it given away on an Acorn User cover disk? |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #118726, posted by filecore at 17:21, 15/9/2011, in reply to message #118724 |
Posts: 3868
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Also, did anyone mention Spheres of Chaos yet? I have a feeling that it wasn't always completely free, but I definitely remember playing it nonetheless. I seem to recall there being a shareware version. I'll have a look on my
Wasn't it given away on an Acorn User cover disk?
I have a feeling that it was. Or possibly Archimedes World. |
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Alun Millard |
Message #121171, posted by ulaggy at 18:51, 10/10/2012, in reply to message #113184 |
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Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but with the stuff of the APDL CDs, what is there to stop someone effectively making their own CD, and just copying stuff onto it, so to speak. So that an uploaded CD image isn't an APDL one, but just a random CD with public domain stuff on it.
Just a thought - not a legal whizz so don't know how it works! |
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David Holden |
Message #121174, posted by apdl at 05:53, 11/10/2012, in reply to message #121171 |
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Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but with the stuff of the APDL CDs, what is there to stop someone effectively making their own CD, and just copying stuff onto it, so to speak. So that an uploaded CD image isn't an APDL one, but just a random CD with public domain stuff on it. Honesty? Not feeling good about stealing other people's work?
But from your question I presume that sort of thing just wouldn't occur to you. |
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Peter Howkins |
Message #121177, posted by flibble at 09:12, 11/10/2012, in reply to message #121174 |
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Honesty? Not feeling good about stealing other people's work? I used to have an irony-meter but it just exploded. |
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Philip Webster |
Message #121178, posted by pwx at 09:40, 11/10/2012, in reply to message #121171 |
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Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but with the stuff of the APDL CDs, what is there to stop someone effectively making their own CD, and just copying stuff onto it, so to speak. So that an uploaded CD image isn't an APDL one, but just a random CD with public domain stuff on it.
Just a thought - not a legal whizz so don't know how it works! Although the individual programs on the CD are PD, the collection itself as organised on the APDL CD is subject to copyright.
There wouldn't be anything stopping someone from copying individual programs from the CD, however. The copyright protection enjoyed by the CD does not negate the PD status of the individual programs contained on it.
IANAL |
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