Funny thing is Thomas, while I was slightly disappointed with not getting another side scroller since I do agree that this genre does have so much unexplored potential, I'm actually more excited with what you're planning to do. I played Tobraider II on Play Station back when that was still popular and I'd love to see an accessible game in that style. I'd rather have to wait and get an incredible game than have you patch the Monte engine and throw it out as abbandonware and then be bored within a week or two. It seems people don't understand the most basi fact of our market. With as few devs as we have, the last thing we can afford is to turn them away just because a few of us aren't getting what we want. Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 12:38 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] What's Ahead For MOTA Beta 2.
> Hi Michael, > I sincerely apologize for the disappointment and hard feelings you have > about this decision, but you also need to see my side of things as well. > First, I rescued Montezuma's Revenge from James North for a lot of > reasons I liked the game, it was fairly along in development, and it > looked like it could be completed fairly quickly. As it turned out I > took on a project I have regretted every single day of my life since I > took charge of it. Montezuma's Revenge has done nothing but bring misery > and grief into my life. > Right off the bat before I even received the source by mail I was > getting hate mail from James North's enemies demanding refunds, a > complete game the day before yesterday, and threats of law suits, etc. > After I received the game's source code I quickly realized i would not > be able to complete the game using his source code. It was written in > Visual Basic 6, which I no longer owned the IDE/compiler for, and > DirectX 8 which was already phased out of general use. The level editor > that James North had created wasn't accessible which means I couldn't > even add new levels without a total rewrite. So in the end I chose to > rewrite everything from scratch. Not an easy or exactly fun prospect. > Around December of 2006 the private testers and I discussed it and > thought it would be cool if my rendition of Montezuma's Revenge was > closer to the original. It was decided to upgrade all levels to make it > so, and in the end it was this exact copying of the game that got me in > hot water with the copyright holders. > Months later as the game was winding down in development along comes the > copyright holders of the Montezuma's Revenge Montezuma's Return games > ordering us to cease and desist production of our game. I agreed to do > so. I told them that the next major release would have nothing in common > with their games, and the issue was closed. > As a result of this copyright issue I decided to think about how to > rework the game not only to avoid the copyright issues but make a new > and exciting game out of the ashes of Montezuma's Return. I did run a > poll to see if people would be more interested in a side-scroller or > FPS, and the side-scroller format won. However, following the poll I > became very depressed, disappointed, and found myself unable to pick up > where I left off with the game. To explain it better I was totally > emotionally, physically, burned out on working on the game. I spent a > year and a half putting every moment of free time into the game, and was > totally sick to death of it. > Michael, in your email you talk about how Montezuma's Revenge was a game > you always dreamed of playing. Well, as a game developer I have dreams > too. I have always dreamed of a 3D FPS style treasure hunting game like > Tomb Raider that I can play. I discovered through the course of > development of Montezuma's Revenge I learned side-scrollers of that era > and style no longer captures my attention. I simply grew board with the > game, and grew very depressed of having to finish a game I no longer > wanted to make. In short I was following someone else's dream not my own. > Finally, you brought up the issue of trust. Yes, I can understand why > some gamers might compare me with James North, and feel I am being less > than honest with them. I am not, and try not to be dishonest with anyone > regarding this decision. It is simply I no longer want to create a > side-scroller now that I am forbidden from completing Montezuma's > Revenge or Montezuma's Return. I just am not up to rewriting a new > side-scroller from scratch. > The way I feel about it right now is if gamers really really must > absolutely have a side-scroller I might as well patch the Montezuma's > Return game engine with some patches, create a couple of new levels, > give it some lame generic name, and put it out there as abandon ware. > Even if I complete the side-scroller game I have no desire to upgrade or > finish it beyond what is necessary to fulfill my orders. I just want to > be free of this James North and his games business. > > Sincerely, > Thomas Ward > > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > 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 __ Gamers@audyssey.org 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. 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