Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-10 Thread michael barnes
yes some of those games might be hard to make but if you don't try your 
never know i guess i just miss playing my video games


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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-10 Thread michael barnes
if you make a castlevania game would you have the main person on it or 
would you play as some one else


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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-10 Thread Bryan Peterson
I understand, but there are also legal issues to contend with. Sometimes 
developers will come after you if your game is even remotely similar to 
theirs. THomas Ward not only got served with a cease and desist letter about 
Montezuma's Revenge, but he had to change tactics again when he thought of 
calling it Return instead of Revenge. Another developer wanted him to change 
it. Rather than fight a legal battle he couldn't afford he did the onl thing 
he felt he could. I'd have done the same in his shoes. Besides, even 
forgetting the potential for legal trouble, as I said a game like what we'd 
all like to see, particularly a fullscale RPG, would take years to develop 
alone. And every developer works differently so banding together isn't an 
option either. That's why BSC Games had to scrap Castle Quest. That did 
upset me of course but it just proves that working with another developer 
isn't always a viable option.

You have acquired the skill of Weaponry Theremin.
Your current level of mastery is 10 Apprentice.
- Original Message - 
From: michael barnes c...@samobile.net

To: gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 2:19 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games


yes some of those games might be hard to make but if you don't try your 
never know i guess i just miss playing my video games


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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-10 Thread Bryan Peterson

Huh? What do you mean?
You have acquired the skill of Weaponry Theremin.
Your current level of mastery is 10 Apprentice.
- Original Message - 
From: michael barnes c...@samobile.net

To: gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 2:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games


if you make a castlevania game would you have the main person on it or 
would you play as some one else


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[Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-09 Thread michael barnes
i'm not a game maker but i do have some great ideal for some audio 
games that would be cool to play to start with i lost my sight this 
past october and so i miss playing video games that why i love jim 
kitchens games and others audio games here is two ideal the first one 
is could someone make a frogger game like the one on atari and a super 
mario brothers game like the one on the nintendo one more that alot of 
people would play is mortal kombat now that would be cool to play those 
games again that is if someone that makes game would make it another 
two games the legend of zelda and final fanatsy and sonic the hedghog


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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-09 Thread Kellie and my lovable Lady J.
I too, would love ot see a zelda or final fantasy like game. But know that 
it probably won't happen. So many resources have to go into that style of 
game. Story lines, getting all the plot together, acting as well since you 
would have much or interaction and talking with the characters. It would 
become expensive. I dream though of seeing it. lol and you know, a 
castlevania style game would be pretty awesome.

Kellie and my lovable Lady J.
Resident Adviser, Guide Dogs for the Blind Oregon campus
www.guidedogs.com
- Original Message - 
From: Bryan Peterson bpeterson2...@cableone.net

To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 9:55 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games


All great ideas, but they would have to tread extremely carefully in order 
to avoid the sort of legal trouble THomas Ward almost had with some of his 
projects. I agree with the idea of a Frogger game. As for Zelda and Final 
Fantasy, I have a feeling both are beyond the scope of what most audio 
game makers are able or willing to try. THe closest thing we have to that 
is Entombed from Blind-Games.com, and that's still very much in its early 
stages. The closest thing we have to Mario Brothers was developed by 
Dragon Slayer Games, and I must say it's not worth the time to play it, 
mainly due to some technical issues and some extremely odd controls. 
Personally I'd like to see an audio Castlevania style game. Maybe it might 
be time for me to check out some of those programming resources Thomas 
Ward mentioned a while back...

You have acquired the skill of Weaponry Theremin.
Your current level of mastery is 10 Apprentice.
- Original Message - 
From: michael barnes c...@samobile.net

To: gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 6:17 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games


i'm not a game maker but i do have some great ideal for some audio games 
that would be cool to play to start with i lost my sight this past 
october and so i miss playing video games that why i love jim kitchens 
games and others audio games here is two ideal the first one is could 
someone make a frogger game like the one on atari and a super mario 
brothers game like the one on the nintendo one more that alot of people 
would play is mortal kombat now that would be cool to play those games 
again that is if someone that makes game would make it another two games 
the legend of zelda and final fanatsy and sonic the hedghog


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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-09 Thread Bryan Peterson

Exactly. It's rather depressing as a matter of fact.
You have acquired the skill of Weaponry Theremin.
Your current level of mastery is 10 Apprentice.
- Original Message - 
From: Kellie and my lovable Lady J. pebbles...@sbcglobal.net

To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 10:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games


I too, would love ot see a zelda or final fantasy like game. But know that 
it probably won't happen. So many resources have to go into that style of 
game. Story lines, getting all the plot together, acting as well since you 
would have much or interaction and talking with the characters. It would 
become expensive. I dream though of seeing it. lol and you know, a 
castlevania style game would be pretty awesome.

