Hi Dark, Well, that's why I wish more game companies would do what ID Software has done in the past with several of their major titles and release their old releases as open source after so many years has passed. ID Software released Doom I in 1993 and Quake I in 1996 and both are now open source games. You can take the source code modify it, recompile it, and there are several Doom and Quake clones floating around as third-party developers have maintained the software. This also has the advantage of audio game developers taking up the original game source code, upgrading it, and making it accessible like Audio Quake. Of course, the biggest advantage here is by releasing the source code to the general public like that is that any game developer can upgrade it and maintain the game beyond its official support cycle. I can't tell you how many games I've purchased over the years that simply will not run on XP, Vista, or Windows 7 because the company stopped supporting it years ago. One game that comes to mind is Star Trek Borg. Back in the mid 1990's I loved that game, it was an awesome fps game, but it only worked on Windows 95. When I upgraded to Windows 98 the game stopped working correctly and the company did not release any patches or upgrades to fix the problems with Windows 98 so I had to basicly pitch the game into the trash. Needless to say if it wouldn't run on Windows 98 Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 support is out of the question. If the game had been released as open source someone could have upgraded it independantly of the game developer.
Cheers! On 7/7/10, dark <d...@xgam.org> wrote: > I think this is another thing that hits accessible games far harder, sinse > there are fewer users, and even fewer people who can investigate > compatibility options. > > Take for instance one game I have, the original Turrican 2 released for Dos > in 1991. Someone has created a pre-configured version of dosbox which you > can run streight from an exe file, which makes the game essentially behave > like a windows program, despite being almost twenty years old, however > console based text games such as fallthru simply do not have that option. > > Then, is the fact that a sited user can always install an emulator, ---- > this is one reason why Eamon delux has seen so litle work, sinse most people > who want to play Eamon will simply install an aple Ii emulator, ---- sadly > though the text in such emulators is completely inaccessible to a screen > reader, thus meaning a windows based componente is needed. > > my concern isn't as much for games with actual maintainers such as Jim's, > sinse even if it takes time the developer will attempt to make the games > compatible, as in fact Draconis, Gma and all the other major accessible game > companies have, but for games which are no longer supported. > > There are so few accessible games, it'd be a shame if games like drone are > simply upgraded out of existance. > > Beware the Grue! > > Dark. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > 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/gam...@audyssey.org. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. 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/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
