Seems to me there is a simple reason why gaming companies don't make
computer tools -- they're just too bloody easy to copy. Why spend a modest
hunk of change on programming, when all that'll happen is one person wil
buy it and "post" it to some pirate BBS, or heaven forbid someplace on the
'Net. Even without spreading over wires, I'm sure the "well, I'll just
loan this to a friend" factor is a major disincentive developers, since it
eats up most of whatever few prospective sales you might have had in the
first place. (I know this was in the minds of Digest Group back when they
were working on their disk set; did that ever come to market, or did they
shift focus before it came out?)
Of course, when you throw in the problem of multiple disk formats and
different platforms, for goshsakes, there's almost no reason at all for
somebody with even a fair amount of resources (i.e. TSR) would spend them
making software they can't make money on anyway. If you can make them for
proprietary platforms, like Nintendo, then you get deals like SSI's games
for TSR, but otherwise even TSR, who can afford to do a bang-up job on
software if they like, won't touch the sinkhole of software tools...
> Computer generated players sheets would be a nice feature in a Traveller
>playing aid program. Once FF&S hits the streets, you should see some
>programs popping up for vehicle and starship generation.
Which leads us to the solution we've all developed to deal with the above
dilemma: home-grown tools written by those with the dedication and skill
and most importantly, without the need for payment. I haven't had a look
at the archives recently (i.e. in years), but last I saw nobody was even
trying to present their work as shareware or "please pay me if you like
it"-ware, though I know some of the stuff I've seen was definitely of
commercial or better quality. (Never mind the screen stuff, if someone
actually codes all the starship rules or worse yet, planetary system rules,
smooth enough to use them a lot, then that's a bang up job in my book!)
For those selfless souls who have spent so much time out of their love for
the game(s), I can only say bravo! and thank you, and we can only hope
they and others will be willing to slough thru it all again for new
versions of our favorite games...
DGH
me, I'd be tempted to try such things myself
but others have done such good jobs before me,
it seems counterproductive to try and one-up
them...
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David Hall [email removed]
Univ. of Wisconsin Madison Political Science/Philosophy/You Name It
logged in for far too courtesy of UW -Madison's
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