Kellie and my lovable Lady J.
Resident Adviser, Guide Dogs for the Blind Oregon campus
www.guidedogs.com
- Original Message - 
From: Bryan Peterson bpeterson2...@cableone.net

To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 9:55 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games


All great ideas, but they would have to tread extremely carefully in 
order to avoid the sort of legal trouble THomas Ward almost had with some 
of his projects. I agree with the idea of a Frogger game. As for Zelda 
and Final Fantasy, I have a feeling both are beyond the scope of what 
most audio game makers are able or willing to try. THe closest thing we 
have to that is Entombed from Blind-Games.com, and that's still very much 
in its early stages. The closest thing we have to Mario Brothers was 
developed by Dragon Slayer Games, and I must say it's not worth the time 
to play it, mainly due to some technical issues and some extremely odd 
controls. Personally I'd like to see an audio Castlevania style game. 
Maybe it might be time for me to check out some of those programming 
resources Thomas Ward mentioned a while back...

You have acquired the skill of Weaponry Theremin.
Your current level of mastery is 10 Apprentice.
- Original Message - 
From: michael barnes c...@samobile.net

To: gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 6:17 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games


i'm not a game maker but i do have some great ideal for some audio games 
that would be cool to play to start with i lost my sight this past 
october and so i miss playing video games that why i love jim kitchens 
games and others audio games here is two ideal the first one is could 
someone make a frogger game like the one on atari and a super mario 
brothers game like the one on the nintendo one more that alot of people 
would play is mortal kombat now that would be cool to play those games 
again that is if someone that makes game would make it another two games 
the legend of zelda and final fanatsy and sonic the hedghog


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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-09 Thread shaun everiss
I think frogger would be no issue as its arcade but anything else.
Soundrts is another type, its a straight clone of warcraft, at least the 
concept is coppied.
no new releases have come out since april though.
At 04:55 a.m. 10/08/2009, you wrote:
All great ideas, but they would have to tread extremely carefully in order to 
avoid the sort of legal trouble THomas Ward almost had with some of his 
projects. I agree with the idea of a Frogger game. As for Zelda and Final 
Fantasy, I have a feeling both are beyond the scope of what most audio game 
makers are able or willing to try. THe closest thing we have to that is 
Entombed from Blind-Games.com, and that's still very much in its early stages. 
The closest thing we have to Mario Brothers was developed by Dragon Slayer 
Games, and I must say it's not worth the time to play it, mainly due to some 
technical issues and some extremely odd controls. Personally I'd like to see 
an audio Castlevania style game. Maybe it might be time for me to check out 
some of those programming resources Thomas Ward mentioned a while back...
You have acquired the skill of Weaponry Theremin.
Your current level of mastery is 10 Apprentice.
- Original Message - From: michael barnes c...@samobile.net
To: gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 6:17 AM
Subject: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games


i'm not a game maker but i do have some great ideal for some audio games that 
would be cool to play to start with i lost my sight this past october and so 
i miss playing video games that why i love jim kitchens games and others 
audio games here is two ideal the first one is could someone make a frogger 
game like the one on atari and a super mario brothers game like the one on 
the nintendo one more that alot of people would play is mortal kombat now 
that would be cool to play those games again that is if someone that makes 
game would make it another two games the legend of zelda and final fanatsy 
and sonic the hedghog

-- 
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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-09 Thread Thomas Ward

Hi Michael,
I agree that it would be nice to see some classic vidio games be made in 
an accessible format, but unfortunately accessible game developers are 
confronted with three basic problems.
First, there is the sticky issue of copyright infringement. Whenever a 
game company like Activision, nintendo, Capcom, Edos, EA Games, etc 
creates a game it is copyrighted and trade marked by the company that 
produced it. So any third-party developer who wants to come up with his 
own Super Mario Brothers, Final Fantacy, or Legend of Zelda game should 
apply for copyright permission from the company that created the game. I 
can say from personal experience getting permission from these companies 
is very unlikely. Even if they give you permission they wish to charge 
you royalties on the game which most small time game developers can't 
afford. Failior to apply for written permission could result in a big 
fat copyright infringement lawsuit.
There are, however, some ways to work around the copyright laws, but 
they aren't absolute protection. Under the fair use provisions in the 
U.S. copyright laws if a software product is for free, is released for 
educational purposes, open source, etc it can be protected under the 
fair use provisions. However, even so, it isn't safe because several 
companies, including Microsoft, frequently challenge the fair use 
provisions all the time.
So what this means if I or another accessible game developer were to 
consider writing a game clone it better be free, open source, and 
disclaim any commercial interest in the product. As a result the 
developer would have to forget about selling the game for the time and 
money spend on developing the game. Since high quality sound effects 
costs quite a bit it could get expensive with no way of earning that 
money back.
Second, there is the complexity of the game in question. Games like 
Final Fantacy and Legend of Zelda aren't simple games to create. I 
should know as I've actually thought several times of doing just that. 
However, after reviewing the walkthroughs to refresh my memory on the 
games I've discovered various problems in converting them to an 
accessible format.
The major issue is the time involved to create a game like Legend of 
Zelda. Legend of Zelda features several overworld and underworld 
locations with several special items, monsters, and so on. All of that 
takes a considerable amount of time to program, and I currently don't 
have it to give to a project of this size.
Then, you have various items and monsters that don't have sounds. 
converting them to an audio format is often tricky. You might just 
simply have to depend on Sapi to tell you the item is there and how far 
it is away etc. I'm sure there is a work around for this, but i wanted 
to point out that vidio games depend so much on vidio that most items 
and objects don't require sound. Since we need sound to find things it 
is up to the developer to come up with a way to cue the player into that 
silent object either by speech or by finding a sound that seams somewhat 
realistic.
For example, In a science fiction game like Shades of Doom it is fine 
that doors and items beep. It seams quite realistic in that environment. 
However, in a fantacy game like Zelda a developer would have to come up 
with different sounds like bubbling potion bottles, clattering swords, 
rattling keys, etc to make a fantacy sounding scheme. Sometimes that 
isn't easy. Especially, if the game is low budget.
Anyway, I am not saying that writing games like Frogger, Legend of 
Zelda, etc is impossible but it is problematic. That's wy quite a few 
developers stay clear of them. It is sometimes more of a hastle than it 
is worth.



