Hi Tom, I say go for it, and make a Mac version as well. LOL.
Sadly, James North cut me, and most everyone else, out of his life at the time he turned over Monty to you. I considered him a friend, and hope he has managed to get his life together. I was actually the one who came up with the Arizona Smith name, as a play on Indiana Jones. I was always disappointed that you hadn't decided to keep using it. I, for one, would love to see the character resurrected. LOL On May 2, 2013, at 10:39 AM, Thomas Ward <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello everyone, > > As many of you know back in 2008 when I was literally almost ready to > release Montezuma's Revenge AKA Montezuma's Return I got a cease and > desist letter from someone purported to represent Utopia who now owns > the rights to both of those games. At the time I was extremely > concerned about a lawsuit so immediately complied with the cease and > desist order, and quit production of the game. However, for many > reasons that decision has never set well with me, and I have felt like > I should do something to make that situation right. > > For one thing If I personally hadn't taken money for the game I would > have felt no obligation to the blind gaming community, and could have > wrote it off as a bad deal with James North. However, as it was I had > just taken some preorders over the months of December and January and > spent some of that money on a new laptop and a few other items so > wasn't in a position to offer refunds. The best I could do was offer > the community a new game instead. > > The other reason was I was also quite disappointed myself. I had grown > up in the 80's and had played the original Montezuma's Revenge on my > Atari 2600 and was a fan of the game and obviously my own remake of > it. So was just as disappointed as anyone else not to see it finished > and released. > > As it so happens this recent situation with Blindsoftware.com has made > me look back on my own actions, and I realize I completely handled > that situation all wrong. Instead of trying to negotiate with Utopia > or to simply make changes in the game to comply with copyright law I > simply took the game off my site, stopped development, and deleted the > source. While that decision was understandable I think there is a much > better way to handle it, and here is what I propose. > > To begin with I think a lot of you know I was never completely happy > with Mysteries of the Ancients. The primary reason had to do with the > fact I was in visioning making it a game like Tomb Raider using an FPS > type format, 3d levels, 3d audio, and so on. Unfortunately, when > polled many of the customers who purchased Montezuma's Revenge still > wanted a 2d side-scroller, and so I attempted to comply with their > wishes by keeping some of the same elements in the game such as > vanishing platforms, gems, gold coins, ancient scrolls, whatever. The > game was alright, but I was never happy with it because I was trying > to do two very different things at the same time. That is to say write > a game like Tomb Raider, but make it like Montezuma's Revenge too. As > a result I personally found it very dissatisfying both as a developer > and a gamer. > > However, now that I have had some time to calm down, relax, and look > at this situation more clearly I think the solution to the problem is > very obvious. What I would like to do is recreate Montezuma's Revenge, > at least a game very like it, and call it Mysteries of the Ancients. > It would have some of the same basic game elements like fighting or > fleeing skulls, spiders, and snakes, jumping onto vanishing platforms, > swinging from ropes, etc. Perhaps instead of blue, red, green, and > white keys I can use something slightly different like gold, silver, > and bronze colored keys. Rather than using Panama Joe I could use > Arizona Smith as James North was going to do. Bottom line, I think I > could create something a lot like the game you purchased, perhaps a > little different, but essentially the same type of game. This would > not only resolve my debt to those customers who preordered it from > Alchemy and USA Games, but it would also free up Tomb Hunter to be > rewritten exactly the way I want to. I think it is a win/win > situation. > > Now, I know some of you are probably going to say that this will cause > unnecessary delays, or that I should do whatever I want. Some of you > are just sick and tired of me changing my mind etc. You are right, and > I agree with you for the most part. Although, I think it needs to be > pointed out that the situation is a lot different now than it was back > in 2008. > > For one thing since 2009 I have been actively developing a game engine > in C++ called Evolution. At this point the engine is both very far > along in development and as been well tested. That means should I > start on the new Mysteries of the Ancients today it shouldn't take me > too long to have a working beta of the game. Probably by the end of > summer if I work on it every day. So any worries about this taking > years and years to finish isn't going to be the case. :D > > Another thing is back in 2008 when I was discouraged by Utopia to > continue development of Montezuma's Revenge I didn't know anything > about copyright law. However, I've done a lot of research, studying, > and educated myself on my rights as a U.S. citizen and developer. As a > result I know exactly how to develop the game so I don't get caught up > in copyright infringement with Utopia again. So now that I know more > about my legal rights, what I can and can't do, I don't see any reason > to deny my customers the game they paid for. > > So with all that said what do you guys think? Are you still interested > in a game like Montezuma's Revenge, and would you be happy if I > rewrote that game using my new engine and tools? > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. 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