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?
---
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