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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-09 Thread Thomas Ward

Hi Bryan,
Actually, I've been thinking of writing a Castlevania type game myself. 
I wouldn't call it Castlevania, for obvious reasons, but it has many of 
the same great features of the original side-scroller. The nice thing 
about Castlevania 1 was that it used public domain characters and 
enemies such as Dracula, mummies, skeletons, Frankenstein's Monster, 
Medusa, etc. So it is one of the classics a developer can legally bring 
back under a new name and with a few miner changes here and there.
Anyway, as far as creating accessible classics a developer has to tread 
carefully. I found that out the very hard way. Montezuma's \Revenge is a 
25 year old game, hasn't been sold commercially since the mid 1980's, 
and do you think the copyright holders cared?
I was literally a couple of weeks away from final release and got a 
cease and desist letter from a lawyer working for the current 
Montezuma's Revenge copyright holders. Apparently the fact the game 
hasn't been commercially sold for years didn't matter. The fact that my 
version would be sold to a very few blind gamers didn't matter too much 
either. All that they cared about is that I had illegally written a game 
with the same name as their trade mark, that all rights belonged to 
them, and so on. Rather than battle it out in court I complied with the 
request and ditched the product before it got ugly. I'd hate to see 
another accessible game developer face a similar situation.
Anyway, like you said Final Fantacy and legend of Zelda are really out 
of the practical range of any accessible game developer. Yes, I and some 
others could do it, but it would be hard work for little pay. Plus it 
would take ages to write something like that.

Smile.


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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-09 Thread Thomas Ward

Hi,
No offense SoundRTS doesn't come close to Warcraft. True, the concept is 
the same, but Warcraft has so much more to offer in terms of character 
races, campaign style play, sound effects, and so on. SoundRTS just 
isn't in Warcraft's league yet.


shaun everiss wrote:

I think frogger would be no issue as its arcade but anything else.
Soundrts is another type, its a straight clone of warcraft, at least the 
concept is coppied.
no new releases have come out since april though.
  



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Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games

2009-08-09 Thread Bryan Peterson
That's what I figured. I figured that even if someone did try to write an FF 
or Zelda style game it would quite literally take months if not years to do. 
And the copyright thing is all too true as I hinted at. If you were to write 
the Castlevania style game you were thinking of you'd also have to change 
the name of the main character since SImon Belmont is a trademark of Conami 
if I'm not mistaken. But I suppose coming up with some new names is a 
comparatively easy task.

You have acquired the skill of Weaponry Theremin.
Your current level of mastery is 10 Apprentice.
- Original Message - 
From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com

To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] making old video games audio games



Hi Bryan,
Actually, I've been thinking of writing a Castlevania type game myself. I 
wouldn't call it Castlevania, for obvious reasons, but it has many of the 
same great features of the original side-scroller. The nice thing about 
Castlevania 1 was that it used public domain characters and enemies such 
as Dracula, mummies, skeletons, Frankenstein's Monster, Medusa, etc. So it 
is one of the classics a developer can legally bring back under a new name 
and with a few miner changes here and there.
Anyway, as far as creating accessible classics a developer has to tread 
carefully. I found that out the very hard way. Montezuma's \Revenge is a 
25 year old game, hasn't been sold commercially since the mid 1980's, and 
do you think the copyright holders cared?
I was literally a couple of weeks away from final release and got a cease 
and desist letter from a lawyer working for the current Montezuma's 
Revenge copyright holders. Apparently the fact the game hasn't been 
commercially sold for years didn't matter. The fact that my version would 
be sold to a very few blind gamers didn't matter too much either. All that 
they cared about is that I had illegally written a game with the same name 
as their trade mark, that all rights belonged to them, and so on. Rather 
than battle it out in court I complied with the request and ditched the 
product before it got ugly. I'd hate to see another accessible game 
developer face a similar situation.
Anyway, like you said Final Fantacy and legend of Zelda are really out of 
the practical range of any accessible game developer. Yes, I and some 
others could do it, but it would be hard work for little pay. Plus it 
would take ages to write something like that.

Smile.


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