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The Icon Bar: Games: Decent2??!
 
  Decent2??!
  [Steve] (07:32 16/5/2001)
  tfountain (12:37 16/5/2001)
    johnstlr (15:13 16/5/2001)
      ToiletDuck (15:13 16/5/2001)
        davidm (01:23 17/5/2001)
          arkick (14:04 19/5/2001)
            Jon Atherton (15:48 19/5/2001)
              arkick (16:35 19/5/2001)
                [Steve] (13:48 20/5/2001)
                  davidm (16:46 20/5/2001)
 
Steve Allen Message #85552, posted by [Steve] at 07:32, 16/5/2001
AA refugee
Posts: 56
Wicked! grin

Another high quality game that will actually be released by the looks of things.... but will it make a worthwhile mount of money? Once I find a monitor for my Risc PC I'll buy it!

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Tim Fountain Message #85553, posted by tfountain at 12:37, 16/5/2001, in reply to message #85552
AA refugee
Posts: 59
Do any RISC OS games make a worthwhile amount of money? Depends how you define "worthwhile" I guess.
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Lee Johnston Message #85554, posted by johnstlr at 15:13, 16/5/2001, in reply to message #85553
Member
Posts: 193
I guess for RComp (or any commercial port or game) worthwhile would covering the costs of developing, producing, marketing etc the product and then making a profit.

For hobbyists I guess worthwhile very much depends on the person. Certainly I doubt many (if any) RISC OS games generate revenue that relates to the amount of effort put in to create them. I suspect most people work from the viewpoint "well the cash is a bit of a bonus really".

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Mark Quint Message #85555, posted by ToiletDuck at 15:13, 16/5/2001, in reply to message #85554
Ooh ducky!Quack Quack
Posts: 1016
well, its gotta at least help to pay for the monthly phone bill grin
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David McEwen Message #85556, posted by davidm at 01:23, 17/5/2001, in reply to message #85555
Member
Posts: 100
From my point of view I see it as the cash being a bonus - as Lee said. I'm definately not going to make as much money as I get for my job for the number of hours I've put into it.

Since most of my stuff tends to be freeware its nice to have something that provides some money - so I can buy some more GBA games!

It'll be interesting to see how well it sells, as its the first RCI game release for a while and rather than a rerelease is a fresh game for the platform.

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Rich Mackin Message #85557, posted by arkick at 14:04, 19/5/2001, in reply to message #85556
Member
Posts: 11
The first, yes, but it's hardly a "new" game - any chance of anything up-to-date? There was once a time when we were getting conversions of recent Amiga games... now we just get conversions of elderly PC titles unhappy
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Jonathan Atherton Message #85558, posted by Jon Atherton at 15:48, 19/5/2001, in reply to message #85557
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Posts: 40
The first, yes, but it's hardly a "new" game - any chance of anything up-to-date? There was once a time when we were getting conversions of recent Amiga games... now we just get conversions of elderly PC titles unhappy

I find your attitude to a new game troubling, as I have been looking forward to Descent 2 for quite some time, I suppose you always get one person who's never satisfied.>unhappy In answer to your question, I would say the cost of Liscensing fee's is the reason you don't get anything more recent.

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Rich Mackin Message #85559, posted by arkick at 16:35, 19/5/2001, in reply to message #85558
Member
Posts: 11
To be fair, it is a matter of opinion I suppose. In a way, I think we need all the new games we can get, as native game development isn't what it used to be.
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Steve Allen Message #85560, posted by [Steve] at 13:48, 20/5/2001, in reply to message #85559
AA refugee
Posts: 56
I've just had a thought and that thought is.....

....I wish I could spell Descent...

Gah thats what you get for throwing in English in favour of Science A' levels. Never mind smile

I'm sure it will be decent tho grin
________
[Steve]
RiscPC SA & Duron 600@850
ICQ: 51028779

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David McEwen Message #85561, posted by davidm at 16:46, 20/5/2001, in reply to message #85560
Member
Posts: 100
OK there are various reasons why we don't get the latest PC games converted :

1. License fee

2. Processing power and lack of hardware 3d. 1Ghz+ Pentium + GeForce 2 is a wee bit more powerful than a 200Mhz StrongARM. The Omega will go some way to towards bridging the gap. If a game has a PSX port obviously that could be used - but tracking down the authors of that is usually more problematic than it sounds. Then there is the hastle of getting the source...

3. Number of sales... will 100 sales really recoup all costs ??

4. Finding someone willing to spend many hours working on someting for very little reward.

5. The majority of the latest PC games are written in C++, and although GCC is good building C++ apps on a RISC OS machine is a bore. Time between compile test compile test is too long... faster hadware obviously alleviates this problem somewhat. Debugging is really not very enjoyable either...

6. Companies tend to hold onto technology very tightly... eg. Interplay and the MVE format (used for the Descent 2 movies). The license fee is extortionate for such a small market.

In terms of Descent 2 it was a hell of a challenge getting it to run at a decent speed on current hardware - there is still more speed to come. I have put a good many hours work into the port. I doubt many people would be willing to work for 8 hours for their job, then come home and do another 6-8 hours working on something that will provide a negligable amount of money.

The Descent 2 conversion was initiated by me (ie I approached RCI), so be greatful that you actually got it.

In terms of actualy getting more recent games on the platform I think that it will be a matter of RISC OS games sales picking up. Then it will become viable for conversions to occur. The trouble will be what hardware to target... coz obviously any company would want to maximise sales.


...David

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The Icon Bar: Games: Decent2??!